Thursday - still busy

We finished installing the luggage barriers on the four rental vans. (Heather was released from food services to help with this. She even "ran" the chop saw!) It was hard for us two old folks handling and cutting 4×8 plywood sheets and 2×4's. Fortunately there is wonderful wood shop. The design we were given will not damage the van's interior.

Oh! We finished a 500 piece Mt. Rushmore puzzle. It took about 5 hours, which is unusual for a small puzzle. But it was more difficult than most. (Our evenings are usually free, as workers go home.)

I took photos of the beautiful CEF campus the other day.

Their campus is nearly a square mile with woods and wildlife.

Wednesday tasks

Today was a very busy day here at CEF as we are loading trucks and getting vans ready to transport people to the international conference in North Carolina this weekend. There will be a lot of airport runs to pick up folks coming here from all over the world. There are "pre-conference" meetings here before driving to NC.

Heather continues to work in the kitchen and help out in Guest Services. Roger started constructing "luggage barriers" in the back of four rental 15-pasenger vans. The idea is to somewhat isolate the rear baggage from the back seats in the event of a hard stop.

Monday & Tuesday at CEF HQ

We've both been kept busy so far. Heather has been working in the kitchen. Up to this point they've only prepared lunch for the staff. Tomorrow they'll add breakfast, and Thursday they will add supper. This is because a lot of new guests will be c arriving from all over the world. So she'll be busier.

Roger has been pressure-washing places around campus. Picnic tables, patios. sidewalks, etc.

We have time each evening to relax in the RV. We've done a jigsaw puzzle each evening. We got these at the train museum we visited. See previous post.

Florence, SC, to Warrenton, MO road conditions

We purposely avoided route #40 that sustained so much damage during the recent hurricanes. (See previous blog postings.) So, taking the southern route, #20, #75, #24, we drove through SC, GA & TN on very good roads. Traffic was light. 

KY roads were not as smooth and in IL route #57 was terrible! For about 50 miles, we were in one lane or speed limited to 55 for construction sites. However, since it was Saturday, there was no construction, but considerable delay in travel. Keeping the R.V. on the road when it's very rough is another trick!

Routes #64 and #70 were o.k. We were glad to arrive at Warrenton, MO!

It took 2 hours to get through/past Atlanta - even though in some places there were 8 lanes for traffic going in one direction! The other slow city was Nashville, although that only took about 1 hour!

Now at CEF HQs for a week

Today we drove from Paducah, KY, to Warrenton, MO, to volunteer at the Child Evangelism Fellowship headquarters.

Last night we parked at a Love's Fuel stop outside of Paducah. A quiet night considering that it's a gas station/truck stop. Today we did some shopping for supplies for the upcoming week at CEF. We stopped in for lunch at a Chick-fil-A.

We visited a railroad museum in Paducah since we were in town. It always interesting to see a little bit of America's history. The railroads had a major impact.

Friday Travels

We left Love's before 8:30am and headed north toward Nashville. 

Heather spotted a sign for the Lodge Cast Iron Museum in South Pittsburgh, TN.

Google's AI says...

"Lodge is the oldest and largest cast iron cookware manufacturer in the United States. They use a traditional sand molding process, pouring a proprietary mix of molten pig iron, steel, and other ingredients into a sand mold. This process creates the grey cast iron cookware for which they are known."

Their museum section has some very interesting and well done displays. Some are video-based, some are hands-on mechanical devices.

Thursday at Love's

We left Florence, SC this morning and are parked for the night at a Love's Travel Center in Cartersville, GA, north of Atlanta. The scenery is pretty.

Heather teaches a Zoom Bible club on Thursdays so we were able to use the McDonald's open wifi signal.

The drive here via Atlanta was crazy with traffic. It took over two hours get through that area so we decided to take the Love's exit. Getting from one exit to the next took about 1/2 hour each time, so to make sure we were set to Zoom, we took an exit that said Love's and McDonald's. Both those places often have free wifi - and that was the way it happened.

Roger liked that he could see our reflection in the truck's rear panel! We followed closely as traffic was barely moving (& often not at all)! Several ambulances and tow trucks went by, and the overhead signs told about stalled cars and road repairs...It wasn't much fun, but we were grateful not to be part of the problem! Around Atlanta at one point there were 8 lanes for traffic going one direction! Guess traffic is an issue here - we'll have to remember that.

This morning we heard that our pastor's wife, Holly Kohls, had passed away. She was in a coma for 4 days. We don't know any more, but are praying for Mark and our church.