Final Stretch to home

We drove as far as Buffalo, WY, and looked for an evening service. Found a small church with 3 horses in their pasture! The preacher wore cowboy boots!! The music was very uplifting with hymn requests and a great pianist. Her daughter played along with a Harmonica type instrument. We totally enjoyed getting to know the few folks that were there. How sad that so many professing Christians stay home on Sunday night!
After the service, they offered that we could stay the night on their property - they even had full service hook-up, although we only used the electric. A full moon rose slowly over the pastures.

Next day it was off to MT. That is one Big State - 550+ miles of I-90. We got as far as Butte and settled in a Walmart parking lot. The roads generally were better, traffic light and minimal winds.

Tuesday lunchtime was spent in Haugen, MT. They have a free R.V. park there, but we weren't ready to bed down, so we just used their electricity. Then we continued on to Moses Lake, WA, for the night.
Today, Wednesday, we drove on home. The weather held very well - only had light rain in eastern WA. Stopped at the Cle Elum bakery for our regular donut, cleaned out the tanks at the rest area, picked up our mail, and got home about 3:30.
We are grateful to the Lord for His blessing and protection on the 7001 miles that we just finished!

Rapid City & Grandkids!

Alan and Galina treated us to Olive Garden on Friday.

Saturday we spent almost entirely with Zoey, 5, and Wyatt, 2. They love our R.V.!! We played many games, including hide and seek (tricky in a 31' R.V.!!).

We were able to take them to McDonald's for some fun time, too.

Sunday we left for home right after church. The weather has cleared wonderfully and we consider it a gift from the Lord!

Ice Age (Drive) & Winter!

Our friends in Madison, WI, live on Ice Age Drive. The weather there was great, but we had no idea that we were headed into the ice age!!

In western MN the climate changed - cold, fierce winds and then ice on the road. Miss Breezy (an appropriate name, given the weather) was blown sideways in a slip and slide manner. We were so thankful there was little traffic (actually, some of the highway had been closed), especially when we needed 2 lanes to stay on the road. Many people were caught unprepared by this fierce, early storm.
Our goal was Murdo's Pilot gas station. They allow overnight parking. Since we didn't know we would run into such major weather, we hadn't properly prepared and were short on water and possibly propane (as it turns out, we weren't interested in showering, and we had more propane than we thought). We were about 140 miles away from son Alan's place. He had a run to make east, and said he would stop by us on the way. When he does long hauls, he leaves home early.
We ended up in Murdo, SD, quite traumatized! It was only about 5 p.m., but we could go no further. Snow was blowing, sometimes obliterating the road and landscape. It was about 30 degrees - 10 less with wind factor. Our awning was blown back and out of the cover, flapping and ripping in the gale winds. At one point we stopped so Roger could attempt to secure it a little better. He didn't have winter clothes, so we put my ear muffs and scarf around him to try to provide a little protection. His hands just shook as he worked! Heather was driving and pulled off alongside a semi to hope for some protection.
After pulling into Murdo and finding a place among many semis, we snuggled in under most of our blankets until about 6 a.m. when we got a phone call from Alan, saying he would arrive in an hour or so. He was driving 35-55 mph in his semi, pulling his 53' flatbed trailer.

We got up  him and served breakfast, assuming he'd continue on east - on a work run.
But we weren't sure what to do, not wanting to face the weather we had the day before. Alan tried to assure us it would get better, but the forecast didn't agree with him! After about an hour, he decided he'd turn around and accompany us to Rapid City. (He saw the many semis in the ditch, along with several cars and one R.V., and knew the highway patrol was urging people to stay away - even closing some sections.) What a blessing! We felt so honored and it gave us much assurance. Up 'til then we really didn't know what to do.
He followed us and at one point said later, "I saw your lives flash before me!!" It was not a fun drive, but God graciously got us here. We hooked up and the sun came out on Saturday. It has warmed up.

Friends and Roger's Birthday

Jim and Nancy Molenhouse welcomed us to their back yard - a perfect place to park. We were able to catch up on happenings in our lives. They are active in Christian work here as well as ELWA (Eternal Love Winning Africa - radio station).

The next morning we drove to Elk Grove Village, to Heather's cousin Mary's place. She offered to host a birthday party for Roger - yes, he had one! Several long time friends were able to drop in and we enjoyed fellowship.

After a quick stop in Madison, WI, at missionary friends, we headed to SD.
Tonight we are in MN and it's raining out! It sounds so pleasant from inside the R.V.! We've only had rain one other night, but we've heard about a lot of rain. Also, we have seen a lot of flooding - even the mighty Mississippi was overflowing its banks.

Grandsons & Taylor 50th Reunion

In OH we were glad to have a short visit with 2 grandsons, 6 & 8. They were glad to see us, too! We did their homework with them, and played together. Sadly they are not in church much.

From there we headed to IN. One purpose of our trip was Heather's 50th reunion at Taylor University.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and "plugged in". The program was well planned and stuffed full. We were not able to do everything we would have liked to. It was a blessing to find many classmates that had served overseas in mission work - either part time or career. Many others were in Christian work (or had been! - we're mostly retired now!!). Taylor's campus has expanded dramatically - walking from one building to another was an exercise!! However, they provided golf cart service, if you could catch one available. The weather was superb (last year they said it was in the 30s!); the food excellent; the fellowship refreshing; but, Taylor lost the football game!! (14-13)

Sunday morning in chapel we heard Dr. Richard Allen Farmer speak on Acts 12 - Herod's anger and arrogance. He accepted the worship of the people. Dr. Farmer encouraged us to watch for those 2 "bad a" words in our lives. God is a jealous God and He only is awesome and to be adored.

Now we are in IL where we just spent a couple hours with a former neighbor and caught up on the rest of the former Wheaton neighborhood. We are headed to Carol Stream (Chicago area) to Roger's cousin to catch up a little.

Roads and Weather

Roads:

Several years ago friends from Germany borrowed our van. When they returned, they complained about our poor roads. I hadn’t really noticed at that time. However, that has changed!! We found terrible roads in NY, but now we know that western VA and WV give them a run for their money!

Between our own trip planning and our GPS, we have had some true driving adventures! The GPS was the worst. It took us off the main road (we didn’t realize at the time), onto a black top, narrow – no striping – curvy, hilly, wooded road. It was dark (of course). The good thing was that we didn’t meet many on the 20 or so mile trip. This road had true hairpin curves (Roger didn’t know what they were until I showed him a hairpin!). A sign posted ½ way through said that vehicles over 25’ were not allowed. We are about 35’!! However, there was no turning around! We also lost connection on the GPS. It was with great relief that we ended upon a road with striping!! Now we check the old-fashioned paper maps….

Weather:

We have had unusually hot weather – today was almost 100^o! In the last month, the temperature has been 90’s. Our generator went out several days into our 2 month trip, which means no a/c when we’re not plugged in. However, we’ve had enough a/c (McDonald’s, etc.!!) to keep us functioning. This hot has been wearing, but not defeating! Now we read about snow out west and pray that it will be melted before we get there…

D.C. and OH

Part of our visit in NC included a trip to D.C. I took granddaughters Ellie, 10, and Scarlett, 8, to tour the White House. In the spring I had applied for the tickets and got word 2 weeks before my requested time that we did get them! Nothing like last minute notice! However, they told me up front that that was how it worked. Ellie was our "official" (& only) photographer.

The State Dining Room has a mantle that is a reproduction of the 1812 original. On it is a prayer that all who serve in the White House may be worthy.

After our tour of the White House, we spent the rest of the day at the Museum of the Bible. I can’t say enough about that museum – it is truly worthwhile to visit. 6 floors of activity, information, and interactive displays. On one floor you walk through Nazareth; one floor takes you through the Old Testament and one through the New Testament. There are things for kids to do – the girls wrote some Hebrew and made a bookmark with their “correct” birth dates (based on the corrected calendar).

Their favorite place was the kids’ corner with 2 pillars for them to push over (Samson); a maze to conquer (Rachel hiding the spies); a fishing pond made with lights that rippled when you walked on it (Peter fishing); lions to feed; baskets of fish and bread to multiply; as well as a climbing area.

The next day we toured the Capitol, visited MLKing's memorial and President Roosevelt’s memorial, walked through Ford’s Theatre and the house across the street where President Lincoln died.

I managed to tire the girls totally, so we all got good nights’ rest! It was an adventure I hope they don't forget soon!

Now we are in OH, visiting our 2 grandsons. We had 3 hours with them tonight and plan on a little more time tomorrow.