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.