OR/WA Trip 2013 Day's 1 & 2

Our vacation this year was a 12 day road trip from Branson, MO to Blaine, WA and points in between.  Hope you enjoy our trip as much as we did :)

Day 1 actually was Day 1 & 2

We left Branson View Campground at 11:56 a.m. on Friday, March 8th.  Our destination was somewhere in Nebraska.  First stop was Star Pantry to top off the gas tank and say good-bye to Renee & TJ.

Then Krispy Kreme for some donuts for the trip.

We were disappointed they didn't have both kinds of the Oreo donuts but with a $2 off coupon we still found plenty to buy and enjoy on our trip.

We decided it would be a good idea to eat lunch before actually getting on the road so our next stop was at Golden Corral on Shepherd of the Hills.  They always have good food and a coupon for a $6.99 lunch helped us decide where to eat lunch.

We ate well, had full tummy's and so finally got on the road at 1:50 p.m.

And so we began driving through Missouri

Driving through Missouri we saw this beautiful court house.

And chuckled over the name of "Humansville" - and tried to figure out how they came up with this name for a town.

We crossed into Iowa in the dark and began to discuss where to stop for the night.  As it was raining when we were headed through Nebraska Ron suggested checking weather conditions and found that a blizzard was due to hit in Laramie, Cheyenne & Rawlins, Wyoming and we decided to try to beat the blizzard before stopping.  And so we continued to drive in the rain and then it turned to sleet, snow and ice.  I, (Alice) tried to sleep a little so I could have my turn at driving and was dozing off when the Jeep started sliding, Ron was saying "whoa, whoa, whoa" and I began saying "Thank You Jesus"  over and over again as we were slipping, sliding and swerving.  God was with us as there were no other cars on the road and the ditches stayed on the side of the road.  Ron is a great driver and got us out of the spin and we continued on our trip.  This is what the roads looked like at the time of our spinning, slipping and sliding!

 

 

 And then Ron decided it was my time to drive.  While Ron slept I sang songs and talked to myself.  About an hour into my driving I said quite loudly "Wow...look at the semi in the ditch!"  It was facing the opposite direction of the way I was going.  Needless to say it was enough to wake up Ron.  

He took some pictures as I drove.

These two semi's jack knifed kissing nose to nose in the East Bound Lanes of I80.

The traffic back up was about 2 miles long.

Here you can see the back up from semi's.  The sun was coming up and the skies were clearing up.

and after about 15 minutes Ron told me to take the next exit so he could drive.  Something about icy roads and me driving made him a bit nervous :)

And the roads were getting clearer.

We stopped at Little America for gas and as we were walking back to the Jeep we saw this Poodle Puppy made of snow.             Can you see him?

Beautiful scenery along the way.

And blue skies were appearing more and more.

 

 

 

And then we left Wyoming for Utah.  Such beautiful blue skies and gorgeous snow!

We both just kept marveling at God's handiwork.

Driving through Utah into Idaho.

We are so amazed at the amount of snow that we have seen along the road.

 After 27 hours of driving it was time to stop for the night.  

We decided to stop in Burley, ID but the hotel we stopped at didn't have a hot tub and it was surely needed.  So we continued to Jerome, ID where we stopped at the 

Our plan was to take an hour nap, go out for dinner, spend some time in the hot tub and then sleep for the night, getting an early start on Sunday morning to head to Clackamas, OR.

But as all RV'rs know, our plans are made in jello.  Once we were settled into the hotel room we decided to order pizza instead of going out.   The pizza was good and then we took a nap - Ron slept for five hours! and me for three!  At 10 p.m. Ron woke me up and we made our way to the hot tub for about 20 minutes. There were so many kids playing in the pool it was not very relaxing so we made our way back to our room and went back to sleep for the night.  

Hope you enjoyed this first leg of our trip.

Got up Sunday morning about 7 a.m. and began day three of our journey.  

Stay tuned for the next update!

Friendship ~ What a Blessing

On one hand can't believe it has been since January that I have written but on the other I know it has been.  I have kind of been in a funk since December YET the Lord is gracious and loving.  

Most recently we have (still are) been on a 12 day road trip from Branson, MO to Blaine, WA with some stops along the way ~ more on the trip later at The Wandering Workentins. 

Today I am jumping to our time in Greeley & Colorado Springs, CO.

It was 34 years and almost two months to the day since we had seen our sweet friends Mike & Conny Jensen.  Our friendship began while we were stationed at Camp New Amsterdam in Soest, Netherlands.  Our 3 year tour was cut to 14 months due to the failing health of Ron's dad.  A lot has gone on with both of our family's over the years: births of babies and even grandbabies, deaths of many of our parents and grandparents, many moves, joys and trials but through it all our friendship remained.

And finally yesterday, 3/18/13 we were able to actually be together again!

Ron and Mike chatting in the hallway of the Jensen home.

Ron & Mike - so fun to spend time laughing and sharing of our lives.

Ron, Conny & Mike

 

 

What a blessing!! to be together after all this time.  

Let's hope it's not another 34 years before we get together again.

From Greeley, CO we drove down to Colorado Springs where Alice had a reunion with high school mate Corrine (Randall) Lanier.  It has been almost 38 years since we had been together.  We had lost touch when we moved to Holland.  But with the help of Facebook, finding Ed Randall (Corrine's brother) and leading to Corrine we have been reunited for the past three years...just not in person.

And here we are today!!

Co

And unbeknown to either of us we both wore black :)

Another blessing for sure!!   We spent 3 hours together, figuring where our lives went after graduation and how parallel they have been.  Sharing how God's love and blessings have brought us through so much and kept us strong and growing in Him.  Too bad her hubby, Bill had an appointment today that could not be changed BUT next time we will all four be together and it sure won't be 38 more years!!!

Colorado Springs is also the home of Ron's cousin Tammy Bach Davis.  After sending a message via Facebook and then a couple of phone calls it worked for Tammy to join us as well.  And she brought her grandson, Dominic along to visit as well.  

Dominic giving Santa Ron a hug good-bye!  Dominic turned two this past January.  Don't you just love all those curls?

Back Row: Alice & Ron, Front Row: Tammy (Ron's cousin on the Thiessen side) and Dominic.

So fun to catch up with family and friends!

So thankful for God's provision and blessings in our life!!!

Another Snowy Day in Branson

Woke to snow this morning.

View from our rig overlooking Branson.

Looking towards the back of the rig.  Ron slid from the dumpster to the shed last Friday morning.

Looking up the main road inside the campground.

Looking up the inside road, showing some of the lower campsites.

1" of new snow this morning.

Looking across the street from the office...see the grey clouds!!

A small branch that is frozen.  Thought it was kinda cool looking.

This is the area below the campsites that Ron has been clearing to make the view more appealing.

Over looking Branson.

And it is supposed to snow throughout most of the day.

Gift from a Friend

We were invited over for dinner to some new friends place.

We enjoyed the evening, a wonderful roast dinner with fresh strawberry pie for dessert.

As we were getting ready to head home we were gifted with

One dozen of freshly laid eggs.  Aren't they pretty??

Teresa and I chuckled over this one - it looks like it has a wart on it.

Ron and I had some of these eggs along with sausage patties for dinner last night.

Nothing tastes better than farm fresh eggs!

Wintery Days in Branson

You may have heard we have been battling a winter storm.  

Thought you might like to see some pictures ~

Don't know if you can tell but some of the ice looks like broken glass.

Hope you enjoyed our pictures of the snow and the campground.

January 14 to 27

We had a couple of quiet weeks ~ highlights included

Ron has been busy cleaning the brush from the hill by the overlooks here at the campground

Ali hosted Forever Friends 

~ you can check us out here

   

Enjoyed dinner at Red Lobster

Ron worked on a water leak here in the campground

Took a drive to Harrison, AR, Berryville, AR, & Shell Knob, MO

During the last cold spell we ran out of 

and had to call

which was not fun!

And enjoyed time reading, relaxing, among days of work at Branson View Campground!