Sunday, December 9
Jim and I awoke early this morning with every intention of meeting Rod, Ruth, Rachel, and Roy (all R’s, how about that???) at Rachel and Roy’s church for the 8:00 am service. However, we hadn’t counted on the Florida fog which settled over our dwelling place. In a car, fog is tough; but on a motorcycle it is even rougher since there are no defrosters or windshield wipers to help
the driver see! Therefore, we had to cool our heels until the fog broke up. Thankfully, by 9:45 the sun was shining and we were able to saddle up and head over to Crossroads Community Church for the dedication of the building.It’s at this point that words begin to leave me…nothing I could say would convey the feeling that we each had at seeing the completed church on the inside and being reunited with people we worked with each day for 3 weeks. Since this was our first opportunity to join in a building project like this, I think it was even sweeter and more emotional for us than the written word can express.
During the church service, Steve, who was the head of construction for the church, spoke a little about the work, the volunteers, and the finished product. Then he presented a slide show that he had compiled with a wonderful rendition of The Lord’s Prayer playing in the background. The presentation began with shots of the ground breaking, the pouring of the slab, and progressed to the actual building. At that point, I was filled with awe and, yes, a great sense of pride when I realized that Steve had used many of the photos I had taken during our 3 week stay there. It was at that point that I finally realized that I, too, had really played an important part in the building of Crossroads Community Church; because I had captured the human spirit of the volunteers as well as the historical pictures of the changes each day. It was a very moving moment for me.
Through songs and messages, the dedication of this church was an awesome experience and Jim and I felt very blessed to be a part of it.
Though friends asked us to join them for lunch, we opted to return to the Holiday Inn and fix a sandwich since Jim had some things he needed to do to prepare for a meeting he had to attend later in the day.
Then at 2:00 pm we returned to the church for the Open House. It was amazing to find that the time passed so quickly with visiting and again taking photos. Once again, we were given proof that this really is a small, small world when a lady came up to me and said she had heard we were from New Mexico. During our conversation, we found that we had a pretty strong bond…she was raised in Clovis and her college roommate was from Artesia, NM. In fact, when we found Jim and asked him, he knew Sylvia and her family. Now our mission is to find her while we’re in Artesia and tell her that Judy sent a “hello” message. Judy’s husband is the interim pastor for Crossroads. Yes, it is a small world.
During the afternoon Jim met for with an attorney to prepare for a deposition that was scheduled for Monday. Following that meeting, we went over to Bill and Abbie’s house for one last get-together with them, Rod and Ruth, and Bob and Nell.Monday, December 10
We spent the morning getting all of our gear organized and packed in preparation for our trip back to Marianna on Tuesday; it was amazing how much “stuff” we accumulated along the way.
About 10:30 we rode the cycle over to a shopping center where we did some shop-looking for a few minutes. I found a pair of shoes I really liked, but Jim didn’t see anything he couldn’t live without.
At 11:15 Jim left to ride the cycle down to Tavares to give his deposition while I continued looking through the stores in the mall and enjoyed walking around in the nice warm sunshine. The deposition started at 12:30 and didn’t finish until 5:45, and I was about beside myself because I didn’t know what was going on. We had thought that it might take only a couple of hours, so I was expecting to hear from him by 3:00 or so. He called as soon as he got out and told me he’d join the evening commuter traffic and would be back as soon as possible, but with it being dark and all the cars and trucks on the road, it might be a bit.
As luck would have it, everything went well and Jim was back at the hotel by 6:30. We went over to the mall square to have dinner and enjoy the evening’s entertainment (it is almost a county fair atmosphere each evening at the square…vendors, food and drinks, and live music). We ended up eating at Panera Bread Company – sitting outside and enjoying what might be our last chance to enjoy an evening outside like this for a while.
Back at the hotel, we started carrying down most of our gear so we could load the cycle and cargo trailer…we wanted to have everything possible in place tonight so we could get an early start on our trip tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 11
Jim: Up and at ‘em early was our mantra this morning. We finished loading the last of our gear in the cargo trailer, had a quick breakfast snack before pulling away from the hotel at 8:00 (we wanted to be away earlier, but central Florida was socked in with heavy fog, so we held off until we could see the highway in front of us).
After a quick stop at Wal-Mart to gas up the cycle and make a quick purchase inside, we pulled out on the highway and headed north to Ocala, where we got onto I-75 for some high-speed travel. We rode for about an hour and a half before taking a break at a Florida Welcome Center/Citrus shop. We had thought about buying a bag of oranges or grapefruit, but decided that we just didn’t have room for it.
Back on the road, we headed north to the point where I-75 and I-10 intersect. From there we headed west on I-10 for the final 160 miles of our cycle trip. Around 11:00 we made a stop for breakfast and an email check at Denny’s, also fueled up the cycle, and then continued our journey through Tallahassee and on to Marianna.
We arrived at Glennis’ house at 2:00 pm, 12 days and 1,778 miles after beginning the first of what we hope to be many lengthy motorcycle tours.
After a brief rest, we transferred our luggage to Big V, loaded the cycle and cargo trailer on the big trailer, and generally prepared for the trip back to Artesia.
As soon as we entered Big V we discovered that there was no electricity, something that was very necessary to power the propane-feed to the refrigerator and freezer. We discovered later (in the middle of the night) that one of us had accidentally tripped a switch in the entry stairwell when we were leaving for the cycle trip. That isn’t normally a problem, but I had evidently left one of the compartment lights on, and that switch triggered the light, eventually running down the house batteries. So, the first order of business was to clean out the refrigerator and freezer and throw away the few things that had gone bad. Another lesson learned…check every switch before leaving for an extended period!
Glennis fixed a wonderful meal for us…roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with ham, and creamed white corn, all of it topped off with a big slice of her peanut butter pie. I don’t know how Darren managed to stay awake at work tonight…we didn’t even try!
After a short visit with Glennis and Darren, we decided that we needed to call it a day…we were beat from our ride and all the trip preparations, and had an early start scheduled for tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 12
With many miles to go today, we got up at 5:00 am, finished our travel preparations, had a cup of coffee with Glennis, and then pulled away from the house at 6:04. It was foggy out, but the sun was starting to come up and break through in a few places. In fact, by the time we reached Pensacola on I-10, it was beginning to get downright warm.
To avoid the heavy traffic through Mobile, Alabama, we altered our route a bit. It was a few miles farther down I-10 to go to Pascagoula, Mississippi, before turning north to eventually hook up with U.S. 98, but it took about the same amount of time and was a lot less stressful.
The rest of the day’s trip was pretty ordinary…we went through Hattiesburg, Jackson, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and on through Monroe, Ruston, Bossier City, and Shreveport, Louisiana, before stopping for the night at a Flying J Truck Stop just three miles from the Texas line. We had hoped to go a bit farther, but the weather wasn’t cooperating…rain, wind, and fog, so we decided to get gas and propane and hunker down for the night.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
With all of the noises associated with a busy truck stop, it was no problem to be awake by 5:30 am and ready to travel again. We drove to Lindale, Texas, where we met Aunt T.J. for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. After an hour or so of eating and visiting, T.J. had to go to Tyler for a doctor appointment and we needed to continue west on I-20.
We voted that if at all possible we would try to get to Artesia today…lots of miles, but doable if the weather and traffic cooperated and I could stay awake that long.
We didn’t stop until we got to Abilene…took a break to give Big V a l-o-n-g drink of go-juice and then ate a quick lunch and checked email. After that, it was on down I-20 to Big Spring, where we left the interstate system.
Barbara decided that she wanted to give the driving a try once we were off the interstate, so she took over in Big Spring. She’s wanted to drive Big V, but not on the interstates and definitely not with a big trailer behind (extending the length to about 55 feet). But, I was tired from driving all day and U.S. 87 from Big Spring to Lamesa is four lanes, so she decided to give it a try. I did fall asleep along the way and she did get us there quite well…a real milestone for her.
I took over again at Lamesa and drove us the rest of the way into Artesia, where we went first to Wal-Mart to buy a few replacement groceries for the ones we had to throw away in Marianna, and to top off the fuel tank in Big V. From there, we drove out to Jean’s place, unhitched the trailer, and got Big V parked on the slab, ready to open up and get the electricity hooked up and turned on.
Finally, after 21 days and 4,480 miles (2,632 in Big V and 1,778 on the Voyager), we were back in Artesia.
Once we were more or less set up, we hopped in the Vibe and drove over to check on Mother and visit a bit with Ernie. We did find out that Mother has a compressed vertebra that is extremely painful. She cannot get up and around and has to spend most of the time in bed until we can find a specialist who will see her. Meanwhile, Ernie and I will take turns sleeping at her house in case she needs help during the night.
From there, it was back to the place, where we had a short visit with Jean and then retired to Big V to call it a day (15 hours of driving…a real long day).
Friday, December 14
Today was a “work around the place” day. We had much to do after the trip, both inside and outside.
Luckily, the weather was pretty nice, so I spent a big part of the morning doing the outside chores like hooking up the cold weather water line, storing bags under Big V as Barbara got them emptied inside, draining the waste water tanks, etc. Meanwhile, Barbara was busy inside storing things and putting out the Christmas decorations.
We took a short break around noon to take some food over to Mother’s house and to check on her and the puppies. Ernie was there part of the time, so we also got to visit with him a bit.
When we came back to Big V, Barbara continued working inside while I got the cycle and cargo trailer unhooked and off the big trailer and put back in the barn. By then we were having strong winds from the southwest, so the outside work wasn’t nearly as much fun as it was during the morning.
Around 5:00 we took some food over to Mother and visited a bit before coming back out to Jerry and Nancy’s house at 6:00 to join them, Jean, and Becky for dinner and conversation.
By 7:30 we were beginning to show some signs of wear and tear, so we said our goodbyes to the family. I took Barbara back to Big V, grabbed a change of clothes and my shaving kit, and went back to Mother’s house to spend the night.
Saturday, December 15
After getting Mother her morning coffee and fixing some breakfast for the two of us, I made my way back to Big V for the day.
We spent most of the day working on Christmas gifts and doing a little shopping. It seems that just a few minutes after we decide that we have everything ready, we think of someone or something that we have forgotten. We had good weather today…a little cool, but sunny and no wind, so it felt good to get out, even if it was for multiple trips to town.
We made a couple of trips to the house during the day to check on Mother and the puppies…everything is going as well as can be expected over there.
Tonight…we decided to fix one of our favorite meals, enchiladas, before I left to go back to Mother’s house for the night. It has been a long time since we fixed them, and it really made a mess, but they were certainly worth the effort.
"Use what talents you have - the woods would be silent if no bird sang except those that sing best." ...Heartwarmer, December 15th
Back home again in Artesia,
Jim and Barbara
