2008JeffJourney

Off into the Rain

April 2, 2009

After days of meal preparation and packing, we're off into the rain.

We've made:

Ingredients for chicken soup (diced chicken, broccoli and cooked brown rice - individually frozen)
Banana and Good Morning Muffins
Meatballs for Meatball subs
Chili
Hard Boiled Eggs
Diced Cooked Chicken (frozen) to make Chicken Salad later

Dry ingredients were packed up to make:
4 batches of Blender Pancakes
6 loaves of bread in the bread machine
1 package of oatmeal mix to put in the crockpot

This plus staples should feed us for the next five days.

"If there is a fire....

...we need to grab that book!"  K said while discussing our itinerary.  Does that statement give you any clue as to what is of value around here?  My tattered 2 1/2 inch 3 ring binder contains all our confirmations, lesson plans from National Parks and other sites, travel brochures and collections of tips from fellow travelers.  I can see why people get paid to plan vacations.  I have logged in many hours on the phone, on the web and with my nose in the travel books.  Even still, one travel guide writer could have been one of my children when she said, "My mother was never so happy as when she was planning a vacation."

Why Go?

Ask any of our kids, "What is the chief end of man?" and they will respond, "To glorify God and enjoy him forever."  In seeking to expand our vision of who He is, we will be looking for his revealed glory in creation as we journey through the states.  My hope is our response to Him will be as in the song, Indescribable, sung by Chris Tomlin.
...
From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
....

** One of our "Wild Days" was spent at Providence Canyon. Can you believe this whole canyon was created by erosion in the early 1800's?  Poor farming practices resulted in small gullies eventually carving out GA's "Little Grand Canyon."

Trial Run

The camper stood in our cul-de-sac for a day and we couldn't stand it anymore.  We took our first trip Easter eve to F.D.R. State Park.  Being able to flip on the heater when the temperature dips to a chilly 28 degrees does shed a new light on the meaning of camping.  For our family it did what we envisioned.  We enjoyed being together hiking, stargazing, campfire-ing and learning how to live in the new camper. 

Picture:  M finds what he is sure is the spot Jesus gave his sermon to his disciples.

The Beast

"Well, let's just say you are the size of a tractor trailer...."  Craig's eyes widened as we heard the words of the trailer "guru" (his words) and stood gazing at the much bigger than we remembered travel trailer that we had made an appointment to purchase. Can we drive this thing across America?????  Time will tell.

Preparation begins...

First entry....The trip preparations are underway in earnest.

Suburban has been ordered...check.
RV selected...check.
RV bought....will need to use the credit card.
Trip route planned...mostly checked.
Yosemite reserved...check.
Fuel oil futures purchased..........huh?

The blog will provide a regular journaling of our plans and then the actual trip.  May 2008...will we be ready...

caj