Is this travel season really over?

7am, Wednesday morning, September 19^th –

Nevada County Fairgrounds RV Park,

Grass Valley, California:

Walking around the RV, checking tires, making sure windows and vents are closed, antennas down, steps up, doors secured and attending to all the other tasks we do just  prior to getting on the road ~ the reality hits: Our travel season for this year is over. Arizona is three days away. 342 miles and over seven hours of driving to our first stop in Bakersfield, then on to Indio (235 miles more) for the second night’s stop, and up early Friday morning for the last 244 mile leg to our winter home in Arizona.

Have we REALLY been on the road 4 ½ months? Wow, it must be true – time speeds up when you get old!

Grass Valley to Bakersfield, arrived as planned…..Bakersfield to Indio, not so much “as planned”….Indio to Sun City……definitely not as planned!

Got up extra early in Bakersfield with the hope that we could push through past Indio and make it all the way to our home in Arizona……HA!

Just 12 miles out of Bakersfield, going up Hwy 58 on the very steep Tehachapi grade we hear a high pitched noise coming from under the hood of the truck, then a short distance later a BIG BANG. What the heck??? Don’t tell me this trip is going to end just like it started with a broken truck, a tow and a big repair bill. God, this isn’t funny……We pull over into a wide spot in the road and Jim looks under the hood – he can’t see anything, but the fan is not turning and we have lost a lot (although not all) of our power. No way can we make it on our own power the rest of the way up the grade to the next town which is about 12 miles away. However, unlike our breakdown last May at the start of our travels, we do have a strong cell signal so we make a call to the Good Sam Road Service. They dispatch a tow truck from Tehachapi, the next town up the grade. They also call a local repair service to make sure they can handle our truck and also have adequate space to park our RV. The tow driver arrives in less than 30 minutes and quickly has us hooked up and on our way. The going is very slow continuing up the grade – no more than 10 or 15 miles per hour – as cars and big rigs zip around us. 

May I repeat, Lord, this isn’t funny…we really don’t want to spend four or five days in Tehachapi and we really don’t need another unexpected hit on our budget. But as I am whining to God, two scripture verses come to mind: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make you paths straight. And: All things are working for good to those who love the Lord, to those who are called according to His purposes.

OK Lord – we do trust you. Look at all the things you’ve gotten us through in our lives, and just during this summer – a three day stay for Jim in the hospital before the trip started in May, a major vehicle breakdown at the beginning of our travels, two more trips for Jim to emergency rooms along the way…..all of which have worked themselves out without major consequences. We were still able to experience three great MMAP projects and a fantastic MMAP R&R, visit with friends and family, sight see and meet some incredible people along the way. YES….. We will continue to trust you Lord! Also, we do know that what we do is according to your purposes….so ok, Lord…. ALL things will work out for our good. We’ll just get in the tow truck and see where this unplanned delay in the trip is headed.

You might have noticed that I refer to our house in Arizona as our “winter home” because our time on the road in the RV is still very much “home” to us as well. And, not only do we have family in Washington and California, but every MMAPer on every MMAP project and all the great people we meet at the projects become “family” too. This is a great time of our lives. God continues to provide opportunities for our Great Adventure, and we look forward to the future and whatever He has in store for us.

OK, OK…I’ll bet you want to know the outcome of the trip back to Arizona, right?

The repairs in Tehachapi were relatively minor – a hose from the turbo charger had wiggled its way free from its clamp. All that needed to be done was to reattach it – no damage to anything, and the cost was under $100. We were delayed about four hours, so we did stop for the night in Indio. Arizona was just a short drive away. We assured each other that we would be home by Friday afternoon –probably around 1:00.

Well, THINK AGAIN! What follows are the details of the leg from Indio to Sun City~

Friday morning up early and on the road. For those of you that are familiar with I-10 from California into Arizona, you know the Chiraccho Summit. Yup…another steep grade like the one from Bakersfield to Tehachapi. Jim was a bit concerned that the hose that blew coming up that grade would hold tight on this one. Halfway up the grade…..POP….you guessed it…it blew again. But again God was watching out for us and we found a wide spot to pull over. Since he knew where it was, Jim managed to reattach the hose in a short time and we carefully made our way the rest of the way up and then down onto a more level grade and across the state line into Arizona. YIPEE!! 140 miles more to go. Still on schedule for that 1:00 arrival in Sun City……BUT WAIT…..STAY TUNED……THERE’S MORE……….

Just past Quartzite (100 miles from home) we took a potty break at a truck stop. As Jim was getting back into the truck, he remarked – “Brother, it sure smells like gas or oil in here!”   “Duh”…was my response. “We were just surrounded by dozens of big trucks. Of course it smells like gasoline! Let’s go. We’re almost home”

Ten minutes ‘til noon and ten more miles down the road was a roadside rest area. “I think we better pull into this rest stop so I can check that hose again”, my cautious husband mused. As I get out to walk the dog, Jim leaves the engine running and pops the hood on the truck. As the dog and I get back, Jim says, “We aren’t going anywhere. There is fuel spraying all over the inside of the engine compartment. I’m shutting it down to prevent a fire and we’re calling the roadside service…again.”

As you can imagine, the same silent conversations I’d had with God the day before repeated themselves. 

We called the Good Sam service and this time, after explaining the situation to them, they decided it was best to dispatch a mobile mechanic to see if the problem could be repaired on site. OK…it’s 107 degrees and this mobile mechanic  is about two hours away. WE CAN DO THIS! We fortify ourselves with water and damp washcloths and find a place in the shade to sit down and wait. The mechanic shows up two hours later in a compact car (not the “mobile mechanic” truck we expected to see.) He’s carrying some tools in two tool boxes. He tells us that his truck is being fixed and he had to come in his personal car with just the minimum of tools. He takes a look and works on the truck for about an hour while we stand by in the grueling heat of the afternoon. After taking several parts off and getting to the source of the problem, he verifies it is a pin hole leak in the metal fuel line (apparently the line was missing a bolt which probably worked itself loose and fell off somewhere in the hundreds of miles of rough roads we had traveled. The loose line rubbing against the truck wall had probably produced the hole in the line.) But he assures us he can fix it. At this point the heat is starting to get to all three of us, so he loads us and the dog up in his car and drives us back down the road about four miles to a convenience store where we can get in out of the heat. He calls a buddy to borrow a propane torch and heads back to the rest area. Two hours later he returns to pick us up and tells us he thinks he got it fixed. OH MY….DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS PART OF THIS WOEFUL TALE HAS COME TO AN END?? KEEP READING…..

It’s after 5pm when we get back to the rest area. The mechanic has Jim start the truck up while he checks his work…..YUP…it’s still spewing fuel! We all conclude that it can’t be fixed on site and we need to recall Good Sam to get a tow truck. WHY COULDN’T THAT HAVE BEEN DECIDED FIVE HOURS AGO?? 

The mechanic bids us “good luck”, we recall Good Sam and they attempt (on a late Friday afternoon/evening) to find a tow company that is available and also able to tow the truck and the fifth wheel. That process took Good Sam another two hours….even with us calling them back several times to “share” how hot it really gets at an Arizona rest area in September! (I don’t think their dispatch center is anywhere near Arizona.)

They finally located a company in Phoenix (120 miles away) and called us back to advise it would be another three hours before the tow could get to us! THIS IS THE PART OF THE STORY WHERE I CAME CLOSE TO LOOSING IT….but we held ourselves together and waited it out. The sun sat in the west, the temperatures dipped down to 99 and we waited…..Finally at 10:30pm the tow truck showed up and the driver quickly got us hooked up. We crammed ourselves into the cab of the tow truck and headed home…at last. It was too late to drop the truck off at a repair facility suggested by Good Sam, so we determined it was in our best interest to get the whole thing (truck, fifth wheel, one dog and two wilted old people) to our house in Sun City. From the rest area to the house was 90 miles - 30 miles farther than Good Sam had agreed to pay for, so we paid the driver an additional $150 and FINALLY got home at 1:00 AM.

Exhausted but glad to be home, we fell into our bed. We got a short amount of ZZZZ’s and (since the temperatures are still in the triple digits) we spent Saturday unpacking only the necessary items out of our trailer that is parked curb-side in front of our house. As I finish up this blog update, it is nearly bedtime Saturday night and our truck is still attached to the fifth wheel. Our CC&R’s only allow us three days to have the fifth wheel parked in front of the house. Monday we will contact the local Ford dealership and arrange get the truck towed in for repairs. So, unless we can get special permission to keep it parked here until the truck is fixed, we may have the added expense of getting the fifth wheel towed to storage by Tuesday morning. Needless to say, at this point we don’t know if the return trip home will financially match the repair costs we incurred on the trip out five months ago.

In spite of all this….we are still trusting in the Lord with all of our heart and not leaning on our own understanding…..He is still able to do more than we can ever hope for or  imagine…..it will all work out for good. 

Even though I was hot and tired and frustrated at the turn of events, many other thoughts came to my mind while sitting in the scorching heat at the rest area~

At least we have a home to go to, (and it’s got air conditioning too). There are a lot of folks without a place to call home. Please watch over them, Lord. Give them hope. Thank you for my home.

Sure, it was hot and uncomfortable for the 10 hours we were stuck at the rest area. But it was only 10 hours, and we had shade and water and safety. And we were able to finally get out of it. What about our troops in the Middle East! Lord, please protect them as they sacrifice every day in sweltering heat and exist in dangerous situations for months on end just to protect my freedom. Thank you for these brave men and women. (They would probably smile to themselves about the “inconvenience” of my situation and want to tell me that they would be happy to exchange places with me.)

 

Oh yes, the added financial burden (whatever it may be) is not in my fiscal plan. We’ll have to tighten up the budget to cover the costs. But at least I’ve got a budget, and an income (albeit a limited one) that pays for a roof over our heads (did I already mention – it’s a roof with air conditioning) and food in my refrigerator and clothes on my back. Many folks nowadays don’t have a fraction of that. Please help them, Lord. And continue to show us how we can help them.

OK…enough of my waxing philosophical and also boring you with mechanical details of vehicle break downs. Let me close this final Great Adventure update for 2012 by sharing pictures and stories of the last leg of our trip from the Turner, Oregon MMAP R&R, down the coast of Oregon and Northern California and on to a week-long visit with our son and his family in Grass Valley.

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From Turner which is near Salem, Oregon, we headed south on I-5 then west on Hwy 38 to the coast. Coming in at Reedsport, we turned south onto Hwy 101 for about 30 miles to Coos Bay, Oregon. There we spent four nights, taking in the sights around Coos Bay.

In my opinion, the Oregon coast is the most breath-taking of America’s three states that border the Pacific Ocean.

Near Coos Bay is Shore Acres State Park. Louis Simpson, an early timber baron and developer of the city of North Bend, built his estate on this site.

The original mansion is gone, but the botanical gardens and the caretaker’s cottage remain. There is no charge to walk the grounds and experience the beauty of the gardens and the spectacular ocean views. I tried to imagine what it must have been like to have a house here. This would have been one of the views from the house.

The botanical gardens are awesome. Their rose garden was abloom with a wide variety of specimens:

 

And the dahlia collection was equally impressive~

 

From Coos Bay we traveled a little farther (less than 100 miles) down the Oregon Coast and spent four more nights at a campground just a few miles north of Gold Beach, Oregon. This gave us the vantage point to check out Port Orford, 15 miles to the north and down to Brookings, 35 miles to the south.

 Above was the view from our campground near Gold Beach. And even the overcast evenings were gorgeous~

Jim found this piece of drift wood that he plans on making into a walking stick.

We have mentioned in other blog updates that we have had some interesting encounters with folks along the way of our travels, so let me take a moment to share a story about a lady God put in our path on this trip. While taking some pictures at a beach near Coos Bay one day 

an older lady approached us to ask what the MMAP emblem on our truck meant. We told her what we did, and then she proceeded to share her story with us. She is a believer, but was going through some rough spots in her life. The testimony of her life was inspiring and sad at the same time. She had been through a lot. She thanked us for visiting with her and asked us to please add a close friend of hers to our prayers. This friend was in the hospital and very near death. In fact this lady had just been at the friend's bedside and had come down to the beach to get away from some of the burdens and emotions she was feeling. We asked if we could pray for her friend right there, and she said yes. We prayed with her for the friend and also asked God to bring this dear lady the peace and joy that only He can when the burdens of our lives weigh us down. It was such a privilege to be able to do this.

While sight-seeing is a wonderful part of our traveling, these “God encounters” (as we like to call them) are many times the icing on the cake of our adventures.

From Gold Beach we continued south for approximately 80 miles on Hwy 101 and stayed for two nights in Klamath, California. Here we had a chance to see some of the Redwoods and the northern California coast line.

If you ever have an opportunity to see the Redwoods, don’t pass it up. The magnificence of their size is something pictures can’t do justice to. Standing at the foot of these giants made me feel rather insignificant in the scope of God’s majestic creation.

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As a French tourist we spoke to said, “They are so old – we are so young!” 

On our drive along the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, a ten-mile scenic drive that passes through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, we actually saw a bear crossing the road – but before I could get my camera to the ready, he was long gone into the forest. So, when we got to the museum at the park campground we took this picture to give you an idea of “what might have been” if I had met a bear in the woods~

We also saw a herd of Roosevelt elk grazing beside the road as we were leaving the parkway.

This bull was grazing by himself away from the herd. We weren’t sure if it was his herd or he was a lone bachelor waiting to get some of the females to start his own herd.

From Klamath we traveled south on 101 about 200 miles to Willits, CA for an overnight stop. From Willits we headed inland on Hwy 20, past Clear Lake and on into Grass Valley (about 170 miles.)

I took this picture of Clear Lake as we were driving. It was he first time we had seen it. On our last trip three years ago taking this same route, the fog was so thick we did not have the opportunity to see how big the lake is. It may be a location we will consider coming back to and checking out.

We stayed 10 nights in the RV park at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, 15 minutes away from our son’s home.

The weather in Grass Valley was wonderful – we went to a local lake to watch the kids swim and play.

 

I drove with my daughter-in-law to West Sacramento to catch the three older boys in their high school football game (which they won – 40 to 6!)

Jacob (#14) is a freshman and new to the game. 

He is the smallest on the team – but is a TOUGH little guy.

Isaac is 16 and a senior. He’s long, lean and fast with a lot of heart 

(both on and off the field.)

 Caleb (#25) is 17 and also a senior. He has been written up in the local newspapers several times for his football skills. He made a several yard run during this game, but of course I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to capture it!

MyKayla (on the right) and her friend with the team mascot, the Valley Christian Lion.

I got to accompany our oldest granddaughter, Erica to her wedding dress fitting and meet with her wedding coordinator at the venue of the wedding. (I have pictures of her in her dress, but those shots are currently “classified” - not to be shown to ANYBODY until after her wedding.) We can show you Erica (on the right) with her two Maids of Honor – friend, Sydney (middle) and sister, Rebecca. Very excited….the dress and the bride will be stunning!  

We went to our grandson, Nathan’s baseball game.  His team won, of course – he made at least three outs by catching some high pop flies. He plays short stop, but also pitched an inning. All of the boys excel in sports….and it’s fun to be able to watch some of the games when we visit.

 

And we wished Erica a happy 20^th birthday. No longer a teenager – soon to be an old married woman!

Erica and Wesley, our future grandson

We had a fantastic time visiting with the kids and grandkids, and also took a Sunday afternoon to drive to Roseville to see our MMAP friends, Jim and Jennifer.

It’s true….our 2012 travel season is over and we will be unpacking the rig and settling back into the “rigorous winters” of Arizona. Actually we will finally be able to put on the shorts and sleeveless shirts we were unable to wear much of the time this summer, and sip ice tea in the evenings on our patio while most of the rest of the country will be pulling out sweaters and snow or rain boots. [Don’t mean to be rude….just sayin’….]

We hope to bring you more Great Adventures next year. In the meantime, no matter what the winter weather brings your way, we hope you all enjoy it and each other. And don’t let any bumps in your journey hinder you from the truth that God can and will bless you in all circumstances.