CRAZY OSHKOSH

Yup, we’re definitely back in Oshkosh as our calendar is filling up fast (too fast, as far as I’m concerned). I was getting used to and rather liking the less hectic schedule. However, it is so VERY good to see family and friends that we miss so much. I’m thinking, once everyone sees our new home, we won’t be quite as popular. J Please, feel free to give us a call and if we’re available, we’d love to have you see our place.

Life on the EAA grounds is sweet. Bill has settled in to his volunteering in the fabrication shop (part of EAA maintenance department) which is located less than a city block from our home lot. He already knew some of the guys there; in fact, when he owned his own business, he did some work for the fab shop. He pretty much works the paid staff hours, so his nights and weekends are free. (Free but so full!) We love seeing the emptiness of the EAA grounds, compared to what it looks like when AirVenture is in full swing. (For those of you not familiar with EAA or AirVenture, let me take a moment and enlighten you.)

The Experimental Aircraft Association is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts who promote and support recreational flying. Since its inception it has grown internationally with over 180,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. EAA is headquartered in Oshkosh and hosts the annual AirVenture Fly-In & Convention for one week in July. AirVenture is why we are here on the EAA grounds. To help prepare before, serve during, and tear down after. It is where EAA members and aviation enthusiasts totaling more than 500,000 from more than 60 countries descend on Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and also includes an estimated 36,000 campers.  (For more info on EAA, check out their website…which is where I got these stats from as you probably have already guessed.)

When we first arrived I had fun exploring a small part of the 1600 acres of EAA land.  And we thought our yard was big on Ohio Street. J I found places I didn’t know existed…beautiful places. Come, walk with me and I’ll show you! Soon, I’ll figure out how to include pictures and I’ll show you some of the beauty God has created for our enjoyment here on the grounds of EAA. Thanks, Brooke, for showing me how to finally do this. 

I can’t believe we’ve been back in Oshkosh two weeks already. We’ve celebrated a dear friends 40^th birthday, had dinner at my oldest sister’s, celebrated a grandson’s 7^th birthday, my little buddy’s 4^th birthday, been to a six year olds baseball game, a ten year olds soccer game, showed our place to several friends, moved more stuff from my sister’s place to our motorhome including all my card making stuff (thanks, Jessica, for your help), sorted through all our stuff that’s left at my sister’s(thanks, Nina), attended our Viet Nam Vets meeting,  had a cookout with our Life Group, and, of course, I’m still doing bookwork for His House and the Greenway House several hours a week… just to name a few of the things we’ve been doing.

To be honest, it’s been a bit overwhelming. In fact, I was a bit sad one day last week thinking about the simplicity of life “on the road” versus being back in Oshkosh and the flurry of activity that I, again, have to keep track of. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing all our friends and family, but I miss the simplicity of not having to think beyond, what to do TODAY. When life gets so busy, it is easy for me to get caught up with what’s next and miss enjoying the moment.  I’ve been praying a lot on that lately. Join me, will you?

But God (love those words) continues to bless us in small and big ways and for that I am very grateful! We now have a real chair, instead of the lawn chair, in our “living room.” We also found a kitchen cart that provides that extra counter space so desperately needed and it matches the décor beautifully.  We still love the motorhome living and all the nuances. Don’t miss the big house at all. Except, of course, when the threatening weather comes, I do miss having an underground basement to go to. But God is helping me with that also. I’ve learned to see those fears as taunts of the enemy, stealing my joy, and I claim victory over those fears in Jesus name. Speaking of our old house, we’ve been blessed to see on Facebook that the new owners are thoroughly enjoying the house and yard. That makes us both so very happy.  So much to be thankful for all day, every day.

One main project left to complete in our transition to this new lifestyle is clearing out my sister’s condo, moving the last of what’s needed into the motorhome, having another sale, and putting a few cherished belongings into storage. Anyone have a garage we could “borrow” in mid-July to set up a household sale? My sister’s condo association doesn’t allow sales and we’re trying to figure out what the best course of action would be. We’re also considering Craigslist sales and/or donating to those who could use a helping hand. Trusting and waiting on God to guide us.

Being that we’ll be parked in Oshkosh throughout the summer, I doubt very much that we’ll be making any road trips in the motorhome during this time, so there may not be much to tell. I’m hoping I’ll have some exciting God stories or new adventures to share as we continue our journey, for now, here in Oshkosh, but like us, you’ll just have to wait and see what God has in store. I’ll write again, just not sure when; only God knows. You all have a great summer!!!

We're Baaaaaaaaaack!

Hard to believe. We left Oshkosh on February 27^th, and returned just two days shy of three months, on May 25^th. The places we have been, the people we have met, the things we have done, the roads we have travelled…thank you Lord for guiding, directing, prompting, challenging, convicting, leading, teaching, strengthening, and blessing us  every step of the way. It has been truly wonderful. We love our life and are so very grateful.

Getting back to Oshkosh was a bit of a challenge. Hoping to leave Richmond, IN by 8 a.m. (Oshkosh time) we were all packed up and ready to go in plenty of time. That is, until Bill tried starting the motorhome. Tried is the key word. Nothing at all from the engine; not a sound and the dash didn’t light up at all. Not good. Fortunately, one of the men Bill had been working with at New Creations used to manage a service department for Camping World, his name is Matt. Immediately, I went looking for him as Bill began to check batteries, fuses, and whatever else he could think of. The two of them brainstormed and checked and double checked. All the while they worked, I sat calmly (yes, that is true) on the sofa and prayed that it was nothing serious and we’d be on the road soon. (My calmness surprised me and I thanked and praised the Lord for the increase in my trust level in these types of circumstances thus allowing me to remain calm.) Matt made a few phone calls to some of his known service workers and I got on the phone to the former owner to see if they had any previous problems. Apparently, not like this. He, the former owner, suggested we call the motorhome manufacturer. Great idea. They were very helpful and gave some great information. However, the motorhome still didn’t start. Finally, it came back to the batteries. Matt was able to give the batteries a jump, but that didn’t help. So we took them (there were two for the engine) in to a local place, had them tested and found out that there were cells within the battery that were completely dead. So (thankfully) four hours later and over $300 poorer, we were on the road heading to Oshkosh.  

Wish that was the end of our challenges on this leg of our journey. Not the case. We went through several different storm cells. The one closest to Oshkosh, between Lomira and Fond du Lac, was the worst. Bill could barely see and had to slow down to about 35 mph. I am, once again very grateful, for his calm demeanor as I had no idea of the difficulty he was having in driving the motorhome through these cells. Such a great guy!

Okay, one more challenge before we were able to settle in for the night. Because we were arriving so late (the intended time for our arrival was around 4 p.m.) there was no one to meet us and show us where to park our RIG (Rich in Grace). It was very dark (no street lights on the roads through the EAA camping area) and it was still raining (not pouring, thank you, Lord). All we knew was that our spot was near 35^th Street (there really aren’t any actual streets, just markers along the road), and off to the left; Spot 52. So, around 30^th Street, I told Bill to stop the motorhome so I could jump out with a flashlight and look for our spot. I giggle every time I think about this. It must have been an interesting sight. I had really hoped we would be parking in Audrey’s Park which I was familiar with and not in the big open camping area that is primarily grass. Audrey’s Park is where the long term RV’s park; many of them are there year round. Apparently, the guy who was giving us directions didn’t realize we were familiar with the location of Audrey’s Park or he could have saved me from running around in the rain. I was grateful to see a light on in an RV right inside Audrey’s Park. So I ran in that direction and found out that they were in Spot 54 and we were directly across from them. Hallelujah, we found it and it was just inside Audrey’s Park. So happy! God came through again, providing us with another great location, more on that later. Our challenge for the night is not over. At least, not for me. Bill had pulled past the entrance to the park so he had to make a rather large turn around in the grassy camping area being careful to avoid sewer and water hookups and electric boxes. His driving amazes me and I should be able to trust his driving skills by now, however, it still freaks me out. My depth perception is horrible and my night vision isn’t much better.

Needless to say, we weren’t going to try to take the car off the dolly nor the dolly off the motorhome in the dark. There was plenty of room to just pull through a couple empty spots and set up for the night. Once again, I was freaking out because of the tight spaces, but it all worked out just fine. (of course, it did. Daaaah!) We were close enough to water and electric hookups that we were quite comfortable for the remainder of the night. Bill was a bit wet, actually soaked, by the time he got us hooked up but he did it and he did it well. Love arriving at our destination and still being able to sleep in my own bed. So cool.

Thursday morning, the 26^th, Bill got everything disconnected and moved the motorhome into our official spot. We’re along a main road that comes off the frontage road at the west gate (for those of you who are familiar with the EAA grounds). It’s a great spot. Good location on the grounds. Easy to find (in the daylight). Lots of possibilities to meet new folks. It may be a bit noisy during the actual AirVenture in late July but it gives us a bit more outside space as the parking spots are fairly narrow. When you think of the number of volunteers and campers that come each year, it’s no surprise that we’ll get packed in a bit tightly as the event approaches. It's still a great spot.

I was so happy that God brought us back to Oshkosh in time to attend our grandkids spring concert at their school in Hartland which was Thursday night. It’s a good thing we left Indiana on Wednesday or we wouldn’t have made it to the concert in time. I haven’t mentioned it before this but I had another reason for wanting to be in Oshkosh sooner rather than later. A dear friend of mine suffered a great loss while we were gone and I so desperately wanted to be there for her. She was anxious to have me home as well and we were able to spend a good chunk of Thursday together. I love how God’s timing is so perfect even with all the challenges; God is good…all the time!!! And on that note, I’ll call it a night! Blessings to all who read this!

Staying Put, Yes & No

Where has the time gone? We’ve been back at New Creations in Richmond, Indiana now for almost a month enjoying our motorhome volunteer lifestyle.  Bill has been so very hard at work. He’s been ripping out bushes, digging out roots, cutting brush back from roadways that wind through the 700 acre property, repaired/welded, grinded/painted soccer goal posts, (what a dirty job), pick up, load, and unload donated office furniture, and so on and so on and so on. He comes home pretty darn tired most days, so we relax a lot in the evenings just watching old TV shows (That’s one reason I haven’t been blogging as much, I can’t concentrate on writing when the television is on, whether I like the show or not, it’s just too distracting and besides, it’s nice to just relax with my honey). 

I’ve done a bit of physical labor as well only not nearly as demanding. You see, there’s this storage building filled with donated office supplies (mostly a variety of paper and many many types of file folders) that has been piled up, looked through, and I don’t know what else. All I can say is that it is quite a big, I’ll just say it, it was quite a big mess. Boxes piled on boxes that were deteriorating and spilling out from dampness and who knows what else.  The really good news is…I love sorting and organizing. This had my name all over it. However, the more I sorted, the bigger the job got. After a few afternoons on my own, I asked for some help in lifting and moving boxes. Thankfully, one of the students would come after school , move boxes, and take out the piles of garbage I created.  What a Godsend. I worked three to four hours each afternoon, for a total of seven days to bring some order to all these supplies. It was overwhelming at various times throughout, but I loved doing it and feel really good about the end result. The IT staff person had to come and go through the printers that had been donated to let me know which ones were still good and which ones had been used and (literally) thrown in the storage barn that should, in fact, have been thrown out. He had seen the barn before I started working in there and marveled at the progress I had made…He asked if I’d come clean out his garage. That made my day!

I must say, that it’s been great, having our home parked in one location for more than a week. Oh, we haven’t stayed put, that’s for sure.  We’ve been to Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and other parts of Indiana since my last report.  We visited my nephew in Cincinnati, Ohio and ate at a wonderful German establishment Hofbrauhaus. We returned to Ohio another day to catch up with my nephew’s children and grandchild where we met at a delicious Mexican restaurant and then all went to Jungle Jim’s International Market. (Something you have to see to believe.)We went to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky just over the Ohio state line where we saw a zorse and zonkey. (More about that another time.) We drove to Lafayette, Indiana to celebrate our niece’s graduation from Purdue. We took a “quick” car trip to Wisconsin over Mother’s Day weekend to give our daughter and son-in-law a getaway weekend so we could spend some great times with three of our favorite grandchildren.  Being able to do this was a total God thing. Although it was something we have done for the past few years we told them not to plan on it as we knew we’d still be on the road.  We were so happy to tell our daughter (on their wedding anniversary in April), that we would like to give them their getaway after all; what’s a six hour drive for retired (and semi-retired) people.  Just hearing the joy in her voice was worth the long drive. I still find it rather comical that our lifestyle is dependent on driving all over the country. We envy people who love to drive. That’s never been the case for either of us. But, that’s what we’ve been called to do and it’s a small thing when we look at the big picture of how God is working in our lives through this new season.

God has been doing some amazing things for us this past month. Orchestrating all the places we’ve been and people we’ve seen as well as the volunteer work assignments has truly been by His design. Working out the timing and details and safe travel are all credited to our Creator.  We’ve been hearing some great messages via the internet (thank you Lord for technology and keeping us connected with our church family in Oshkosh at New City) as well as attending services here at New Creations.  Oftentimes, the messages seem directed toward the students here at the boarding school, but the Lord always has a Word for those who are open to hear.  Please pray for the students here at New Creations. Most of them are here because of troubled pasts (and present). I actually believe that is another reason the Lord led us to this place. There were many days I did not do physical volunteer work, but not a day went by that I didn’t pray for the ministry here and for the students. We never know for sure why the Lord has us where He does, we just need to follow His lead. That’s my prayer for Bill and I every day. Please join us!

We’ve only got a few more days here at New Creations…the weekend, then Monday and Tuesday as we are heading back to Oshkosh on Wednesday the 25^th. We’ll be parking on the EAA grounds for the months of June, July, and August. Bill will be volunteering in the maintenance department or was it the machine shop. (I can’t remember and he’s sleeping at the moment as he had a particularly hard day. Another reason why I could write…the TV isn’t on.) Doesn’t matter where he’s volunteering at EAA, he’s just excited to be a part of it. Many of you probably don’t know that Bill has his private pilot’s license but hasn’t used it in many years. To be around planes and in the midst of the annual AirVenture coming up late July is something he is really looking forward to. I’ve got mixed emotions, as I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve lived in Oshkosh most of my life, but not in a motorhome. So, I’ve given it over to the Lord and just like all the other adventures we’ve been on, I’m trusting Him to make a way for us to live, love, serve, and enjoy the journey. Blessings to all who read this!

Where's Home?

Where’s home? Where is home? Home is where your heart is. Home is where your spouse is. Home is where your family is. Home is where your motorhome is parked. That’s what I was feeling as we drove up Interstate 41 after crossing into Wisconsin on Thursday (4/21) afternoon. I left my home in Indiana. My heart, now that’s another matter all together.  It was strange driving from Richmond IN back to Oshkosh. For one thing, I couldn’t stretch my legs, make Bill a sandwich, or take a bathroom break as we traveled. We actually had to stop and get out of our vehicle. I told Bill that it didn’t take long for me to be spoiled by the freedom of traveling in a motorhome.  As we got closer to Oshkosh, I had conflicting emotions. Excited to see friends and family including precious time with grandchildren, overjoyed to be able to worship and hear some great preachin’ at New City and see our church family, and glad to be able to pick up a few more things to continue in making our motorhome, home. And therein lies the conflict. I am amazed (and truly grateful) that I am full on engaged in the motorhome lifestyle. It’s my home and I love.  It felt very odd, leaving my home parked in Indiana when I’m so used to it coming with us wherever we go.  The most conflicting emotion upon our re-entry into Oshkosh is difficult to put into words. Not because it was such a strong emotion, but a very subtle one. I was born in Oshkosh and returned when I was six years old. Oshkosh has always been my home. But that’s not what I was feeling as we crossed the Winnebago County line.  Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to be back, but as a visitor, not a resident. So unexpected.  But, again, so very grateful knowing we are exactly where God wants us.

I must admit though that the reception we got everywhere we went made me feel very much like home. First thing we did was stop at the Post Office to pick up mail. That’s one thing I do miss…reading my own mail. Very very grateful to Sam Smith for being our personal secretary while we are on the road picking up our mail and going through it with me over the phone or email. Huge blessing!!!  And, as long as we were on the south end of town, might as well go pass our former home on Ohio and our good friends, the Mellgrens, who are also the adoptive parents of our 16 year old kitty, Montana. Going pass our old house, we knew was going to look different. Not the house so much, but the fact that the 50 foot pine tree alongside the driveway is gone! We knew that was going to happen to make way for a two car garage but it looked pretty strange to us. Not bad, just different. On to the Mellgrens, and what a surprise to see the McDuffie’s standing outside. Thanks for the shriek and big hug, Aurora. (The McDuffie’s 13 year old daughter.) Montana seems very happy in her new home…even with a very interactive one year old. Unfortunately, Montana’s regurgitating (sorry for those of you who have week stomachs or think this is TMI) has increased and little Gracie doesn’t know enough not to check it out or, you guessed it, put it in her mouth. Yuck! What do you expect, she’s only one!  We may have to find her a new home. Montana…not Gracie.

Being we were only in Oshkosh for just less than five days, we definitely managed to jam pack it full of… Lots of appointments: Bill and I both saw the chiropractor, I got my hair done, Bill had the car fixed, I had a follow up breast ultrasound (everything is fine), and I went to the dentist; and some fun stuff: We got to go to our LifeGroup gathering on Thursday night, had dinner with our good friends the Coltons on Friday night (got to see Jayla’s nursery…can’t wait to meet this little bundle), a full day Board Retreat on Saturday for His House Christian Fellowship (so wonderful to see everyone), church Sunday morning at New City was amazing (sure do miss our church family), followed by lunch with our dear friend, Courtney Kolb, went to see our grandkids in Ocononomoc Sunday afternoon and evening,  lunch with Matt & Nina, our good friends (and Innkeepers of the Greenway House B&B)  on Monday who helped us gather  up more stuff to take back with us and packed up our car, had dinner with our dear Rush family Monday night, went to a staff meeting Tuesday morning at His House and left Oshkosh at 10:45 a.m. Whoa, no wonder the time went by so fast.

Oh, I must tell you, when Bill took our car in for a much needed oil change he also was having them check on a rattle. Bill thought it was something to do with the wheel bearings. I was a bit concerned about it as it had been going on for awhile. Really wanted to have it taken care of before we left on our road trip back to Oshkosh but Bill said he’d feel more comfortable taking it to someone he knows (besides we were too busy settling into our first mission project). Okay Share, button your lip, trust Bill’s judgment and the Lord’s protection. Anyway, I bring it up because our prayers were answered. Nothing serious, in fact, something rather comical. A box end wrench was found in the wheel housing. Bill is convinced that it had been left in there by the manufacture and that it took this long to find its way out. Too, too funny!!! Just so grateful it wasn’t anything serious! PTL!

Another answer to prayer happened at the Board Retreat. As you all know, if you’ve been reading earlier posts, I struggle a great deal with traffic fears especially on multi-lane highways. I’ve been feeling like I needed some serious intervention and had been praying along those lines. During one of the Board discussions, I felt lead to talk to one of the Board members and asked God to make it happen. At lunch, as we all sat around the same table, I asked God to give me the opportunity to speak to this individual (Eileen) privately. Within a matter of seconds, everyone except Eileen stood up to get dessert from the buffet line (except me, of course, I already had my dessert). We talked and she prayed privately over me later in the day. I am so very grateful as she is a great woman of faith and a powerful prayer warrior. I now pray that God brings to my remembrance the wonderful Scriptures she quoted (one was…You hem me in, behind and before) and the peace and calm I experienced as well as her prayers for my future and how God plans to use me in this season of life. So very blessed by her. Love getting those kisses from heaven.

One more God story.  We praise Him for using Bill’s alertness and love of wildlife to make us aware of two herds of deer (at different times) crossing the highway as we were travelling back from Oconomowoc Sunday night. Bill is always on the lookout for wildlife and I am so very grateful; both times he applied the brakes in plenty of time and what a beautiful sight to watch. We are so very blessed.

Okay, we’ve been back in Indiana for two days now and I really want to get this posted tonight so I’ll stop with the stories (of course, I’ve got lots more) and end with this. As we headed out of town Tuesday morning and as wonderful as our time in Oshkosh had been, I have to admit, I was excited about going home.

We Finally Made It!

We made it! We finally made it! We are on our first mission work project. We are both so VERY excited to be at New Creations in Richmond, Indiana. We arrived Thursday, April 14^th, late afternoon. It was quite an ordeal getting here. More accurately it was just an ordeal for me.  Bill wanted to get on the road as soon as possible, so we prepped the motorhome for travel and left Pigeon Forge, TN by 9:15 a.m. At the moment, Tennessee is my favorite state. Even though driving on narrow roads, around lots of curves, up and down the side of the mountains, in a really large vehicle towing a car behind, I still love these mountains. What I don’t love is Cincinnati. More like dislike immensely. What I really dislike is multiple lane highways, with lots of cars and trucks and crazy people. And, although, I could be talking about myself, I’m talking about all the other crazy people out there. Those driving in the big cities like they’re the only people on the road. Don’t get me wrong, I know, I’m the one with the problem. I had been doing so much better with remaining somewhat relaxed as we travelled in the motorhome, but something happened going through Ohio (particularly Cincinnati). One possibility is, I’m not pointing fingers, just wondering if some of my prayer warriors thought I was doing so much better in this area that you stopped praying. Please, always be praying as we travel (for our safety and my mental well-being). My anxiety was ridiculous. I hope and pray that it was just an attack of the enemy trying to stir things up as we were so looking forward to being on project. I know I was driving Bill crazy and made it hard for him to concentrate and not be affected by my craziness. I need serious counseling if I’m going to get over this phobia of being close to semis when they pass and being fearful of us drifting or other vehicles drifting into our lane or cars darting in front of us. Please be kind to motorhome drivers as you travel, they are not able to stop or change lanes as quickly as a car. I have such a greater appreciation and respect for large motor vehicles and trailers. Because my reactions were worse than usual, I felt even worse for not trusting God to take care of us. Fortunately, once we were past all the multiple lane highways, I relaxed a little but was still pretty exhausted by the time we reached our destination.

We arrived at New Creations around 4:30. By the way, a word of advice when using GPS, you may want to compare the specific directions ahead of time with a map. Oh, we made it to New Creations all right following the GPS but there is no doubt, that the last hour of travel could have been by a much more direct route. This happened to us once before on our way to our granddaughter’s house in Belleview; we made four or five turns down some back roads where we could have stayed on the main highway and make only one turn. We’re learning all sorts of interesting things on our travels.

We received a warm welcomed from Pastor Tim Cummings, Founder of New Creations Chapel, Inc. upon our arrival. Here’s a few tidbits about New Creations. It started in 1969, with a choir and a Bible study for teens and young adults. It grew over the years and now includes: a boarding school that serves teenagers ages 12-17, a Christian K-12 school, a non-denominational church body of local people, staff, and students, a riding stable for education, therapy, and adventure, and a camp offering retreats, family and youth camps, reunions, and corporate gatherings all located on 600+ acres.  It’s quite the place.

Friday morning, we had a driving tour around the property by Dave, the Facilities Manager.  Rolling terrain with lots of trees, a 50 acre lake, a river that winds through the trees; there’s corn fields, cabins, dormitories, school, church, stable, and lots more buildings and fields. As we rode, Dave pointed out all the various potential projects that Bill could help with. Friday afternoon, he chopped down a tree and trimmed up a couple other ones in the RV parking area. This week he got to use a frontend loader/backhoe to widen one of the roads on Monday, followed by the next two days when he chopped and cleared out brush on one of the access roads.

Now you may all be thinking…well, we’ve finally settled in. We’ll be staying in one place for a while. All I can say is “that’s a silly thought”. After being at New Creations for 40 hours, we hopped in the motorhome and headed to Lafayette, Indiana to attend the Purduettes Spring Spectacular Concert. Our niece, Kara, has been part of the Purduettes since her freshman year; this being her senior year, this was the last big concert of her Purduette career and we were less than three hours away.

Originally we were going to take the car, but after checking hotel costs, we were much better off taking the motorhome and boondocking at Walmart. (We’re getting pretty good at that.) It would be a huge blessing not to have to tow the car, so I prayed hard. In researching Walmart lots that allowed overnight parking, I was having a little trouble but found a possibility near Hwy 26 & I65. I mention those highways because in talking to Bill’s brother/Kara’s dad, Wayne, he said that he’d be happy to pick us up and drop us off if we weren’t too far off from their hotel and, you guessed it, their hotel was on the other side of Hwy 26 & I65. I called the Walmart to be sure it was all right and after talking with several people, I finally got the okay as long as we parked on the far end. You can imagine our surprise upon our arrival to find signs in the lot that said “No truck or trailer overnight parking.” There wasn’t just one sign, there were many! Oh noooooo! Please, Lord, give us favor. There were several semis and one motorhome parked at the far end, so we pulled in. Part of me didn’t want to go in and ask, but I knew I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving it for the concert and I probably would have had trouble sleeping, thinking someone would knock on our door asking us to move. Soooo, we went in and asked once more if we could park in the lot overnight. Thank the Lord, the lady said yes. She said the signs were to deter semi-drivers as they have been causing some damage getting in and out of the lot.

It was great fun showing Bill’s two brothers and their wives our home on wheels. When we boondock we don’t put the slides out, so it wasn’t as spacious as when we’re parked normally but they could still appreciate the fact that it had everything we needed. It was so nice to see and spend time with family from Wisconsin. We got to see our niece’s apartment, had a delicious lunch, and walked around the campus. It’s quite lovely and the concert was fantabulous. (That’s fantastically fabulous!)  Sunday morning we got picked up again (such a blessing; PTL) had brunch (because we had to wait over 75 minutes for a table) with everyone at Another Broken Egg Café.  Quite the popular place, understandably so, very good with a very unique menu.  By 1:30, we were on our way back to New Creations.

So, here we are Wednesday evening, Bill has put in three hard days of work and I’ve been able to catch up on some much needed bookkeeping. I’ve done okay with keeping up with my duties on the road as Financial Administrator for His House Christian Fellowship, but I had a lot of catching up to do with my bookkeeping for the Greenway House Bed and Breakfast.  I’m happy to say, I’m feeling good about both. Good thing, because tomorrow morning as soon as we have the car packed up, we’re heading to Wisconsin for five days. This time the motorhome is staying at New Creations and we’re driving “home.”

It’s time to get another load of much needed household goods, more clothes, more tools, and other things we wish we had remembered or been able to bring along when we left to pick up our rig. (By the way, I had another suggestion on RIG...Resting In Grace. Love it. Thanks Sam Smith.) Actually, the real reason we’re coming back to Wisconsin is so that we can attend the His House Board Retreat (Bill is on the board). It’s one of two meetings a year that Bill is committed to attending in person otherwise meetings are held on-line which makes it possible for him to remain on the board. It’s in these instances, I praise God for the internet.

We’ll be staying at my sister’s condo in Oshkosh, where all of what’s left of our belongings is stored. We’re hoping to see a lot of friends and family, but if we miss you this time, we’ll be back in June. You can continue to keep up with us as I’m hoping to be a bit more timely in my posts, now that I have finally gotten caught up and our life is beginning to have some sense of normalcy. What is normal, anyway? For us, it’s constantly changing. Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful journey you have us on.

Gotta Love The Great Smokey Mountains

Okay, so I said I was ready to be done vacationing. I am so glad, so grateful, so delighted that we made our last stop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. One word: Incredible. Wait, one more word: Amazing Creator (sorry, that’s two more.) The beauty we saw often took my breath away. I was in a constant state of thankfulness to Creator God for allowing us this time to see and experience more of His majesty through His creation.

Our first full day in Pigeon Forge (Tues. Apr 12) had me “at” work. What made it not so hard to do was the fact that it rained most of the day. About mid-afternoon, about the time I was ready to be done working, the sun came out. We had just enough time to stroll around the Old Mill area where we stopped into a distillery and tried several samples of varied flavors of Moonshine. Fortunately, they were very small samples as we were headed to the highlight of our day: The Dixie Stampede. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a most delicious four course family style dinner show with absolutely beautiful horses, trick riders, including square dancing (on horses), pyrotechnics, great humor, and a beautiful patriotic finale. I’d love to tell you more, but it’s something you have to experience for yourself. One of those, “you had to be there,” types of thing. Oh, I do want to mention how. once again, God answered, what I would call  a “simple (or little) request” prayer. When we arrived in the Smokey Mountains, we really weren’t sure how we wanted to spend our time or if we wanted to spend any money on special attractions. For special attractions, my two top choices were Dollywood and Dixie Stampede. Bill was willing to do either, but was more interested in the Dixie Stampede. Once we settled on that, I started questioning whether or not we should spend the money. Being it was near the end of our extended vacation time, I was pretty conscious of monies already spent and felt maybe we had done enough. Because I was having trouble ordering the tickets on-line, I decided that maybe we weren’t supposed to go. So I prayed about it. Over the course of the next hour, I had two confirmations to get the tickets. So we went and as I stated earlier, enjoyed it immensely. Worth every penny. I didn’t want it to be over and lingered like a little kid as we left the arena.

We went to the early show and had some time in the evening to have a much needed relaxed conversation. In between all these good times, Bill & I found ourselves bickering about things that didn’t really matter. It was a good conversation and we were able to air out a few things. We prayed together and God has been faithful in helping us give each other more grace. So there’s a bit of real life in the midst of our wonderful life.  Please be praying for us in this regard.

Being that it rained most of Tuesday, we were counting on Wednesday’s forecast of sunny with mild temperatures so we could go explore the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in something other than our big rig. I have to thank Jill Heft who regularly vacations in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area for her suggestion on checking out Cades Cove and Roaring Fork Trail. Another answer to one of those little prayer request. 

On our way to Cades Cove, we experienced a bit of a miracle.  Stick with me as I have to go back to when we were still in the Belleville FL area with our granddaughter. Bill has a pair of reading glasses and another pair which are his prescription/safety glasses. He has trouble keeping track of them but was trying diligently to only use his reading glasses and save his safety glasses for work projects.  Well somehow they got mixed up and, you guessed it, he lost his prescription safety glasses. He was pretty bummed. I’ve never seen him search so hard for anything before.  He returned to the gas station he and the girls stopped at for slushies, he called the grocery store he had been at, he searched the car several times and the nooks and crannies of the motorhome. We looked everywhere even in places that made no sense.  I checked all the places he checked and then some. They were nowhere to be found. We left Florida and Bill felt bad but felt he’d have to go somewhere once we arrived in Indiana to get a new pair of prescription glasses. Not happy about the cost. I remember praying a couple times, please Lord, let me find them for him. The morning we left for Caves Cove, Bill said, “well, I guess my glasses are gone. I was hoping they would have shown up by now, but I guess they’re just gone.” My thought was, “dah, yay, I think so.” But, PTL, for once I didn’t make such a comment, instead when we stopped on our way into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, I sat in the car for a few minutes and feeling so bad for Bill prayed once more saying specifically,” oh Lord can’t we just have a bit of a miracle and find Bill’s glasses.” As I sat there,  I reached around the seat in the car, stuck my hand under the one I was sitting on, reached over to get under the driver’s seat, but found nothing. I shrugged my shoulders, said a mental “oh well” and got out of the car. As I turned to close the door, on the floor where my feet had just been, laid a pair of glasses. At first I thought his reading glasses fell out of my purse, but when I picked them up…yup, you guessed it, those were his prescription safety glasses. Call it what you want, I call it a miracle. You should have seen Bill’s face when I showed him what God turned up. His expression was priceless. Total shock, surprise, and delight. Thank you Jesus!  The other really funny thing about this whole episode is the place where we stopped, we didn’t even stay. We thought it was an information center for the mountains but it was a museum with a price tag higher than we wanted to spend. So we hopped back in the car, put Bill’s newly found glasses in my purse, and continued on.

Cade’s Cove is an isolated valley nestled in the Smokey Mountains that was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park. It’s known for wildlife viewing and has an 11-mile, one-way loop road that circles the cove. We had an inexpensive self-guiding tour booklet to help us find and understand what we saw which included  three churches, a working grist mill, barns, log houses, and many other restored eighteenth and nineteenth century structures. We also saw three deer, a coyote, and a beaver. Bill was happy; wildlife, that’s one of his favorite things.

The drive was absolutely beautiful and we made many stops along the way, not only to look at the historical structures, but even more so, the beautiful views and amazing rushing waters. I absolutely love white water, the sounds and movement of the water brings a joy and peace to my heart that is hard to describe. It’s something I thank God for with all my heart.

So after spending close to five hours exploring Caves Cove, we travelled to another part of the park known as Roaring Forks Trail. There were many opportunities throughout the park to climb to a waterfall (the ultimate in rushing white water), but Roaring Forks offered one that was less than three miles round trip and of moderate difficulty. Yes, we were getting tired before we even began this trek, but I was determined to see at least one waterfall up close and personal. Once again, words escape me to describe that climb. Parts of it were a bit scary for me, like a narrow path along a cliff, but the tiny waterfalls and creeks along the way, the overall beauty, and the goal of making it to the falls, kept me going. Oh, and Bill saying, “you’re doing good; keep going.”

Needless to say, they were beautiful. This particular waterfall is the only one in this park that you can walk behind. Once we got there, I really had no desire to go behind it; I just wanted to enjoy what I could see as I sat upon the rocks and experienced the sounds and watched the water movement flowing around other parts of nature. Oh, I could go on and on about this as I do love it so. But you get the point. I find myself praising Jesus from the depths of my soul when I experience a beautiful waterfall and the rushing waters like this. We stayed for awhile and as tired as I was, I felt refreshed and kissed by God.

Speaking of kisses from heaven, throughout this whole day, I felt deeply connected in a unique way to our Lord. I’m reading the book “Hind’s Feet in High Places” for the second time, and for those of you who are familiar with the book, you would totally understand that the timing of this reading is no accident. It is definitely a Godincidence.  The main character is named Much Afraid, she has many fears, trials, and doubts along the way, but the Good Shepherd is leading her to the High Places. Some of the beautiful descriptions of the valleys and the mountains in this book, I experienced in the Great Smokey Mountains. This made that experience and the reading of the book even more meaningful and God ordained.  Praise the Lord!  And on that note, I am happy to say we ended our extended vacation in the Great Smokey Mountains experiencing the majesty of our Creator God. 

Three Weeks in Review (March 20-April 11)

Has anybody missed us? If you’re on fb, probably not, I’ve put a couple pictures and comments out there as we have traveled. But if this is the only way to keep up with us, I apologize. We had a wonderful week with our granddaughter, Rhiannon and, son, Matt; I did warn you that she would be a major distraction and not expect to hear much from us. Things didn’t slow down any as we did a bit of what I would call “those vacations” we never took while we both owned our own businesses and couldn’t go too far away. It’s been a crazy few weeks but have thoroughly enjoyed the roads God has taken us down. We truly believe that God has been so very faithful and has given us such great favor in the places we have travelled and the places where we have parked our home.

For our visit with our granddaughter, we traveled back and forth quite a bit between our motor home and her dad’s place. We were at Wickham Park in Melbourne. A beautiful county park with several ponds, two swimming lakes, a playground, disc golf, volleyball, and more. They have all kinds of very spacious camping and parking sites, unlike a majority of places in Florida. Initially we were going to have to move from our original site to a different one on Friday. However, PTL, when I checked on that Tuesday to see if we could stay over one more night (Easter Sunday), they not only said that would be fine, they also told us we wouldn’t have to move. So very happy about not having to move sites but even happier that we wouldn’t have to check out Easter morn. (PTL for that!!!) We celebrated our Risen Lord at a sunrise service on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Beautiful. We praise our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords for this special opportunity to celebrate His resurrection and for His great sacrifice and love for each of us.

We had many fun times with Rhiannon and Matt (I have two pages of notes on all the things we did but figured that was more information than what you all would want to know.) One thing you might find interesting is that we got to watch a rocket launch. We were on Cocoa Beach about five miles from the launch site. Saw the bright ball of light slowly rise up, reflect around some clouds, and then reappear. Impressive. I have to admit though that we were a bit disappointed as there was no real noise and the rocket went away from us instead of towards us. Still it was a cool experience. Okay one more thing…which doesn’t really have anything to do with our time with Rhiannon, other than the fact that we believe it was part of God’s timing, AGAIN. On our to and from the rocket launch, our car was making some pretty  strange noises, and both Bill and Matt agreed, it sounded like the brakes. Oh great! Glad that we were at our son’s house at that time. Bill took it to a local Midas shop, got new rear brakes while I stayed and played with Rhiannon. I’d say I got the better deal.

Bill had wanted to travel to the Florida Keys as we both had never been there, so from Matt’s place (& Wickham Park) we headed to Key Largo where we were able to find an RV Park that was not priced out of this world for three nights. For those of you who know me well, you can be sure I did a lot of research to find a nice place that wasn’t totally overpriced. Once again, we were truly blessed with a wonderful park (Key Largo Kampground). Also, I’m happy to report that the set up (and take down) is going quicker and I’m getting less and less nervous about it all…PTL. (Keep praying, my prayer warrior friends and family.) One of the days we were there, we drove across 42 bridges to arrive in Key West. Spent the day and went to thee place to go to watch the sunset (Mallory Square) and be part of an every night of the week celebration. Jugglers, magicians, artists, musicians, etc. performing and/or selling their wares. Did I mention that the sunset was pretty non-existent as it was cloudy and there wasn’t much to see? Fortunately, the following night, in Key Largo, we found a wonderful place close to our park to relax (without the crowds) and watch a beautiful sunset. We did the Key West thing and both of us are content , that once is enough. We did end up extending our stay by one day which really helped us in our ongoing scheduling of where to go from here and for how long…it was another one of those Godincidences (similar to a coincidence, only you know it’s God). It’s hard to explain how blessed we feel in God’s timing as to where we are when. Yes, we do some research and planning, but God really works things out in the end. I say that, at this point, because now it is time to move from Key Largo to North Fort Myers, Florida. Why there, you ask? Well let me tell you.

 We wanted to end up in Belleview to see our granddaughter again, but she wouldn’t be available until after April 4^th and we were only planning to be in the Florida Keys until the 30^th of March. Well, what to do in between.  Like I just said, we stayed an extra day in the Keys and then fulfilled one of Bill’s greatest desires on this leg of our journey and that was to see his “Florida” cousins. He hadn’t seen one in more than ten years and the other they couldn’t decide if it had been ten years or more than 25 years. We were thrilled to find out they were both in Port Charlotte which was easily on the way to Belleview. Also, on the way to Belleview is North Fort Myers (just 30 minutes south of Port Charlotte), a city were our friends Terri & Gene Walton moved last August. The RV Park & Resort that they live in had a two for one sale that started April 1^st…the day we wanted to arrive. Thank you, Tamiami Village for four nights in a lovely park. Those FOUR nights cost us what it costs us for ONE night in the Keys. Location, Location, Location. This schedule put us in to Belleview at Southern Oaks Resort just ten minutes from our, granddaughter’s home on April 5^th.  

We had dinner that evening with our granddaughter and her family; she gave us a very imaginative tour around their property in a golf cart. Delightful! We brought her and her cousin (who lives with them) back to the motorhome. Bill volunteered to take them (getting up at 6 a.m.) and pick them up from school each day.  We had a wonderful time with both girls. Although the RV park had little to entertain ten year old girls, we managed to find things to do.  The temperatures were wonderful. Little humidity and 80 degrees or less. (I prefer temps under 73.) We did a lot of swimming, watching the Disney channel before bed, and getting ice cream or slushies. Friday night, while the girls were at a birthday party, Bill and I went on a date. Rhiannon’s mom suggested we go to Spanish Springs in The Villages. Loved it!  Very quaint, with lots of restaurants and shops. We had dinner outside, right across from the square where there was a disc jockey playing some great old tunes with people just hanging out or dancing. Definitely…I danced! Loved watching the amazing array of golf carts all over the place. Apparently that is the preferred mode of transportation in The Villages. Some of them were pretty snazzy.   Saturday, our last day with Rhiannon, we had just her. One very special thing we did was attend the movie, God’s Not Dead 2. It was fabulous. Rhiannon enjoyed it very much.  We spent the last bit of time with her playing shuffle board back at the RV park. Who knew that it was such a fun game. Like Rhiannon said, “I thought it was an old people’s game. But it’s fun.”

We departed Southern Oaks Sunday morning. I really don’t like this traveling on Sunday mornings. In fact, I’m kind of ready to be done with the whole vacation thing. I’m ready to settle in to the mission God called us to and staying “home.” We have one more vacation type stop before arriving at New Creations in Richmond, Indiana later in the week. We’re stopping in Pigeon Forge for three days. Bill and I really enjoyed a vacation we took took to Gatlinburg years ago (especially me, as I’m a big Dolly Parton fan) and we both love the mountains. It is almost directly on our way from Belleville, Florida to Richmond, Indiana, and we HAD to go somewhere. 

 It was another long day for Bill; remember, I can get up and walk around where he has to stay seated and focused. We left the park in Florida around 11:30 and didn’t arrive at our overnight destination until 7:30. For a car, this leg of our journey should have taken about six hours.  When Bill drives for this long of a time, we make several rests stops. One stop that we made was not part of our plan. As we were travelling down the road we both heard a noise that didn’t sound good. Sounded like metal dragging. Bill was sure something broke but we couldn’t imagine what. The good news is…it wasn’t anything like that. The bad news is, for the second time in our journey thus far, the right tire strap (the one that helps hold the car on the tow dolly), came loose. Fortunately, it didn’t fall off, was still usable, and we could reattach it. Another blessing from above. By the way, had we not had the windows open in the mid-section of the motorhome, we never would have heard the banging. PTL!

We boondocked in Athens GA at another Walmart Sunday night. It’s kind of funny but the location in the lot  where we parked was a rather nice, even quiet, setting. We had grass and trees on two sides of us. That’s better than some of the RV places we’ve seen in our travels. One might ask, is it weird or hard to fall asleep when you’re parked in a public parking lot that has people coming and going all night long. I say, absolutely not. It’s not that noisy and the fact that I’m sleeping in my bed, the bed I sleep in every night now, I feel very much at home (no matter where we are parked). I thank and praise God for that!!!

Have I mentioned all the wonderful restaurants we’ve “happened” onto? I call these kisses from Heaven. Those little things that mean so much. Those things you couldn’t have planned and turn out so well.  In almost every location that we have traveled, we have come across the most delightful restaurants. Some quaint (I love quaint), some unique, some very friendly, most of them affordable, but most of all they have all been DElicious! This particular night there was a Chinese restaurant in the strip mall next to the Walmart. Oh my goodness, the food was spectacular and the sweet Chinese woman that served us was adorable.  When I asked for a to-go container, she brought me one half filled with rice (she said Bill would need our leftover rice for his to-go container).  Then she boxed up the snack chips that came before the meal and when it came time to put Bill’s in a to-go container (yes, there was so much food, even he couldn’t eat it all), she brought out a little plastic cup so Bill could take home the extra spicey on-the-side sauce she gave him (because he said, he liked his food extra spicey). A nice ending to a long day.

We headed out of the Walmart parking lot by 9:30 this morning. After an hour or so of travel, we stopped for fuel and a coffee break. We checked the wheel straps to be sure they were secure and they were. I tell you this because another hour later, a little red car was trying to get our attention to pull off. That’s not always possible, so they waited until there was good pull off spot. The driver got out of his car to tell us that our right wheel strap had come off. Again, it was still hanging on by a thread so we were able to reattach it once again. God bless this man for his kindness and thank God for sending him to us. (Please pray that we are able to figure out what we’re doing wrong with this right tire strap.)

 I failed to mention earlier that we decided not to take the preferred route suggested on GoggleMaps from Florida to Pigeon Forge that would have taken us through Atlanta. Neither Bill or I wanted to go through Atlanta so we found a more “direct” route off the Interstate. It was a really good decision, but one we questioned a few times before we were through.  Although it might have been a bit slower, the traffic was manageable, the views in Georgia were beautiful, and we both enjoyed it a whole lot more.  Because we took this other route, we ended up travelling through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Talk about beautiful. Oh my goodness. What a kiss from heaven to send us this way. I felt bad for Bill as he had to focus more on driving  those narrow roads, climbing up (and then down), going around many curves and sharp turns, and through a couple tunnels. We both got a bit nervous a few times as to whether or not this route was such a good idea. But it turned out wonderfully.  PTL! The views were so breathtaking, we even managed to stop once to take it all in. There were several large pull off places along the route and fortunately, they weren’t filled with cars and there was room for us. So very grateful for all the safe travels we have had. By the way, I’m holding my own on the nerves. Bill is a great driver and for that I am so very grateful. Once again, I say, God is good. (Do I hear an “all the time.” All the time, God is good.) Amen!

So here we are in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the last few days before we embark on our first real work project. Excited for both. Ready for whatever God has for us. Thanks for sticking with me through this review of these last three weeks.

Lessons Learned

3/18/16. After last night’s brief scare of strong winds and rain and remembering “be not anxious “ this mornings Psalm reading was 104, all about the greatness of God. He’s got this! No matter what...I am in His care. HalleluJAH!

3/19/16 Left Gulfport about 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Stopped 45 minutes later right before crossing into Alabama at a wayside to double check the wheels on the car to make sure they were secure. One of the straps came off on an earlier trip so we’re being extra careful to make sure they’re on correctly. All good. (We thank God for His grace in giving us this and many other opportunities to learn how to manage our new life well.) Feeling much more peaceful as we drive. I have my moments and quickly remember that I won’t gain any time on my life by anxious thoughts and reactions. People do this everyday, and by the grace of God, so can we.

As we traveled Interstate 10 from Mississippi through Alabama into Florida panhandle, we made several stretching rest stops and one diesel stop. Bill really needs to stretch. (Please continue to pray for Bill’s shoulder/upper arm pain. You can also pray for back & bottom pain due to these long driving times.) Me, I can get up and walk around for which I am very grateful. When we stopped for diesel, we got to the pump and we’re confused by the type it was…bio-diesel. What’s that? Is it okay to use on a motorhome? They had no other options, so it must be okay, right? Being new we wanted to be sure so we went inside to ask someone. They weren’t sure either. Sooooo, what did we  do…we called our good  friend, Bill Munson. The bio-diesel is fine. Another lesson learned. Thank you, Lord!

The weather been quite beautiful and the highway landscape, looks like we could be in Wisconsin in June, tree lined and green. I’m overjoyed to report that I’ve been mostly peaceful on this leg of our journey. So very different than our trip from Texas to Gulfport. So very grateful for the peace that comes from the One who gives it liberally, if only we will receive it. I will say it again…thanks for all your prayers and praise God for His faithful Scripture encouragement. Worry won’t add an hour to my life. More like it steals those times of my life. Blessings to all you prayer warriors.

By 6 o’clock Saturday, we were getting close to Lake City, Florida where we planned on boondocking at Walmart. For those of you who don’t know what boondocking is, it’s parking your motorhome in a public parking lot or rest area for free overnight parking (where it is permitted). Most Walmarts allow this.  We called ahead to make sure.

I’d like to interject here how busy I can be as Bill drives. I’m checking Google Maps for the best route, letting Bill know how many miles to the next exit and the exit number. I’m checking the Truckers Path app and/or Pilot service station app (both of which Bill M recommended) to find rest areas or truck stops for fueling. Of course, I did a bunch of Googling to find a place to boondock. Walmart won out this time. And then there’s my wifely duties…making Bill a sandwich, getting him a snack or a soda or responding to a thud to see what we didn’t secure tightly. So far, one of the kitchen drawers came open and another time I forgot to secure the closet door. Nothing broken. Another good lesson.

I must admit boondocking  was fun even though I was a little nervous. Plenty of lighting and other rigs and trucks around. At first, I wasn’t sure how Bill would maneuver us into the lot but he did a fabulous job. Got a great night’s sleep. It was actually quieter than the motorhome park where we were in Gulfport as we very close to the Interstate.

3/20/16 Happy Palm Sunday! Sure wish we could be worshipping together. Unfortunately, we’ve been doing a lot of our traveling on Sunday’s which I’m not all that happy about….but it is what it is and we’ll learn how to plan better going forward.

As I write this we’re about an hour to an hour and a half from our next destination…Wickham County Park in Melbourne. We’ll be with our son and granddaughter for the next week. So excited. Not sure how much posting I’ll be doing in the next week but know that we’re thinking and praying for all our dear friends and family. Blessings to you all.

Peaceful Not Anxious

I’d like to start off today with an important answer to prayer. You’ve all been praying and the Lord has answered. You all know that I am not the best passenger. (I’m not all that crazy about driving either.) How anxious and apprehensive I am especially in larger cities and unfamiliar territory. Most of the time, it’s the other driver I’m worried about but with this big rig and my horrible depth perception, it’s been quite the challenge. Well, I said all that again, to say this. The Lord brought to my mind a verse and immediately helped me apply it to my anxious reactions on the road and in traffic. The verse is a familiar one…Matt 6:25-33. “Be not anxious…what to eat, what to wear,” or in my case, be not anxious in Bill’s driving or the driving of others, “for how will that add one hour to my life?” It’s simple enough but this time really impacted me as to the futility of my anxious reactions. I’m not “cured” yet but I’m certainly doing better.

Then in my devotion today another very familiar passage to me was quoted from the Amplified Bible. This particular verse in 1 Peter 3:4 refers to women’s adorning being on the inside not the outside, it says “…incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit which [is not anxious or wrought up but] is very precious in the sight of God.” I shouted out “hallelujah” when I read this. I take it very personally when God keeps using the same words over and over to speak to me. He wants me peaceful not anxious. Those two words are my battleground…Praise the Lord, Peace is the winner.

Wednesday (3/16) had the potential to be a great day. We were going to the Seabee Base where Bill was stationed while in the military (when not in Viet Nam). Bill was pretty pumped and I was excited to share this with him. However (you knew that was coming, didn’t you), in order to get on base we needed a driver’s license (check), vehicle insurance card (check), vehicle registration (whaaaaaaaaaaaat?). I didn’t know that the registration was supposed to be kept in the car. I kept it in my safe box in my file cabinet back in Oshkosh. Big Whoops! (Another,) However, a guy standing in line told us that he contacted his Department of Transportation and they faxed a copy of his registration directly. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a state that will do that. We’d have to go on-line and have it emailed us and then bring it in. When I asked the powers-that-be if that would be okay, the gentlemen very kindly said that he really felt it wouldn’t be worth all this effort. He explained to Bill that the two-story Seabee museum was now just a small conference room and most everything else that Bill would remember was washed away by Katrina. So disappointing! He convinced us that I had already put in more time trying to get a copy of our registration than it would take for us to see what we would see. L

The good news is, we were forced to look around to find something fun to do to take our minds off the disappointment. Earlier in the week from what we saw, it appeared that a lot of boat tours and things like that didn’t start up for another week or two. Praise God for Google, as I found one called Eco-Tours (I know some of my eco-friends are going to be so happy for us) that had a two hour trip up the Pascagoula River. We had just enough time to make a quick sandwich, hop in the car, and head about 30 miles east to Gautier MS. It was absolutely wonderful. (I got pictures, but if you’ve read any of my other blogs, I still don’t know how to get pictures on the blog. I just don’t have the time to figure it out.) We saw two bald eagles, lots of osprey, an owl that took over an osprey nest, cranes, herons, egrets, a wild pig, and a type of damaging muskrat (starts with an “n” but neither Bill or I can remember what it was called). We went through many bayous, marshes, and swamps. It was interesting to hear the differences and watch the waterscape change as we moved from one to another. The swamps we went through weren’t as I expected…all thick and heavy and yucky (I’m running out of the right descriptive words). They actually were quite pleasant. We were told that’s because of the volume of water that flows through on a regular basis keeps it “cleaner” than what I normally would think.

Our guide was very knowledgeable and had good stories to tell; some believable, some not-so-much. We thoroughly enjoyed him as well as the mother and daughter who were also on the tour. Did I say the tour started at 3 p.m.? And it was a two hour trip? We got back to shore around 5:45. He said he’s never done a two hour tour in two hours but refuses to change it to a three hour tour because we all know what happens on those three hour tours. Right?

Thursday (3/17) was our day to stay “home” and get some things done, like laundry. This was a fun thing to do. First time doing laundry at a campgrounds. First time Bill and I did laundry together. Doesn’t sound all that exciting but doing things for the first time in this season of our life, is just plain fun no matter what it is. I also had some bookkeeping work (business and personal) to get done so I sent Bill off to pick up some groceries and things. We don’t buy a lot at one time as we don’t plan to far in advance (so strange).  We also spent a fair bit of time planning for our trip to Florida and our time in Florida. We’ve made our weeks reservation at Wickham County Park in Melbourne, FL which is about a half hours drive from Matt, our son’s place. It has lots of fun things to do there which will be nice as we will have our darling granddaughter, Rhiannon, with us for much of the time. We also spent quite a bit of time prior to today looking in stores and on-line for a portable grill and chairs for Bill and I. Today we drove about ten miles to the nearest Target thinking they might have the grill we were looking for. Well, it wasn’t the exact one but it sure was close. After having the clerk tear the whole thing apart for Bill to be sure it met all his requirements, we said, “we’ll take it” and we did. But that is not the end of the story as there was a Dick’s Sporting Goods store right across the parking lot and we were still looking for the chairs (one with a footrest for Bill and a canopy for me).  Wouldn’t you know it, Dick’s had the grill we were looking for and it was less money. While I was inspecting a collapsible chair with a canopy, Bill went scouting around the store and found the grill. He also found a folding lounge chair that he preferred to the one we were originally looking for. So, back to Target we went, returned the grill; went back to Dick’s and bought that grill, some accessories (you have to have accessories, according to Bill) and the two chairs. We are set!!! I think our shopping is done. It better be. We still have a bunch of stuff back in Oshkosh to pack into this rig. All I can say, it was a good day, a really good day.

By the way, as I was writing this, a major storm moved through the area with some strong winds and rain and I had to quickly remember to “be not anxious” and although I had to remind myself of that several times and suppress the jitters that wanted to take over, I’m peaceful at the moment and pray I stay that way as I close my eyes for another good night.

Good times continue

So when did I become such a scaredy cat? Oh yeah, I’ve always kind of been one. It’s just that when I’m in, what feels like a safe or familiar place, it isn’t as apparent. I’m also not that fond of big cities, especially driving in them. I’m a country roads kind of girl. So what do we have here? New Orleans…big, unfamiliar, not always the safest city. Why was I excited to go? Oh yeah, Bill wanted me to experience it for myself, I was curious about it, had moments of excitement, and I really did want to go, but then my mind got to work and fear crept in. “Renew my mind, Lord. Help me enjoy this part of the journey.” I’m so glad, I can ask Him for or about anything.

We ended up having a wonderful time in New Orleans (3/14). Beautiful day. Arrived early afternoon. We set out to find the beautiful gardens Bill remembered from years and years ago. We found the New Orleans Botanical Gardens located in City Park which is the most amazing city park I’ve ever seen. Bill wasn’t sure it was the same one, so instead of shelling out some big bucks to see the gardens (which didn’t look all the impressive from what we could see) we chose to wander the park. So lovely. We stumbled upon a sculpture garden. I thought the bushes and trees were going to be sculpted but instead we found some amazing, mostly, metal pieces. I took a bunch of pictures and if someone would tell me how to get them on my blog, I would be most grateful.

It was now time to head towards the port and the French Quarter. So grateful for GPS. Of course, we had to turn down the narrowest street and wonder if we would ever find a parking place. Thank God for a huge public parking lot just where we wanted to be. We walked around a bit, took a short ferry ride across the Mississippi River to Algiers Point and back. Then walked down Canal Street to the French Quarter where we planned to have dinner. Okay, so I’m a bit nervous again. Even in my younger years, I wasn’t crazy about crowds milling around going in and out of shops and bars and restaurants. It was fun to experience it; but once is enough for me. I can now say I ate at the Hard Rock Café on Bourbon Street. (Never been to a Hard Rock Café before either. Very tasty.) After a few wrong turns (road construction, again), we headed out of New Orleans. Another wonderful, blessed day. Almost forgot, we encountered a youth group wearing bright orange shirts passing out free water bottles at the park. They were on a spring break mission trip and each morning and afternoon they were doing something around the city to bless others. Love the people we are encountering.

On our way to New Orleans, we stopped at the Infinity Science Center/NASA Stennis Space Center. Stennis is the largest NASA rocket testing center in the US. Bill was pretty pumped about this place. Me too! I’ve always loved the space program. Infinity serves as the welcome center and has hands on exhibits. This is also where you register (with a picture ID) before you can board the tour bus that takes you to the Stennis Space Center which sits on 13,500 acres. There’s an additional 125,000 acres that serves as a buffer zone. Apparently those rockets make a lot of noise…dah. Needless to say the Stennis Space Center doesn’t take up all 13,500 acres, there’s 30 other government, private, and public companies and agencies that are also located on the property. Not sure what they do when the rockets are tested. We stayed on the bus for the entire tour except one time when we were allowed to get out and take pictures of a couple of the rocket testers. I got a great picture of Bill in front of one, but still waiting to figure out how to put them on the blog.

We’re still in the RV Park in Gulfport and we’ve seen a lot of people come and go already. Some people are really on the move. Me, I like staying in one place for awhile, a week, at least. So I was happy when Bill said that was what he was planning. The couple right next to us have been to AirVenture many many times and have good memories of Oshkosh. That’s always nice to hear.

Tuesday was a “work” day for me. So I spent a bit of time in the morning working for His House and Bill just puttered around. The afternoon took us again to those white sandy beaches on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. This time we didn’t just drive up and down the coast. I wanted to walk on the water’s edge and listen to the waves (one of my favorite things to do) which is exactly what we did. So beautiful. So relaxing. So wonderful. Once we sat down, Bill, of course, fell asleep. He definitely is taking advantage of this whole retirement thing. Good for him. Praise the Lord! We did a little shopping and Bill even said he enjoyed walking through the huge mall. Now, that’s a first! We’ve been looking for a grill that is compact and meets all Bill’s requirements (not an easy task). We’ve also been looking for a collapsible portable chair with a foot rest for Bill and one with a canopy for me. It appears that we will have to order them on line and have them sent to wherever we plan on being depending on the shipping time schedule. This could be interesting.

Okay, so there are some challenges to living on the road, but we’re really enjoying it. I’m still amazed that it really feels like home. We do all the same things in our home now that we could do on Ohio Street; just in a smaller area. We have all we need and for that we are truly grateful.

It's Vacation Time

My husband is amazing…11 hours and 15 minutes on the road to get from Scottsville TX to Gulfport MS.  We left Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. and arrived at 9:45 p.m. Google Maps said it was a six and a half hour drive. Of course, that’s by car and we have found that everything takes longer in a motor home. Another one of God’s ways of slowing me down. One issue, again, was all the rain; so we took a little bit of a longer route to avoid some of the flooded areas. We think we could have made it in eight or nine hours but we had several places where the traffic came to a standstill. I’m talking seven miles took an hour or more.

Once we knew we would be arriving after dark, I contacted the motor home park in Gulfport to be sure they would have a place for us. Oh my, they were so very very nice and accommodating. They gave us an extra easy site to pull into and told us not to worry about registering or paying until morning. Kisses from heaven!

So let me go back for a moment. Before leaving Scottsville, I admit, I was feeling a bit nervous (again). But, Praise the Lord, I didn’t have knots in my stomach…just butterflys. Once we were on the road, I started to get excited; the fear was gone and the adventure had begun. There are so many of you out there praying for us…thank you, thank you, thank you…I know your prayers  helped turn my knots to butterflys.

Did I mention, not only were we travelling at night, in highly congested traffic through road work areas, it was also, you guessed it, raining some of the time. I have found in this new season of life, my hands get real sweaty when I’m feeling stressed. Needless to say, there were plenty sweaty palm moments, but our God is faithful and Bill kept on a going.

I know we’re supposed to be free from time constraints and we wouldn’t have had to make the whole trip from TX to MS in one day, but once Bill knew we had an easy pull-thru spot to park in Gulfport no matter what time we arrived, he pressed on. He is really excited to show me where he spent part of his military life, visit some of his old stomping grounds, refresh memories, and make new ones.

In the months, even years before embarking on this journey, Bill would often talk about how nice it would be when traveling long distances (like visiting our granddaughter, Rhiannon, in Florida) for me to be able to make him a fresh sandwich right from our own kitchen. Well, now it is reality. This allowed us to keep on trekking. We made only one stop and that was to gas up right before crossing into Louisiana. I felt bad for Bill as I was able to get up and stretch while he stayed behind the wheel the whole time.

Needless to say, we were both relieved and very grateful to have made it to our destination. Of course, I must share one oops and that is just 500 yards from our turn that would lead us into the motor home park, we turned into a wrong driveway. That’s not good. You can’t back up a motor home pulling a car.  Nor is making a u-turn always a possibility. Truthfully, you can’t make a u-turn with a motor home pulling a car, it’s more like a “round-about turn.” Just to be on the safe side because it was so dark and we were in very unfamiliar territory, I asked Bill to let me jump out and scout out the area. Bless my husband for allowing me to do that and Praise the Lord, there was plenty of space for us to make the turn safely. Whew!

So here we are…I’m feeling like we’re really doing this thing. (I have had moments when it still feels kind of dream like.) Got up this morning, slowly. Got dressed, slowly. Made breakfast, slowly. Meandered down to the park office with Bill, slowly. Looked around, surrounded by other motor homes and RVS and realized, I’m not dreaming. I’m living in a motor home, moving about the country as Bill (yes, I really am letting Bill make those decisions) and the Lord leads. I’m still adjusting to not having a schedule of what the next day holds, but I’m surrendering that part of me little by little. Each day, I’m trying to focus on enjoying the journey one day at a time.

We spent the day today, exploring the Gulf Coast. Beautiful sandy white beaches. Big homes. Homes on stilts. Lots of restaurants. And I think, some remnants of Katrina. Tomorrow, Bill is going to show me New Orleans.  We’re going by car, of course. That’s why he wanted to park the motor home in Gulfport, besides it being near the base where Bill was stationed, it’s kind of in the middle of all the places Bill wants to take me.  I’m thinking this part of our journey gives us the opportunity to do the type of vacationing we couldn’t do when we were both small business owners.  Can’t wait! Never been to New Orleans.

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who has been and is praying for us. Please continue! Still a lot of adjusting to do.

Peace be Still

Okay, so I forgot a few things. How could I forget to make some final comments regarding our first work project. Projects run three weeks. We were there three and half days. Although our experience was limited in time and activity (yes, that darn rain again), it was a wonderful experience and I can’t wait to be part of an entire project. The couples we met, we’re wonderful and so was the camp staff. Saying good bye to the Munson’s was very bittersweet. We have them to thank for our beautiful home and, I know it was a bit tough for them to say good bye to there home of eight years. I know exactly how that feels. They now have a smaller pull behind and I’m happy to say they will continue working on projects. Look forward to the time we all get to work together again.

One other thing I wanted to mention was about the group that came in as campers on Friday night; this morning they were all wearing t-shirts that had Jesus next to a boat with the words “Peace, be still.” Peace has definitely been a theme on this initial part of our journey. Love how God uses whoever or whatever to encourage us. Peace, peace, wonderful peace. Hallelujah & Amen.

When it Rains, It Pours (Blessings)

“Rain, rain, go away; come again, another day.” My oh my, has that phrase been running through my head this morning (Friday, 3/11). The amazing thing though, is that I don’t really mind it all that much. I’m enjoying my new home. It may be small, but it has everything we need. Hallelujah & Praise the Lord! Not one thread of regret or second guessing. Peace, peace, wonderful peace. (Thank you, Lord, for the peace that we heard you right.)

So I ended my story with the unexpected delight of being at the Scottsville Nazarene Camp & Conference Center which is located in the northeast corner of rain-soaked Texas in a tiny town called Scottsville. Gives the name of the camp some meaning, don’t ya know.

It was our intent, after our visit with Jenna (our niece), Tim, and family, that we would head towards Gulfport MS, so Bill could show me the sights and sounds of the Gulf Coast where he spent his time in the military when not serving in Viet Nam. Who knew this was right on the way to, our now good friends, the Munsons (previous owners of our home), March work project. Did I mention that they are part of the group of Christian workers that we are wanting to partner with? Well they, once again, reached out to us and encouraged us to join them for a few days to get a taste of the volunteer life on wheels. Love the way God answers prayers that we didn’t even articulate. A taste of our life to come. Thank you, Lord!

We arrived at the camp mid-afternoon on Tuesday (3/8). Rained most of the way; even had a thunderstorm warning with the possibility of tornados alert on the radio as we were travelling. Prayers ascending that we weren’t travelling into anything dangerous. I recommend knowing what counties you are passing through especially when driving in unpredictable weather; we had no idea how close this warning area was to us. Breathe, Share, breathe. Pray, Share, pray. Hallelujah…we made it safe and sound to the camp.

Grateful to Bill Munson, once again, for his expertise with a 40 ft motor home. He directed Bill as he backed onto a rather wet grassy area. I stood nearby soaking in all the rain and all the ins and outs of properly and safely parking a motor home. I’m thinking this rain was actually a blessing from above so we both had some guided experience in parking the motor home on a grassy area in the rain. Little did I know that the rain would continue for the rest of the week.  

Okay enough about all the rain. We’re here! We’re actually here. We’re getting a taste of our new life. There are four couples all together plus us (Bill & Jean aka Loral, Art & Tamara, Sue & John, Elmyra & Bob). The plan was to rebuild one of the cabins that had deteriorated. But, sorry, I have to mention it again…the rain forced them to find other projects indoors.

I helped the ladies redecorate the dining hall; switching from Valentine’s Day to Spring Time. I mostly undecorated and washed tables. Enjoyed it tremendously. For real! Also got to help in the kitchen Friday night. I was asked to put frozen pieces of chocolate chip cookie dough on sheets for baking. Do they know who they’re dealing with? Oh my, the restraint it took. But then, the delightful cook, Brenda, said she loved the dough and invited me to split one with her. I call these simple sweet moments, “kisses from heaven.” 

With all the rain (just can’t seem to get away from that topic, it’s been unreal), we spent a lot more time in our rig (love that word…which I have expanded to mean Righteous in God).  If anyone has any other suggestions for those initials, I’d love to hear them. So the time in the rig was well spent, in fact, quite necessary as, unlike Bill, I’m only semi-retired and had some bookkeeping to get done for His House Christian Fellowship. It’s been interesting working out all those details. Back on Ohio, I had my home office with three desks, at HQ (His House office) I had two. Now I have a small kitchen table and a ledge that fits my printer perfectly. It’s an adjustment, but once again, God is so faithful, and I actually like my new set up. Thanks to Perry B for having a portable printer available which Bill picked up the day before we left…it has been wonderful. There are so many little Godincidences (That’s coincidences with God in the lead), I can’t begin to share them all. Just know, He’s taking good care of us and blessing us above and beyond.

I feel like I’m all over the place on this post. It’s all so new. There’s so much to tell. Yes, probably more than some want to hear. But, those of you who know me well…I have a hard time saying anything in just a few words. I can’t wait until my posts actually get posted as they happen instead of days later. This unscheduled living is all so new to me I forget what I’ve done and what still needs doing. So with that said, I’m going to sign off of this post and immediately begin another as we are at this moment making our way to Gulfport MS. 

And The Journey Begins

It’s 6:30 Wed (3/9) morning and I’ve been awake most of the night. Not sure when thunder storms and pouring rain became an issue for me. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m not in my big house in a place I am very familiar but rather I’m in a motor home parked in a place at a campground that I’ve never been before. It’s been storming and raining so very hard since yesterday afternoon. There have been a few breaks but very few. I feel like we could be floating away at any moment. I keep reminding myself that God is in control. He is my refuge and strength, my ever-present help, my safety net in the storms of life. And, oh man, what a storm this is. “I am trusting thee Lord Jesus, trusting only thee.”

Well, that wasn’t how I wanted to start my blogging site. I’ve had many thoughts and great things to share in our travels thus far but I just haven’t had the chance to do it. Here’s a “quick” rundown.

Rounding that last bend in the road, and seeing our soon to be motor home (located near Tehlaquah OK) for the first time took my breath away. There never really was a question as to whether or not we would buy it. We just knew this was the one God had chosen for us and He did not disappoint. So many big and small things that we love about it. One thing that was above and beyond anything we could have asked for, is the couple from whom we purchased the motor home: Bill & Jean Munson.  Another Bill (seriously???). To keep things clear after our first conversation with him we tagged him “Monaco Bill” after the model motor home he had for us. Words can’t describe their generosity in all they did for us in those first few days. We had asked to stay in it overnight (even before the purchase was made) and they found us a local site to park which meant Bill had an opportunity to drive and set it up with the help of a very experienced RVer.  The other tips and gadgets they shared with us were and will be so very helpful as we begin to figure out how to live in this beautiful tiny house on wheels.

Another very wonderful blessing was how they helped us in the first leg of our new journey as motor home owners which I will get to in a minute. But first, one thing I hadn’t considered (I truly believe the Lord kept it hidden from me) was that I was going to have to follow Bill in the car until we were able to purchase a car dolly to haul the car behind the motor home. Seriously??? I don’t even get to ride in our new home yet and I hate driving in unfamiliar territory. But worse than having to follow Bill, once we were on our own, I actually had to lead the way. He had enough to learn in handling the rig (so much easier and quicker to type than motor home) that I needed to be the navigator which generally is my job, after all I’m the one with the smart phone. There were a few anxious moments…but we survived. Hallelujah!

Okay back to that wonderful blessing…Monaco Bill and Jean needed to be on the road, Tuesday, 3/1, morning, as they were heading out to do a work project (like the ones we’re planning on doing) and realized that we were all heading in the same direction. So, we got up early on Tuesday (won’t talk about the lack of sleep I had that night as well because of a thunderstorm and getting used to all the new sounds in our new home), learned how to pack everything tight so things won’t slip and slide and then we caravanned out of town. The idea was for Monaco Bill to lead my Bill into some tight spots for turning practice (Wal-Mart parking lot) and then a stop at a Flying J’s to gas up (or should I say diesel up). What a blessing. I must admit, watching Bill maneuver that thing through and around the pumps, cars, and trucks was pretty impressive…too bad I couldn’t enjoy the moment as my stomach was in knots for him. (Help me, Jesus, surrender my fears.)

Our first stop was Tuesday (3/1) afternoon in Reno TX to see our good friend, short-term house mate, His House alumni, and now President of the Board of Directors for His House, Kyle Ackeret. We had several discussions about there being room to pull the rig into his driveway and we were certain that it would work. What we didn’t expect to find were low hanging wires that prevented us from pulling in. This is our life now…figuring things out on the fly. After talking with the police department and being encouraged not to leave it on the street overnight, they were kind enough to offer us a few suggestions. We ended up meeting a delightful couple, Jeff & Callie Kent of Fossil Creek Self Storage, who let us park our rig on their property not more than a half mile from Kyle’s house. No hookups or anything like that, but Kyle wanted us to stay with him anyway and it worked out so very well. God keeps providing over and over in ways we never expect. Love experiencing His guiding hands in all this. Jeff Kent helped search locally and on-line to help us find a tow dolly (please, please Lord, I don’t want to be the lead driver anymore). Another act of kindness to help us on our way. Didn’t realize that tow dolly’s were so hard to come by. We ended up leaving Kyle’s on Friday (3/4) morning and driving to Greenville TX to purchase a dolly. I was very grateful that God lead us to an actual trailer place so we could get it all hooked up and ready to go right there on the spot. Hallelujah, I finally can get out of the car and ride in our new home.

As excited as I was to be in the rig, I must admit I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. Okay, I was more than nervous, my stomach was in such knots that I was constantly praying for peace, all the while knowing that Bill was doing a good job and God is in control. Just for the record, I don’t like driving anything bigger than my car and my depth perception is horrible. That’s a funny thing about this new lifestyle, I’m a horrible passenger and Bill doesn’t particularly like driving. Oh what a God we serve. He’s got quite the sense of humor. Despite that, we do love what we’re doing.

We arrived, safe and sound, at our niece’s, Jenna Steffen Piggott’s home in Longview TX on Friday (3/4) afternoon. We had planned to be there much earlier, but have found everything takes longer in a motor home.  Another lesson for me…I’ve always been hurry hurry hurry, get it done in the most efficient quickest way possible and move on. I’m learning to take things much slower; another adjustment God is making in my life. (Shape me, mold me, make me more like You, dear Jesus.)

We were able to park the motor home directly in front of Jenna & Tim’s house and they so graciously provided us with electric and water. We were only able to let out one of the slides as the other two were on the street side. We still had plenty of room to move around; and crawling over the bed wasn’t so bad. We were also limited to the clothes we could access as when the bedroom slide is closed, the bed is up against the drawers. A lesson in thinking ahead. Good thing we keep our clean underwear in the upper cabinets…we actually planned it for that very reason. We had most of our meals and just hung out a lot with the family, but slept “at home.” I must admit it was fun sleeping in our own bed on a city road.

Had a great time with Tim, Jenna, Joshua (10), Ivy (almost 9), Levi (2), and Lorelie (5 mos). In the short time we were with them, I must admit I learned some great things from Jenna. She’s pretty laid back and helped me relax and enjoy the journey. One thing that she said, as we were giving her and the kids a ride in the motor home with the car attached going around a tight corner and me holding my breath…she asked me, “what have you experienced thus far?’ My answer spoke volumes to me anxious heart. “We’ve had good success thus far; Bill is doing a great job, I can rest in that.”

Pulled out of Longview TX on Tuesday morning (3/8). Still holding my breath a little, but feeling a bit more relaxed. Progress.  PTL! 

Next stop, an unexpected delight: Scottsville (TX) Nazarene Camp & Conference Center. Which is the camp we are currently parked in as mentioned at the beginning. More on that in my next post.