Spring 2018 RV Trip 3rd Posting

From Memphis, TN, we headed to Mississippi. In Tupelo we toured the American Family Radio network facilities. They had just begun their annual share-a-thon fund raiser. It's a large network.

Alabama came next. Driving through Birmingham and Montgomery brought a lot of history to memory. We spent a night in Troy, but the Pioneer Museum was closed. Further south we were able to tour the Army Aviation museum on the Fort Rucker base. (Yes, they let us in even with our WA driver’s licenses.)

Crossing into FL, we toured a cavern in Marianna. The cool air felt good because indeed we have come south and the weather has warmed up considerably.

Several times we saw small wild turkeys on the roadside. They weren’t too afraid of vehicles!

In Tallahassee, FL, we toured the Tallahassee Automobile Museum. Many perfectly restored old cars and much, much more – an amazing place to recall memories!

It will be nice to plug in tonight at Pioneer Mission’s KOA in Orlando. It was about a 2 hour drive through towns to get to Orlando – we were warned that traffic was bad! It was!!!

Spring 2018 RV Trip 2nd Posting

We attempted to visit with daughter Mary in Columbia, MO, but were not able to make connections.

Next stop was our GUIDE retreat at CEF headquarters in Warrenton, MO. We did have the old enemy, WIND, but otherwise no weather issues despite snow warnings…It was great getting to know fellow believers who have a common purpose in life – to win children to Christ. We greatly enjoyed our time there. They are always looking for volunteers – room and board free!

The retreat ended Sunday morning early. We found a church to worship in on our way south to West Plains. There we met with Bryanna and Rosie (her foster moms have called her that – it’s a middle name) at the local McDonald’s.

Rosie, 1

Bryanna, 2

I know I may be imagining, but I think Bryanna remembered me! She came running with a smile! Rosie is now a cute almost 2. The foster parents are gracious folks who really love and work with the girls.

In 2 weeks they will undergo a huge change again – their court date is the 30^th, when Rod and Christina will officially adopt them. Thanks for any prayers all around…

We drove on to Salem where we visited the church that Mary attended when she was expecting Rosie. The folks there had welcomed her and provided all she needed plus. We wanted to say our final thank-yous, since we don’t plan to be in AR again soon!

It’s Monday and we’re writing this from Olive Branch, MS. Besides wind (& very poor road signage  in Memphis, TN) we had a good trip and won’t be going much further tonight.

Spring 2018 RV Trip 1st few days

We left home on Thursday, the 5^th and drove all day. We got off to a great start in the morning – but later in the day an open McD’s coffee cup tipped and baptized Miss Winnie!  We recovered from that, and despite rain the entire first day, got over the passes without much trouble (just took it slow – no choice!). The cool air has solved the overheating issues! We pulled into Haugen, MT, for a free R.V. slot with electricity. The snow had been getting deeper alongside the road, and 4’ banks are common. Our son Alan called, wondering if we knew they were expecting 10” of snow the next day in SD! We enjoyed our night’s sleep and woke up to a dusting of snow.

Spent the second night in a Billings, MT, Walmart parking lot. Peaceful night – woke up to snow! And after our first night in Rapid City, SD, we again woke up to snow. Haven’t had such a wintry trip before, but Miss Winnie is doing great.

The snow comes and melts…we’ve had clear roads almost the entire way. Lots of “watch for ice” signs, which we have been doing, but haven’t seen any. Guess it’s a good thing, since it doesn’t say what to do if we see any!  We have enjoyed seeing the snowy mountain landscape as we drive along I-90 this time of year.

We were thrilled that on Sunday Alan and his family went to went to church with us!

On Monday Roger drove Alan to and from his "sedation" dental appointment and Heather drove Galina and the grand kids to their medical appointments. It was great to be able to help them in this way. In the afternoon Heather drove Galina and the kids to McD's playland for some extra fun before we leave in the morning.

Actually, our visit here has been the best ever – we’re so grateful!