We did it…we finally did it. We were able to pull out of
French Camp, MS around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 6th. We had
hoped to leave in the early afternoon but the repair mechanic didn’t arrive
until 10:30 or so. Bill stayed close to
the rig in case he was needed; I tried to keep myself busy so as not to get
over-anxious. (Yes, I know, some of you find that hard to believe.J) Around 2:30, as I and a fellow ViMMer were
walking back towards the RV parking area, she asked excitedly, “do you here
that?” I’m like “hear what???” “The motor’s running.” Hallelujah! Sure enough,
it was our motorhome that was running. PTL!!! Shortly after, the mechanic finished
up and after he was sure it would keep running, he took off. Bill wasn’t too
far behind him as he had to sign paperwork back at the shop (a bit over a half
hour away) so that our Extended Warranty would cover the repairs. Not sure why
they couldn’t send the paperwork with the mechanic but we happily complied to ensure
coverage. While he did that I took care of “buttoning up” the place one more
time and said a few more good-byes for the umpteenth time. Not complaining, really, I’m not. As I keep
saying, our friends at FC (staff & students) have become so very dear to us;
we were just beyond-ready to be gone. After saying good bye to our ViMMer
friends and being “prayed off” by one special couple, we pulled out of the RV
parking lot about 5 p.m. Thank you, Lord!
We were making good time, the roads weren’t too busy (which
I was very grateful for), and it was time to stop for fuel around 8:30/9 p.m. in
Tallulah LA. Bill did a walk around and everything looked good, except one car
tire strap needed to be tightened up. (Always the same one. Don’t know why but
grateful to have the opportunity to make it right.) As we drove out of the lot (which
seemed particularly dark), the front left tire of the motorhome hit a huge pothole
or something and scared the breath right out of us. It also caused the cabinet
holding our daily Corel dishes to come flying out…crashing and smashing in
every direction. What a mess. Bill immediately pulled over so that we could
assess the damage and clean up as much as possible. The good news: we still
have service for four (now, instead of eight) and one large and one shallow serving
bowl broke and one didn’t. In other words, none of the Corel that broke will be
missed much. PTL! However, the sad news was that the only two dishes (small
shallow bowls) I had kept from my mom’s china set broke. Now I’ll have
something to look for when the ViMM ladies have a day out visiting thrift
stores. Actually, the worst part of all
this was I figured we’d be unexpectantly finding pieces of broken dishes for
days to come. No barefootin’ tonight. The bathroom cabinet also popped open
flinging most of the bottom shelf into sink or on floor. The good news there is
nothing broke. Quick clean up, thank you very much.
We got back on the road still feeling a bit little shook up,
but that was nothing. Bill had turned our rear view camera off as the light
bothers his eyes at night. After traveling several miles, I turned it back on
(I always like to know that our car is still back there) it wasn’t!!! No, Lord
no! I was totally freakin’ out, Bill was frantically (as frantic as he gets) playing
with the buttons on the camera, and I was begging him to just pull over…grateful
we were at a spot where he could. And I, shaking and praying diligently, went
to investigate. Thank you Lord, Thank you! Everything was in its place; the car
was on the dolly and all was well. By the time I climbed back in the rig, Bill
had determined that we must have bumped the side view button which showed
nothing because there was nothing alongside us to see. I shook for quite awhile
longer as I continued to praise the Lord. We managed to continue on (not sure
how Bill did it) for a while longer; he really wanted to make Texas before we
stopped but we got as far as the Pilot Truck Stop in Haughton LA at 11:30p.m. This
is the first time we boondocked at a truck stop. They tend to be a bit noisier
than a Walmart parking lot and I found that to be true; however, Bill wanted to
try it and it didn’t seem to bother him at all. He watched me clean up more of
the broken glass for a few minutes when I told him to just go to bed; I was still
a bit too wound up to sleep. Not so much with Bill, he conked out right away and
I climbed into bed around 12:30. Not sure when I fell asleep. It didn’t come
easy.
The next morning I found out that every truck that came into
the truck stop had to drive past our motor home. I was awake, on and off, starting at 3:30
a.m. We both got up before 6 and decided why not just grab a quick breakfast
and hit the road. We did have to tighten up that car tire strap again. Lord, thank you for keeping it secure enough
as we travel! Thirty minutes later, we were finally in Texas. Sometime,
mid-afternoon we made it to Forest Glen Springs Camp--new home to Wilderness
Ridge Camp. I’m not even going to attempt to write about some of the challenges
we had getting to our destination once we got to Texas. Let’s just say, county
roads in Texas are not well maintained and its best to stay off them if at all
possible. Unfortunately, the last three miles to the camp were on narrow,
curvy, bumpy county roads. There were times I thought the cabinets might pop
open again, it was that rough. But, praise the Lord again and again, we made it
safely and the motor home seems to have survived without any problem.
We received a very warm welcome from the staff as well as
fellow ViMMers and other volunteers at Forest Glen Springs/Wilderness Ridge.
Apparently, the anticipation of our “long awaited” arrival made them eager to
greet us. We were all set up and relaxing in our new surroundings by early
evening. Whew!!! Hardly covers what we are both feeling. So grateful to finally
be on a new project, where we’re meeting and making new friends, exploring
another camp, and serving our Lord & Savior anew.
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