Continuing Homeward

Our next overnight stop was still being confirmed as we left Laurel, MT, heading west on I-90.

We stopped at several cities along the way so Roger could visit gun stores. He can only look, but not buy, because of stricter laws in our home State.

Friday night we again parked at a Love's near Missoula, MT (actually in Wye, MT).

We took time that evening to assemble a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle. Actually, it was only 499 pieces. As is common with thrift store puzzles, they are often missing a piece or two. If you look closely you will find where the missing piece was supposed to be! (right side above the yellow flower)

We took some time the next morning to shop before heading north and crossing into Idaho.

We arrived in Priest River, ID late Saturday afternoon. Our friends, the Smiths, live in a very rural community in the hills.

We attended their church on Sunday morning.

Billings and Laurel, MT

Heather did her usual Operation Christmas Child (aka OCC) shopping in tax-free MT. So, that means shopping at two Walmarts, a Dollar Tree and a resale store. Preparing and sending shoeboxes with Samaritan's Purse is a serious "hobby/ministry" for her.

We planned a visit to the huge Scheels store before leaving Billings. Heather taught her Zoom Good News Club from the RV using the store's strong wifi signal in the parking lot. After that we rode their in-store Ferris wheel and enjoyed watching their huge aquarium and wildlife dioramas.

Thursday night we parked at a brand new Love's Plaza in Laurel, MT. We certainly were not prepared to see police cars, two fire trucks and an ambulance show up after dark. Apparently some sort of gas leak triggered the emergency response. The staff were evacuated, and the store and station shut down while the fire department searched for the problem. 

The station was reopened a while later and the rest of the night was totally peaceful. We have not learned any more about the gas leak. The morning staff in the store knew nothing about the night's emergency!

Visit to our Sturgis Family

Memorial Day: Checked out of the hotel in Rapid City and did our laundry at a nearby laundromat.

Shopped at a thrift shop in town where everything was at 50% discount.

We arrived Monday afternoon in Sturgis. Had an evening meal with son Josh and his family. Son Alan and his family also dropped by join us in the meal.

Tuesday morning we went with our granddaughter to the Black Hills Railroad 1880 train ride.

This engine is one of only a few still using steam engine power.

Rapid City, SD for the weekend.

We left Warrenton on Wednesday morning and drove through the day. In the evening we found a church with a Wednesday evening service, the Crossroads Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I  saw this sign in their coffee bar.

Christ
Offers
Forgiveness
For
Everyone
Everywhere 

Thursday travel day. We stopped in Mitchell, SD, so Heather could teach her Zoom Good News Club using the open wifi from Tractor Supply.

We parked for the night at a Love's Travel Stop in Kimball, SD. I would love to see this gas price in our home state of WA.

Friday travel day. Heading west, we stopped at Wall Drug, in Wall, SD. We often stop there on our I-90 travels and eat a Buffalo burger or other menu item. Lots of old west memorabilia to see here and overpriced trinkets to buy.

We arrived at our favorite RV campground in Rapid City Friday afternoon, but only stayed there one night.

Unfortunately their pool  was out of commission so we moved to the Grand Gateway hotel which has a great indoor pool with a slide. 

Our son Alan and his family joined us at the pool Saturday afternoon. The kids really like this pool.

There are other distraction in the "pool room"

We attended a church on Sunday morning that we had never attended in our years of visits to the area. Christ Church has a traditional Sunday School and worship service. They sing hymns accompanied by piano and organ. They even have a choir! 

Wow! We totally forgot to keep up the blog!

We left the CEF Warrenton campus this past Wednesday morning with our next major stops in Rapid City and Sturgis, SD. Well, we are now in an RV park in Rapid City planning to visit our two sons and their families.

Let me fill you in our our past week, though.

Last Thursday and Friday was spent supporting the staff conference. All staff are required to attend! Volunteers take care of housekeeping and food services. Roger spent most of the week maintaining bathrooms and floors. Heather spent of her time in food service.

On Saturday afternoon we drove to Columbia, MO to attend the Sunday morning service at Calvary Heritage Baptist Church. When we are at home in Washington, we watch this church's morning service on YouTube. We make it our Sunday evening service.

On Monday and Tuesday we serviced a bunch of guest rooms in the Lodge. That meant stripping and laundering all the bedding and towels. Heather did a lot of folding towels and Roger vacuumed rooms and hallways.

During our spare time we worked on a "community" jigsaw puzzle.

Before driving away we grabbed a few images of 

Warrenton, MO update

We arrived at the Child Evangelism Fellowship headquarters in Warrenton on Tuesday, May 12, to volunteer during their staff conference. A team of volunteers takes care of all the food services and housekeeping during to conference so that the staff are freed from their normal duties and able to attend the conference sessions. Heather helped out in the kitchen and dining room while Roger cleaned restrooms, emptied trash bins, swept floors and vacuumed carpets.

CEF has an RV park; we are fully connected with water, sewer and electric. It's a short walk from the RV to the building. The weather has been sunny and warm until Saturday morning when it started raining.

On Wednesday evening we decided to disconnect and attend a service at a nearby church. It turned that they were a couple weeks into an Alpha course. We really enjoyed watching the course video and participating in the discussion around our table.

Update from Hillsdale, part 3

After leaving campus we visited the nearby Slayton Arboretum, which is operated by the College. Check out the link to learn more of this unique place. We enjoyed walking (hiking?) the pathways.