Month: August 2020

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Just Bummin’ Around

After sweltering in the 90+ degree heat of Kansas City, we left Watkins Mill and headed north in search of cooler days.  We landed at Honey Creek State Park on Rathbun Lake in southern Iowa. 

The campground was great:  clean, open spaces with beautiful views of the lake.  The dark night sky was perfect for watching the Perseid meteor shower which happened to be near its peak.  One night we sat overlooking the glassy lake as a few wispy clouds flitted across the full moon.  The bright moon’s reflection on the water reminded Cy of the Alfred Noyes poem, The Highwayman.  Since Bill hadn’t heard the poem, Cy read it to him as we sat overlooking the lake. It begins:

“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.  The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.  The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, and the highwayman came riding- riding- riding- The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.”  

The tragic poem was perfect for that moonlit night.  The entire poem can be found here.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43187/the-highwayman

Rural Iowa held unexpected charms.  We discovered the Welcome Home Soldier Monument, the Albia Freedom Rock, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, the Monroe County Pyramids, and elaborate courthouses in city squares.  

The Welcome Home Soldier Monument is located just west of Albia on US-34.  The monument honors all United States Veterans.  Twenty-one crosses line the walkway leading into the monument, representing a 21 gun salute.  Each state’s flag is flown, along with numerous American flags.  The monument is a sobering reminder of the price that has been paid for freedom throughout our nation’s history.  The monument included this quote by John Maxwell Edmonds, “When you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today.”  We are grateful to all who have served, and continue to serve, our country.  

The high cost of Freedom.

The Albia Freedom Rock sits on the Albia courthouse lawn.  Painted by artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II, the rock is a Thank You to those who serve our country, either in the military or as a first responder.  The artist is in the process of painting a large boulder in every county in Iowa.  The original Freedom Rock near Menlo, Iowa is repainted every year.  

Knoxville has the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.  We really enjoyed the display about John Gerber.  He built his #15 car in 1932.  By watching others and experimenting, John continually improved his car and found success on the racetrack.  When he was in his 80’s, he was restoring #15 with the goal of going around the track just one more time.  John’s joy of creating and his quest for a faster engine reminded us of Cy’s dad, Malcolm.  Malcolm always has a project underway in his shop.  He has built and raced cars and still builds and customizes racing engines for other drivers.  He passed his talent for all things mechanical to Cy’s brother, but unfortunately, Cy didn’t learn that skill.   Instead of spending time in the shop as a teen, she spent time with a cute guy named Bill.

The Gerber Special #15

In the back of a rural cemetery stand the Monroe County Pyramids.  The three pyramids are  made of stone, with some crumbling concrete.  The largest one has stairs leading down into it.  We never learned why the pyramids were constructed or why they reside in the ancient Hickory Grove Cemetery, however, we enjoyed this quirky attraction. 

Why do most pyramids leave many unanswered questions?

Lesson Learned:  Every location has something interesting, whether it is a moonlit night, a patriotic display, a fast car, or something totally unexpected.     

A few of the elaborate stone courthouses.
Most of the courthouse lawns had monuments to Union soldiers lost during the Civil War.
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Candy Man

After our restless night with the raccoons, we were happy to have an event to attend.  Our church had an ice cream social with Betty Rae’s ice cream truck serving the cool treats.  As we caught up with our friends, we told them about our persistent visitors the night before and commented that we needed to be back before dark to secure camp.  Well, it was so good to see our friends that we were a little late getting back to the trailer.  When we opened the door, we were met with this:

Sure enough, our furry friends had returned!  They had pushed through the window screen and munched on our chocolate.  We also found holes in our new bag of Multigrain Cheerios.  Most mysteriously, Bill’s Crunch bar had disappeared but Cy’s 100 Grand bar was still there.  Thankfully, the raccoons were gone and the only mess they left behind was the spilled M&M’s.  Praise God for that.  Had we discovered raccoons in the trailer, our camping experience might have been over for good!     

Lesson Learned:  When leaving camp, close the window!  The raccoons agree with Bill.  The best candy bar is a Crunch.  

Thankfully, the screen was not damaged. Bill repaired it the next day.
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Keep a Knockin’

When we called Mid-America RV to get an update on our trailer repairs, we learned that the dealership was waiting on parts.  With the Covid-19 pandemic, RV parts were delayed considerably because the manufacturers were not running at full capacity.  Since we needed a place to sleep at night, the dealer agreed to install a temporary strap to secure the kitchen.  They added the strap.  We picked up the trailer and we finally were off on our initial camping experience.

Just to clarify, we are not campers, nor have we ever been campers.  The most camping experience we had was a week at Nationwide Youth Round-up in Colorado in 2006.  Our friend and then-youth minister, Matt, needed adult chaperones for the church’s annual trip to NYR.  We agreed to go.  We spent a week in a tent on a mountainside, worshiping in rain and mud, showering with water drawn from the pond, and using port-a-potties.  We survived, but that week solidified that we prefer the comfort of Comfort Suites over the naturalness of nature.  For both of us to have peace about living for a season in a glorified tent could only come from the Lord, demonstrating His sense of humor.  

For our first trip, we stayed close to ‘home’ at Watkins Mill State Park.  The park is five miles from our former home and, more importantly, close by our storage units.  We loaded the trailer and truck with everything we thought we might need:  Pyrex dishes, cast iron skillets, pantry staples, cleaning supplies, bedding, and our clothes and toiletries.  Our free standing tent became an extra room for sorting and storing overflow items.  And we had a lot of overflow items!  As we thinned and organized our belongings, our new living space started to come together.  We made almost daily trips to Home Depot, Walmart, and our storage units.  By the end of our week long stay, we were satisfied, more or less, with our new home.  

To celebrate our first night in the trailer, we ordered dinner from our favorite Mexican restaurant, LaFuente.  Our meal was delicious (as always) and it must have smelled delicious too as the empty take-out containers in our trailer’s garbage attracted a steady stream of nighttime visitors.  Raccoons!  When we arrived at Watkins Mill, the camp host warned us not to leave any food items or coolers outside of our vehicle or trailer.  He didn’t warn us not to leave food scraps inside our trailer!  During the night, we were awakened multiple times by the hungry creatures scratching on our window screen.  The flashlight’s beam and our shouts frightened them away but the persistent animals were undeterred.  They returned again and again and continued their unwanted visits until dawn.  We kept them out of our trailer that first night, but the raccoons weren’t willing to go away empty-handed. 

Lesson Learned:  Everyone, including raccoons, loves LaFuente!          

He was as persistent as chewed gum on the bottom of your shoe, just keeps sticking around!
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Convoy

After staying up until 4:30 am, we closed on the house at 9:00 am on a Wednesday in July. With all of the legal documents signed and now officially homeless, we arrived at our son and daughter-in-law’s house for a much needed nap. After we recovered from the final push to vacate the house, we hit the road to finish the task of storing our belongings.

When we bought the truck in Texas, we didn’t realize how much we were going to need it.  Thankfully, God knew and He provided the truck for us.  We had two trailers full of stuff that we needed to get to North Central Kansas.  If we only had the Suburban, two trips would have been required.  As it was, we were able to get both trailers there at the same time.  While we looked a little like the Beverly Hillbillies (with ladders, an elliptical, and a refrigerator anchoring the trailer), our trip to Kansas was uneventful and we were able to store all of our items, including the trailers.

We are so grateful for family members who made room for our overflow items! 

Lesson Learned:  Even after paring down our belongings, we still have way too much stuff! 

The Suburban’s final trip with us. The new owners picked it up in Kansas.
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Remember When

As the days in our home dwindled, our nights became shorter.  We stayed up later and later in order to accomplish everything that still had to be done.  We felt overwhelmed by the amount of stuff still in the house.  Sleep deprivation and stress do not make for a happy marriage.  We were easily frustrated and quick to snap at each other.  I (Cy) always work best with music playing.  When one of my favorite slow songs played, Harvest Moon by the Mavericks, I asked Bill for his help in the kitchen.  He left his packing in our bedroom and joined me in the kitchen.  Since I didn’t want our final memories in our house to be of grumpiness and stress, I asked him to dance with me.  One final slow dance in the kitchen.  Just remembering that moment makes me teary.  Our dance was the only time I cried about leaving our home.  We had so many memories there.  In 1998, when we moved to the house from Texas, the kids were just 8, 6, 3, and 1.  That night as we held each other in the kitchen, I could hear their little voices and see their little faces.  I saw little Kooper turning on the tap in the master bathroom and not being able to shut off the water so he filled the sink with towels to catch the water, inadvertently flooding the bathroom.  I saw little Kaidyn shakily writing her name on the bricks above the fireplace, one letter per brick, and proudly showing me her efforts.  I saw little Karson doing his best Steve Irwin imitation while removing a snake he found in the back yard.  I saw little Kolton sitting on the kitchen floor practicing paradiddles on his new drum pad.  I saw countless events marking the years: weekly Bible study with our Northside small group, birthday celebrations with friends, Adornaments on Christmas morning, making countless cookies together at the kitchen island, reading books aloud in the living room, and completing our homeschool work at the kitchen table.  Through all of those years, it’s always been Bill and me, together.  Even though our marriage has had its ups and downs, our faith in Jesus has knit us together and helped us weather the storms.  I am so grateful God has blessed me with Bill.  No matter where we are, home is in his arms.  Dancing in the kitchen that midnight hour confirmed that.  Even if we don’t have a house, we have a home, with each other.

Lesson Learned:  In the midst of stress, savor a sweet moment.

Marking the years, an inch or two at a time.
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Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck

Since our trailer needed service in Carthage, we decided we might as well continue the trip to Dallas to see our daughter.  She and her husband could use our dining room table and chairs and we needed the furniture out of the house.  We packed our trusty Suburban full and headed south.

Our 2003 Suburban has been a road warrior.  We purchased the vehicle in 2006 and put approximately 270,000 miles on it.  Bill drove it for work all over Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota.   With the four kids, we vacationed in Missouri, North Carolina, South Dakota, Arkansas, Texas, and Colorado.  It’s moved all of our children to college, to their first apartments, and to later dwellings, including a cross-country trip to Los Angeles.  While the Suburban has been a great instrument in our family’s life, we decided it was time to part.  For our traveling adventure, we wanted a vehicle with fewer miles and better fuel economy.  

Bill had been watching for trucks on Craigslist and Auto Trader.  Since nothing had popped up in Kansas City, he searched the sites for vehicles in Dallas.  Of course, he found several trucks of interest.  If someone is searching for a truck, the Dallas/Fort Worth area has a plethora of them!  Since Covid-19 had limited many other activities, we decided we might as well spend our time test driving a few vehicles. 

The first one was sold.  The second one was under negotiation.  The third one was just right!

After many years of wanting a truck, Bill is very happy with our new-to-us 2017 GMC Sierra truck, Texas Edition! 

Lesson Learned:  Predetermine if the truck you purchased is 2-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive.

To clarify, it’s two-wheel drive. Bill discovered this fact about 100 miles into our trip home.
Happy trails, old friend! May you serve your new young family as well as you served us.

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Slip Slidin’ Away

As we packed the house, we sorted items into three piles:  store, loan, and donate.  For storage, we quickly surpassed the capacity of our Kearney unit so we rented another unit in Liberty.  Cyretta’s parents offered extra storage in North Central Kansas so we took advantage of their generous offer.  The loan pile went to our kids, along with a bit to Cyretta’s parents.  The donate items went to Hillcrest Ministries thrift store.  

Having so many places to take items required many trips.  Thankfully, our Intech Flyer Explore makes a great box trailer.  We packed it tight on multiple occasions, transporting our stuff from our home to its destination.  

On one trip, we had a little more excitement than we anticipated.  Our trailer is equipped with a slide-out kitchen.  On the day we purchased the trailer, as we pulled into QuikTrip for fuel, the kitchen slid out on its own.  We chalked it up to a rookie mistake of not locking the kitchen handle.  From then on, every time we left the driveway, we made sure all of the trailer’s latches were locked.  On this particular trip, as we traveled into Kearney, we went down a small hill and bumped over a culvert seam in the road.  Then we heard a thwack.  Sure enough, despite the handle being locked, our kitchen had deployed on its own again!  This time, we thought it hit a street sign. Our Suburban was impeding traffic so Bill muscled the kitchen back into its slot and we continued our journey.  We added a stop at the hardware store to purchase a C-clamp to hold the kitchen door shut.  After emptying the trailer, on our way home, we passed by the area where we thought we hit a sign.  A woman was working in her driveway and as we passed, she yelled, “Did you hit our mailbox???”  When we realized what she said, we turned around and returned to the scene of our unfortunate kitchen catastrophe.  Sure enough, the kitchen had struck their mailbox in our first, and only, round of mailbox baseball.  We profusely apologized and offered money to cover the repair expense.  Thankfully, the couple was understanding and accepted our offers.  

When we returned home, we searched to see if this was a common incident with the trailer.  Through the Intech owners’ Facebook page, we discovered that we were not alone in our kitchen mishap.  We called Mid-America RV and made an appointment to leave the trailer for repairs.        

Thankfully, the kitchen slid out when it did.  Had it occurred a little further down the road, we would have hit a bridge guard rail which could have done much more damage.  We were grateful that all we hit was a mailbox.  God is good, even in the timing of unexpected and undesired bumps along the way!

Lesson Learned:  Expect the unexpected.  A locked door may open unexpectedly, on trailers and in life.  

Our mailbox smasher. Also useful for cooking and refrigerating food!

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King of the Road (Trailers for Sale or Rent)

Ever since our youngest son started K-State’s architecture program, we have hoped he would design a ‘forever’ home for us.  His recent graduation has made that hope a reality, especially now that we sold our house.  Building will be a long process since we do not have land yet.  Since the house sold so quickly and we needed a place to rest our heads each night, we were forced to decide what was next.   We discussed buying another house or renting an apartment until our custom home could be completed.  Instead, we came up with another solution…..buying a travel trailer.  However, this decision led to more options.  If you haven’t paid much attention to travel trailers, anything imaginable is available.  Some trailers basically are apartments on wheels.  They have all the comforts of home, and often, cost about as much a home, especially if you include the massive truck needed to pull those beasts.  

With the help of our son and Google, we stumbled across Intech Trailers.  Intech specializes in micro camping trailers.  Even better, the Intech Flyer Explore is a micro toy hauler, meaning we could take our motorcycles with us.  After discovering a Flyer Explore with the options we wanted at Mid-America RV in Carthage, MO, we made the trip to check it out.  While the camper is small, just 14 feet, it offers a fold-out full-size bed, a slide out cookstove and electric cooler, heat and air conditioning, and ample storage space.  After a conversation with Salesman Scott and writing a check, we owned our ‘new home’.  

Lesson Learned: There’s a whole lot more to buying a trailer than just writing a check. Stay tuned!