We went to bed last night listening to the rain and woke up to temperatures in the low 50’s. It was the coolest temperatures we’ve had in a very long time. We also woke up to a terrible sewage smell in the RV. 🤢 We never did figure out why or where it was coming from—but, can you imagine? Ewwww, it was nasty. Yuck. 

We weren’t sure if we should stay one more day/night at the Grand Canyon or continue on west. The weather forecast called for afternoon rain and we needed to be out by noon. Eventually, Papa made the call to move on. The Canyon Visitor Center has an RV parking area so we packed up, and moved off our site and parked at the Visitor Center. We would finish the tour of the Canyon by shuttle bus. We thought we’d begin at the “orange route” and work our way from Yaki Point back. The view was astounding, but there was also a great amount of cloud cover, which made it difficult to see the Canyon in some places.

After a short trek we hopped back on the bus and got off at Pipe Creek Vista. From here there was a paved trail you could walk back to the Visitor Center. We thanked the bus driver and headed down the trail. (I did notice we were the only two to get off the bus).  We hadn’t walked too far when we felt a few raindrops. Nothing too terrible, just a few drops here-and-there. A short time later I happened to look up and noticed that an intense black cloud was moving our way. Let me tell you, when it did - it poured on us. Oh my goodness. Did Papa and Mimi ever get wet! We were SOAKED! Thankfully, we had grabbed a little umbrella “just in case” we might need it. I’d checked the weather and there was only a 30% chance of rain at 1pm and this was before 10am! 

We were so wet our shoes squeaked as we walked. We went straight to the RV and changed our clothes. We’ve discovered this is an added bonus to having your home with you. ☺️ Good-bye Grand Canyon National Park! Thank you for the great visit. Oh, we bought a National Parks Passport book! Now, when we get the Route 66 Passport book completed, we’ve got more trips to take and National Parks to visit. Too bad we didn’t have it when we were at the Petrified Forest National Park.  

We drove about an hour to our next stamp destination, which was a very fun place called The Roadkill Cafe & O.K. Saloon in Seligman, Arizona. Some of the items on the menu were: Awesome Possum, Roadside Revenge and Guess the Mess. There’s also Splatter Platter. 😂 We decided to eat lunch here andhad the best conversation with one of the girls who worked there. She gave us all the reasons to never live in California after we told her where we were headed. Or Phoenix. Too big and too busy, she says. (Gas is $5.18 a gallon here in Needles, CA.)

From there our next destination was in Kingman Arizona. This town was huge compared to the previous one. So many Route 66 destinations to stop and see. The mountains that surround these towns are just stunning. I just keep snapping photos of mountains as we drive down the road. I put my camera or phone down and before I know it—it’s back in my hand. 

In Kingman we saw our first “In and Out Burger” place. I’ve heard they have really good burgers and I said that to Papa, “Oh, look an In and Out Burger. I’ve heard they are good.” I said. “Well, next time we stop you can get an Elk burger, if you want.” I think he’s growing weary. He told Mimi this morning that he was a “structured kind of guy” and all this lack of structure was starting to get to him. We never know what day it is nor do we know what time it is. Papa’s Fitbit changed back to Central time for some odd reason and he’s never been the same. ☺️

We waved good-bye to Kingman, AZ and headed west for Needles, CA. We’d made a call and discovered an RV park that had a place for us, so we called it a day since this was the also the last stop for the stamp. We are in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It was 93 when we arrived at 5:30pm. The park manager, Art, was super sweet and is a Packer fan, too. He grew up in Wisconsin and then moved here two years ago. The temperatures have ranged for the last several months at or above 105. Our park neighbor told us that the water tank that holds their drinking water is never cold in the summer and the heat is so intense it melts what is left outside. Don’t leave anything outside in the sun! They love it when the temperatures get into the sixties in the winter. That’s just way too hot for us!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Love and miss you, 

Papa and Mimi ❤️
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Today was an incredibly fun sight-seeing day. We pulled out of the campground by 9:00am this morning and headed for Williams Visitor Center for our next stamp. Before we left, however, Papa called the Trailhead Campground in the Grand Canyon to see if they had a place for us.  It was surprising when they said, “We have one site left.” Papa said, “We will take it.” What a gift to us. Thank You for that, Lord. 

We made the 40 minute drive to Williams (which was nice after a few long days of travel). The town is full of historic stops along Route 66; there’s diner’s and little shops, and the Visitor Center is in the Old Train Station. It even has the original scale on the floor that was used to weigh freight. We enjoyed walking around a few blocks, hopped back in the RV for gas, and then began our trek to the Grand Canyon.

From Williams, the drive was just over an hour and our arrival was before the noon check-in time. We took this opportunity to check out the Market Place. Mimi wanted to get some mayonnaise as she was wishing she’d remembered to bring some from home. Then she wished she’d remembered to have Papa get some when he’d gone to Walmart in Oklahoma. Mimi is still wishing she had some mayonnaise because a bottle of Hellman’s was almost $10.00 in the store here! 😳

After finding our pad on lane H and doing the required setup (Papa is getting really good at all of that!), we had lunch and were ready to go and see the Grand Canyon for ourselves. We were caught off-guard when Mimi stepped out of the RV door and found an Elk within 50 feet from us! She was just sauntering from camper to camper not paying anyone any attention. She wasn’t the only Elk we saw during the day, either. Papa says the animals here have been “frienditized.” 😂 

There are shuttle busses that drive all over the Canyon to take you where you’d like to go. There are also many different types of trails to walk. Some go right down in to the Canyon. We asked the man at the gate what he thought we should do—walk or ride the bus? He said, “I can’t tell you if you should walk. I told a group of people once that the walk was easy and a man ended up having a heart attack. My boss told me I could never do that again.”  Then, his boss came to the gate and after telling her we’d like to walk, she suggested we take the path down the Mather Lookout and start there. So, that’s what we did. 

As we were walking to the trail, the man at the gate was driving by and stopped. He said, “My boss scared you. I think you could’ve done the other trail. I always say, ‘this trail is for wimps and tourists.’” I said, “Well, I am a wimp and a tourist. It’s perfect!” We enjoyed the walk to the South Rim of the Canyon and stood in silence as we gazed at the breathtakingly glorious expanse before us. We both expressed our awe that just walking a few feet gave you a completely different magnificent view. Even Papa had his phone out for pictures! We spent hours walking north then walked south until it was time to take a shuttle back to start dinner. 

Mimi’s phone battery was dead, Papa’s was low, and we both needed a recharge. It was our plan to eat dinner and then head back out to see the sun set at the Canyon, but the rains have begun. We are so grateful that even though the clouds threatened to send rain we did not have the heavy rains that were predicted. They are supposed to come overnight and into tomorrow. We aren’t sure yet, if we will try to stay here another night or continue west. We don’t want to travel in heavy rains here as there have been several warnings about the flash flooding that can occur. 

We got a chuckle from the morning news weatherwoman when she said that it felt like fall in Arizona with the high only to be in the 80’s. It’s hard for us to imagine 80 feeling like fall, isn’t it? It felt very much like summer to us. In fact, it was a very comfortable and pleasant day at the Grand Canyon for Papa and Mimi. We didn’t melt away from all the walking we did. 

 Because of the rain, Papa and Mimi are lounging in the RV—sore legs and all—playing games and resting up for whatever tomorrow may bring. 

We love and miss you, 

​Papa & Mimi ❤️ 

Papa and Mimi pulled out of the RV Park this morning with one more stamp for the book in New Mexico. That was in Grants, NM. What a drive it was. The landscape was incredible. Well, to me it was. Papa is growing weary of rocks, roads and RV Parks, already. “If you’ve seen one why do you need to see another?” ☺️ This is presenting a problem between the two of us because you know it is my belief you can’t have too many pictures!

We had a great conversation with the woman at the New Mexico Mining  Museum who said she and her husband intend to also get the passport book and travel through Route 66 gathering stamps. It wasn’t long after our visit with her that we entered into the state of Arizona. WOW! I couldn’t take my eyes off of the scenic wonderland before us. 

We needed to drive to Flagstaff for a stamp at the Visitor Center and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drive through the Petrified Forest National Park, which was right on the way. We ate lunch in the parking lot before we drove through the park. They have nice parking areas at all of the scenic areas and Papa wasn’t thrilled when he asked, “Are we stopping at all the these stops?” and my answer was, “You bet we are!” The only thing we could take out of the park was our pictures so I took as many as I possibly could. God certainly has created a masterpiece for our enjoyment, I hope you will always try to remember to look until you find it. 

Leaving the Park, we drove to Holbrook to check out the WigWam Motel on Route 66. You can actually rent a room and stay in a teepee! They have cool, old cars parked outside of each of the teepees. 

Flagstaff Arizona is a fairly busy town. Much bigger than we imagined and it’s also further from the Grand Canyon than we thought. We decided this would be our stop for the night and found a spot at Woody’s Mountain Campground. We drove through so much flat desert land today and here we are now in the mountains of Arizona. 

One thing confusing Papa and I is the time changes! Usually our Fitbits change to match the time on our phones when we sync them. Not so this trip. My Fitbit never changed until today when the clock on the RV said it was 3:49 and my phone said it was 2:49 as did my Fitbit. But suddenly Papa’s Fitbit said it was 5:49. Whew. It took us a moment to get that all sorted out. We hadn’t realized we’d entered Pacific Time. So, we are three hours behind you now. 

We did here on the news that they are expecting some heavy rains in Arizona over the next few days. We’re really hoping they meant in the east and we won’t need to drive through any heavy rain. You can add that to your prayers for us!

Well, that’s about all I have for you today. 

Love and Miss you, 
​Papa and Mimi ❤️

On the eighth day of travel, my true love gave to me, a splendid day of dis-cov-verrrrryyyyy. Sorry, I heard it in the Twelve Days of Christmas as I typed. ☺️ Moving on…

We headed out of Texas after a stop at the Texas RT66 Visitor Center. Unfortunately, it was Sunday so iIt was closed, but we took our photo just to prove we were there. Mimi somehow managed to close her ankle in the door of the RV, which was quite a pinch. You will want to avoid doing that. Papa couldn’t figure out how that happened and honestly, neither could I! Thankfully, no harm done. Whew.

Then we moved on down Route 66 to the Texas Ivy Antiques & Gifts Shop, which, again, was closed. Ivy is right! We’ve never seen so much ivy on a building. If you aren’t sure what ivy is, check out the picture. Again, no stamp for us so a picture will have to do.  After this stop, we hopped back on 40 (which runs next to RT66 - just faster) and made our next stop in Vega, TX at the Milburn-Price Culture Museum. And … this was closed, too; however, they had a note on the door to call a number if you were after a stamp for the passport book – so, that’s just what we did! It turns out, because this happens often, the sweet lady on the phone (Greg’s wife) told us where we could find the stamp, and the treasures that come with,  to stamp the book ourselves. Everyone should do that! She told us to take a coin and a postcard that told the story of Black Sunday when a severe dust storm hit in 1935. The postcard has a glass jar with sand inside glued to it. 

After a couple of hours we crossed into New Mexico! It was amazing to watch how the landscape began to change from flat land in Texas to more mountainous in New Mexico. We saw trains that ran along the route with us that were far greater in length than what we’ve ever seen in Parish! Some of them seemed to go for miles and miles, with two or three engines on them. The drive was pretty, but I am afraid my pictures through the windshield won’t reveal anything but dead bugs. We’ve discovered an RV seems to collect and show more bugs than the car. 

One of the suggested stops on the RoadTrippers APP is Russell’s Travel Center and Car Museum. We decided that would be the perfect place to stop for lunch in honor of our own Russell family members. We were happy we did. There is an authentic Route 66 Diner and a classic car and memorabilia museum. I can’t wait to show Great Grandpa and Grandma Okerlund the photos I took of the cars. I think they will appreciate them.

There are only two stamps to collect in New Mexico and the first one is at the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post in Albuquerque. We went in to the trading post for a stamp and came out with a stamp, a sticker and a place to park. We decided it was time to call it a day and they had space for us. We had to move when the first site kept tripping the electric, so we went from H7 to B2.  When dinner and the dishes were finished, we decided it was time for a walk. 

We met a father and son who live in New Mexico and were headed out of town, but parked for the night due to a bad accident on Route 40 that had traffic stopped for miles. (We saw the sign that said to expect long delays and were glad we’d decided to stop!) He’d been RVing for many years and gave us some pointers. 

Papa was able to wash the front of the RV, while Mimi walked to the back of the park for some sunset pictures. It was a beautiful night. God sure did a fantastic job creating so much beauty around us. We should enjoy it more often than we do, I think. That should about do it for day eight.  Do you know what state we will be entering next?  

Love and miss you,

​❤️ Papa and Mimi

​After spending Friday night in the Schell’s driveway, our seventh day was an adventure of  a Walmart run to pick up a few items we’d realized along the way would be helpful. Scissors, Gorilla Glue, a larger pan, and a paper towel holder were a few that made the list. Ben’s dad, Don took Papa so his mom, Diane and I could tidy up the RV a bit. We had a great visit with Ben, Kecia and their kids, as well as Aaron, Adrienne and their three girls; The kids all LOVED hanging out in the RV just like our grands do. Noah, Eli and Haddie had an enormous amount of fun watching the tv from the top bunk. Don made us some of his delicious peanut butter fudge to enjoy on the road trip. (He makes the best fudge!) And Aaron made us a beautiful cutting board just the right size for the RV. (It was funny because when we arrive I told him I needed to order one from him and he’d already made it!) 

We left for Amarillo, Texas with two more stops in Oklahoma to finish our passport book for that state. On the drive, the road was pretty bumpy and it caused one of the lights on the dashboard to come on. We had to pull over and make sure it wasn’t anything serious. Thankfully, it wasn’t so we continued on. As we drove Papa said, “Wasn’t it great to take a shower in a full size tub and not worry about taking too long?” I said, “I was thinking the same thing!” It’s great to have a shower in the RV and we are grateful for it. We will also enjoy the extra room we have again when we get back home. 

The first stop was at the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK. We left the Schell’s a little later than we’d intended and arrived at the Museum with just enough time to make it to our next destination in Elk City, OK. If we’d been there earlier we probably would have taken a bit more time to browse – they had some pretty cool things from back in the day.  We remember some of the items in the museum and wondered if it is now time for us to say, “back in our day? 

Our last stop in Oklahoma was at the National Route 66 Museum Complex. After a mix-up with the GPS—she led us to the East side of Route 66 and we wanted the West side—we finally arrived right at 5:00pm. Mimi prayed, “Please Lord, let them not have left yet!” As Papa swung the RV into the parking lot, Mimi saw a woman with a set of keys locking the doors so I ran to her yelling, “Could you stamp our book?” “We just need a stamp!” “Please, just a stamp!” (Well, you know Mimi didn’t actually “run” but she came as close as she could to a run. The nice lady said I’d have to knock on the door of the Gift Shop and ask the woman in there so that’s exactly what I did! She was kind and came to the door, gave me a stamp and smiled and said, “You just made it cause we were about the leave.” Whew. Sadly this didn’t give us enough time to spend here and will be worth another visit. It seems to hold much history. 

Papa and Mimi didn’t make it to Amarillo as we’d hoped but we found a Self-Serve RV Park in Alanreed, Texas called the Longhorn RV Park. It had great reviews on RV Parky and seemed the perfect place for us to spend the night. It was only $20 with full hook-ups! When we arrived we were the only ones there. It also seemed a bit … ummm… sparse and we hoped we hadn’t somehow made a mistake, but we put our $20. in the envelope and set-up for the night.

Papa made friends with the two horses that were fenced behind the park and I made tacos for dinner. After cleaning up the dinner dishes in our itty-bitty sink, we enjoyed a walk down the quiet road. We had two neighbors for the night join us in the park; one couple had two young daughters who laughed and giggled while chasing one another around outside. Papa and I couldn’t help but imagine how much fun each of our grands would have traveling across the country, too. We hope some day y’all can.

I asked Papa if he wanted me to drive a bit and he said, “Only if you want to.” I said, “I will if you need me to so you can rest. But, what will you do if I am driving?” He said, “I’d sleep.” “Really? Would you be able to sleep if I was driving?” “Probably not,” he said. So, Papa has done all of the driving and I am doing the navigation.

That’s what you’d call, teamwork. 
​

Our sixth day of adventure included Papa and Mimi helping to escort a man out of jail, but I will explain that later. 

Our first stop of the day was in Springfield, Missouri Visitor Center. Papa said, “Take a picture of the telephone booth. I doubt the kids have ever seen one.” We saw several different treasures there and read about the history of Springfield. They call it “the birthplace of Route 66” because this is where it was named. 

From there—oh, let me just say, Papa is becoming a pro at twisting and turning this RV down narrow roads—anyway, we made our way to Mother Road Mercantile and he wins the constant for the best Route 66 stamp. He told us if we were going to make it to California by the 3rd we needed to pick up a little speed. Yikes. Papa LOVED hearing that, me? Not so much.  

Our next stop was in Carthage at the Visitors Bureau. I met one of their Board Members through LeadHer. Kim Bausinger made sure we were well taken care of. We left with a bag full of goodies for each of you grandkids! This would be a cool town to come back and stay a day or two. There is much history to it. Apparently after a war in the town there were only 35 people left. That is until the town of Joplin became the mining town and brought people into Carthage.  This little town once held the most millionaires in the US. We also we given instruction on the correct way to pronounce certain words while in Missouri: Wash is Warsh, Miami is Miama, etc. 

When we stopped in Webb City we parked in a parking area and had to walk a bit to find the Welcome Center. We were disappointed to arrive and find it closed. However, there was a note on the door that explained all we needed to do was walk up the street to the police station and they could stamp the passport there. So, that’s just what we did. 

When we walked in there was a man sitting in a chair to the left of us. Now, let me explain that this entry was the size of our RV house; pretty small. We stepped in and the man in the chair told me there was someone behind the glass window. We could not see anyone. After receiving our stamp and a pin of Webb City, Papa turned to step out and the man in the chair hopped right up and followed him  out. It gave me a pause for a moment because it was apparent when we first saw him that he did not appear thrilled to be sitting in that chair. I followed them both out the door and the man quickly turned left while Papa and I walked across the street. I did keep my eyes on the man as he was speedily making his way down the alley between buildings. 

We weren’t too far from the RV when I heard some commotion and turned to see a Police car speeding down the road, turn right, and then stop behind the man in the orange shirt who now had his hands high in the air. He was handcuffed and put back in the car. So Papa and Mimi helped him in his first attempt at a getaway. Lesson learned—don’t use Papa and Mimi to get out of your consequences. 

Let’s go to the beautiful town of Joplin! We had a nice chat with Ann and she told us the best places to eat in town and the “must see” places to stop along the way. We had a great lunch and Beast and Bistro; Papa says it was the best Steak sandwich he’s had in long time. 

We had a short drive through Kansas and stopped to find Gearhead Curios closed, but Papa had the brilliant idea of looking in the mailbox to discover a baggie with small papers of stamps! I said, “What made you look in there?” “I don’t know,” he said, “Just being nosy, I guess.” Thank you, Lord for the nudge to be nosy. This is a great little gas station they are refurbishing to its original design. 

We drove into the town of Miami (pronounced, Miama), Oklahoma and walked to visit our next stamp contributor. It was incredibly hot! Once we had our stamp we continued on to Claremore, OK where we’d visit the Will Rogers Memorial Museum. Oh, my goodness! The girls who worked here were the absolute best. They were both so friendly (I have forgotten their names) but they gave us all sorts of goodies. My favorite was the Will Roger’s quote book—he was a smart man. 

We had two stops left to make and our friends, the Schell’s were waiting for us to arrive for the night, so we were moving fast. A stop at the Mother Road Market and the Route 66 Interpretive center would finish up our day. The Interpretive Center was closed when we arrived, but we’ve got our picture to prove we were there. 

We finally drove into the Schell’s driveway where we parked for the night. That’s it for this day’s adventure. 

Love and miss you, 
​Papa and Mimi

Hi grandkids (and anyone else who might read this). I am writing this from the RV kitchen table while parked at an RVExpress in Marshfield, Missouri. We  had a fun, but busy day of travel and stops along Route 66 yesterday. Remember the Route 66 Passport book we bought when we were visiting Oklahoma? Well, we’ve stopped at almost ALL of the locations in Missouri so far! Today the plan is to get the rest and head into Oklahoma!

We’ve gotten our book stamped, had tours, and have been learning a bit of history along the way. Our first stop of the day was in St. Louis to see the Archway National Park. Boy, was it ever hot walking from our parking space to the park! Speaking of parking spaces, you should have seen how well Papa maneuvered that RV in the tiny space allotted to him. I was amazed and thrilled all at the same time. It was 97 with a heat index of 104 while we walked through this park. We melted.

From there we made our way to the Route 66 State Park. We drove through the park and ate our lunch all alone there. There’s quite a bit of history with this park, too. The visitor center is an old roadhouse that was built back in 1935 and it’s full of historical items. We had a fantastic time learning about the famous Route 66. 

Then it was time to stop at the Fanning 66 Outpost. This is where First World’s Largest Rocking Chair is located. The one that beat this one is located in Casey, Ill and that’s the one we saw on our last trip out west. The outpost had some of Papa’s favorite things: fudge, candy, popcorn and soda. The popcorn comes in many different flavors and is all made right there. We sampled BBQ bacon popcorn, cheddar ranch and white cheddar. We walked out of the store with a bag of the bbq bacon and sea salt caramel. They also had a ginormous display of taffy! When I see taffy, I always think of Aunt Kara who loved her taffy. I bought a bag in her honor. ;)

Then we drove to the Pulaski County Visitor’s Center, and they gifted us with a little lapel pin, too! The sweet little lady convinced us that we must continue down Historic Route 66 and take a photo in front of the large Route 66 sign in front of the Court House. So, we did. 

Our last stop of the day was at the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Museum. Papa really wished he could load the gas pump into the RV and bring it home with him. 

Mimi stepped into a pothole while she and Papa were walking around the park they were in yesterday, and I fell flat on my face! Papa said, “It happened so fast! One minute you were standing next to me and then you were gone!” Oh goodness. Thankfully, no serious injuries; just a sore wrist, skinned knee and deflated pride. 

Lastly, here’s a photo of our little tiny RV in the park next to the big ones. We had a good nights sleep and are ready to hit Route 66 and gather some more passport stamps. 

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​

Hey Grands (and friends!) Yesterday’s adventure included an encounter with an Ark—as in Noah’s Ark. When my brother suggested we take the time and drive to Williamsburg, Kentucky for a visit to the Ark Encounter, he promised we would not be disappointed if we did. We weren’t, instead we were completely awestruck!

The Ark is full of information that gives anyone a clearer picture of what it might have been like for Noah and his family on the adventure of their lifetime. Papa and Mimi are on an adventure and I am certainly happy to not have to tend and care for all of the animals they did. Nor, would I like swaying back and forth on a ship without an idea of when I’d be getting off. Y’all need to come and visit to see, but I think it’s best to do it when you’re old enough to like the history part.  We are certain Avery would appreciate all of the dinosaur facts! 

After lunch, we headed west again and I must say, Papa is becoming more comfortable driving the RV. We had to travel down some two lane roads with many twists and turns and I have noticed I rarely feel the need to push the imaginary brake with my right foot. There was that ONE time, however. 😛

We had planned to try parking at a Pilot or Cracker Barrel in the town of Mount Vernon, Illinois, but decided to make our way to another RV Park instead. We decided we needed electric so we can have air conditioning. It was hot today – 97 when we arrived in this little town.  Hopefully this one is bit quieter than the previous night.

The internet service isn’t that great, so we played a few games Adam’s family sent for my birthday. I dominated Papa in Couch Skeltons. 😉  
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Well, that about does it for day four. We are almost ready for today’s adventure. We’re not sure what it will bring, but we will be hopping onto the second leg of Route 66 and stopping for our stamps in our Route 66 Passport book. 

​Just remember, when God asks you to something that might not make a lot of sense to the rest of the world - just go for it. Noah did it and it saved his life. 
​

We spent our first night in the driveway of my parents so we could use the shower and test out the water tanks. I thought for sure something was amiss when I could not get any hot water to fall from the shower head onto mine. What on earth is this all about? I turned the knob labeled hot and let it run and run - nothing but cold. I turned that one off and tried the other. Again, when there was only cold water I decided to break the news to Pat.  

“Bad news. There is no hot water in the shower.”
“What? What do you mean ‘there is no hot water?’”
“I’ve tried and tried and haven’t gotten any hot water.”
“Did you let it run?”
“Yes” (insert eye roll).
“Did you turn the left one on?”
“Yes, I’ve turned them both on. There’s no hot water.”
And then he said, “Left is always hot. You tried the left.”

That’s when it all made sense, “The one on the right is labeled ‘h’.” “Well, that’s the problem then. Hot is always on the left. They put them on wrong,” he said. 

Well alright then. They put the knobs on wrong, but at least we now have hot water. And we can shower really fast. 

We also woke up Monday morning to a tree crew that called mom on Sunday night and let her know they’d be coming in the morning. I couldn’t help but think about how much fun the grandkids would have watching the men with all of the equipment cutting down all the dead trees. We spent most of the day unable to leave their driveway, so we spent most of the day on the deck watching them work. When we could leave we made our way to Walmart (the first of many ☺️) and picked up a few items we realized we needed. A bathmat being one – that shower floor is slippery when wet. 

Tuesday morning was uneventful. Well, except that we couldn’t get the stove to keep a flame when I was ready to percolate my morning coffee. Had to take that into the house and use the stove. Thankfully, it was ready to work when we tried it a bit later. Seems you need to allow the propane a little time to work through the system. It won’t come as a surprise to the grands that Papa washed the bugs off of the RV and had her all shined up when we pulled out of Bob and Marcia’s RV & B. 

Then, it was time to hit the road.

We changed our plans a bit after talking to my brother who said we needed to go see The Ark Encounter in Kentucky. We had originally planned to travel and get our kicks on Route 66 but have heard great things about the Ark, so we are now in our first RV Park in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. We decided we’d spend the night in a park and learn how to connect and set up in a park - so here we are. 

Successes of the stay: We backed in to our area - number 77 was the only place left in this full park. We were able to hook-up and even watched tv last night. Cooked dinner in the RV for the first time on our little stove and we made it work with what we had. We took a walk around the park

I’m not going to lie, even though my parents (and everyone) remind us that this is going to be fun and we’re going to have a great time – I am still feeling s t r e t c h e d by it all. However, I am incredible grateful. Oh so very grateful.  God has definitely blessed us with an adventure. 

​After 38 years of marriage and a gazillion conversations containing dreams for the future about “what would be a fun thing to do” or “maybe some day we will…” became a reality when Pat and I drove out of our driveway to begin our journey west in our first RV. We’ve talked a lot about how we might want to spend our when Pat was able to retire and we were no longer bound to the work-week schedule of the last nearly 40 years. 
 
Then retirement was here (really, don’t blink), and we were trying to figure out a new normal. One thing was certain, however; with kids, family and friends living in different states, we knew travel would become a large part of the new normal for us. We love to travel and enjoy the adventure it brings. It is always fun to see with our eyes what we’ve only previously seen in photos.

When we received the invitation to attend a wedding of the daughter of close family friends—and my ministry partner, Chrissy—in California over Labor Day weekend, we discussed the fun we might have traveling across country to attend. What an experience it would be and we’d get to spend the day celebrating with them. We also realized this presented us with an opportunity to live in our long-imagined-dream. And so, with a little fear and in trepidation we took a plunge and purchased a little Coleman Thor travel home.
 
After spending weeks ironing out so many details—oh my, there are so many details—we spent the entire day Saturday packing, loading, and preparing for our departure. We took a quick trip to see our kids and say goodbye—Granddaughter Emery didn’t make it easy to say, “good-bye,” but my finger is now adorned with a beautiful ring made by her to remember her along the way. She made me promise—again—that I would update them every single day as to what we are and what we’ve done. This is a product of that request – the Where in the World are Papa and Mimi blog post. 
 
We overslept on Sunday and, while tempted to skip out on church, we didn’t. And boy, were we glad we were there; we were blessed by a great teaching, hugged and encouraged by friends and sent off with prayer. We hit the road and headed West and spend the first night at my parents in Westfield – baby steps. We needed a place to practice using the RV with water, we didn’t do that on our maiden-voyage we took to their house in July. This time we’re actually going to use the shower, stove and anything we will need as we enter . ☺️
 
This whole RV Life has given me plenty of  comparisons to the Faith Life as we step into something completely new to us. Having never travelled in an RV before, we’ve found ourselves overwhelmed at different times, and feeling as though we’ve taken a bigger bite than we can chew. There’s so much to learn and a lot of unknown Yet, like a faith journey, we’ve had people walk beside us with answers to questions and suggestions on how to succeed. (Thank goodness for YouTube videos and Facebook Newbies groups and wise friends) That’s all we need, isn’t it? Someone to help us figure out the “how-to” and share from their learned experiences. 
 
This is what we can do for one another as we live out this life of faith. When someone is trying to figure it out – let them take baby steps. Be a safe landing place for them. If they make a misstep, remind them it’s okay and there is plenty of road still before them. When they’re overwhelmed because the journey is unknown and they  find themselves a bit unsure, remind them of God’s encouragement to Joshua when he was about to step out into his new role, “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NLT). 
 
That verse was in my devotions this morning and I took it as a sweet kiss from the Lord. He reminded me that when fear of the unknown hits me, or I begin to wrestle with anxiety of the bite we’ve taken, I can rest in the knowledge that He is with us wherever we go. That’s something we all can do. 

Day one - done. 

PS, Sorry that this is late, Emery. Internet issues. 🤷🏼‍♀️