Even when we work several project months in a row, we always have at least one week off between assignments. For the week between our July and August projects, we headed to northern NY for a week with our good buddies Joe & Kim.
We arrived on Saturday and settled into their sweet RV site right next to the house.
It was a perfectly lovely week! Catching up with good friends is always a blessing, and this week was no exception! But I do have abit of a confession. While I was taking advantage of the extra space their home provide and managed to piece together the memory quilt from the SOWER 40th Anniversary Rally,
Gary was taking advantage of a paved RV site and was searching out and repairing a persistent leak in our radiator.
Pretty sure I got the better end of the deal!
(The good news in this is that the T-Shirt went straight to the trash!)
As I said in my post yesterday, we’ve met the most amazing people in our travels. Joe & Kim are a beautiful example of close friends that we never would’ve met if we hadn’t been on this crazy RV adventure! What a blessing they are to us!
Thanks, friends, for a wonderful week of respite.
With just a little engine grease thrown in!
Category Archives: Pictures of the Adventure
Photos of our travels and stops along the way
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Some things ARE hard
Today marks the completion of nineteen years of life in our motor home. Nineteen years of seeing this beautiful country (and a bit of Canada too). Nineteen years of meeting the most amazing people and seeing God at work in ministries big and small. We’ve slept in every state except North Dakota and Hawaii (still waiting for that bridge) and visited most of our national parks. It’s been a grand and glorious adventure – totally unexpected in so many ways, yet never once have we doubted that we are right where God wants us to be. But still, some things ARE hard. Recently I had some first-hand experience with one of those ‘hard’ things.
Earlier this summer I noticed an unusual spot on my upper chest. It started small but over the course of a couple of weeks it continued to grow and it could no longer be ignored. I sent a photo to our primary care doctor who strongly suggested that I find a doctor and have it removed and tested. Ah – those ominous words “find a doctor”.
One of those Hard Things.
Step one – Call a local doctor, explain my situation, and ask for an appointment. “Well, we have to send you some paperwork since you’ll be a new patient. Once we get the paperwork back, we should be able to get an appointment for you in four-six weeks.” Nope. That wasn’t going to work since we’d be out of the area by then. She suggested I contact an urgent care center.
Step two – Locate the closest urgent care center and make an online appointment. They confirmed via text and asked why I was coming in. I explained that I had a cyst that my PCP wanted to have removed and tested. “Oh, we don’t do that,” was the quick reply. They kindly suggested that I go to an emergency room.
Now I have to say, this did not seem in any way shape or form to be an emergency room event to me. But early the next morning Gary and I headed off to the ER at a small hospital about 30 minutes away.
Step three – The ER. We were seen quickly and a young ER doctor examined my cyst. “Hmmmm…Let me talk to my surgeon friend.” She came back a few minutes later. “Can I take a picture of it?” Sure! Click, and off she goes. At her next appearance, she had an appointment card in her hand. “I’ve made you an appointment with a surgeon next week. He should be able to take care of this for you.”
Step four – Go to the surgeon the next week, fill out new patient info (again), and hope that maybe today will be the day the problem will be resolved. After a careful exam of the cyst, he feels he can better take care of the removal in his surgical center. Next week. Two days before we’re scheduled to leave the area.
Step five – Return to the hospital, get checked into the outpatient surgical unit, and wait patiently for the surgeon to arrive. He arrives, we chat, he numbs up the area, does the deed, and sends me home with instructions not to go swimming for 10 days.
Step six – Call the surgeon a week later (and 200 miles away)to see how the testing came out. As expected, it was a small squamous cell carcinoma, but all of the margins were clear and there is nothing further to be done. Except stay out of the sun, and have my regular doctor check it over in six weeks. That should be easier to accomplish since we try to swing by that way at least once a year.
So all is good. It was a Hard Thing – but not an Impossible Thing. The timing was close – but we received good care (even if it took a couple of extra steps!). No pictures this time. (You’re welcome.) I may not be wearing any V-neck tops for a while, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be back in the wardrobe rotation soon!
But hey – NINETEEN years!! How crazy is that!
August 1, 2004
![Last [SOWER] Month](https://www.rvthereyet.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/53084016402_0a306c7bbd_b-672x372.jpg)
Last [SOWER] Month
In my catching-up mode, I figured I’d better start with our July project – Longview Camp in Arcade, NY. (Especially since today was the first day of our August project!)
Last month went by in a blur – or so it seemed! We loved our time at Longview – where we were working with some good SOWER friends and alongside the staff at the camp. Longview has a very interesting history but has only been in its current configuration (as an overnight camp) since 2015. The two full-time staff members are young (to us!) men with young families, and I don’t think any of the summer staff/interns were older than 26. Youth = Enthusiasm!! And there was lots of that!
Linda and I kept busy with quite a variety of tasks! We started on the serger (a bit of a learning curve on that machine!), moved to staining and sealing some trim, popped over to do some gardening, pulled out the regular sewing machine to make some skit curtains, got started on a mailing, and finished up with filling some gaps during the camp weeks – which included learning the ins and outs of snack shop and some dish pit work (that always included great conversations!)! None of that ‘same every day’ for us! It was fun to do different things as the needs arose. Here’s a little slide show of some of what we did:
Gary and Dick also moved easily from task to task! They started with some concrete work, making entries and equipment platforms. From there they helped out with finishing up some siding and installing the trim that Linda and I had stained and sealed. Gary got the A/C running at the director’s home (lots of happy faces there!), and then they both got started on insulating and hanging the drywall in one of the new buildings. They needed a couple of extra hands occasionally, but those boys worked hard every day. They just don’t have much photo documentation of that! Sorry! But here are a couple of photos from their jobs:
Of course, we were having some fun during all this work too! Another couple was working at a nearby project (Odosagih Bible Conference where we had served last summer) and we got together with them several times. It’s so fun to have SOWER neighbors! We also enjoyed several weekend concerts and Fourth of July fireworks down at Odosagih as well! Plus we had a mini SOWER reunion of SOWERs working or living in the area which was very special! We also squeezed in that trip to Columbus to hang out with the grands, so we were very thankful for the project’s flexibility with our goofy schedule! Such a fun and busy month! Here’s some of our fun:
We love working at “new to us” ministries, and this had the bonus of being a pretty “new to the camping scene” ministry. It was exciting to see what the Lord is doing through this young ministry, and very encouraging to see so many young people purposely serving Him! We might not get back to this area again, but we will surely be carrying Longview Camp (and its folks!) in our hearts and prayers!
Behind again
Ah – I’m beginning to sound like a broken record! Days whiz by and suddenly I’m trying to catch up with all of the comings and goings since my last post. Which was over a week ago! We finished up our July project, spent time with friends and family during our ‘off’ week, and are now parked at High Braes Refuge for our August SOWER project.
We’re working by ourselves, and it feels like it will be a productive month with very few distractions. So maybe, just maybe, I’ll get caught up here with some of the fun things we did during the last week, and even include a little wrap-up of our July project.
One final thought before I start looking for a hymn for tomorrow’s Sabbath Rest – although the first part of our trip today did include the traffic model in the header picture, there was also a fair bit of highway driving. Which also included a bit of this –
There was rain most of the day, but once again we are thankful for safe travels and a lovely resting spot for the next three weeks! Praise be to God for his mercies to us today (and everyday!).
Real quick –
We leave this afternoon for a wild and wooly weekend in Ohio! Toby and Tammy are leaving us IN CHARGE of their six kiddos – what are they thinking? Of course, they range in age from 20 down to 3, so pretty much we’re just an extra set of wheels and an extra set of eyes for the wee one! We have some fun things planned – so there might just be some updates next week on that.
Meanwhile – here at Longview, things have been going well! Linda and I have been going from serging to sewing to staining to kitchen crew to being baristas in their coffee shop. I’m more trained on the cash register than the espresso machine – but I have made a fancy drink or two. Ok, so I’ve made two. I might not be able to add it to my skill sheet, but it’s been a fun to interact with the campers AND learn a new skill! The guys have had their own list of jobs and I’ll try to get more details on that (along with some pictures) next week.
But today, before I disappear from the blogging world for the weekend, I wanted to make sure I wished this sweet young man Happy Birthday!! Not sure when it happened, but he turns TWELVE today!
Happy Birthday, Weston Gary! We love you to the moon and back!
