Starship III

Let me preface this by saying that people all over the U.S. read our blog, many knew our dilemma before we left on our trip, many do not.  We have had the Spirit's urging more and more recently about whether we are in the right place in our spiritual life.  We thought that the time away from everything on our Texas trip would help clear the fog in our minds.  We think it did.  We are now in the process of moving our church membership to Risen Savior Lutheran.  Before leaving we visited several different churches and we have come to believe that this is where God wants us to be at this time.  We were beginning to realize that the church we were going to was getting farther and farther from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and more toward the culture of today and trying to please everyone without offending anyone.  This is not to say we are right and they are wrong, but to say that this is not where our spiritual security is.  We cannot afford to jeopardi...

We have had a blessed, safe, and uneventful trip home.  God is so good!  We must have seen at least 25 deer on the side of the road that had been hit by cars in central Texas.  We just prayed that God would give us safe passage as we drove through the Hill Country westward.  It rained on us a lot and the wind blew like crazy!  Flags were straight out and fluttering endlessly, which means wind speeds of over 25 mph.  We normally only drive about five hours a day and like to get settled in an RV park early so we can relax (and watch Jeopardy!)  Time spend with friends and family on this trip have been greatly cherished!  Thank you all for your special memories.  We are already planning our next project and will keep you posted on plans as they are finalized.  It is so rewarding to know you are helping someone recover from a disaster.  We have never been through a natural disaster, and hope we never do.  We just can't imagine,...

We finished our three weeks volunteering at Port Lavaca on Thursday.  Wish I had the foresight to take before and after pictures of the house, but I didn't.  We got there, unloaded tools, then started in.  By the end of the day we were all too tired to think about pictures.  The last two weeks we hung lots and lots of sheetrock, and taped and mudded lots and lots of sheetrock!!!  There were other jobs to be done too, like fixing flooring, doing some electrical work, wood siding, etc. but the majority of work at this point on the house was getting the ceilings and walls up and prepped.  This house had the roof blown off during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.  The homeowner has been living with relatives for two years.  We hope the rest of the volunteers can get her back in her house before they have to quit for the winter before Christmas.  The weather has been in cycles.  Two or three pretty days, then a front comes in, then two or three ...

Our first week is finished and we have somewhat recuperated.  We work Monday through Thursday from 8 to 4.  This may not seem like much to most of you, but we are all OLD!!!  We enjoy what we do but we work intensely.  The house we are working on was pretty much destroyed.  It would have seemed easier to have leveled it and built new, but the cost would have been much more, so we are doing what we can to get the homeowner back in her home.  Bill installed a new toilet and bathroom door, did some electrical work. I removed some floor tiles. He and I hung sheetrock.  I started mudding the sheetrock.  Other team members removed some rotting flooring and replaced the plywood.  I learned how to remove popcorn ceiling.  This is a depressed area, many homeless here, possibly because of the many hurricanes and they cannot afford to go somewhere else.  The church where we are staying has a meal on Monday night, and about half were homeless...

We stayed at Lincoln Parish Park a couple of nights backed up to a beautiful little lake.  Been here several times before while visiting Bill's (now) oldest brother.  Charles is now in Memory Care in a very lovely facility.  He has Alzheimer's and is not doing well.  He starts a sentence but cannot seem to finish it with any cohesion.  Please keep Charles and wife Wanda in your prayers.  It's very sad to see him like this and has been especially hard on Bill.  From there we went to Lakeview United Methodist Conference Center in Palestine TX  Lakeviewmcc.org    (double click)  We worked here many times and is one of our favorite places to work.  Josh Pulver, the new President, showed us around the acreage and new buildings that have been built since we were there last about 4 years ago.  This is where Cheryl did the 153 stained glass crosses for the Gift Shop that came from the Chapel windows.  Got to Port La...

We are doing our usual driving time, from about 10:40 a.m. until about 3 p.m.  Why 10:40?  Well, we don't TRY to make 10:40, nor do we try to NOT make 10:40, it just happens that we leave about that time!  A couple of times early in the trip we left at 9:40, our bodies hadn't made the switch in time zones. We reconnected with Cheryl's friend of 40+ years and spent some good time with them.  Bill saw kids and grandkids, Cheryl and Janice did lots of shopping and just hanging out.   Then to North Little Rock to see one of Cheryl's cousins which she hasn't seen in about 15 years.  We enjoyed spending time with them.  Got to eat David's Burgers, REAL burgers, hand pressed and cooked on a flattop, with endless fries, hand cut. Yummy! Then to Pine Bluff, where Bill was raised.  Went to Trinity Lutheran Church Sunday where Bill grew up.  They had their 125th Anniversary celebration.  Special service plus lunch of fried chicken a...

We left the Phoenix area Tuesday morning, it was about 90 degrees.  Spent the first couple of nights in Cottonwood AZ visiting with my cousin, Barbara and Clyde.  Got to Amarillo on Thursday afternoon - it was 34 degrees!  Sent the bodies into shock!!! Even the girls didn't want to go out!  Got to Cave Springs AR (just outside Fayetteville) at an RV & Golf Resort, near our friends Janice and Lloyd.  Had dinner with them last night and we went shopping today while Bill had lunch with his brother.  Had a few small (big???!!!) problems along the way with the coach and car, but we just said "Oh, Well" and dealt with them. Good Little Travelers

Starship III officially launches from Home Base on Friday, September 27, 2019. This is a short trip to "shake down" the newness of SS III, making sure we don't have any major problems and making sure we know how everything works.  Things have changed just a little in the 10 or so years we bought our last motorhome.  Everything from lights to locks is controlled by one computerized master panel.  First 3-night trip to Valle de Oro in the eastern Phoenix area, close enough if we forget toilet paper or food!