Whirlwind Month-long RV Road Trip

Last year, while still in Uganda, planning started for how to best use our final year of Home Service. We determined to see EVERYONE who has been part of our support team if at all possible, something we have not always been able to do.

Admitting that our “discomfort” with winter weather played a part in the planning, we targeted January into early February for a visit to Kauai, Hawaii, to visit one of Laura’s long-time supporting churches whom she hadn’t seen in more than ten years, and then continue on to the Philippines to see as many of our friends and colleagues there as possible.

Then we planned to visit people in the southern States and eastern seaboard. The initial plan was to fly to Texas, rent a car, and spend about a month visiting supporters, family and friends as we drove back to New Hampshire. While I (Ruth) was back in NH in July, I casually shared those plans with my brother and his wife, mentioning the mutual family and friends that we planned to visit. The next morning, they surprised me by saying that they would like to do that trip with us in an RV which they were planning to purchase in preparation for their eventual retirement. And so that’s when the month road trip began to gel. Before long they located and purchased a good used RV and preparations began in earnest. Since they are the owners of an organic dairy farm, a month-long vacation would be a new experience for them! But God had put things in order for them by bringing a man and his family to work on the farm with the ambition to eventually purchase the farm. So finally they had someone who truly felt responsible for what happened and would do his best to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. (And other than a few inevitable hiccups, all went well—something to praise God for.)

I worked on the skeleton route to include as many family and friends as possible and organize dates with each of the people involved. Beth, my sister-in-law, worked on finding campgrounds in the areas where the distance was too long to travel in a day, fine tune the routes, plus add the “domestic aspects” of making an RV a home, especially for four people. John, my brother, worked toward winterizing the RV and all that goes into making a new-to-you vehicle ready for a long trip. And Laura found plenty to do as we all finalized the program.

And now the trip is history! For those who like statistics:

·         Left Sunday evening, Feb. 10, rather than the planned day of Mon., Feb. 11,  to get ahead of a snowstorm, driving through the night. We returned Saturday afternoon, Mar. 10, rather than the planned day of Sun., Mar. 11, having driven all night to once again get ahead of a snowstorm!

·         5,145 miles in the RV; Laura and I rented a car for additional visits in Texas and put on about 600 miles.

·         We went through 22 states

·         10 nights all 4 of us slept in the RV at campgrounds or people’s yards

·         We stayed at 5 different campgrounds

·         Laura & I slept in 11 different beds, with one of them being a Texas motel and another a lovely Air B&B.

·         Although the weather was often overcast, drizzly, and slightly chilly (but no snow or ice!), we did enjoy four picnics outside

·         2 days were spent sightseeing – one on a Florida beach (unplanned by us) and one at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, NC—both were a wonderful change of pace with gorgeous weather

·         We were able to spend time with 75+ people! Of those

o   9 people/groups are connected to our families

o   12 people/groups were fellow missionaries, most from the Philippines

o   7 people/couples support us financially

o   1 former pastor/couple, 1 former neighbor/couple, and 1 quilting friend/couple (Beth’s)

It has truly been a trip of a lifetime for all four of us and has left us with many memories (and pictures) to recall and even laugh about whenever we’re together! Each visit was unique and special. We treasured the time to catch up with people’s lives at least a little bit, and left encouraged; we hope that encouragement was mutual. Often our visits ended in prayer, especially focusing on the next leg of the journey—very meaningful. In so many ways, we were assured of God’s presence and protection…even as we drove through New York City at 3 AM during the final night of driving! Thank you for remembering us in prayer; God has certainly answered!