Almost to the promised land

They hope to make it home by sundown tomorrow. They are still on the road, and almost to NV. My mother has been having issues with drivers in Salt Lake City and getting diesel in her truck.

Cheyenne

They made Cheyenne by last night.

Nothing else much to report.

Proof they made it to Nebraska!

Lincoln

I finally get to blog for myself. I don't have a clue what Wendy has been telling you but will find out at some point. We're stopping for a very short time and want to get to WY by tonight. NE is a very wide state. We're still tired but happy to be moving. Feel free to leave messages on here as I will hear about them. Thanks for all your prayers for us and continued safe travels. We've seen some awful accidents on the road. That's it for now.
Donna

On the road again!

My parents are now spending the night in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They'll stop by tomorrow for showers and a short visit. The part arrived this morning and was fixed. I have no idea on what time, or how much it cost them, or any of that stuff, just that they are tired from driving all day, but happy to be back on the trail.

Exciting things

My mother wanted me to post for her today. She has nothing to say. Well, she said to tell you they had Chinese food for lunch.

They are still chillin' in Illinois. Absolutely nothing new. Nothing.

I need another word for "stuck"

Still stuck. The part is going to be loaded on a truck today, but won't make it all the way to Ill. It should arrive Tuesday morning at 9, be installed by noon, and then my parents should be on the road and to Lincoln by nightish.

That's the latest.

Day 7 in the state of being stuck

No news on the part yet. Not much going on. My mother is still bored. My dad has read a lot. That's about it.

More bad luck

The part may not be finished before the long weekend, everything is of course closed on Monday. My parents may be stuck there for another week.

My mother is thrilled.

She wishes that ya'll would pray that they finish and ship the part before Friday.

That's about all that is going on there. They went to a prayer meeting with my cousin this evening, and they are currently shopping at Walmart, my mother wants a deluxe Scrabble game, as it will help pass the time.

The latest

I spoke with my mother this morning. The axle should be built sometime today, perhaps it will arrive by tomorrow. They hope to be on the road by Thursday, but who knows. She'll be spending time with my grandma today, my dad will probably take a nap, read a book, and take another nap.

Don't you wish you could party like they do?

-w

Vacation in Illinois

This morning they went to the John Deere historic site. It is the location where John started his blacksmith business, which he is well known for. It was an interesting tour of his home and a replica of his shop.

Today my mother visited with her sister, who is moving to Florida soon, she did laundry, and enjoyed some nice weather.

They brought along some Michigan mice in their camper, and as of last night they have caught 3. They think they caught them all, but still have traps set.

Thanks to Linda K. for the crackers and mini-muffins.

Sabbath they went to the Rock Falls church and were invited to the former pastors house for lunch. They had a nice visit with them.

Tomorrow they should hear something from the RV service techs as to when the new axle will arrive and when they'll install it. They are hoping that this will be soon. In the mean time, they are bored. They can talk on the phone for free after 7 (central time currently). My mother also says that you can comment here, and I'll read it to her.

Still stuck

I spoke with my mom twice today. The latest is that the axle will have to be specially made, which will take until Wednesday or so, it will then need to be shipped to Illinois, where the RV is.

My mother is bored, and has free nights and weekend minutes on her cell phone, so feel free to call her. Email me if you need the number- sdanun at yahoo dot com.

-Wendy

Stuck

The RV had blue smoke coming out from the back of it. It seems as the the bearings on one tire are shot. Stuck in Rockford 'til it gets fixed.

edit: It's not the bearings, it is the entire axle. The repair place has to special order a new one from Elkhart, Indiana. No word yet on how long that will take, my parents are staying in a campground, just chillin' until it gets fixed. On the bright side, no flat tires yet.

-w

Dixon

Al packed the cell phone charger, the atlas and a few other essentials which are not accessible. We are in Dixon, Ill. Saw some family. No flat tires yet. Donna ran a stop sign in the Uhaul. She feels guilty.

A day of pain

We packed all day and we're still not done. It's 10 p.m. and my back hurts and I'm exhausted. We're getting the moving truck in the morning and loading will begin around 10:30. Then of course there's all the cleaning to be done and we stirred up a lot of dirt today.

The other pain is our new address. We just discovered that we had the wrong house number after giving it out to everyone including those billing us. The correct number is 635 Walnut Ln. That is also why I haven't been able to get a phone connected to the house. AT&T keeps telling me the house doesn't exist at that number. Now all that has been done has to be undone. The first stop will be the post office to change our forwarding address. Next tell everyone else.

To bed!

Tuesday

Wendy will update this map daily to show you where we are, and to give you the daily flat tire count, which is sure to be interesting.

Black= starting point

Saying Goodbye

Today we had our farewell open house at the church. It was emotionally draining saying goodbye to so many people in such a short time. We will certainly treasure each of our friendships in the Kalamazoo area for years to come. Some even promised to come and visit us in California. That will be a treat to look forward to.

Packing is moving along although somewhat slowly at times. Tomorrow will be a full day of it. Maybe I can get one whole room cleared if I'm lucky. We're down to all the misc. stuff and clothes.

I'm a messy

No one would believe what a disastrous condition this house is in. Stuff is everywhere, hanging out in the walkways. As soon as we have our sale Thurs. we'll be able to see what is left to pack.

We're continuing to say goodbyes to those we come in contact with. We will miss many people here but since we didn't sell our house we will have to return at some point again for that as well as visiting.

We're exhausted and too stressed to sleep well. Good night!

Wedding Bells

This is a photo of Al's sister Ellie and her new husband Bud taken by
Al at their wedding April 28.

Countdown

We're starting the "last time" we're doing things. Then May 11 moving sale, 13th farewell open house at our church,the 16th loading truck, 17th moving. You can follow our travels as we cross the country by checking my blog. Wendy will be posting the latest information for us.

Please don't email us or send forwards until we're settled again.

Moving

The moving process is in full swing. We think we're leaving 2 weeks from today. In the meantime I'm enjoying spring with all the blossoms here. Here's our crabapple tree.