Category Archives: On the Road

On the Road, RV Life, The Adventure

A Gentle Good-bye

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Maybe it’s because she hasn’t moved more than 100 yards in the last year.

Maybe it’s because it was quite the job to empty her and get her cleaned up.

Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten used to putting something on a shelf without having to worry if it will fall off when we move to our next spot.

But since the primary reason saying good-bye to our faithful 22-year-old Lizzie was not as hard as I expected it to be is because God said, “Time for Retirement Part II. Wait until you see what I have planned for you next!”

And if I start to lose sight of how blessed those years of travel and ministry were,  my 38 picture books and 2537 blog posts will help me remember all of the fabulous places we’ve been to, all the beautiful people we’ve met, and all the ways we’ve seen God working around the country.

So even as we said that gentle goodbye to our well-loved home for these last 20 years, we wait with eager anticipation to see how God will use us as we settle in to this next chapter.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Steph

PS – After 20 years of full-time occupation,  Lizzie is also moving to some light-duty work! Her new owner will be using her just for vacations and outings – I think next up is Daytona in February.  Sounds like he’s putting the “Recreation” back into RV category!

 

 

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On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure

Filling in the hole

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During our 20 years traveling this continent, we’ve spent the night in 48 states and eight Canadian providences/territories.  It’s been amazing. Really AMAZING! But one state we never even stepped our toe into was North Dakota. As we headed west on Our Sofa Surfing Summer trip it seemed like the perfect opportunity to rectify that oversight!
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I knew we weren’t going to get to see the whole state (and I’m fully aware that there is some fabulous stuff over on the west side), but we were able to experience some of the eastern North Dakota treasures!
Like Fargo –
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We did a walk-about of the downtown
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and loved the quirky quaintness of it!
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Fargo
The next day we ventured a further west,
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with our sights on Bismarck, the state capitol.
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It’s a little late in our travels to start trying to get to each state capital, but I’m glad we stopped at this one! Instead of the more familiar (to us anyway!) dome style, this was built in 1931 in an Art Deco tower style. There was lots of symbolism in the interior of the building

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and a pretty great view from the top floor, too!
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I’ll be honest here – at this point of our Sofa Surfing Summer travels, we were both running out of tourist gas. So although we knew there was LOTS more to see in North Dakota, we settled for a capitol tour, a great lunch and a quick drive through town before we turned our truck south. Some final impressions of North Dakota?
The Great Plains are expansive!
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There are oceans of sunflowers (ND is a leading producer of sunflowers!).
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And when you least expect it, the field is populated with bison instead of cattle!
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North Dakota – we didn’t do you justice, but at least we can say we’ve been there!
Just one state to go, and quite honestly, I’m not sure Hawaii is on the docket anytime soon.
But now to find that North Dakota sticker…

Thanks for coming along!
Steph

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On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure

Westward Ho!

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The journey continues – next up was Wilmar, Minnesota. We were stopping to see some long-time (and long-time since we’d seen them) SOWER friends, Bill & Carole. They graciously opened their guest cottage (aka their motor home) for us and we enjoyed  two nights of good conversation and rest! Those catch-our-breath days were so needed! In fact, there were very few pictures taken between a fuzzy picture of the Minnesota state sign when we crossed the border

and then a quick selfie as we bid a fond farewell!

But they did take us on a lovely drive through their corner of the world, which combined farmland and beautiful lakes, but you’ll just have to take my word on that.
There was this one sign that caught my eye when we were entering a busy limited access highway –

I’m used to seeing those buggy signs (and buggies) on two lane roads in many different areas of the country, but I must confess I was a bit alarmed that I’m being cautioned to watch for buggies on a four-lane highway!!
Oh my – wouldn’t that be a sight!

(picture courtesy of ChatGPT!)

Our Minnesota sojourn was quiet but quite lovely!! I do wish I’d taken more pictures, but my heart still remembers fondly our time there!

Next up – the missing hole in our travel map!
Till next time!
Steph

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Family and Friends, On the Road, The Adventure

What’s Next? Wisconsin!

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After we checked all the Upper Peninsula boxes (or at least the ones we had made), we made a turn south.  Wisconsin, here we come!

Our dear friends, Wendell and Diane, were waiting for us at their lovely lakeside cabin, and they did a great job of showing us around their corner of that beautiful state!
First up – a water ski show!
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Wow – those kids (and adults!) worked really hard on these stunts!
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We also did a bit of hiking
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to a very beautiful waterfall (that was well worth the hike!).
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After the hike, we hit the races!
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It was great fun to watch – and we were very thankful for earplugs!! Vroooommmmmm…..

But aside from waterskiing and waterfalls and Whoa, that’s loud, the best part of the visit was, of course, the people!
Along with coffee and peaceful mornings

and enjoying God’s sunset handiwork,
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we also got to enjoy time with other area SOWER friends.
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It was a great visit! Gary got to work on some projects in Wendell’s great woodshop, and Diane and I got to talk grandkids, sewing, and even did a bit of thrifting!

(And yes, that sweet green pitcher made it all the way home in one piece! No small feat given the number of miles we’ve traveled!)
We’ve met some amazing folks during our years on the road, and connecting with some of them during this summer journey has been a true highlight!

Thank you, friends, for sharing your beautiful corner of Wisconsin with us! It was a delight!

And then, after Wisconsin…we were westward bound!
Thanks for stopping by as I continue on recounting our Sofa Surfing Summer!
Steph

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Family and Friends, On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure

Upper Peninsula Revisited

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We’d “done” the Upper Peninsula of Michigan before, but that was 20 years ago and, my, we’ve slept many times since then. It definitely seemed like it was time to refresh our memories.  There was also one thing I had really wanted to do while we were up that way -taking the Picture Rocks Cruise – but the weather was not at all cooperative during our time there. So this seemed like the perfect time to finish out that little bit of tourist history and get that boat ride under our belt. So, after we bid our dear family in Muskegon good-bye, we headed north with the Mackinac Bridge in our sites!
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We spent just two days traveling across the UP, but still managed to fit in some beautiful scenery and fun stops. Our first stop was the Kitch-iti-kipi (The Big Spring), a little hidden gem along the way. As the largest natural spring in Michigan, it was very interesting and well worth the stop.
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We rode the manually operated ferry to the other side,
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and marveled at the crystal clear water and the ability to see those thousands of gallons of water entering the spring!
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Our next stop was a little hike to Wagner Falls, which was lovely and well within our 20 years older, hiking regimen.
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By the end of the day we were up in Munising, and anticipating our sunset Pictured Rocks cruise!
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We were not alone!! But the weather was perfect, the boat ride was smooth, and the rock formations fabulous!
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Here’s a little slide show of some of the pictures I took-

We so glad we took the time to revisit the Upper Peninsula – it was well worth the extra days and extra miles! Here are a couple of links from our visit there in 2005 –
Pictures from the UP
Another Day in the UP
and
Camping on Lake Superior –

There have been many changes in the last 20 years – but maybe the most noticeable are the changes in us!

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Who are those kids on the left???

Next up – Wisconsin!

Thanks for stopping by!
Steph

PS – Real time Update – We’ve arrive HOME!!!

There are still more travel stories to share, but we’re so thankful for a safe return to our Little Lindale House!

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