Category Archives: Pictures of the Adventure

Photos of our travels and stops along the way

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

Sorry it’s been kinda quiet here…..

December 19, 2012 steph 3 Comments

But it’s been that kind of week. The Christmas packages were wrapped and in the mail earlier than I have ever managed before –

We’ve enjoyed a Christmas party with Lara and friends,

and we even checked out a possible new SOWER project, right here in Waco!

Wings for Christ – It’s a small organization that trains pilots for missionary service around the world. I don’t know if will work as a SOWER project, but it certainly was good to stop by to meet the folks and check it out!
Gary’s been busy getting the truck outfitted and ready to be towed. And man, that’s a big job!
First he had to install the tow plate –

which is a pretty important step, right? We wouldn’t want to become unhooked as we drove down the road! We did take it out for a “test tow” when we had to take Lizzie into town for an oil gauge fix, and everything worked great. Phew. Next up was getting the electrical all hooked up –

Lots of bits and pieces involved in that (not to mention having to run the wire from the front of the truck to the back lights!).

Happy to report he finished that up today. 🙂

Last night we went to the Baylor-Tennessee women’s basketball game. Baylor pretty much ran away with the game (76-53), but it was great to see the Lady Bears in action!

Let’s see….what else….
Oh, I got my minimalist Christmas decorations up – the double nativities since they are both very precious to me

along with some ornaments from years past

and some from the more recent past –

Keeping it simple – that’s a good plan when life is lived in 300 sq. feet. 🙂

So yes, Â it’s been that kind of week. Even now, as I look back over the week and thumb through pictures of things we’ve done and what’s been accomplished, it all becomes so trivial in light of the tragedy that unfolded last Friday in Connecticut. Thankfully, when my heart is broken and I don’t even know how to put words into prayers, I have a High Priest who intercedes for me – and for them.
For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Romans 8:26-27.
And we continue to hold them close in our prayers……

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

Thanks for the memories!

December 7, 2012 steph Leave a comment

It’s been a bittersweet week, here in Waco.
For this was the week that we said a final good-bye to our trusty Dodge Dakota, who has followed us around this beautiful country

and has taken us on amazing adventures through these last 8 years of being on the road.

Shelf Road (Colorado)

Kleinschmidt Grade (Idaho)

Titus Canyon (Death Valley, CA)

Red Rock Canyon (Idaho)

Eleven Mile Canyon (Colorado)

Mt. Washington (NH)
Ah, yes, it’s been a grand adventure, sweet ~~orange~~ Amber Pearl truck. Not only the big adventures, but also the trips to see the kids and the trips to the cabin and even the trips to the grocery store. You have served us well!

But Wednesday we took you out for a final drive –

to a nearby Dodge dealer who I’m sure will find you a good home!

Because as much as we loved you, there was one thing that was beginning to concern us –

Yikes!
As pretty as it is, it will still take a while before this sweet “new” ride

will feel like “home”, but with credentials like this –

we feel that it won’t take too long!

One thing we know for sure, the windshield is cleaner! 🙂

Family and Friends, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

A Waco Weekend

December 3, 2012 steph 1 Comment

Lot’s of fun over the weekend, here in Waco! Saturday we went to the Big Game (well, big here in Baylor-land anyway!).

Baylor Bears vs Oklahoma State Cowboys

OSU = Orange
Baylor = Yellow and Green
Guess you can tell where most of the “visitors” were sitting!
And it was a great game –
from the first touchdown

to the final plays of the day!

We all had our Baylor gear on

but I think Marcus outdid us all with his Baylor Boots!

Sic’em Bears!

Final Score – 41-34! Thanks, Lara, for taking us to the game – it was great!

Sunday after church we hosted a Campgound Cookout at our place! It was a fun afternoon enjoying the company of our young friends in Waco. We had a total of 17 guests, and of course the only picture I took was of people’s backs after a fair number of folks had already left.

Man, I’m really slipping in my picture taking responsibilities!

So today, Monday, Gary is off doing some “Hire Lara’s Dad” assignments and I’m hanging around Lara’s house catching up on some computer work (hence a “hey, it hasn’t been a week” blog post), doing laundry and waiting for UPS and the refrigerator repair guy. See, I can be useful too!

Hope all ya’all (that’s Texas talk) have a good week!

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, The Adventure

Wrapping it up!

November 14, 2012 steph 3 Comments

So tonight is our final night in Oklahoma. Hopefully not forever, mind you, but for now anyway. We’ve had a great three weeks – we discovered the Wichita Mountains

we were moved by the OKC National Memorial

and learned a little more about the rich Native American history in this area –

AND we’ve had a great SOWER project too! We came in with a pretty good idea of what Gary would be doing since Brian, the camp director, had called us earlier to ask if it was something that Gary would enjoy tackling. So from that point on, it was just a matter of making it happen. Oh, what was it he was asked to do? Just move a wall. Nothing too major.
Right!
It’s the back wall of the chapel – here it is from the inside:

And here it is from the outside.

The plan was to take down the existing wall and move it to the back of the concrete (still under the roof). Where the building ends (where the car port is) is where another building will be built, using the wall Gary will be building as its back (side?) wall. The final product will be an expanded chapel (dropped ceiling in the “new” area)and the new building will be an activity center. Needless to say, we didn’t get quite that far – but all in all, much was accomplished during our time here.
First it was getting the walls down –

“Let’s think about the best way to start this….”

Ok, the insulation is down and the inside paneling has been removed. Now we need to get the wiring out of the way.

This might need a little bit of tidying-up down the road!

Here’s the “big picture” shot. The area behind the building is getting ready for new concrete – the floor of the new building.

Once the inside walls were down it became more evident that that inside back wall was going to need some additional support, so Gary started cutting away the studs above the crossbeam so that a giant header could be installed.

See that long board on the concrete. The REALLY LONG board – that’s the header. Yikes! He knew it wasn’t a job that he could do alone (or even with me – I was just short of useless when he needed me to help turn it over!), and fortunately the concrete guy had that sweet little skid loader that was invaluable for getting the beam up and in place.

It was quite a group effort all around!

Once the beam was up (thanks to every male in the general vicinity), Gary finished off getting the wall down and the concrete guys got busy doing their concrete stuff.

(I know that it is really hard work (doing concrete), but I just kept thinking about all the little boys that would have been having a great time sloshing around in it!)

Ok, concrete done and the interior wall is amply supported and it’s time to move on to the next step.
Getting those new walls up!

And there was always that electric that needed a little work….

He makes it pretty, doesn’t he?

He finished the walls up to the ceiling and installed the door and then moved on to the paneling.

The paneling doesn’t go all the way up because there will be a dropped ceiling and the other building (the one on the new concrete pad) will be higher than that roof line. Does that make any sense?
Here’s the new area – walls up, outlets installed, supports holding up the original section, and one big pile of insulation waiting to be used somewhere else!

Phew. And that pretty much takes us to today! The new building arrives tomorrow (well, the parts to build it anyway) – and Brian has promised to send us pictures as the rest of the project progresses!
And what was I doing these last three weeks? Well, apart from helping to turn that monster beam a couple of times, and holding the level so Gary could make sure his posts were plumb, I kept busy in the office doing data entry.

I was getting pretty good a deciphering handwriting and I am much more familiar with the towns in the area (and their zip codes!)! And I’d like to say right now that folks (in general) have TOO MANY PHONE NUMBERS!!!!! Just sayin’.It was a nice change from our last several projects, and I really enjoyed getting to know the staff. And providentially, I finished up the last name today, just in time to give Gary a hand in cleaning up the work area. I love it when a plan comes together! Thank-you, Lord!

Since we had put in some extra time when we first got here, we were able to wrap things up today, and we’ll be headed to Texas tomorrow! We’re actually taking two days to get to Waco because we’re stopping in Bowie (TX) to meet up with some dear SOWER friends! And that’s always a good thing!

So it’s Farewell (for now) to our friends at Oakridge Camp and this lovely part of the country! I have a feeling we might just come this way again!

Waco (and beautiful daughter Lara), here we come!

Family and Friends, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

OKC in a day

November 10, 2012 steph Leave a comment

Let’s face it – it’s really impossible to “do” Oklahoma City in a day. Â But with some recommendations from our new friends at Oakridge and a little guidance from the Visit OKC website, we gave it our best shot!

After a quick stop at the downtown Chamber of Commerce, we set out for the National Cowboy Museum.

For several hours we wandered through the museum, soaking in all things “Cowboy”! The museum was filled with art and artifacts and even had a great display of Hollywood’s treatment of the Western lifestyle!

It was a GREAT museum – really more than we could take in in our allotted time.

We would highly recommend this museum – especially for families. There was a whole section that was all hands-on for kids! We resisted the urge, but it looked like a lot of fun!
From there we checked out the 45th Infantry Division Museum. This was a great little museum, filled with lots of interesting nuggets of military information. It’s a free museum, and the desk was manned by a veteran who served with the 45th in Korea.

We thoroughly enjoyed this museum, and if you’re at all interested in US military history this is a “must-see”.

By this time, breakfast had certainly worn off, so it was time to track down a late lunch. We parked near Bricktown – because we were told that THAT was the place for great food! Now Bricktown had been the factory/warehouse district of OKC, and in the recent (oh, maybe 20) years has seen the development of a vibrant entertainment district, including a mile long canal. We had lunch at the Bricktown Brewery – starting with these amazing sweet potato fries with peanut sauce, bacon and banana chips.

I admit I wasn’t sure they needed the banana chips – buy, my oh my, these were good!
OK, lunch down. Yummy all the way!
Next, of course, was a lovely walk along the canal. It’s not quite the San Antonio Riverwalk, but it was very beautiful, nonetheless.

The canal walk led us to the amazing Centennial Land Run Monument
OK – History review time –
OKC was established on April 22, 1889 when the prairie was filled with over 50,000 people waiting for noon and the beginning of the Great Land Run, where 2,000,000 acres of land were opened up for first-come-first-served settlers. By the end of the day, 10,000 people had settled in the OKC area, and the city was born!
This memorial is really amazing –

Can you find Gary among the sculpture?

It was a stunning memorial!

After a quick trip into Bass Pro (near the memorial and where the truck was parked – we had to go in, right?)

we hopped on the free trolley (gotta love that!) and headed back downtown.
Before I get to our last stop of the day, I want to make a quick comment about the skyline of OKC.

See that shiny new skyscraper? That’s the Devon Tower, the newest (as in completed last month!) addition to the OKC skyline. It’s the tallest (by quite a bit it seems!)building in OKC and in OK AND in the “Plains States.” It continued to pop into pictures all day long…

We were a little intrigued with the black dot about halfway up…

And a bit closer, though also a bit fuzzier….

Window Washers?

We had purposefully waited until the end of the day for our last stop – the Oklahoma City National Memorial, which memorializes the 168 victims of the tragic bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995.

We were so glad we waited until dusk. It was a beautiful – and sobering – monument.

That just about wraps up our Oklahoma City Day Trip. We were blessed with beautiful weather, great recommendations, and friendly trolley driver! 🙂 Our only disappointment for the day was there was so much we would have loved to have seen, but just didn’t have the time. So if someone ever says to you – “Let’s go to OKC!”, you’d better go! You’ll love it!

On another note – this has been a pretty busy week of Family Celebrations! Last Sunday was my B-I-L’s birthday.

I won’t reveal his age, just that he’s THE OLDEST (and possibly the wisest) of the bunch! I sure do love him!

Thursday the 8th this sweet little girl –

turned FIVE!!! Yikes! Here’s our little beauty standing in front of the quilt I made her for her birthday (well, I really made it just because it was her turn for a quilt, but it was nice that it coincided with the whole b-day thing!)

Judging by her outfit, I think I did OK in picking out the fabrics! She almost disappears into it!
Friday was my birthday (one year closer to SS!) which I celebrated with a lovely lunch out with our host, his daughter and my sweet hubby, a nice collection of cards, and phone calls from all my kiddos and sisters. And tomorrow, when we’re “in town” I’m going to stop at Joann’s and buy myself a brand new fancy-schmancy iron (using a 60% off coupon, of course!). Doesn’t take much to keep me happy, eh? What’s not to love about November!

Thanks for coming along on our OKC Day-trip. If you’d like to see additional pictures (including the ones in the collage), you can check them out here!

RV There Yet?

Category Archives: Pictures of the Adventure

Sorry it’s been kinda quiet here…..

Thanks for the memories!

A Waco Weekend

Wrapping it up!

OKC in a day

Seeing the country……Serving our Lord!

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Seeing the country……Serving our Lord!