And We're OFF!

Jan. 9, 2013

Less than 2 hours to take off.  I meticulously made lists of all the things I need to do for each day before we go – and then I lost my list.  It’s added a bit more stress than I was hoping for.  Kaleb has been extraordinary in helping clean the house and pack up the RV though, so that took a lot of stress off.  To have him do non-stop chores without a single complaint is miraculous.  We need to do this more often!

Kory went to the dump and prepared the exterior of the RV while I got the inside all loaded down with everything I could possibly think of that we’ll need in the next few months, but it’s a little silly since we’ll probably be sleeping in Wal-mart parking lots and have access to everything we need at the drop of a button.  I managed to get everything from the frig into our tiny RV frig and freezer, so that was the second miracle of the day (only to be trumped by Kaleb’s incredible house cleaning skills.)

We finished cleaning and loading and even had 10 minutes to all sit down and check email before dinner – it was so nice to have those minutes that weren’t rushed.  We ate dinner, cleaned up, then headed on out the door at precisely the moment I had planned.  Then I remembered our Honda van needs to be plugged into a battery charger or it will go dead while we are gone.  So then we were a few minutes late.

Finally, we drove down our driveway and on to Best Road, heading to a prayer meeting at church before we leave town.  Just a few miles into our journey I remembered I forgot my purse at home, so we took the next turn on Bradshaw and headed right back home again – adding 10 unnecessary miles to a very long road trip.  But at least I found my to-do list.  It was in my purse.

I’m so very thankful that God brought my purse to mind before we got too far down the road.  I certainly will need my driver’s license, money and credit cards, so I was praising God all the way to the prayer meeting.

The prayer meeting was awesome – great format and lots of good prayers prayed.  The prayer team even sent us off with a special prayer blessing, so that was just what we needed before we hit the road.  We stopped in Seattle on our way south and Grammy J prayed for us, too.  Now we are sure to be covered in angels all the way to Florida and back again.

My goal was to sleep in the parking lot of Cabelas in Olympia for the night, as they welcome overnighters and even provide a dump station, but with the news reports of possible snow overnight, we drove a little further south of Olympia and are now spending the night at a rest stop since it will be easier to get on and off the freeway from here if it does indeed snow.  I will need my earplugs, however.  But all is good and we are most thankful and excited to see what God will do on this trip.  Hallelujah, we’re off to a good start!

Jan 10, 2013

We all slept well our first night on the road.  It’s so nice that no matter where we go – there we are – all together and HOME.  It was cold this morning but no signs of frost or snow, so the day started with one big Hallelujah from me. 

I can already see I need to develop a morning routine as all our steps must be coordinated so we aren’t climbing over each other.  I’m thankful for the kitchen being in the rear of the motorhome so I could make coffee and instant oatmeal for breakfast while Kaleb got dressed and Kory did his devotions. 

All systems are working great in the RV and already I can feel the difference on this trip from the one Kory and I took for a honeymoon.  I checked my email and Facebook messages before we started driving.  Now that was different.  We may be miles away from home, but we are just as close as a email or phone call.  I like this upgrade very much. 

The one thing I just realized I didn’t pack was paper towels, as I needed one this morning.  When I gave a disappointing report that I’d forgotten to put any in the RV, Kaleb started quoting a line out of the “Hobbit” where Bilbo says, “Wait!  Wait!  We must all turn around! I forgot my pocket handkerchief!”  I thought that was funny, as in the movie, he too was starting on a great adventure.

We are heading to Salem, Oregon today to visit a “friend” in prison.  It was a guy I met in 1976 through an outreach our church did back then.  He’s in prison for life for murder, kidnapping and rape.  Sometimes I get so tired of all the whining he does in his letters, but I still have to be faithful to the words of Jesus that “when I was in prison, you visited me, “ so I stay the course.   

One of the prayer warriors last night was praying for “divine appointments” for us on our journey and it’s already started.  Just north of Portland we stopped at a rest area and there was a young woman holding a sign that said “Family in Need.”  Kory stopped to ask her what her need was and found out she was married and had five kids and they lost their home when both her and her husband lost their jobs.  They were all living in one hotel room in Vancouver and she went out begging everyday while her husband stayed home with the youngest kids and the older ones went to school.  They don’t get enough in unemployment to survive so she’s humbled herself to this point.  It was easy to see she wasn’t the run of the mill beggar, just a woman in desperate need.  Kory prayed for her and she was so thankful for that, she just cried all the way through it.  He gave her a little money and we continued to pray for her as we drove away.  What a humbling start to this trip, when we live in such luxury and to be face to face with such poverty right here in America.

Our prison visit went well.  George is legally blind now from a stroke he had a few years ago.  The stroke was brought on my him not taking his medication for ten days when he was transferred from one prison to the next and not allowed to bring along a thing.  The medicine was for  a condition he got because he no longer has a spleen.  He lost his spleen in prison when he got shot in the gut during a riot and the guards opened fire on the wrong group of people.  To say he’s had his share of tough luck is an understatement, but nothing compared to what he's done to others.  He’s scheduled for a parole hearing in 2016 but I can’t imagine what would happen to him if they ever let him out.  He will be 65 then and totally blind.  He has no where to go and no hope for a job, so it will be interesting to see what God does to take care of him. 

Kaleb sat respectfully through the visit and answered the few questions he was asked.  Kory and I intentionally steered the conversation around what life was like in prison so Kaleb could hear the details. I'm sure Kaleb will never make the kinds of choices that would land him there, but it's good just the same to give him the total picture.

We took advantage of the tax free status in Oregon and stocked up on a few things at Costco and Trader Joes before we left town, then drove two hours south to Roseburg for the night, where we now sit outside a Starbucks in order to catch a wi-fi signal so I can post this update.  Wal-mart is across the street and the parking lot looks like home to me.