Category Archives: SOWER Projects 2024

On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2024, The Adventure

Arizona

March 11, 2025 steph 1 Comment

We made it!
It was a pretty simple trip, direction-wise. Get on I20 (about 3 miles from the house), drive until it dead-ends into I10. Continue on I10 through New Mexico and then into Arizona. Stay on I10 until you come to Route 191 in Willcox. Go south about 55 miles, turn left and then left again – and you’re there! Simple, right?
With the truck packed to the gills, a box of glazed donuts and a Costco-size bag of Cheez-Its handy to keep us fortified, we began our travels a little later than usual (8AM instead of 6AM) to (hopefully) avoid the Dallas/Ft. Worth morning traffic.

We didn’t quite glide through the cities, but we did make it out the other side without incident.

Phew.
We were hoping to get to Van Horn (a solid 600 miles and yes, still in Texas) for our overnight. We made it, but I have to say the last little bit went from a bit windy but manageable

to high winds and reduced visibility.

We were oh-so-happy to stop for the night and we woke to a crystal clear morning!

The wind had settled down and as we drove into New Mexico, all was clear ahead!

But before we knew it, this

turned into this –

And then this popped up on our phones –

Oh. Oh No.
Thankfully the visibility never got to zero, and we were able to continue on safely. Just as we were entering Arizona, a light rain started, which I think helped calm down the dust storms.

A little blue sky even peeked through the clouds to cheer us on!

Finally our last leg down Rte 191

and into our home for the next three weeks!

It’s a sweet little single-wide and we are more than comfortable!

Conrad Clutter abounds!
We are so very thankful for those (almost) 1000 safe miles – and especially thankful that we were in the truck and not the RV! Between the winds and the construction and traffic – it was so nice not to be supersized!

Thanks for coming along on the drive – it’s been a while since I’ve taxed you with so many windshield shots!

Oh – and if you want a little more info about where we are this month, check out the Where are We Now page!

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2024, The Adventure

Meanwhile, back at Forest Glen –

November 11, 2024 steph Leave a comment

[I started this post back on 10/29. Yikes! Apparently it’s taking me a little longer than I thought it would to figure out what cupboard is best for the peanut butter! Maybe this week I’ll get this ol’ blog back on track! So let’s start that tonight…]

Although our main focus these days is our little house in Lindale, I realize I never did a final wrap-up of our time at Forest Glen Camp! We were the only SOWER couple on site that month, so mostly we were working together. But I did start the month labeling ALL of their sound system wires and equipment,

and sprucing up their music stands.

But the big project Gary worked on (with some assistance from me when needed!) was helping to finish off the interior of the new camp store!
Our first view –

Step number one – install accent boards on the ceiling.

Yeah – there were a lot of them!! Once the ceiling was done, it was on to the track lighting.

Hang ’em,

wire ’em,

light ’em up!

Thankfully we were not tasked with chalkboard painting that giant black wall, but Gary did spend his last couple of days wielding the floor sander to get the concrete ready for its final finish.

They promised us an “All Finished” photo when that building is open for business – sure hope they follow through!
So it was a good three weeks! We fit in a trip back to Lindale to continue working on the shed floor, were able to accomplish all of our Area Rep annual visits, worshipped with friends, and even enjoyed a meal with a brand new SOWER couple that lived nearby! Lots of pieces to our October puzzle, but I think they all fit together just fine!

Thanks for stopping by – and I hope to see you again soon!

On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2024, The Adventure

Getting an early start on October

September 30, 2024 steph Leave a comment

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!

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 –

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2024, The Adventure

Meanwhile, back in Kentucky…

September 25, 2024 steph Leave a comment

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

and get the day’s batch of ‘gritty bread and butter’ ready for the day,

(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

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!

He tackled lots of different jobs, while I was busy baking and playing with the kids!

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!

SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2024, The Adventure

Cornbread, Kiddos, and Waiting

September 9, 2024 steph 2 Comments

It’s been a week filled with all of those things! First on the waiting – we’ve been told that our new part should be at the mechanics today(Monday), and then it will be on to the repair. So it looks like it might be several more days until we can be reunited. (Quick refresh – the turbo ‘went’ on our motor home, and it is now waiting patiently at a repair shop in Jackson, Ohio. We packed a bag and continued on to our September project at Camp Nathanael in Emmalena, KY, where they have generously supplied us with a room until we go pick-up Lizzie (the RV).) We’ve been blessed with a sweet room –
and in the same building is a lovely common area (where I am sitting and typing at the moment!)

(You can’t see him, but Gary is snoozing on that comfy sofa! ) It’s pretty much like having our own living room! Oh, we miss our house immensely, but it has been such a blessing to have these lovely accommodations while we wait.
And then there are the kiddos! Last week was the beginning of a 5 week stretch of Outdoor Education sessions that are being run by the camp. School children come from the area counties for a day filled with reenactments and demonstrations about what life was like in the “Pioneer Days”.

There are different stations for quilting, butter making, candle making, washing and dying, and barn building to name just a few! This past week was “Kinder Week” so it was a little scaled down – a good option for us new folks! I was helping out in the “General Store”

Which I confess was more 21st Century trinkets than Olson’s Mercantile, but the little ones sure had a great time picking out some treasures!
But aside from being a helper wherever I am needed (maybe quilting next week??), I’ve been making cornbread!

The cornbread is cut into little squares and then a dab of butter (which the kids have actually made!) is put on top and the little squares are distributed at the end of the class.

Since there are approximately 200 kids that come through the program each school day (and there are 20 more days of kids) – that’s a fair bit of cornbread! So I’m trying to get ahead of the curve and plan to have plenty in the freezer since we won’t be here the last two weeks of the program!

Being that I love working in the kitchen and think helping students experience some quilting will be a delight – pretty sure this month will go by quickly.
Now if we could just get our motor home back.
Ah, the waiting…
Happy Monday, all ya’all!

PS – Gary has (of course!) been busy these days also. Heaters, A/C’s, shower floors – you know, Gary stuff. No pictures though, sorry!