By the Numbers...

(Newberg, OR: 1/8/2010) From Suffolk, VA to Newberg, OR...by the numbers:

3754 miles driven.
7 days, 6 nights on the road.
429.3 gallons of diesel fuel consumed (by the truck).
5 meals eaten at Cracker Barrel Restaurants.
3 minor re-packings of the trailer due to contents shifting and not able to open the door to get our suitcases.
3 incredible hours with our dear friends Nate and Susan Allerheiligen and their 6 pack attack at their home in Cabot, Arkansas.
1.5 audio books listened to.
10 states driven across.
1 major re-routing when we realized we were restricted from driving across Hoover Dam on US 93 (a short cut!) because of 9/11 security policies involving private rental trucks!
1 panic phone call to Penske for an inexplicable warning indicator.
1 big hallelujah and praise the Lord when our realtor, Maggi, called us on 8 Jan that the house closed, all the paperwork signed and we are officially HOMELESS!

The Dream: Manzanita, Oregon

(Manzanita, OR: 1/13/2010) For the last 5 years Ed and I have been dreaming of retiring from the Air Force, moving back to Oregon and settling in a little Ocean community called Manzanita. It's what kept us going somedays...the Oregon dream! After getting the truck unloaded in Newberg, Oregon and tying up some loose ends we took the opportunity to head to Manzanita for a couple of days R&R. You don't go to the beach in Oregon in January expecting to see beautiful sunsets and blue skies so we aren't disappointed with the wind and the rain. In fact, to me it's even more beautiful like this. I could stare at the ocean for hours always in awe of its power and beauty. We did get a couple of walks in and I even found a beautiful sand dollar to take to my granddaughter. But as we sit in our room here and drink in the Oregon beauty we have so missed, we don't know for sure that this is where we will end our journey or spend the remainder of our days. We want to hold that dream loosely to allow God to guide and direct without our having expectations or demands. We want to be where He wants us to be and doing what He wants us to do. We want to live our lives to glorify God. Will that be in Manzanita? I don't know. I saw some homes I wouldn't mind living in. We've met some friendly people here. So we leave Oregon on Friday. Head to Del Rio for a short time with CJ, Katie, Kylan, John, Erin and Emily. Then we fly back to Suffolk to get the RV and begin our second cross country journey. Only this time it will be slow and hopefully we will get to visit some of you and see some things we've never seen before ( Braves spring training!!!) I'm going to try to hold the Manzanita dream loosely and hold tightly to God and see what He has in store for us.

On The Road Again...

(Suffolk, VA: 1/2/2010) Early Saturday morning we said goodbye to our good friends Steve and Ellen who had graciously allowed us to stay with them after moving out of our house. We began a journey cross country that would take us through many states in a big 26' long Penske with a 6x10' U-haul trailer attached! Each day was an adventure. Just getting gas was an adventure! We began to get into a routine of eating at Cracker Barrel, getting gas at Flying J's and sleeping at Comfort Inns. Through Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho and finally into Oregon. The weather was great the whole way except for some snow in Arkansas that made the roads a little dicey. Otherwise it was just COLD. I'm including some pictures of sights along the way.

MENistering Angels

(Suffolk, VA: 12/31/2009): As many of you know we had an odd Air Force career. It was odd in many ways which I won't go into here, but one odd thing was that it seemed we always had "out cycle" moves. Most often the military tries to move members during late spring and summer in order to allow families time to get settled, kids into schools etc. However, our moves seemed to always come in late fall or winter. We moved in December a number of times. We're not sure whether it is God's sense of humor or what, but getting the contract on the house and moving in December seemed almost normal to us. We added to the adventure the decision to move ourselves. In order to meet the timelines to make it to the mini-family reunion we had scheduled for 1/15 to 1/18 in Del Rio, TX we needed to load the truck and be underway no later than 1/4; earlier if possible. We scheduled the load for 12/31, New Year's Eve day. We were uncertain whether we could get enough strong backs on that day, but we contacted our church and got the word out several weeks ahead. For some reason most men don't like it when someone says of them, "you're a real angel". Maybe it's because we picture angels as wimpy...floating around on clouds playing harps. But angels are God's messengers and warriors. And that is what showed up at our house on 31 Dec...warrior men...15 or so angels tag teamed to move 8 rooms of boxes and furniture from our 2 story, 3000 sf house and load it in a 10 x 26 Penske Moving Truck in a remarkable 3 plus hours plus. One angel was particularly heaven-sent - Gerald is father-in-law to one of the men from church who came to help. Gerald had owned a moving company and was super-experienced in loading trucks. We were unsure if we could get all our stuff in the truck and he packed it so well, we came very very close. At the last minute we had to rent a 6 x 12 U Haul trailer for the small amount that was left. Thanks to these men we were able to load everything on 12/31, clean the house on 1/1 and drive away on 1/2. God's clear provision and blessing allowed us to finish 2009 on a high-note of thanksgiving for his goodness and begin the New Year in even greater anticipation of what he will do in this next stage of our lives.

Editorial Comment

(Manzanita, OR: 1-13-2010) We're going to start posting to this blog again and plan to use a location and date-line at the beginning to orient the content chronologically. Since we have more stories to tell than we can keep up with we tend to write a number of posts at one sitting. With the location and date-line you will be able to understand the story in the flow of time and events that is our life. However interesting (or not) that may be. We hope this is helpful.
Thanks.

eh

A BIG Surprise Christmas Present!

(Suffolk, VA Dec 2009). In April 2009 we put our home in Suffolk, Virginia up for sale. We figured that by the time Ed officially retired in October we would have sold the house and be on our way to Oregon before the cold weather hit. As month after month passed we accepted the fact that we were probably not going to be moving until spring of 2010 or later. So we settled in to our new retirement routine and found ways to keep busy. December 14th we had gotten back from visiting friends in northern Virginia when the realtor called with an offer on the house! After 8 months of waiting, this was our very first offer! By the end of that day we had come to an agreement with the buyers and, in our minds, had sold the house! The biggest factor was that they wanted us out by January 8th...less than a month away! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to us! We decided it would be a GREAT idea to pack and move ourselves thus giving us the opportunity to purge and organize. So began 3 weeks of purging, sorting, boxing, trashing and giving away. Ed enjoyed it all. I didn't! December 31st was the big day. 12-15 strong, able-bodied men from our church showed up to help us load the truck. January 1st we were out of the house. What a great way to start the new year. January 8th as we were driving through the beautiful (even in winter) Columbia River Gorge and beginning to feel like we were home at last...our realtor called to tell us we were officially homeless! We were thrilled. Today as I sit here looking out at the wind and the rain and the waves at the Oregon coast I'm reminded of the verse in James 1:6. I'm so thankful I'm not blown around like those waves. That I know God is leading and guiding us. NO DOUBT!

Directions

I love my GPS! I have so much more confidence when I drive just having that little voice tell me which way to go even if I'm just going to a place I've been to many times, like my hair stylist! But relying on it completely without having any idea which direction we should be heading proved to be a bad mistake on our part. For some reason our GPS has a problem with Houston, Texas! It would continually blurt out names of streets that we couldn't find. Anyway, I have a dearly beloved Aunt who lives in Houston and we knew we couldn't go home without visiting her. We found a Sam's Club about 2 miles from her home and parked the RV and tow car there. We decided to walk since my bike had a flat tire and after all it was only 2 miles. We punched the address into our trusty GPS and headed out in the 86 degree high humidity midday heat. As we followed the instructions we found ourselves on roads with no sidewalks and lots of traffic. We huddled on the grass strips and miserably made our way completely at the mercy of our GPS. We sensed we were walking in a really round about way but had no idea which direction we were actually supposed to be going. After 45 minutes we finally reached our destination and stood before my Aunt sopping wet! She graciously invited us into her home anway where we enjoyed the coolness of the air conditioning and some cold water. We had a wonderful visit and she rewarded us with her famous chocolate cake AND she asked her kind neighbor to give us a ride back to Sam's Club! So next time we are in a similar situation I think we will do a little more research for ourselves before putting our complete trust in Miss Garmin!