Category Archives: RV Life

So, Montrose

It’s been unseasonably cold here in Montrose, Pennsylvania this week. As in it’s going down into the twenties tonight cold. But all that being said, the last couple of days have at least been sunny and bright and while we’ve had our jackets close at hand, we’ve had a lovely weekend. I hope you have also! Instead of doing an update that includes words like ductboard and returns and supplies, I thought I’d share just a bit about the town of Montrose, the little corner of PA that we’re calling “home” for the next couple of months.
So. Montrose.
Montrose-1890
Montrose is located between Scranton and Binghampton, NY in what is considered the Endless Mountains. I love the way this town, which has stayed at roughly at the same population from when it was “laid out” in 1812 to today (between 1500 and 2000), has kept its charm while moving into the the 21st century.
Montrose Drive-4
A little of the 1860’s and a little of the 1960’s!
I just love the downtown, with its blend of architecture as it climbs the hill to the town square.
Montrose Drive-10
Montrose Drive-5
There are lots of interesting shops and businesses along Main Street and it even boasts a movie theater that is playing current movies! And – it’s only $5.00 on Thursdays! (Plus a refillable popcorn for $5.00 which makes Gary pretty happy!)
Montrose Drive-9
See the building with the big pillars – that the county courthouse. You see, Montrose is the county seat of Susquehanna County. Pretty impressive, eh?
Montrose Drive-3
There is the Civil War Memorial on the village square
Montrose Drive-2
and it also has its very own traffic light. (The town, not the monument!)
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Only one though. Let’s not get crazy here!
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I love the details on those old store fronts, but even more, I love the houses in this town!
Montrose Houses

Since it was such a pretty day today, we took a little drive to see if we could locate the OTHER thing that this area is becoming known for – Fraking. Or, in more technical term, Marcellus shale drilling. We weren’t terribly successful in finding an actual drilling operation, but we did see a staging area –
Montrose Drive-17
and the evidence of a pipeline being put in-
Montrose Drive-18
We ventured back one dirt road that looked like it might lead to a drilling operation, but when we came to this
Montrose Drive-19
it seemed pretty obvious that they didn’t want any visitors.
Oh well.
Mostly we enjoyed the beautiful countryside, dotted with farms
Montrose Drive-6
and occasionally alpaca!
Montrose Drive-20
Yes, Montrose is a sweet little town. We might have to drive to Binghamton for a Lowes or a Wal*Mart fix, but I’m happy to report that not 2 miles outside of town is this –
Montrose Drive-7
The Ice Cream Stand.
With a $5 movie house (with refillable popcorn) and a nearby Ice Cream Stand, this is a summer that holds great promise!

Side Note:
Saturday was Gary’s 62nd birthday – let’s hear it for the Golden Age Pass for the National Parks ($10/lifetime) and the first SS check that will arrive by the end of June! Happy Birthday, honey!
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Yes, this IS how he spent his birthday. What’s a girl to do!

Things to do at Costco

We love Costco.
We love their free samples and we love their great buys. We also love their big parking lots. Because sometimes, when you drive a 39ft. motorhome with a pick-up truck tagging along behind, you need a really big place to park. Since we knew there was a Costco in Houston, and we would be passing close enough (just enough shopping district traffic to keep the co-pilot panicked), we took the opportunity to purchase and change out the “House Batteries”. That would be the 4 Golf Cart size batteries that keep us humming when we’re not connected to an electric source.
HouseBatteries-2
(The house batteries are on the left. The smaller ones on the right are for starting the engine. And all those wires….well, that must be for someone else to know.)
So here we are, after our first trip into Costco. Ready with the new batteries and the baking soda (to help clean up any battery acid).
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Out with the old….
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and then clean up the space a bit.
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Then to hook up the new ones –
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Oooey gooey messy glad it wasn’t me kind of job…..
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Make sure the fancy caps are all on tight.
And then check to make sure all the connections are back the way they started.
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Never underestimate the value of a little hand-drawn diagram of how it’s supposed to look!
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All things connected, no spare parts (doncha just hate those leftover parts?), and the generator started right up! Looks like we’re back in business. 🙂
And for a reward, after we took back the old batteries (for our $36.00 credit – every bit helps!) here’s another thing that we love about Costco.
Costco  Goodness
Oh, yeah, baby.

Life

Recently we went into a local Verizon store to add some minutes to Gary’s “pay as you go” phone. (We mostly use his phone when we’re looking for each other in Walmart. :)) Although the kind person explained that I could do it over the phone, due to some fat finger errors, I actually got to talk to a Verizon customer service “consultant” in Colorado. After we went through all of the credit card information and how much we wanted to add, she said that we would be charged $7.00 in sales tax.
“Who’s sales tax is that?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean,” she replied.
“Well,” I said, “we have a Montana phone number with a Florida billing address, you’re in Colorado, and I’m sitting in New Jersey. I was just wondering who was getting the sales tax.”

And that, my friends, a snapshot of our life! I know I’ve shared some of the ins and outs about our life on the road and in the SOWER ministry, but I was wondering if YOU had any questions about what we do, how we do it or why we do it. Would you like to know more details about our RV, how we decide where to go next, or how we really feel about going to laundromats? Any questions about how we make life “work” in this crazy life we’re currently leading? The floor is open – send along your questions either in the comment section or by dropping me a line over where it says “Contact Us”. (Or if you’re reading this on Facebook, leave a comment or send me a message.) I’ll do my best to answer whatever you ask! (And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll ask Gary!)
The floor is officially open……

A Sower’s Reunion

We’re here in Beautiful Vero Beach, Florida, where we’ve enjoyed several days of perfect Florida weather, great fellowship with many new Sower friends, and a time of spiritual and physical refreshment. We’re at the Florida Sowers Reunion being held at The Youth for Life Camp – a beautiful camp/retreat center. Since we’re so new to the Sower Ministry we’ve especially appreciated hanging out with friends from our January Project, Dave and Edie Williams. They’ve been showing us the ropes and introducing us to folks. Everyone one has been wonderfully friendly! It been a great chance to see how this ministry has impacted people for so many years. We are definitely one of the younger couples here – and it really is inspiring to see so many mature Christians really living out their faith in this ministry.
The reunion ended today, and most of the gang has headed off to their next destination. We’re hanging around at the camp until it’s time to go to our next project at the Teen Challenge Ranch in the Florida panhandle. We have some chores to do, but hopefully we’ll get to the beach while we’re here. Can’t beat this fine Florida weather!
Here are our friends Dave and Edie –

Punta Gorda and Ft. Myers – Post Hurricanes

We continued our Florida Travels with a visit with Judy, Gary’s sister. She lives in Punta Gorda, an area that was badly damaged during the Hurricane Charlie – and then continued to be battered as the remaining three hurricanes visited the state. Judy lost the roof of her house – and all of her belongings. It’s been a tough road for her, but the house is almost rebuilt and she hopes to be in by mid February. The entire area showed many signs of the massive devastation from Charlie, so it was good to connect with Judy and see that all was well with her (well, on the way to being “well” at least!).
From there we headed to Ft. Myers where we are staying with friends Jim and Sue Taylor. Lizzie fits in their driveway, so we are enjoying spending time with good friends without being right under their feet all the time! It’s been a quiet laid-back time so far – maybe tomorrow we’ll head out to see some of the local sights.
I’ll write more later – just wanted to let you’all know where we were!