Category Archives: RV Life

A couple of glitches and some birthday wishes!

Just like any 20-year-old dwelling (whether it’s on wheels or not), things are bound to break. When we got Lizzie back from her spa treatment (and new turbo thingamajig), we noticed that the levelers were not working. It wasn’t a big deal at the moment since we were parked on a nice level concrete pad, but that is not usually the case. Gary did a bit of troubleshooting, contacted an RV tech, zeroed in on the problem, and while it took a bit of time, finally got the parts on order.
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They have just now arrived and hopefully all will be well by the time the weekend is over! Our spot here at Forest Glen is level-ish, and I just have to chase after our wheeled chairs now and then. It’s all good!
We also noticed when we set out from Kentucky to drive to Texas that our water pump wasn’t working. Really??? Well, a stop at Walmart to pick up several gallons of water and we were good to go. We’ve spent weeks and weeks at our Vermont cabin without running water, so we are well-trained in life without water coming out of the spigot. And the toilet still flushed with a little water rinse so no problem there. Now that we’re hooked up to ‘city water’, the pump isn’t necessary, but the part is in hand and hopefully is also on the “needs to be fixed” list for the weekend.
Meanwhile – a slightly bigger glitch appeared when we were at our Lindale house and Gary started working on the shed space that is destined to be my very own sewing studio. (Ok, it’s just a sewing room – but “studio” sounds pretty fancy, right?). First up was addressing those soft spots on the floor. His first thought was some water damage, so he was quite dismayed to discover that it wasn’t water damage, it was termites.
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And they had been busy!
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So what started as floor repair has turned into a floor rebuild – with a good termite treatment thrown in!
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He cut back the drywall to make sure the wall studs weren’t damaged
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and got to work doing the rebuild.
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I failed to get a picture of his most recent progress, but when we get back to the house later this month, I think we’ll (let’s be real – he’ll) be ready to put down the subfloor. And then I will have to decide on flooring and paint colors (since we’ll want to paint before we put down the final flooring, right?). It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!
So there you have it – just some of the Life that has come our way in the last couple of months. But even with those unfortunate (though manageable) glitches, we still have so very much to be thankful for! First of all, we’ve had our dear Lizzie for all these years and she has rarely given us any trouble. And now we have a house – and all the fun stuff that comes with it! While I’m trying to figure out what cupboard to put the peanut butter in, he’s out there fixing things – levelers, pumps, and yes – even floors! He truly is my superhero! And I thank God for him every day!

But wait – the Birthday wishes!! I cannot let the day go by without sending out special birthday wishes to our precious granddaughter Alex –
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who turns 10 today on the 10th.
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It’s her golden birthday – and her entrance into the double digits! Happy birthday, darlin’! We love you to the moon and back (with or without that crazy hat!)!!!

Thanks for stopping by, friends!
Steph

Getting an early start on October

We left our little house in Lindale Sunday after church, and arrived safely at Forest Glen Camp and Conference Center in Huntsville, TX by early evening. The GPS clocked it as a three hour drive, and I’m happy to report that even though it was in prime Sunday afternoon naptime, we only stopped once for a nap attack! We did it in a solid four!
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This is our third time at Forest Glen (a little atypical for us), and although the last time was seven years ago, it still is nice to get reacquainted with the folks – and meet some new friends too! This project is also in our Area Rep group, so we do stop by about once a year just to check and see how things are going. Since we so often do new-to-us projects, it’s nice to occasionally be at some familiar stomping grounds!
As you can see by the map, it’s about 3 hours north to our little house in Lindale (the blue dot) and about 3 hours NW to the kids in Waco (the yellow star).  So it’s a nice central location for us!
We’re looking forward to a quiet, but productive, three weeks here!

Thanks for stopping by –
Steph

 

Meanwhile, back in Kentucky…

We might be enjoying a bit of respite here in Lindale before we move to our October project, but I didn’t want to forget to share about our time at Camp Nathanael in Eastern Kentucky!
It was an unusual project for us in several different ways. First, or course, was that we didn’t have our motor home with us for the first half of it following our breakdown as we made our way there from Ohio.  The camp was so gracious, offering us housing and (as luck providence would have it) they were already preparing three meals a day during the week for their many volunteers, so our meals were provided as well.  But perhaps even more memorable for me was that I was invited to work IN the ministry, as opposed to taking care of things (laundry/housekeeping/painting/etc.) in the background, enabling the ministry folks to do their ministry.
So each morning, after I would bake my quadruple batch of cornbread
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and get the day’s batch of ‘gritty bread and butter’ ready for the day,
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(That’s real homemade butter in the tub! The children learned how to make butter during their ‘Gritty (corn) bread and butter” class.  I would use their butter (and the buttermilk for the cornbread) the next day as I prepared the day’s samples.)
I would don my pioneer gear and join the quilting station –
sometimes joining the teaching team

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and sometimes helping to ‘unstitch’ the stitches from the class before.

I was a small part of a great team

and thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Pioneer Days at Camp Nathanael.
Meanwhile, Gary was doing his part, doing maintenance and repairs!
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He tackled lots of different jobs, while I was busy baking and playing with the kids!
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It was such a good month! There were new volunteers each week, so we got to meet many new friends. It was great fun to interact with the different children each day, and since I also love kitchen work, I enjoyed my morning cornbread extravaganza too!
How thankful I am that the LORD directed our steps to serve at Camp Nathanael in September!

Sabbath Rest – Psalm 84 – I’m Home

Today we arrived in Lindale, Texas, and introduced Lizzie, our home for the last 20 years to our stationary home for the next (God truly only knows) years. As Gary and I navigate this new dynamic (slowing down with SOWER-ing and being part of a community for longer than three weeks), I am so thankful that regardless of wherever my physical home is, my true home is found in the Lord. This musical rendition of Psalm 84 speaks to that joyful security!

When I sit at Your table
I am right where I belong
In the doorway of my Father’s house
I’m home

How lovely are Your dwelling places
Your Holy Spirit here in us
Oh how I love to sing Your praises
One day with You would be enough

When I bow down before You
I am richer than all kings
When I stand in Your presence
I am free
When I sit at Your table
I am right where I belong
In the doorway of my Father’s house
I’m home

If all this world was for the taking
And every treasure known was mine
Not one of them would ever sway me
I’d choose my Savior every time

Wherever I go
I’m home
Because You’re here
In my soul
You’re an oasis in the desert
Living water overflow

Quick update

It’s been a long day, but before we turn out the lights, I wanted share the good news that we’ve been reunited with our motor home, Lizzie.
She has a shiny new turbo (at least I’m picturing it that way), and she made it home (about a three hour drive that involved three states,

crossing the Ohio River several times,
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driving on big roads
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and through small towns.

And quite frankly, going over a few too many hills and windy roads for this girl’s comfort!) without so much as a sputter!

Even though we’ve been reunited, we still have a bit of work to do before we can actually move back in –

(Like finding the bed) so we’re still enjoying our camp accommodations for another couple of days! But it’s grand to have all our ‘stuff’ back within reach!
And on another very practical note – the repair cost was not nearly as traumatic as I was afraid it would be. Still our largest repair bill yet, but once again I can only express thanksgiving for God’s care for us! Thank you for your many prayers and offers to help- we appreciated them all.

Sweet dreams,

Steph