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With the last planned visit over, we headed home. It's always fun to stop in MT at various places. In Butte, we rode the ferris wheel at Scheel's. There was a parking spot open for us at Haugan, a favorite stopping place. We can plug into electricity for free there!! We gassed up in ID before entering our expensive State! Several neighbor boys welcomed us home and helped carry in many bags...It took 2 days to get the R.V. emptied, but we are now moved back into the house and getting reacquainted with it!!

SD Family

We arrived on Tuesday and Alan’s family came out to meet and greet us! Alan brought flowers for Mother’s Day. The kids are happy to see us and very disappointed that the pool will not be open.

Odin, the 1 yo is a total charmer! He understands “no” and responds well to it. Harrison, the 4 month old just drools over us! Zoey at 10 is a little more reclusive, but she did warm up with time. Wyatt, 7, never stops! He wears us out…

The weather has been great and the kids have been able to play in the playground. There are actually 2 on the campsite, so it has worked out well.

Josh came with his family when he got off work on Friday. Scarlett, 13, is growing up too fast! She plans on a driver's license in December – SD gives licenses to TOO young kids!! Lol We like to play games together.

We have had lots of food and time to catch up. On Saturday we all went to watch and cheer Wyatt on in a bike/run race. The campsite has a fire ring, so we’ve had fires most nights, with s’mores.

SD Rest Area and Rapid City

We drove on to Sioux Falls, SD, to meet with Kyle. Had lunch with him. He's waiting to get a police job.

From there we headed west and ended up at a rest area just short of Murdo. Slept well; gained another hour on our way home - westward bound! The roads (I-90) are very smooth and straight. Great driving - only there is always some wind! (from the north - thanks, Canada!)

The rest areas are pleasant stops. I decided early on I would get out and walk each time we stopped at one. I've been quite faithful at that. In one of them a small chapel had been built. Inside were Bibles and children's Bibles; well maintained and clean. As I approached the chapel, a bright yellow bird flew up. What a great place to go for a walk!

Now we are situated at our favorite camp site in town. The pool will not be open; the weather is cool. We plan to stay until Sunday.

On to SD

Sunday morning we awoke to a violent wind storm. The R.V. just shook. Then the rain came - Roger was thinking maybe a tornado. However, it all ceased and we drove in peace to church.

Church was most enjoyable - hymns, Sunday School on Jude, and the message on Gideon, one the Biblical judges - well researched and delivered exceptionally well. We are blessed.

 

CEF HQ

We started work at 8 on Monday. The conference attendees were still arriving from all over the world. It was a meeting of the International Regional Directors and the International Board. Besides kitchen work (our main job was breakfast), we helped put together 2,000 back pack kits for Haitian kids. About 10 items per bag. The job got done!

Also, there was collating of teaching materials needing to be done. We made a small dent in that project. 

Heather's other assigned job was to iron 28 round tablecloths for a big Friday formal dinner. She got help with 4.5 - the rest were her responsibility.

Tuesday-Friday we reported to work at 6:30. They like a 6-7 work day from volunteers, so we stayed out of trouble. Truth is, we did more work. The other option was to sit in the R.V.!

The weather was pleasant - hot some days; cool some days; some rain. We didn't have a fire at night, like we have it the past.

In the kitchen, we prepared food - baked cookies, cut veggies, put out all the breakfast items, washed dishes, served the guests, etc. It was a never-ending job! What fun!! We just might be back - later this year or next year...only God knows!

Saturday we pulled out and got to Nebraska City, NE. We found a great parking for the night and got our shopping done for the next week.

Columbia, MO and CEF

We spent the night in a rest area and drove on to Columbia on Saturday. We parked in the church parking lot (by permission) and were ready for a great service (& Sunday School). That church has a lot to offer the community and they do reach out. Several great Bible teachers and an inspired preacher.

We provided lunch for Scot and Mary - who didn't have the courtesy to come to church on Mother's Day to be with me!! They had 2 guests there, but there was enough food!!

I taught the Zoom GNC from the R.V., and discovered the internet is not sufficient. I finished it outside, which may have helped a little with connections. The mosquitoes enjoyed the story, too!!

We are parked in the CEF R.V. parking lot, ready for work tomorrow morning.

IN, IL, MO

From Fort Wayne we headed to West Lafayette. Heather (a Taylor U friend) & Harlan welcomed us to their place. We have managed to keep in touch all these years. A 3rd friend has graduated to Glory. We pulled out of Heather and Harlan’s place around 10 the next morning.

In Peru, IN, we stopped to check out Grissom Air Museum. The rain let up enough for us to complete the outside tour of planes. Inside there were more videos and displays. When it was time to leave, the heavens had opened and torrential rain was coming down. We delayed leaving for several minutes, and the rain let up. By the time we had driven a few minutes, it quit! This trip has been like that - rain, but never for long.

Driving west, we went by Effingham, IL – forever in our memory as the place the R.V. quit 2 years ago. It took a month to restore it and the engine still runs well 26,000 miles later. Thankfully, even though it does stop on occasion, on its own, it always immediately restarts! Quite exciting when you’re driving along the highway… 

Based on Alexa’s recommendation, we decided to check out the St. Louis’ City Museum. There was no problem getting there, but parking was another issue. We finally pulled alongside signs that said, “parking by plate”. The parking attendant (for cars) didn’t know anything about that. After walking around the museum (& taking some pictures), we decided not to enter. It looked gloriously fun – for kids!! As we left, we noticed the parking pay machine where you enter your license plate and pay accordingly. That explained the “parking by plate” signs.

Leaving St. Louis was much more complicated. After getting on highway I-64, we realized we didn’t want to go that route. We wanted I-70. In the meantime, the gas light came on. This has only happened one other time. However, in the part of town we were there were no gas stations. Roger put “nearest gas” in his phone and also on the GPS. Every time we turned, the reaction was “you’re going the wrong way”. So, as the needle bounced on the empty mark, we wandered around town…

Finally, I just happened to glance up and saw “water works” – a car washing station – on the other side of the 6 lane road. However, in a last minute look, I also saw the word “fuel”. We made a number of turns to get there, no knowing for sure if they had gas. They did – and we thanked and praised the Lord for leading us to this “off the beaten path” gas station!

Eventually we got back on I-70 and pulled into a rest area for the night. It was a good night and we slept well. Now off to Warrenton to shop and then Columbia to park by the church we will be attending tomorrow.