The Journey...Part 1

We are on day 18 of a 100+ day RV trip.  I spent hours planning and replanning, all the while knowing that I'd have to replan many times over on our trip.

Here are the changes we've made already...
*Staying an extra day in Richmond, due to weather.
*Going to Myrtle Beach instead of Pigeon Forge, due to weather.
*Boondocking our way from Myrtle Beach to Texarkana instead of staying a few days in Alabama, mostly due to weather.

As you can see, the weather plays a big part in our planning...and the weather is one thing we just can't count on ahead of time!

So far, the only place there hasn't been snow/slush/ice was Myrtle Beach.  The worst of it hit us in Louisiana, which cut our driving down to only 130 miles that day and had us all kissing the ground and praising God we were safe when we stopped for the day.

This trip, we opted to take two vehicles for several reasons...

*Ease of getting into cities or hard to navigate in areas.
*Ability to get parts and not be totally stranded if there is a vehicle breakdown.
*More room when traveling...6 people in a crew cab is pretty squishy on driving days, and the kids are NOT getting smaller!
*Fuel cost is really not higher, as fuel is cheaper everywhere but NY, and we'd be driving both vehicles if we were home, too!

The thing I failed to really consider is...driving two vehicles means Momma has to drive all.the.time.  We've gone just over 2,000 miles, and *I* have driven every single mile!  On our last big trip (51 days), I drove absolutely none of those miles.  Brian used to be an over the road tractor trailer driver, regularly running 1,800-2,500 miles every week.  I, however, reach my limit around 300 miles a day, which is about 5 hours of driving and 2-3 coffee/potty/fuel stops.  My limit also seems to be reduced with consecutive days of driving.

We had four days in a row of driving from Myrtle Beach to Texarkana (just over 1,000 miles).  The first day, we pushed hard, the weather was good, and we  made it over 400 miles.  The second day, we went just over 300 miles and the last hour was rough for me.  The third day was the 130 miles in the snow and freezing rain day, surrounded by people who are not accustomed to winter driving.  The fourth day was only 160 miles, on much improved roads, but by that fourth day, I'm not sure I could have gone more than 200 miles.

Ahead in our travels...mountains.  Big ones.  And I will need to drive through them...yes, this two vehicle decision was both a great and challenging one!

Another challenge related to driving is the reality that most of the time, I am behind Brian as he hauls the camper with his truck.  Every "near miss", I can't not see.  Every car that cuts in front of him makes me cringe.  Every time someone won't allow him to merge, my own anxiety increases.

 I fully admit to dealing with PTSD with car accidents/near accidents being the biggest trigger.  It's not fun, but I am dealing with this by listening to calming Christian music when we are in high traffic areas.  I also quote Scriptures as they come to me.  Most importantly, we are praying...a LOT.  We pray when we start our driving day.  We pray over the walkie talkies.  I pray under my breath.  And we praise God every day for a relatively uneventful journey.  God is stretching us all...and I pray our faith muscles are growing each day.

God is good...we are enjoying the journey.

Peace, out...

Baby Bottle Drive

January and February are usually the months we put all our change into baby bottles.  The contents of these bottles go to support the local crisis pregnancy center, Carenet.  Our whole family has fun finding change in the cracks and crevices of the van and the couch, and we love watching the bottles fill up!

This year, though, we have a dilemma.  We are about to head out on a 4 month RV trip.  What does that have to do with spare change?  Well, when we are at campgrounds, the kids buy treats at the camp store with change we have saved up for that purpose.  We will also be in need of rolls of quarters for laundry.  We've been saving our change since our last camping trip, last July.

Think, think, think...what could we do, to make our usual donation AND have change for our trip?

Solution:  Count and roll all the change (hello, real life homeschooling!).  Keep the change and write a check for that same amount!

We ended up with $78.50 in rolled coins, plus some more partial rolls!  Multiply our gift, God, and bless the ministry of Carenet, please!