Summer trip east during COVID-19!

Since our spring trip needed to be cancelled, we decided to try for a summer trip. We have often driven the same routes, so this time we were adventurous and took the road less traveled. On a narrow county road, the RV stopped while Heather was driving on cruise. That meant lost steering and brakes! God graciously provided a side road she was able to pull into. The R.V. restarted immediately and had no further issues. Roger called it a fluke!

Our path took us over 100 miles of very windy, narrow National Forest hilly roads that were heavily wooded, but not much traffic. These roads are closed during winter and the surface damage was terrific! Posted speed limit of 35, but seldom could Heather drive that. Roger got sick with all the bouncing and hair-pin curves. But it was a beautiful day and wonderful scenery! We made it to the Columbia River.

We drove along the Columbia River on the WA side and stopped at a rest area for our evening snack.

The day was very windy so there were lots of white caps, but it wasn't a problem for driving. From there we drove to The Dalles in OR and spent the night in the Petco parking lot.

Next morning, our coach batteries were dead. Roger decided we needed to go home. He still didn't feel well. But O'Reilly charged our batteries and we decided to keep on for an hour before we made a final decision. Our friends were very disappointed that we weren't coming. So, at the point we had to decide to head south or north, we turned south. By then Roger was feeling more optimistic and much better.

Driving on route #14 on the WA side of the River, we watched sail boats, windsurfers, & tugboats pushing barges.

 The road took us through 6 tunnels. It was a beautiful drive.

After crossing to the OR side we continued driving along the river, eventually arriving at our friends near Boise, ID, late Saturday. They fed us steak and berry pie with coconut ice cream. Then we had a private fireworks show!!

On Sunday we were thrilled to go to church - masks and hand shakes optional as you were comfortable. A missionary leaving for Togo spoke. The special music was a sax solo with his wife accompanying him on the piano playing "Great is Thy Faithfulness".

After church we headed to Twin Falls and Shoshone Falls. The water was flowing freely! The narrow windy road down to the falls was another adventure in a 31' RV!

Driving on into Twin Falls, we found a church with an evening service. Not only did we enjoy wonderful music, including a special 4 hand piano duet - & the organ played for the congregation, too! No masks, no restrictions! YEAH!

The pastor told us we needed to visit the Perrine Bridge which was famous because many jump off with parachutes. It's also the spot where Evel Knievel jumped his motorcycle over the chasm. We didn't find his ramp, but they say it's still there somewhere...

That night we parked at Walmart, in Burley, ID
Monday we drove to the Golden Spike National Historical Park in Promontory, UT. The welcome center was closed, but we posed by the trains outside - and the store was open!!

And on our way there, we passed the Northrop Grumman facility where they've developed and tested rocket motors for many years.

Now we're parked in Green River, UT. Internet is very sparse - even McDonald's has let us down, so we got a parking spot in a campground for this (Monday) evening.

Short spring trip 2020

We just needed to make sure the R.V. was ready for a longer trip, so we drove north on I-5 to route 20. Then east; spent a night in Rockport camp ground. From there to DeLanos for supper and the night. Good to see them again! Then south into OR; drove along the Columbia - beautiful weather! Went to The Dalles to get a new battery; then back to route 97 and north into WA. Spent the last night in Ellensburg truck stop. Slept well; weather couldn't be better! So blessed! Home on Saturday in time to do Zoom games with the kids!

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.