Hard to believe. We left Oshkosh on February 27th,
and returned just two days shy of three months, on May 25th. 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 35th Street (there
really aren’t any actual streets, just markers along the road), and off to the
left; Spot 52. So, around 30th 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 26th, 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!
No comments:
Post a Comment