We're Here!

After spending a few days with my mother-in-law, we headed straight east along interstate 20, passing right through Louisiana and Mississippi. We crossed the border into Alabama Sunday night, stayed at the Welcome Center rest stop, and then continued the rest of the way on Monday morning.

We are finally here.

We immediately began to set up our trailer to stay awhile. We hooked up the power, refilled the water tank, attached a hose to the water inlet and turned on the propane water heater. I then began to catch up on the dishes and take a shower.

That's when Meredith noticed a leak. One of the supply lines to the water heater had a pretty steady drip, which had managed to soak the edges of one of her rugs. We hung it outside to dry, and I checked under the trailer, where I noticed waste water gushing out the bottom of the holding tank.

And then it started to rain. Just like the last time the rugs got wet, despite the drought. Maybe God hates shag carpets?

Anyways, it seemed to us that all the plumbing had waited until we arrived before deciding to fall apart on us. It was pretty stressful, finally arriving here, just to find we couldn't use any water, but the next day we took it to an RV repair shop called RV Roadway a bit south of Alabaster, AL, and they were very friendly and helpful.

They weren't able to fix all the leaks 100%, but they charged us honestly for what they were able to complete, even though they had put far more hours of labor into it then I paid for.

At least we are no longer gushing sewage. That would stink.

Other than that, our stay has remained fairly uneventful. We've explored the town a bit, applied at a few places, but mostly just waited around, surviving, eating, sleeping and reading. Bored and eager for Sunday to roll around, so we can start checking out churches, and finally start meeting people.

The adventure is far from over.

I suppose that's all I have for this week, so until next time, take care and thanks for all the prayer!

Shipoopi

The white Sands National Monument was quite an interesting place. The sand was white, which messed with my head a lot because it resembled snow, and it had a decent amount of water mixed in (which is why the dunes stay intact, appearantly). So, everytime I saw a puddle, I thought it was the mush from where the sand melted, and then I'd have to remind myself that unlike snow, sand doesn't melt.

To make things more confusing, they rented out sleds, so you could slide down the dunes like some sort of winter wonderland. Except that it wasn't a winter wonderland. It was a desert, and it was really hot outside.

The boys loved sliding down the dunes.

Another thing to add to our confusion that day was that we had passed into a new time zone and were just getting used to our clocks being an hour behind the local time--which our cell phones reflected--but then all of our clocks suddenly synchronized that day. We had no idea that daylight savings time had just ended.

But we weren't the only ones there who were confused. We also ran into a couple from Texas who asked us about the local time, and after explaining that we were from Washington, they realized that we were just as confused as they were.

We then saw a camel, which was giving its owner some difficulty until the Texan came over and bossed it around a bit.

The Texan is the one wearing red shorts.

We all had fun, though. The boys were very upset that we had to go... and that it wasn't windy enough to fly the kite.

From there, we headed south into El Paso, so we are officially in Texas. While in El Paso, we decided to stop at a zoo, but we arrived just a couple hours before closing on a Monday, so the zoo was dead quiet. But it was nice to let the boys run around a bit before they put all the animals away for the night and shooed us out of the zoo.

Look, Ethan, everything the light touches is our kingdom.

And then we headed east. We also crossed another time zone, so our clocks desynchronized again... Bummer, I guess I will have to reset them after all.

One night, we stopped at a truck stop and--while looking for a good place to park for the night--we hit a massive pot-hole, which knocked the end pipe to our waste system clean off and all of our waste water gushed out. So, that rendered our plumbing useless for the night. Luckily, the truck stop had wonderful restrooms and showers for us to use. We just couldn't do any dishes.

The next day we learned that Trump had won the election, which I had predicted earlier in the year, but still took me by surprise. All the polls seemed to project Hillary as winner. Personally, we weren't able to vote this year, being far from our registered state. I don't really have anymore to say on this matter here, but if you are interested in my thoughts on the election results, and what they mean to me, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message.

So, from there, we had to find a place to fix the plumbing. I have never done plumbing work before, and wasn't going to give it a shot on the side of the road, especially dealing with sewage of all things. So we found this nice company called Billy Sims Trailer Town in Odessa, Texas, and they did a good job of piecing it back together. They even let me watch, so I could give it a try if it happens to us again.

Let's hope it doesn't. This trip has tested enough of my skills already.

I'm going to be honest, this trip has been stressful, but so far it all seems worth it. Yes, a trip like this can take its toll on your marriage and family, it can make you physically sick as you move from climate to climate, it can seem like everything is falling apart at times, and it can be dang expensive. But it'll be worth it.

I feel like this sort of cross-country trip should almost be a coming-of-age requirement. Not only to learn new skills and boost confidence in one's abilities, but also to find a culture and a climate where it seems you fit in. For us, that wasn't Port Angeles, WA. We're not even sure if it will be Alabaster, AL permanently, but we at least have a better idea of what's out there, and we know we can make it happen.

And even if we failed miserably, the memories, which may have been stressful at the moment they occured, will be worth every cent.

If I stayed in Port Angeles all my life, I never would have stories about the time I burnt all my facial hair, or the time I flooded the trailer, or the time I busted off the sewage pipe, or the time we were coming down a mountain and realized we had no more brakes, or the times the kids puked and pooped on my pants every time we had them washed, and how I had to ride the shuttle bus back to camp while smelling like baby-vomit.

After the initial event, the stress fades, and these become funny stories we'll never forget. And on a trip like this, they are almost a daily occurance. I can't wait for the next mishap!

Today, we are in Fort Worth area--over two-thirds of the way into our trip--spending time with my mother-in-law before we take the last stretch to our new home.

And the adventure won't stop there. We will still need to find a church, make friends, find jobs and eventually move into a new place. We'll be starting over on our own, and it won't matter then who is President, they don't have the power to make the big changes in our lives, like we did.

Only you and God can make those changes happen.

Until next time, take care, and thanks for all the prayer!

There and Back and There Again

I have decided to simply start updating on Saturdays. So I'm technically not late anymore.

Now, where did I leave off last week?

Ah, that's right! The Grand Canyon!

So beautiful... And the Canyon looks nice too!

We spent the weekend there, and just when I was feeling better from my cough, I became sick again, this time with what the kids had.

However, someone must've been praying for us after my last update because the illness only lasted the one night, and the kids only puked upon my lap one final time since then--unfortunately, while waiting for the shuttle bus ride back to camp.

That was a tad embarrassing...

But we are all better now, so your prayers are appreciated!

We left late on Monday, and managed to make it to a Wal*Mart in Flagstaff. It didn't really feel much like Halloween down here in Arizona. The creepiest thing I saw all day was probably this tarantula.

From there, we continued eastward along I-40, until we saw signs for Meteor Crater. Being the tourists we are, we decided to check it out.

Admission seemed a bit pricy at first, but they had more than just a giant hole to take pictures of. They also had a gift shop that sold anything from toy space shuttles to fossilized dinosaur skulls, a small theatre which played an informational movie on Craters, an entire museum dedicated to meteors, and a Subway resturant (where you could exchange a coupon for a free cookie with purchase of a sandwhich).

And, of course, a giant hole to take pictures of.

From there we continued east and passed through the Petrified Forest National Park, which closed roughly 45 minutes after we arrived, so we only had time to make a few stops and take some pictures of the sunset.

We eventually made it to a truck stop on the edge of Arizona, where we spent the night before moving on into New Mexico.

Once in New Mexico, we headed for Albuquerque, where we dined at a Chick-fil-A (the first one we had ever been to was in Alabama, and we had a good experience, so we couldn't resist).

The boys seemed to have a good time there.

And then we headed south to a town called Truth or Consequences, which happened to be just south of Elephant Butte. We stayed the night there, and in the morning I did some much needed work on the trailer. We even installed the solar panel we bought in California, so that we could charge the battery on the go.

We then headed to Las Cruces only to find that the pass to White Sands was a bit to steep for our car to take while towing the trailer...

So we turned around and headed back north to Albuquerque.

There, we managed to cross the mountain range in the center of New Mexico, and have since headed back south.

Today, we were able to stop and see a few ruins from the days of Pueblo Missions. And have stopped for the night at a Wal*Mart near the White Sands National Monument. So, that's where we will be headed tomorrow morning.

The ruins seem like they belong somewhere in Ireland, rather than New Mexico.

And that brings you up to date, so until next week; take care, and thanks for all the prayer!