Thursday, October 23: Georgia Baptist Conference Center, Toccoa, Georgia
A previous post covered our day's journey from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Toccoa, Georgia, and the Georgia Baptist Conference Center. We ended that post by saying that we would be joining a group of volunteers to work at the conference center for the next several days.
Our first order of business after arriving at the campground was to get Big V settled in at an RV site, a job that wasn't as easy as we had hoped. Several other volunteers had arrived before us and sites large for Big V were very limited. The site we eventually chose was far from level, and it took a lot of work to get the coach leveled and balanced, but when we were finally done, we had a great view of Lake Louise.
While I did some set-up chores, Barbara got busy with her camera to record the beautiful scenery all around us.
We even took time to get a shot of ourselves in the middle of all this beauty.
Soon it was time to go down to the dining hall to meet the other volunteers who had all been working when we arrived. One of the great things about being a volunteer with this group is that once you have worked with them, whether at Toccoa or one of the church building projects, you are part of the family. Even if it has been several years since seeing one of the volunteers, you are able to pick up conversations where you left off the last time. What a marvelous family we are, with members scattered around the country, but with bonds that rival those of next door neighbors!
Eric Meyhoefer, the dining hall manager and head chef, and his family have become special friends over the years. We were volunteers the year that Eric began working at GBCC and have been pleased and honored to have watched how he works with his staff. Eric's wife, Ruth, and daughter, Kate , were at the dining hall tonight (Kate is now on staff, my, how she has grown since we last saw her!), and we had a lot of fun getting caught up with each other.
Nothing exemplifies the beauty of GBCC more than a view from the dining hall.
The volunteers met with our team leader, Nancy Fairfax each morning and evening to review the work of the day, get marching orders, and share in a devotional time. It was so nice to be able to step right into that routine again as if we hadn't missed out on the last four years.
We spent a few minutes after the meeting getting caught up with old friends and then headed back up the hill to the campground to settle in for a good night's sleep.
Friday, October 24
We began our morning, as usual, with a team meeting and devotional time. Nancy gave out the individual assignments for the day; I would be working with one of the men in the wood shop, cutting sections of lumber for an arts and crafts project for the Senior Conference next week. I didn't have a camera with me to document anything, so everyone just had to take my word that I worked and finished my assignment.
Barbara, meanwhile, was assigned to the kitchen, particularly the bakery, and went to work as soon as we all finished breakfast.
Alecia (top photo) is a relatively new employee at the dining hall, but has become a vital part with much responsibility in no time at all. In fact, Alecia was recently promoted to the position of day manager of the dining room. Louise (bottom photo), has been there since before we first started volunteering at Toccoa.
Winnie (top photo) has been at GBCC so long that we think maybe she was there first and they just built the kitchen around her.
Joe, (bottom photo) the morning chef, is a really great guy who goes out of his way to instruct the volunteers.
Michelle, (top photo) is the new bakery chef. She was Barbara's "boss" for the morning.
Joe and Alecia show that although the work is serious, there is always time for some fun.
Eric came in to work lunch and prepare the evening menu. Here, he shares some time with
Ruth Hogan, one of the volunteers from Alabama.
Afternoon and evening breaks allow the volunteers and staff time to share in an informal setting.
In addition to her duties in the bakery, Barbara also refilled beverages for the diners during lunch.
Another long-time employee at the dining hall is Deb, who, since we last saw her, has been promoted to evening manager the dining hall.
The dining hall staff does a great job of decorating the facility for different seasons and holidays.
Our first day back at work was fun, but also very tiring. We had no trouble at all with falling asleep at the end of a long day!
Saturday, October 25
Saturdays for volunteers are generally very slow days. There are usually only a handful of guests at the conference center and many of the volunteers finish their week on Friday and then go home, while a new crew shows up Sunday evening.
Today was a little different, though. There weren't very many guests for meals, but two banquets were booked for the evening, one of which was a really big deal calling for a lot of help from the volunteers.
We started our day with breakfast (a great way to start the day at GBCC).
While Barbara worked inside, I went outside to take photos of a Toccoa morning.
Sunrise over Lake Louise behind the dining hall is a thing of beauty, as shown in this progression.
While a lot of things go on in the various buildings of the GBCC campus, the dining hall is the center of everything three times a day!
Another view of Lake Louise from the dining hall windows...
When breakfast was over and the guests moved on to other activities, it was time for our handful of volunteers to start preparing, not only for the two banquets this evening, but for lunch, dinner, and the meals planned for next week.
Barbara continued her work in the bakery, while I shifted my attention to the fine art of preparing bacon for upcoming breakfasts. Our output for today was 60 pounds of delicious bacon, a big hit with nearly every person who has breakfast in the dining hall.
GBCC spares no expense in providing the latest and finest in fashionable headgear for those who forget to bring their own!
After several hours of working behind the scenes, it was time to join the other volunteers and staff for a bit of lunch.
Barbara and I didn't see each other very much during the workday, but we did find time for this photo.
We spent the afternoon working with the staff and volunteers in transforming the dining hall into a banquet hall for a special program by one of the area churches tonight.
But, neither of us got photos of the time spent setting up or the wonderful, almost miraculous way we returned the room to its dining hall state in less than an hour after the banquet/program concluded...proof (except for the lack of photos) that team work and hard work can result in a fun time.
It was well past dark-thirty when we finally finished the day and made our way back to Big V to collapse, weary with well-doing, as Mother would have said.
Sunday, October 26
What a wonderful way to wake up and face a Sunday morning with Lake Louise just outside your windows.
We could have joined others for breakfast at the dining hall (the only meal served on Sunday), but we elected to lounge around a little longer in Big V and enjoy the peace and quiet for awhile.
When we did get to moving around, we got dressed and headed into town to meet up with several other volunteers at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Toccoa for a very informative and inspiring early service.
After lunch, we went to Captain D's for some takeout seafood, and then drove back to Big V to enjoy the meal and rest a bit before tackling the next chore on our hit parade...catching up on several days worth of laundry. Luckily, the campground has a laundry room with a free washer and dryer. We were the only ones taking advantage of the situation today, which made it a pretty easy chore.
While the first load of wash was going, I broke out my trumpet and Barbara shot some videos of me playing hymns. The birds and critters must have thought they were pretty special, because they heard a number of renditions of How Great Thou Art as we moved from setting to setting.
Music finally gave way to getting clothes out of the dryer and folding them to take back to Big V.
On the way back to our site, we stopped for a short visit with our friends Ken and Ruth Hogan and John and Lynn Worley who, along with the birds and animals, had heard parts of our outdoor concert..
Around 1:30, Bill Strong, along with his wife, Jean, had borrowed the center's pontoon boat to take several of us on an afternoon cruise on Lake Louise.
As we cruised our way back up the lake, Barbara and I had to leave the group for another planned activity. Bill took us back to our landing, let us off, and then continued with the others to complete the circuit of the lake.
Barbara had made arrangements with Ruth for some special time outside of work hours for a visit. We drove down to Eric and Ruth's house and enjoyed an hour of so of just getting caught up on each other's lives and, of course, a photo session.
It took us awhile to set it up, but we finally got this photo of Kate "holding" Eric and Ruth in her hands.
When we finished our visit, we drove on to our team room to meet the new group of volunteers who had been arriving throughout the day and to get an overview of the activities and our assignments for the rest of the week. We had worked previously with several of the new group, so this was like homecoming all over again!
Monday, October 27
We began our new morning and new week with a team meeting and devotional. I had previously volunteered to do this morning's devotional, so Barbara and I drove down to the meeting room at 6:15, and by 6:30 I was set up to play hymns on the trumpet while the team assembled for the meeting.
The main theme of my devotional was about how Christians can best demonstrate their belief and faith through their daily walk. I used as an example, how I was challenged to begin playing the trumpet again several years ago at Toccoa by watching and listening to one of our volunteers, Billy Enfinger, who was so interested in learning to play the piano that he taught himself and did some playing before our devotional time. Billy never mentioned that I, who had been playing for so many years, was neglecting to use a God-given talent. Instead, his interest in learning to play and his pleasure in playing for us was a silent challenge to me to get with the program and get back to using and sharing that talent.
When Nancy announced assignments for the week, she said that Barbara and I would be in the kitchen permanently...Barbara in the bakery, and me working with the chefs and cooks doing whatever needed to be done. That was great news for us because it put us exactly where we wanted to be.
Other tasks for the team included routine maintenance work around the campus, painting, and doing the laundry for the 500+ guests who would be at GBCC for the two Senior Conferences.
As soon as we were finished with our meeting, we went to the dining hall for breakfast, everyone's favorite meal of the day.
After breakfast, we met with Bill Wheeler, the general manager of GBBC, who welcomed the volunteers and told how it would be financially impossible to have the large conferences without our assistance.
And then, it was off to work...
One of the assignments through the dining hall is to make sure cookies and beverages are available for the guests during their morning and afternoon breaks from conference activities. Trays are loaded at the dining hall and then are pushed to various break sites around the campus (there aren't many consecutive linear feet of level surface on the GBBC campus, so the "cart-pushers" get a workout making their deliveries..
Meanwhile back at the dining hall, the staff was busy preparing for the next meal (although they didn't mind stopping for a minute to pose for pictures).
During our drive around the campus this afternoon, we stopped to take these photos at the entrance to the campus.
Tuesday, October 28
Because we both worked in the dining hall, our routines each day didn't vary much. We reported to the kitchen early each day to begin prep work for whatever we'd be fixing during the day. Barbara worked on a variety of pastries and other delicious goodies that were NOT on our diet, while I started each morning by cooking 45 pounds of bacon.
The downside of cooking all that bacon is the clean-up. We would generate nearly a gallon of bacon grease each morning; unfortunately, some of it ended up on the table top instead of in the grease container, creating a cleaning challenge when it was time to clear the table and move on to the next job.
I got to spread my wings a bit today...while I didn't fix the scrambled eggs, Joe trusted me to clean the griddle. I also worked the deep fryers to prepare a batch of hush puppies for tonight's meal, and worked the window between the kitchen and the dining hall, refilling pans of food when they were emptied at the steam tables on the serving line. It was interesting work, but I did meet myself coming around the corners a couple of times.
While I was doing my thing, Barbara was busy creating and dishing up desserts for today's meals and breaks.
The kitchen runs smoothly (most of the time) under the guidance and teaching of chefs Eric and Joe.
And cooks Winnie and Louise, who are always willing to take time to explain the procedures to the "newbies."
Andy, who works as a dishwasher, was at GBCC when we first started volunteering several years ago. It's always a pleasure to meet up with him again.
Wednesday, October 29
While the daily routine for the workers were usually, well, routine, there were occasional events that changed our focus. One such event occurred today when two of the senior participants at the conference got married at the end of one of the sessions. Only the workers and the staff knew that the couple, each of whom had lost a spouse, but had been friends, fellow church members, and participants in the senior conferences previously, had planned a surprise wedding with all of the participants, staff, and volunteers invited.
Bakery chef Michelle had spent much of the week preparing the cake and refreshments for the reception.
And while the highlight of the day was the wedding, the "low-light" was when volunteers John and Lynn Worley left to join a group of volunteers traveling to New York to work on a camp facility. We all knew they would be leaving today, but it's always sad when one of the "family" breaks away.
Thursday, October 30
We were back to our regular routine today, with Barbara in the bakery and me cooking bacon.
Barbara was in charge of creating trifles for the dessert tables...
While Joe and I made a greasy mess and then cleaned it up. On the good side, we had enough bacon prepared for tomorrow and the weekend, so this was the last morning for Joe and me to do this job.
We've said it before, but meals are a huge part of the day for the conference participants (not to mention the staff and volunteers), and since workers have to eat, too, we might as well enjoy the food and fellowship.
At the team meeting this evening, we began the wrap-up activities for the week and got our assignments for tomorrow. Most of the volunteers would be leaving throughout the day, with nearly all of them returning home as soon as the conference participants finished at noon.
Prior to eating dinner tonight, we were able to get photos of many of the volunteers.
We've mentioned several times about the "routines" that we had. The nature of the job dictates certain routine chores (or "services," as we like to think of them), and while each volunteer followed his/her established daily routines, we can assure you that it was all exciting, fun, and there was NEVER a dull moment.
Our time together as a volunteer family was winding down, but we were still building memories to tide us over until we meet again.
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Friday, October 31
Happy Halloween, Everyone!!!
Barbara had the devotional this morning, so we got up early and went to the meeting room so she could prepare. While she was going over her notes, I stepped outside to take some early morning shots of Lake Louise.
Eric came in with the family dog before team meeting and stuck around to offer his words of thanks and appreciation for all the work done by the volunteers over the last couple of weeks.
Barbara: God has a plan! And, though His plan may not match the plan we have, one can be assured that His is Best! (the short version of my devotional)
After the devotional and team meeting, it was time to get down to the business of preparing for our final day together.
While there was no bacon to cook, there was still a large noon meal to prepare. Joe and Eric put me in charge of panning up the hot food and setting serving utensils on the steam tables.
Barbara worked with Alecia to get desserts ready...
And everyone wanted to get in on the act when Joe was preparing his "super soup."
While the conference programs were scheduled to end at 11:30, the final day usually ends early, so we were prepared to begin serving at 11:00. Wouldn't you know it, we were ahead of schedule for once, and the first guest didn't shoe up until 11:30. Oh well, it gave us time to take photos of the serving lines, something we hadn't been able to do all week.
When lunch was over, the volunteers were all released from their duties, leaving the regular crew to clean up the final mess and prepare supper for those who would be around tonight. Eric and Joe are both marvelous servant-leaders, as was evidenced by their taking over duties in the dish washing room...no wonder they are so admired and respected by their employees (and everyone else who knows them).
Final goodbyes and wishes for safe travel were said...
And then it was time for Barbara and me to go back up the hill to the campground one last time to finish packing Big V and closing her up for the short trip down the hill to the main parking lot for the night. GBCC has a couple of electrical hook-ups for RV's on the side of the parking lot, giving us the opportunity to spend the night and then take off early tomorrow morning.
Once Big V was hook-ed up and opened up for the night, we drove the car into Toccoa for a long overdue washing.
With the car about a 100 pounds lighter and much shinier, we drove through town to do some last-minute shopping and then returned to GBCC to make our final preparations for tomorrow's trip.
We went to the dining hall this evening to share a last meal with Ruth and Kate. Kate and a couple of her friends were going to a local football game tonight, but we convinced them to stick around for a couple of photos.
After a final photo session with Lake Louise, we walked back to Big V and settled in for a good night's sleep...weary with well-doing and full of fond memories of the past ten days of a return to one of our favorite places in the world.
Saturday, November 1 - Georgia Baptist Conference Center at Toccoa to Meridian, Mississippi
We were up early this morning...got Big V all closed up for travel...walked to the dining hall to join our volunteer friends Gary and Rhonda Keve for breakfast...took one last photo of Lake Louise in the morning..,
And then returned to Big V to begin today's journey.
The weather had changed to much cooler overnight. We were hit pretty hard by strong wind gusts, but traffic was relatively light and I-85 was good all the way to Atlanta, where we veered off on I-285 to avoid the downtown traffic.
I-285 traffic was a little dicey, but once we got to I-20 West, it was smooth sailing. We stopped for fuel and a rest break at a Flying J near Temple, and then continued down I-20, crossing into Alabama after a few miles.
Even with the cold wind, Big V handled nicely throughout the morning. We didn't take many photos along the way because the colors hadn't changed significantly, and we were too busy recapping parts of our journey since we left Mineola on September 24. Barbara did, however, get these shots as we approached the Birmingham area.
Traveling across Alabama on I-20 is always an adventure. We drew two conclusions during this part of the trip: 1) Many, if not most, of the Alabama drivers got their license (if they had one) from a Cheerios box, and (2) judging from the condition of the highway, Alabama needs to take some of that money they are paying their football players and put it into highway maintenance!
Other than negotiating bad sections of highway and worrying about the passenger side mirror falling off from all the jostling it was taking, the day went well. We hadn't decided how far we would go today, but as we crossed into Mississippi, we began checking our road map and traveler's guide for a suitable place to spend the night.
About 20 miles into Mississippi, we found a TA Truck Stop and decided it was time for more fuel and a break. As we crossed the highway to get to the pumps, we spotted a sign for a campground about a mile up the road. While I fueled Big V, Barbara called to campground and got us a reservation. She told me that while she was inside the truck stop, she saw a sign advertising a church service in the trucker's lounge, so we voted that we would get away from the campground early enough tomorrow to take part in it.
In just a few minutes we were at a rustic campground that didn't look like much, but had a laundry room very close to our site and also had great wi-fi service, so we got set up and settled in for a quiet (except for the trains that ran close by every half hour) evening.
Sunday, November 2 - Meridian, Mississippi, to Bossier City, Louisiana
After a great night's sleep, we were ready and raring to go this morning. Since it had just been an overnight stay, there wasn't much work to do to have Big V ready to roll.
Eagerly anticipating a church service at the TA Truck Stop, we drove back toward I-20, pulled into the TA lot, got Big V situated away from other traffic, and went inside to find the trucker's lounge. After finally breaking down and asking directions, we went upstairs to the TV room/lounge and took a seat. The time for the service rolled around and we were the only ones present. After waiting about 20 minutes, we saw a custodian and asked if we were in the right place. He said we were, but that he didn't think the priest was coming today.
We gave him/her/whoever another five minutes and then decided we weren't going to get a church service today. So, it was back outside to Big V and a ride west on I-20 through Mississippi. The drive itself was without incident, but we voted that Mississippi ran Alabama a close second in needing to divert football funds to highway construction/maintenance.
Three hours after leaving the truck stop, we rolled through Vicksburg (one of our favorite historical sites), and across the Mississippi River into Louisiana...only one state away from Texas, and with a little luck and perseverance, we could be home tonight.
We stopped at the Louisiana Welcome Station for a stretch break, and then pulled back on I-20 for the next leg of the journey.
As we were building up a head of steam, a lime green tractor-tanker rig blew past and I noticed lettering on the back of the tractor reading, "Gift From GOD." I commented to Barbara about it and she tried to get a picture, but that rig was going at full highway speed and we were still mired at 62 mph, so the shot went untaken.
It was getting time to top off Big V's fuel tank and maybe do something about a little lunch, so we set our sights on a Flying J at Tallulah, but when we got close to the exit, we found that it was closed to all west bound traffic.
We continued on I-20 about 6 miles and noticed as a tractor-trailer rig passed us that large pieces of rubber were flying all over the place. I told Barbara that the rig had blown a tire, and started taking evasive measures to keep from getting rubber and steel belts thrown up under our engine.
But, the rig kept hauling on at top speed and then swerved to the other lane, at which time we saw the lime green rig pulled to the side of the highway, smoke billowing from the rear end of the trailer. As soon as possible, I pulled off to the side, shut down Big V except for our hazard flashers, and ran back to see if the trucker needed help.
By the time I got there, smoke and flames were boiling up from a shredded tire. The driver asked if I had a fire extinguisher and I had to tell him I did, but it was 8 years old and didn't have a charge left in it. He didn't have an extinguisher either, but he did drag out a case of bottled water and we took turns emptying bottles on the hot spots. As we began to run out of water, I went back to Big V and Barbara started refilling bottles from our reserve tank. I grabbed the fire extinguisher, just in case it had any charge left in it and returned to the truck to help however I could.
Luckily, there was enough charge left to smother the fire, so that took care of any further consequences of a fire. By then, a sheriff's deputy arrived on the scene. When she got a chance, Barbara asked the driver if he was responsible for the lettering on the back of his tractor and he replied with a smile that he was...we thought it interesting that he wasn't overly concerned about getting his load of fertilizer to Dallas on time, only that he didn't want his rig to catch fire.
I picked up my now-empty fire extinguisher and Barbara and I headed back to Big V to continue the journey with our thoughts on finding the nearest truck stop that could handle Big V comfortably and have a place where we could get something to eat. We found it a few miles down the road at Delhi, where we stopped, refueled, ate, and had a nice little break.
Back on the road, we began looking for a place to spend the night. The time we had spent helping the truck driver had taken away any cushion we might have had for getting back to Mineola before dark, so we were going to have to spend one more night on the road.
We made the rest of the trip across Louisiana without incident and pulled in at a Good Sam park in Bossier City in time to get set up for the night, have a great meal out, and a good night's rest before the final push toward home.
Monday, November 3 - Bossier City, Louisiana, to Mineola, Texas
Our last day on the road!
We could hardly wait to get moving today. After our morning ablutions, we got dressed and began packing everything out in the open so we could get to it easily when we got to the house in Mineola. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective and somewhat efficient.
Once we were certain that everything was as secure as possible, we set about the normal routine of disconnecting and storing the utility lines and hoses (my job) and closing the slideouts, raising the levelers, starting the engine, and checking warning lights (Barbara's job).
After getting the all clear sign from Barbara, I stepped back to take a couple of photos of Big V in the morning...
And then we got back on I-20 and headed toward Texas. Seeing that familiar Welcome sign made us feel like we were home, even if we were still a couple of hours away.
It was a pleasure to ride on a smooth highway...traffic was moving right along and we didn't encounter any problems along the way. After a short stop at Sonic in Longview, we hit the road again. While we were moving along without incident, we couldn't say the same for this truck that somehow found its way into the median.
We turned off on U.S. 69 North at Lindale for the last leg of the trip. Even though we had seen some of the prettiest country in the world during our Big V adventures, this part of the road had its own special beauty for us this morning.
Even the "Sabine Swamp," just a few miles from home, was a welcome sight...
But the most welcome sight of the morning was when we hit the Mineola city limits...
We stopped in the Brookshire's parking lot to unhook the car. While I was doing that, Barbara went to McDonalds next door to grab a couple of Egg White Delights for our breakfast. Then, it was just a few blocks to Heritage Drive and home.
After 41 days on the road through 21 states and a Canadian province, 4,274.7 miles in Big V and nearly a thousand miles in the car, we were back at our sticks and bricks house...and this is the first thing we saw...
Our neighbors, John and Wanda Garrett, were beginning to think we'd lost our way and were never coming back!
It took a couple of hours to move everything from Big V into the house. While I did the leg work, Barbara started the laundry and moved things into the various rooms where they'd be easier to deal with.
The first chance I got, I called Allied Diesel in Lindale to see about bringing Big V in today for an oil change and routine service. I knew it might be several days before they could get to it, but taking it to them today would be much easier than driving out to the lake lot and parking, and then having to drive all the way back to Lindale later in the week. The friendly folks at Allied said it would be no problem to leave Big V there for a few days, so later in the day I drove her to the shop lot while Barbara followed in the car. Then we returned home to crash and burn...putting things away and cleaning house would just have to wait for another day!
Back home again in Mineola,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
Our first order of business after arriving at the campground was to get Big V settled in at an RV site, a job that wasn't as easy as we had hoped. Several other volunteers had arrived before us and sites large for Big V were very limited. The site we eventually chose was far from level, and it took a lot of work to get the coach leveled and balanced, but when we were finally done, we had a great view of Lake Louise.
While I did some set-up chores, Barbara got busy with her camera to record the beautiful scenery all around us.
We even took time to get a shot of ourselves in the middle of all this beauty.
Soon it was time to go down to the dining hall to meet the other volunteers who had all been working when we arrived. One of the great things about being a volunteer with this group is that once you have worked with them, whether at Toccoa or one of the church building projects, you are part of the family. Even if it has been several years since seeing one of the volunteers, you are able to pick up conversations where you left off the last time. What a marvelous family we are, with members scattered around the country, but with bonds that rival those of next door neighbors!
Eric Meyhoefer, the dining hall manager and head chef, and his family have become special friends over the years. We were volunteers the year that Eric began working at GBCC and have been pleased and honored to have watched how he works with his staff. Eric's wife, Ruth, and daughter, Kate , were at the dining hall tonight (Kate is now on staff, my, how she has grown since we last saw her!), and we had a lot of fun getting caught up with each other.
Nothing exemplifies the beauty of GBCC more than a view from the dining hall.
The volunteers met with our team leader, Nancy Fairfax each morning and evening to review the work of the day, get marching orders, and share in a devotional time. It was so nice to be able to step right into that routine again as if we hadn't missed out on the last four years.
We spent a few minutes after the meeting getting caught up with old friends and then headed back up the hill to the campground to settle in for a good night's sleep.
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Friday, October 24
We began our morning, as usual, with a team meeting and devotional time. Nancy gave out the individual assignments for the day; I would be working with one of the men in the wood shop, cutting sections of lumber for an arts and crafts project for the Senior Conference next week. I didn't have a camera with me to document anything, so everyone just had to take my word that I worked and finished my assignment.
Barbara, meanwhile, was assigned to the kitchen, particularly the bakery, and went to work as soon as we all finished breakfast.
Alecia (top photo) is a relatively new employee at the dining hall, but has become a vital part with much responsibility in no time at all. In fact, Alecia was recently promoted to the position of day manager of the dining room. Louise (bottom photo), has been there since before we first started volunteering at Toccoa.
Winnie (top photo) has been at GBCC so long that we think maybe she was there first and they just built the kitchen around her.
Joe, (bottom photo) the morning chef, is a really great guy who goes out of his way to instruct the volunteers.
Michelle, (top photo) is the new bakery chef. She was Barbara's "boss" for the morning.
Joe and Alecia show that although the work is serious, there is always time for some fun.
Eric came in to work lunch and prepare the evening menu. Here, he shares some time with
Ruth Hogan, one of the volunteers from Alabama.
Afternoon and evening breaks allow the volunteers and staff time to share in an informal setting.
In addition to her duties in the bakery, Barbara also refilled beverages for the diners during lunch.
Another long-time employee at the dining hall is Deb, who, since we last saw her, has been promoted to evening manager the dining hall.
The dining hall staff does a great job of decorating the facility for different seasons and holidays.
Our first day back at work was fun, but also very tiring. We had no trouble at all with falling asleep at the end of a long day!
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Saturday, October 25
Saturdays for volunteers are generally very slow days. There are usually only a handful of guests at the conference center and many of the volunteers finish their week on Friday and then go home, while a new crew shows up Sunday evening.
Today was a little different, though. There weren't very many guests for meals, but two banquets were booked for the evening, one of which was a really big deal calling for a lot of help from the volunteers.
We started our day with breakfast (a great way to start the day at GBCC).
While Barbara worked inside, I went outside to take photos of a Toccoa morning.
Sunrise over Lake Louise behind the dining hall is a thing of beauty, as shown in this progression.
While a lot of things go on in the various buildings of the GBCC campus, the dining hall is the center of everything three times a day!
Another view of Lake Louise from the dining hall windows...
When breakfast was over and the guests moved on to other activities, it was time for our handful of volunteers to start preparing, not only for the two banquets this evening, but for lunch, dinner, and the meals planned for next week.
Barbara continued her work in the bakery, while I shifted my attention to the fine art of preparing bacon for upcoming breakfasts. Our output for today was 60 pounds of delicious bacon, a big hit with nearly every person who has breakfast in the dining hall.
GBCC spares no expense in providing the latest and finest in fashionable headgear for those who forget to bring their own!
After several hours of working behind the scenes, it was time to join the other volunteers and staff for a bit of lunch.
Barbara and I didn't see each other very much during the workday, but we did find time for this photo.
We spent the afternoon working with the staff and volunteers in transforming the dining hall into a banquet hall for a special program by one of the area churches tonight.
But, neither of us got photos of the time spent setting up or the wonderful, almost miraculous way we returned the room to its dining hall state in less than an hour after the banquet/program concluded...proof (except for the lack of photos) that team work and hard work can result in a fun time.
It was well past dark-thirty when we finally finished the day and made our way back to Big V to collapse, weary with well-doing, as Mother would have said.
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Sunday, October 26
What a wonderful way to wake up and face a Sunday morning with Lake Louise just outside your windows.
We could have joined others for breakfast at the dining hall (the only meal served on Sunday), but we elected to lounge around a little longer in Big V and enjoy the peace and quiet for awhile.
When we did get to moving around, we got dressed and headed into town to meet up with several other volunteers at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Toccoa for a very informative and inspiring early service.
After lunch, we went to Captain D's for some takeout seafood, and then drove back to Big V to enjoy the meal and rest a bit before tackling the next chore on our hit parade...catching up on several days worth of laundry. Luckily, the campground has a laundry room with a free washer and dryer. We were the only ones taking advantage of the situation today, which made it a pretty easy chore.
While the first load of wash was going, I broke out my trumpet and Barbara shot some videos of me playing hymns. The birds and critters must have thought they were pretty special, because they heard a number of renditions of How Great Thou Art as we moved from setting to setting.
Music finally gave way to getting clothes out of the dryer and folding them to take back to Big V.
On the way back to our site, we stopped for a short visit with our friends Ken and Ruth Hogan and John and Lynn Worley who, along with the birds and animals, had heard parts of our outdoor concert..
Around 1:30, Bill Strong, along with his wife, Jean, had borrowed the center's pontoon boat to take several of us on an afternoon cruise on Lake Louise.
As we cruised our way back up the lake, Barbara and I had to leave the group for another planned activity. Bill took us back to our landing, let us off, and then continued with the others to complete the circuit of the lake.
Barbara had made arrangements with Ruth for some special time outside of work hours for a visit. We drove down to Eric and Ruth's house and enjoyed an hour of so of just getting caught up on each other's lives and, of course, a photo session.
It took us awhile to set it up, but we finally got this photo of Kate "holding" Eric and Ruth in her hands.
When we finished our visit, we drove on to our team room to meet the new group of volunteers who had been arriving throughout the day and to get an overview of the activities and our assignments for the rest of the week. We had worked previously with several of the new group, so this was like homecoming all over again!
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Monday, October 27
We began our new morning and new week with a team meeting and devotional. I had previously volunteered to do this morning's devotional, so Barbara and I drove down to the meeting room at 6:15, and by 6:30 I was set up to play hymns on the trumpet while the team assembled for the meeting.
The main theme of my devotional was about how Christians can best demonstrate their belief and faith through their daily walk. I used as an example, how I was challenged to begin playing the trumpet again several years ago at Toccoa by watching and listening to one of our volunteers, Billy Enfinger, who was so interested in learning to play the piano that he taught himself and did some playing before our devotional time. Billy never mentioned that I, who had been playing for so many years, was neglecting to use a God-given talent. Instead, his interest in learning to play and his pleasure in playing for us was a silent challenge to me to get with the program and get back to using and sharing that talent.
When Nancy announced assignments for the week, she said that Barbara and I would be in the kitchen permanently...Barbara in the bakery, and me working with the chefs and cooks doing whatever needed to be done. That was great news for us because it put us exactly where we wanted to be.
Other tasks for the team included routine maintenance work around the campus, painting, and doing the laundry for the 500+ guests who would be at GBCC for the two Senior Conferences.
As soon as we were finished with our meeting, we went to the dining hall for breakfast, everyone's favorite meal of the day.
After breakfast, we met with Bill Wheeler, the general manager of GBBC, who welcomed the volunteers and told how it would be financially impossible to have the large conferences without our assistance.
And then, it was off to work...
One of the assignments through the dining hall is to make sure cookies and beverages are available for the guests during their morning and afternoon breaks from conference activities. Trays are loaded at the dining hall and then are pushed to various break sites around the campus (there aren't many consecutive linear feet of level surface on the GBBC campus, so the "cart-pushers" get a workout making their deliveries..
Meanwhile back at the dining hall, the staff was busy preparing for the next meal (although they didn't mind stopping for a minute to pose for pictures).
During our drive around the campus this afternoon, we stopped to take these photos at the entrance to the campus.
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Tuesday, October 28
Because we both worked in the dining hall, our routines each day didn't vary much. We reported to the kitchen early each day to begin prep work for whatever we'd be fixing during the day. Barbara worked on a variety of pastries and other delicious goodies that were NOT on our diet, while I started each morning by cooking 45 pounds of bacon.
The downside of cooking all that bacon is the clean-up. We would generate nearly a gallon of bacon grease each morning; unfortunately, some of it ended up on the table top instead of in the grease container, creating a cleaning challenge when it was time to clear the table and move on to the next job.
I got to spread my wings a bit today...while I didn't fix the scrambled eggs, Joe trusted me to clean the griddle. I also worked the deep fryers to prepare a batch of hush puppies for tonight's meal, and worked the window between the kitchen and the dining hall, refilling pans of food when they were emptied at the steam tables on the serving line. It was interesting work, but I did meet myself coming around the corners a couple of times.
While I was doing my thing, Barbara was busy creating and dishing up desserts for today's meals and breaks.
The kitchen runs smoothly (most of the time) under the guidance and teaching of chefs Eric and Joe.
And cooks Winnie and Louise, who are always willing to take time to explain the procedures to the "newbies."
Andy, who works as a dishwasher, was at GBCC when we first started volunteering several years ago. It's always a pleasure to meet up with him again.
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Wednesday, October 29
While the daily routine for the workers were usually, well, routine, there were occasional events that changed our focus. One such event occurred today when two of the senior participants at the conference got married at the end of one of the sessions. Only the workers and the staff knew that the couple, each of whom had lost a spouse, but had been friends, fellow church members, and participants in the senior conferences previously, had planned a surprise wedding with all of the participants, staff, and volunteers invited.
Bakery chef Michelle had spent much of the week preparing the cake and refreshments for the reception.
And while the highlight of the day was the wedding, the "low-light" was when volunteers John and Lynn Worley left to join a group of volunteers traveling to New York to work on a camp facility. We all knew they would be leaving today, but it's always sad when one of the "family" breaks away.
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Thursday, October 30
We were back to our regular routine today, with Barbara in the bakery and me cooking bacon.
Barbara was in charge of creating trifles for the dessert tables...
While Joe and I made a greasy mess and then cleaned it up. On the good side, we had enough bacon prepared for tomorrow and the weekend, so this was the last morning for Joe and me to do this job.
We've said it before, but meals are a huge part of the day for the conference participants (not to mention the staff and volunteers), and since workers have to eat, too, we might as well enjoy the food and fellowship.
At the team meeting this evening, we began the wrap-up activities for the week and got our assignments for tomorrow. Most of the volunteers would be leaving throughout the day, with nearly all of them returning home as soon as the conference participants finished at noon.
Prior to eating dinner tonight, we were able to get photos of many of the volunteers.
We've mentioned several times about the "routines" that we had. The nature of the job dictates certain routine chores (or "services," as we like to think of them), and while each volunteer followed his/her established daily routines, we can assure you that it was all exciting, fun, and there was NEVER a dull moment.
Our time together as a volunteer family was winding down, but we were still building memories to tide us over until we meet again.
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Friday, October 31
Happy Halloween, Everyone!!!
Barbara had the devotional this morning, so we got up early and went to the meeting room so she could prepare. While she was going over her notes, I stepped outside to take some early morning shots of Lake Louise.
Eric came in with the family dog before team meeting and stuck around to offer his words of thanks and appreciation for all the work done by the volunteers over the last couple of weeks.
Barbara: God has a plan! And, though His plan may not match the plan we have, one can be assured that His is Best! (the short version of my devotional)
After the devotional and team meeting, it was time to get down to the business of preparing for our final day together.
While there was no bacon to cook, there was still a large noon meal to prepare. Joe and Eric put me in charge of panning up the hot food and setting serving utensils on the steam tables.
Barbara worked with Alecia to get desserts ready...
And everyone wanted to get in on the act when Joe was preparing his "super soup."
While the conference programs were scheduled to end at 11:30, the final day usually ends early, so we were prepared to begin serving at 11:00. Wouldn't you know it, we were ahead of schedule for once, and the first guest didn't shoe up until 11:30. Oh well, it gave us time to take photos of the serving lines, something we hadn't been able to do all week.
When lunch was over, the volunteers were all released from their duties, leaving the regular crew to clean up the final mess and prepare supper for those who would be around tonight. Eric and Joe are both marvelous servant-leaders, as was evidenced by their taking over duties in the dish washing room...no wonder they are so admired and respected by their employees (and everyone else who knows them).
Final goodbyes and wishes for safe travel were said...
And then it was time for Barbara and me to go back up the hill to the campground one last time to finish packing Big V and closing her up for the short trip down the hill to the main parking lot for the night. GBCC has a couple of electrical hook-ups for RV's on the side of the parking lot, giving us the opportunity to spend the night and then take off early tomorrow morning.
Once Big V was hook-ed up and opened up for the night, we drove the car into Toccoa for a long overdue washing.
With the car about a 100 pounds lighter and much shinier, we drove through town to do some last-minute shopping and then returned to GBCC to make our final preparations for tomorrow's trip.
We went to the dining hall this evening to share a last meal with Ruth and Kate. Kate and a couple of her friends were going to a local football game tonight, but we convinced them to stick around for a couple of photos.
After a final photo session with Lake Louise, we walked back to Big V and settled in for a good night's sleep...weary with well-doing and full of fond memories of the past ten days of a return to one of our favorite places in the world.
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Saturday, November 1 - Georgia Baptist Conference Center at Toccoa to Meridian, Mississippi
We were up early this morning...got Big V all closed up for travel...walked to the dining hall to join our volunteer friends Gary and Rhonda Keve for breakfast...took one last photo of Lake Louise in the morning..,
And then returned to Big V to begin today's journey.
The weather had changed to much cooler overnight. We were hit pretty hard by strong wind gusts, but traffic was relatively light and I-85 was good all the way to Atlanta, where we veered off on I-285 to avoid the downtown traffic.
I-285 traffic was a little dicey, but once we got to I-20 West, it was smooth sailing. We stopped for fuel and a rest break at a Flying J near Temple, and then continued down I-20, crossing into Alabama after a few miles.
Even with the cold wind, Big V handled nicely throughout the morning. We didn't take many photos along the way because the colors hadn't changed significantly, and we were too busy recapping parts of our journey since we left Mineola on September 24. Barbara did, however, get these shots as we approached the Birmingham area.
Traveling across Alabama on I-20 is always an adventure. We drew two conclusions during this part of the trip: 1) Many, if not most, of the Alabama drivers got their license (if they had one) from a Cheerios box, and (2) judging from the condition of the highway, Alabama needs to take some of that money they are paying their football players and put it into highway maintenance!
Other than negotiating bad sections of highway and worrying about the passenger side mirror falling off from all the jostling it was taking, the day went well. We hadn't decided how far we would go today, but as we crossed into Mississippi, we began checking our road map and traveler's guide for a suitable place to spend the night.
About 20 miles into Mississippi, we found a TA Truck Stop and decided it was time for more fuel and a break. As we crossed the highway to get to the pumps, we spotted a sign for a campground about a mile up the road. While I fueled Big V, Barbara called to campground and got us a reservation. She told me that while she was inside the truck stop, she saw a sign advertising a church service in the trucker's lounge, so we voted that we would get away from the campground early enough tomorrow to take part in it.
In just a few minutes we were at a rustic campground that didn't look like much, but had a laundry room very close to our site and also had great wi-fi service, so we got set up and settled in for a quiet (except for the trains that ran close by every half hour) evening.
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Sunday, November 2 - Meridian, Mississippi, to Bossier City, Louisiana
After a great night's sleep, we were ready and raring to go this morning. Since it had just been an overnight stay, there wasn't much work to do to have Big V ready to roll.
Eagerly anticipating a church service at the TA Truck Stop, we drove back toward I-20, pulled into the TA lot, got Big V situated away from other traffic, and went inside to find the trucker's lounge. After finally breaking down and asking directions, we went upstairs to the TV room/lounge and took a seat. The time for the service rolled around and we were the only ones present. After waiting about 20 minutes, we saw a custodian and asked if we were in the right place. He said we were, but that he didn't think the priest was coming today.
We gave him/her/whoever another five minutes and then decided we weren't going to get a church service today. So, it was back outside to Big V and a ride west on I-20 through Mississippi. The drive itself was without incident, but we voted that Mississippi ran Alabama a close second in needing to divert football funds to highway construction/maintenance.
Three hours after leaving the truck stop, we rolled through Vicksburg (one of our favorite historical sites), and across the Mississippi River into Louisiana...only one state away from Texas, and with a little luck and perseverance, we could be home tonight.
We stopped at the Louisiana Welcome Station for a stretch break, and then pulled back on I-20 for the next leg of the journey.
As we were building up a head of steam, a lime green tractor-tanker rig blew past and I noticed lettering on the back of the tractor reading, "Gift From GOD." I commented to Barbara about it and she tried to get a picture, but that rig was going at full highway speed and we were still mired at 62 mph, so the shot went untaken.
It was getting time to top off Big V's fuel tank and maybe do something about a little lunch, so we set our sights on a Flying J at Tallulah, but when we got close to the exit, we found that it was closed to all west bound traffic.
We continued on I-20 about 6 miles and noticed as a tractor-trailer rig passed us that large pieces of rubber were flying all over the place. I told Barbara that the rig had blown a tire, and started taking evasive measures to keep from getting rubber and steel belts thrown up under our engine.
But, the rig kept hauling on at top speed and then swerved to the other lane, at which time we saw the lime green rig pulled to the side of the highway, smoke billowing from the rear end of the trailer. As soon as possible, I pulled off to the side, shut down Big V except for our hazard flashers, and ran back to see if the trucker needed help.
By the time I got there, smoke and flames were boiling up from a shredded tire. The driver asked if I had a fire extinguisher and I had to tell him I did, but it was 8 years old and didn't have a charge left in it. He didn't have an extinguisher either, but he did drag out a case of bottled water and we took turns emptying bottles on the hot spots. As we began to run out of water, I went back to Big V and Barbara started refilling bottles from our reserve tank. I grabbed the fire extinguisher, just in case it had any charge left in it and returned to the truck to help however I could.
Luckily, there was enough charge left to smother the fire, so that took care of any further consequences of a fire. By then, a sheriff's deputy arrived on the scene. When she got a chance, Barbara asked the driver if he was responsible for the lettering on the back of his tractor and he replied with a smile that he was...we thought it interesting that he wasn't overly concerned about getting his load of fertilizer to Dallas on time, only that he didn't want his rig to catch fire.
I picked up my now-empty fire extinguisher and Barbara and I headed back to Big V to continue the journey with our thoughts on finding the nearest truck stop that could handle Big V comfortably and have a place where we could get something to eat. We found it a few miles down the road at Delhi, where we stopped, refueled, ate, and had a nice little break.
Back on the road, we began looking for a place to spend the night. The time we had spent helping the truck driver had taken away any cushion we might have had for getting back to Mineola before dark, so we were going to have to spend one more night on the road.
We made the rest of the trip across Louisiana without incident and pulled in at a Good Sam park in Bossier City in time to get set up for the night, have a great meal out, and a good night's rest before the final push toward home.
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Monday, November 3 - Bossier City, Louisiana, to Mineola, Texas
Our last day on the road!
We could hardly wait to get moving today. After our morning ablutions, we got dressed and began packing everything out in the open so we could get to it easily when we got to the house in Mineola. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective and somewhat efficient.
Once we were certain that everything was as secure as possible, we set about the normal routine of disconnecting and storing the utility lines and hoses (my job) and closing the slideouts, raising the levelers, starting the engine, and checking warning lights (Barbara's job).
After getting the all clear sign from Barbara, I stepped back to take a couple of photos of Big V in the morning...
And then we got back on I-20 and headed toward Texas. Seeing that familiar Welcome sign made us feel like we were home, even if we were still a couple of hours away.
It was a pleasure to ride on a smooth highway...traffic was moving right along and we didn't encounter any problems along the way. After a short stop at Sonic in Longview, we hit the road again. While we were moving along without incident, we couldn't say the same for this truck that somehow found its way into the median.
We turned off on U.S. 69 North at Lindale for the last leg of the trip. Even though we had seen some of the prettiest country in the world during our Big V adventures, this part of the road had its own special beauty for us this morning.
Even the "Sabine Swamp," just a few miles from home, was a welcome sight...
But the most welcome sight of the morning was when we hit the Mineola city limits...
We stopped in the Brookshire's parking lot to unhook the car. While I was doing that, Barbara went to McDonalds next door to grab a couple of Egg White Delights for our breakfast. Then, it was just a few blocks to Heritage Drive and home.
After 41 days on the road through 21 states and a Canadian province, 4,274.7 miles in Big V and nearly a thousand miles in the car, we were back at our sticks and bricks house...and this is the first thing we saw...
Our neighbors, John and Wanda Garrett, were beginning to think we'd lost our way and were never coming back!
It took a couple of hours to move everything from Big V into the house. While I did the leg work, Barbara started the laundry and moved things into the various rooms where they'd be easier to deal with.
The first chance I got, I called Allied Diesel in Lindale to see about bringing Big V in today for an oil change and routine service. I knew it might be several days before they could get to it, but taking it to them today would be much easier than driving out to the lake lot and parking, and then having to drive all the way back to Lindale later in the week. The friendly folks at Allied said it would be no problem to leave Big V there for a few days, so later in the day I drove her to the shop lot while Barbara followed in the car. Then we returned home to crash and burn...putting things away and cleaning house would just have to wait for another day!
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Back home again in Mineola,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
