Quick update ~ agh!

Are you wondering where we are?  Did we get on the road?

Well as a matter of fact, we did get on the road.  Just not very far down the road.  We are in Northbend, WA at Cascade Diesel Truck & RV Repair.  Yes we have been here before and find ourselves here again.

We left Blaine yesterday afternoon about 3:00 p.m.  As we started up I90 towards Snoqualmie Pass the motor home just didn't want to go.  It chugged along and Ron said he was pulling into Cascade as they have worked on our home before and Mark, the owner is a great Christian guy and it shows in his dealings with people and situations.  Because it was after 5:00 we could not call ahead for Mark to put the power cord out so we just parked in his lot.

About 7:00 p.m. I crawled into bed.  I was still not feeling well, it was dark outside and the battery on the mifi died.  I slept till Ron's alarm went off about 7:15 this morning.  I got up, got dressed and then promptly returned to my bed.  I slept till about 9:30.  

By 9:30 this morning Ron had already talked with Mark and they had a plan.  I have spent most of the day in the waiting area using Mark's power for the computer and mifi card.

It is now 3:00 and they have found a bad cellanoid (sp)...so not real sure what is happenin'...Don't know if it can be fixed today or not.  Will just have to wait and see.

Prayer request ~~

~ for me to feel better.  I have a horrible cold, sore throat and a headache

~ for Mark to figure out what is wrong and to be able to fix the motor home to get us back on the road

~ for me to keep trusting God in this....I worry about the money.  Lord help me to keep trusting you and not fret over things which I have no control.

Will update when I know something.

The Countdown Begins~

Jury duty is done!  Now onto getting for the big trip to Hondo!!!

I think the easiest way to let you know what we are doing is just to list what's on the agenda between now and when we leave on Wednesday, January 26th.

Friday, 1/21 ~ had a terrific dinner with Jim & Mary.  We laughed and reminisced about when our kids were in sports together, what our kids are doing now with their own families.  And we talked about the coming year and changes in both our families...us moving to Texas, their daughter going to Germany, each of us welcoming a new grandchild...we will definitely miss our visits together.  Thanks Jim & Mary for the orange marmalade and blackberry jam and of course the wonderful leftover dessert.

Saturday, 1/22 ~ meeting Tim & Dee at the storage unit.  We will be putting totes back into storage, taking more totes out of storage and then  Ron & Tim are goin to remove the hard top on the Jeep.  Then they will head over to Gerald & Sandra's  to drill holes and put the soft top on the Jeep.  Dee & I will get in some visiting while moving stuff around cleaning out a few cupboards.  In the evening we will be fixin to go to Jerry & Lynda's for dinner and more visitin! 


Sunday, 1/23 ~ we will be gettin together with Ron's siblings + Jamie, Suzanne & Opal and maybe our niece, Andrea & her family for breakfast at Big Al's.  Then we are off to church at Northwood Alliance.  Don't know what the afternoon will hold but in the evenin we will be hangin with Chris & Gina and their two kids.


Monday, 1/24 ~ I am meeting a fellow blogger, Laurel for coffee at Woods in Birch Bay Square.  Then  have a few errands to run picking up last minute prescriptions, going to the bank and fixin things up in the motor home as we continue to prepare to go to Texas.  Ron has a few plumbing jobs that he needs to finish up.  Hopefully all three jobs will go smoothly.  In the evenin we are goin to the Clarke's & DeLong's for supper (or is it called dinner in Texas - the evenin meal?)


Tuessday, 1/25 ~ I will be doin the never endin job of laundry (we always try to start out with all clean clothes).  Ron & Pete plan on transferring the gas from the front tank to the back tank and fixin the front tank so we can use it on the trip.  I will be workin at Northwood for a few hours on the annual report.  In the evenin we head to Sudden Valley for dinner with Norm & Kristy.  While visitin Ron will put in a new garbage disposal for them.


And then on Wednesday, 1/26 we will wrap up anything that is left on our to do list, share a meal with Gerald & Sandra, stop at the Post Office and then get on the road.  Not sure how far we will get down the road...our goal is to get to Hells Canyon RV Park so we can hang with the grands and Brandon & Danalyn for a few days.


We want to say thank you for all your prayers for us as we travel along on this journey we call life and especially as we prepare to move to Texas for 13 months.  I hope to update each night how we are doing with our To Do List.  We will be busy the next 5 days but yet want to say if you are a local (Whatcom County) friend and want to see us before we leave...give us a holler and let's at least share a hug.

Answering the Call in Faith

How we are continually facing life!

What a crazy day.  Sorted three totes of clothes...some to the clothing bank, some to a friend, some back to the storage unit and then some to take with us to Hondo.  Then a friend stopped by...had a great visit with her and then was just getting ready to start dinner and we got a phone call that Ron's sister, Judy was going to the Emergency Room.  So off to the hospital we go.  Now we are playing the waiting game.  The doctor thinks it might be appendicitis so they are running some blood tests and doing a CAT scan.  When we hear more I will post an update here.

And this is how my head seems to be spinning about now.

We have lots to do...

...reservations to change

...family members to call

...an ignition switch to be replaced into the motor home (hard to go anywhere with no ignition switch :)  our friend, Tim is going to put it in on Friday evening)

...have to switch the hard top on the Jeep to the soft top...Ron mentioned having to drill a zillion holes...think he is planning to do that on Saturday so hoping the weather cooperates

...a few dinners with friends

...breakfast with the family on Sunday morning before church

...pick up some prescriptions

...go to Seattle for an eye appointment on Thursday (thanks Dee for being my personal driver...you are my bestie)

...Ron has to finish two plumbing jobs: redo some drain lines and replace a garbage disposal

...having coffee with my bestie

...and who knows what else needs to be done

...if you think of something I am not thinking about feel free to send me a note

...suggestions will be welcome

And this is how I plan on ending each day:

Sleeping like a babe...

Got the Call!

This is how my morning went:  I was sleeping, it was only 8:00 a.m. and I had been up till after midnight last night, and got a call from Bonnie from Hondo, TX...to say no, come at original date 3/11.  Okay.  sent a text to my hubby who is on jury duty.  Thought about the situation and thought this is just one more time God wants to see if I am really flexible to his timing of events.  Felt peace about whole situation.  Another friend called invited us for dinner on Sunday at noon, then promptly called and changed it to Monday night instead - there is that darn flexible thing again.  So finally got out of bed, gathered my Bible and devotional and opened the devotional to today.

Hebrews 11:6 is the verse for today:  "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go."  Okay the sermon on Sunday was the first in a series on Hebrews and Faith in the Lord.  Again, thinking the Lord just wanted to see if we were willing to go when he called us.  We truly believe the Lord has opened this job up for us in Hondo, TX and it means we are leaving behind all our family and friends.

Then in James 1:5-6....I get God will provide for all our needs when He calls us to do something. To ask EXPECTING him to answer somehow someway.  So I start praying and my cell phone rings.  It is Bonnie again.  She starts the conversation with "come as soon as you can."  I just chuckle to myself....flexibility, going when called, God sure has a sense of humor doesn't he.  So finished my time with the Lord and sent a text to my hubby, who is in jury duty...we go now....

I feel such at peace - I KNOW it is the Lord.  I had even prayed this morning that I was not feeling anxious about leaving family and friends but the anxiety of can I get everything done?  Yes I can, with the Lord's help.  I see some long days/nights in my schedule ahead but God is good and He will get me through them.

Some of you have asked about Ron being on jury duty.  The jury should get the case today and deliberations should only last a day or two so we should be good to go.  We plan to leave next Wednesday, 1/26...just not sure what time.  We will be working on our itinerary, checking with friends and family that we had planned to see along the way to see if our new schedule meshes with theirs, changing a couple of reservations and once that is all done I will post the itinerary here in my blog.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Ali & Ron 

Tuesday Talking

Tuesday Talking...

...lots of little & big things are a happening...in no particular order...

~ plans...can change in an instant.  Got a phone call yesterday from Bonnie, the VP of Lone Star Corral asking us if it is possible for us to arrive in Hondo earlier than March 14th.  So out went the prayer requests, arrow prayers, figuring out the calendar, more prayers, more figuring and the decision made ~ yes, we could arrive earlier.  I called Bonnie this morning to say yes we could arrive earlier.  Now we are in the waiting game stage...Bonnie has to check with the board members to make sure things would work out.  She will call as soon as she knows.

~ IF we leave before our February 13th scheduled departure date it will be on Wednesday, January 26th...yes that is only 8 days from now!!!

~ so I am now working in warp speed...attacked the kitchen cupboards, updated the food storage totes, pantry, kitchen cupboard and the freezer.  Now I know what we have on hand and did some meal planning.

~ tomorrow I will attack the clothes totes to figure out what stays and what goes.  Hope to also get to the bathroom cupboards and drawers.  I am not only wanting to organize but also simplify and get rid of the stuff that sits in those cupboards but never gets used.  I am sure there is some old makeup that is hiding that just needs to be tossed.

~ appointments needing to be changed and fit into a new accelerated schedule.  Prescriptions need to be filled, stuff put into the storage unit and repack and organize stuff in the motor home.

~ yesterday, our friend Tim Griffith came over and took the ignition switch out of the motor home so we could get a new one.  The old ignition switch  did not connect like it was supposed to and has been draining the battery thus the levelers have not been working correctly.  So today Ron is taking the parts to Napa Autoparts in Lynden to get new ones.  Tim will put the new one in later this week.  So thankful for friends who can help out in areas we have no knowledge of.

~ yesterday I took down the Christmas decorations and put up my Valentines Decorations...now it looks like (from the outside) that we live in the red light district :)  I just love the soft glow of colored lights so try to put up a string or two for each holiday.  Got all the decorations packed away though I don't understand how all the stuff can fit in one tote prior to the holiday and after the holiday it takes two totes and the stuffing of 4 things under the bed.  Now I just have to hope I remember next Christmas that I have decorations under the bed.

~ today I am hanging with my friend, Dee.  Doing some much needed laundry.  Funny how it just seems to pile up even when you do it once a week.  We have drank lots of coffee, shared lots of laughter plus watched last nights episode of The Bachelor.  Sure hope my gal, Emily is the one for Brad.  I think they make a cute couple and share many of the same goals/values in life.

~ Ron is still serving on Jury Duty.  Someone asked did he like it?  He says it is interesting but he wished the jury could ask the witnesses questions :)  He was a bit frustrated today as he drove into Bellingham, 20 miles one way and then the jury was told that court was canceled today because the defense attorney is sick.  Why the court bailiff couldn't call the jury members I don't know...I am sure the attorney knew when he got up this morning that he was too sick to report to court.  Oh well,  at least Ron gets paid gas mileage.  


~ question was asked when are we heading South...well we are scheduled to leave on February 13th but as I mentioned earlier that may change once we hear from Bonnie.  I will let everyone know as soon as I do when we are leaving and what our planned itinerary is in a blog post as well it will be posted on the left side of my blog "Where We are Headed."


~ another comment we got was that Ron and I should check into playing Santa & Mrs. Claus...what a great idea, we had never thought about that.  We will keep that in mind for the next Christmas season.  Will just have to figure out how to advertise that and what we should charge for that.  And then will have to find a good Santa suit for Ron.  I have lots of Christmas sweaters so a nice pair of jeans or black slacks with one of them and I would have an outfit.


~ we have had some fellowship with friends since we have been home. Last Friday night we had a great steak & potato dinner with Sean & Stacey.  We shared stories of our travels, parenting teenagers and different cars we have owned.  They just got a new Forerunner and really are enjoying it.  On Saturday night we took dinner over to Gerald & Sandra's.  I made another soup pot full of Gumbo.  We laughed, talked, watched some football and then visited a whole lot more.   Then last Sunday, after a great service at Northwood we went to Tim & Dee's to watch the Seahawks and eat lots of goodies.  Definitely the goodies were better than the game.  Oh well, guess they can try again next season.  Sunday evening found us at our pastor's home with Pastor Charles & Margaret along with friends Dick & Carol Molcar.  It was a lot of fun hearing about some of their recent travels and sharing about our time with the carnival and our stint as Christmas tree sales people.  Monday night found me attending the Writer's Group that I belong too.  I shared a couple of poems I had written.  And listened to some other great writings from the other ladies in the group.

That leads me to a project I am trying to figure out how to do.  I would like to share the different stories and poems I have written.  I really don't want to start another blog so am trying to figure out how to just have multiple pages/tabs on this one.  I know it can be done as I have seen it on other blogs.  I just can't figure out how to do it with blogspot.  Maybe it is not possible...but I will definitely be working on that in the near future.


Well the last of the laundry is waiting to be folded so I will end my post for today.  Will definitely be writing again soon to let everyone know what is happening with our trip to Hondo.

Wednesday Words

Catchy title don't you think?

Just kidding...wanted to write a post but could not think of a title that was eye catching.  Oh well,. 

We arrived at Beachwood about 5:40 p.m. 4 minutes after Maggie (our gps) said we should so that was not too bad.

We woke up on Sunday to about 6" of new snow in Cle Elum.  We had breakfast and then Ron took a little drive in the Jeep to check out the roads and to see if it looked like we could make it with the motor home.  Normally we would not have been super eager to get back to Blaine except Ron was to report to for jury duty on Monday morning.  


Ron came back and said it looked like it would be okay to hit the road.  So we readied the motor home for travel.  The owner of the campgrounds came and plowed the road and in front of the motor home so we would not have any problems getting out.  Ron took off in the motor home and I followed in the Jeep.  Ron pulled over when he got a long clearing so we could hook up the Jeep.  (Thank you sweet Santa for the tow bar ~ we love it and so appreciate it!).  We got on I90 headed west at mile marker 84.  At mile marker 71 we pulled over to put chains on the motor home as required.  All vehicles over 10,000 lbs had to do that.  There were lots of semi's pulled over as well.  I did notice a motor home pulling a Jeep Cherokee go flying past us.  After getting the chains on we got back on the road.  About 3 miles up the road that same motor home was pulled over along with a few other vehicles and a cop car.  Better them than us we both said.

Our first stop was in Redmond, WA.  We met up with Chuck from Noel's Tree Farm who we had sold Christmas Trees for.  We were dropping off the tote with all the supplies that we had used.  Found out Chuck had had a mini stroke on New Years Eve and had just gotten out of the hospital.  We made arrangements for him to mail us our final check and told him we would talk to him later this week.


Back on the road we continued North on 405 towards Whatcom County. From 405 we got on I5 heading North.   One of the things we needed to do before arriving at Beachwood was get propane.  We stopped at the Alger Shell station.  It was a tight turn and so we had to unhook the Jeep, get propane and then hook up the Jeep again.  I offered to just drive the Jeep the rest of the way and Ron said no way.  The last time we were driving in two vehicles we had motor home problems.  Nope wasn't going to have another problem.  So Ron hooked up the Jeep and we got back on I5 and continued on our way.  As I said we arrived about 5:40 p.m.  We got settled into our site.  Decided to just hook up to their cable instead of trying to set up the satellite dish in the dark.  Made a quick dinner of chili w/polish sausage and tater tots.  Tasted good and was easy to fix after a long day of driving.


Ron called to find out about jury duty.  He was to report at 12:30 on Monday afternoon.  We just settled in for the night with both of us reading blogs, forums and getting caught up on Facebook.  


Monday morning I was off to coffee with my best friend, Dee.  Ron went to jury duty in the afternoon.  Dee and I had a good day: first we went to Woods Coffee, then to Bobs Burger & Brew for lunch and then to her house to await Ron's call saying he was on his way home.  It was a great day of relaxing and visiting.  Ron was selected to sit on a jury.  Guess I will hear all about it (and then share with y'all  (don't you like my practicing of speaking Texan ;) 

Tuesday I spent a lot of the day cleaning and working on trip and schedule plans for our trip to Texas.  Can't believe in one month and one day we leave for our month long trip to Hondo.  Ron reported for jury duty and is now known at juror #1.   We had been hearing for the last two days that a bad snow storm was due to hit our area.  Because of this a friend and his son were going to stay in one of the trailers here at Beachwood so we made plans for them to join us for dinner.  I made spaghetti and garlic cheese biscuits for dinner.  The spaghetti was pretty tasty but the biscuits were a little dry ~ not sure what to do to change that the next time I make them.  We had a delightful evening of visiting and reconnecting with them.  By the time they left at 9:00 p.m. the snow had started falling.  It sure was pretty.


Woke up this morning to everything covered in white.  All the schools in Whatcom County were closed except for the local community college and university.  Ron returned to Bellingham for the third day of jury duty.  He called me about 10:45 this morning to let me know the courthouse had been evacuated to a "suspicious package" found on the 2nd floor.  They were not allowed to return until close to 2:00 p.m.  Don't know what they found but all was clear for court to resume.


I had a very lazy day at home.  In fact, I stayed in my jammies all day.  I watched the snow begin to melt, the roads get plowed and the weather turn to rain.  I did make Mexican chicken and rice for dinner.  And as Ron said "it was finger licking good."  A pretty good compliment if i say so myself.


Would like to ask for prayers for us as we continue to plan for our trip to Hondo.  We have lots of friends we want to see, a granddaughter to see, hug & kiss on, stuff to get out of storage and put more stuff in, organize the cupboards and storage spots on the motor home, doctor and eye appointments, a granddaughter to love, kiss & hug on, post our itinerary, visit with friends and more visits with our precious Opal Rae and her mommy & daddy too!


If you are nearby we would love to see you.  Give us a holler on the cell phone or send me an email or a comment on this post so we can set a date to get together.  We also hope to connect with as many of you as we can who live along our route.


Take care everyone!  And have a blessed day!

 

 

From Lewiston, ID to Cle Elum, WA ~ Jan 8, 2011

Today was our first day of travel from Clarkston, WA to Lewiston, ID to Blaine, WA.  We decided to break it into a two day trip.  It is no fun to drive in the dark with a possible chance of rain or snow if we don't have to.  Hope you enjoy this trip with us.

First thing on the agenda was to meet up with Brandon, Danalyn, Max and Christopher at The Waffles N More  in Lewiston, ID. 

Max & Grandpa ~ two great looking guys if I say so, and I do!

Grandpa took this picture of Grammy, Christopher and a glimpse of Brandon.

Always busy doing something.

Danalyn drinking some hot water with lemon and honey.  Poor thing is still fighting laryngitis and is just not feeling to well.  Praying she gets to feeling better real soon.

Christopher's strawberry waffle with whip cream and colored sprinkles.

And what was left of it.   Notice all the whip cream and strawberries are gone...and he did eat about half of the waffle.  He likes to eat!

Max showing Grandpa something on his phone.

 After a delightful breakfast and lots of hugs around we returned to the motor home.  Ron hooked the Jeep up to our new to us tow bar (separate blog post to follow).  I got things inside stowed away for the trip.  Our goal was to be on the road by noon.  After making a pit stop at Les Schwab to make sure all the tires were aired up correctly 

Where this nice guy checked and filled our tires.  Good thing we stopped as the inside dually on the drivers side was quite low.  Thank you Les Schwab for such great customer service.

 it was onto Costco for gas we hit the road at 12:02 p.m.  

Our route was for the day  was to go

E on Highway 12 from Clarkston, WA to Lewiston, ID 

with the first challenge of the day to make it up Lewiston Hill.  We began in Clarkston at 700'

to the top of the hill at 2758'  It was a very slow climb with lots of prayers to get to the top 

of the summit.  Then to

N on Highway 95 towards Moscow, ID to

N on Highway 195 to Colfax, WA

Wind farm along the road.  They look small till you get right next to them.

And looking in the little round mirror look at the sun as it was beginning to set.  Gorgeous ~ God is such a beautiful artist and creator!

 to W on Highway 26 to Vantage, WA

And somewhere along this trip (from Edmonds to Post Falls) the heater hose or solenoid or???? something or other went out and we have NO heat while we are driving and so this is how we dressed for our ride today:

See Ron's gloves on his hands.

And I have two pair of slipper socks on, a pair of gloves, my hoodie and my blue fleece blanket (thank you Clarke's & DeLongs) to help me stay warm.  See the snow outside the window...it was cold outside and so cold inside too.

 to W I90 where we found ourselves climbing Rye Grass Summit.  It was only 2533' and the motor home did much better.  Think it has to do with we didn't have as far to go up or as steep a climb to make.

Being passed by a school bus up Rye Grass Summit.  Ron was not a happy camper :)

to Cle Elum, WA where we planned to stay for the night at Whispering Pines Campground.  As we pulled in towards the campground we went from dry bare pavement to an icy, snowy driveway.  After speaking to the gal about where to park and how much it was going to cost and making arrangements to meet up in the morning (the office was closed) to give her a check we went back to the motor home to go to our site. 

The entrance to Whispering Pines Campground.

Not so fast....because Ron had left the motor home running and the heat from the tires we found ourselves on a sheet of ice not able to go anywhere.  All I kept hearing Ron say over and over "I don't want to put the chains on, I don't want to put the chains on."  I suggested unhooking the Jeep and see if he could back up the motor home.  Nope, wasn't going to budge so out came:

The motor home infront of the office.

Ron putting the tire chains on the motor home.

He pulled his knee pads out of the storage compartment before he started this job.

 After Ron got the chains over the tops of the tires (I thought the chains were on all the way) he told me to get in the drivers seat of the motor home and put it in drive and go forward and keep going till you find us a campsite.  Me drive in the snow, in the dark?  Yes, me!  So I did.  I followed the road to the right, around the back of the office, trying to remember what the gal had said about pull through's...and around a corner and then another corner (found out later that corner was actually through a pull through campsite) and then another corner and then into the third pull through site I saw.

We are parked just to the right of the picnic table which is to the left of the snow bank.

 After I got it parked in the site Ron pulled up with the Jeep.  We got the power hooked up, the furnace on and decided to make a quick trip to Safeway to get some buns to go with the chicken burgers I had planned to make for dinner.

49' inside the motor home after driving from Clarkston, WA to Cle Elem, WA...brrrr it's cold.

Now we are all hunkered down in are warm motor home for the night.   And it is now 66' inside the motor home.  Thank you for a propane furnace.

We hope to be on the road heading to Redmond, WA by 11:00 a.m. tomorrow but alas that will depend on the weather and the roads.  It has snowed about another inch since we got back from Safeway.  

Life is good and we are thankful to the Lord above for a safe days journey!