MBM: Trial Run

Did she work?  Did we get out of the driveway or stranded on the side of the road? Did we freeze to pieces overnight?

1st Trip!  Gigi and Gjyshe came by to send us off...

We have shared before here on the blog (as well as in our recent newsletter) about the fact that God has blessed our family with a small RV for our year of Homeland Ministry travels as we share about our call to Albania.  And the more we reflect upon it, we truly stand amazed at the provision.  At first, I thought we would enjoy such a luxury if someone loaned us theirs or if someone just decided we were so amazing they wanted to give us one! (ha!)  But really, I don't know that we would have seen God's had as clearly in either of those situations.  

Our "Vera" (as we call her) was sitting in my parents' small town, at the end of a dead-end street they don't recall ever driving on before!  The owners had not advertised her on Craigs List nor in the paper and the tiny 'for sale' sign was barely visible from the street.  It took us nearly a month to decide to go ahead and buy her because after all, who buys a nearly 30-year-old RV for less than most old used cars to travel across country with their young children?  But we had her checked out and we couldn't find anything wrong with her, other than needing a new fuel pump and repairing the AC.  On top of that, she had a quality, diesel engine that had only accumulated about a quarter of the miles similar engines would run in a lifetime. She had lots of life still left in her! As you know, in spite of taking our time, she was still available.  And as far as we know, we were the only interested buyers!

Over the course of the past several weeks, Nathan and Jim have installed a back-up camera and a large toolbox on the hitch to store things like a grill, lawn chairs, Reni's stroller, and an extra propane tank.  We've been so busy though, we haven't had time to take her out for an overnight test.  Given that we would be embarking on a big trip in October, we decided last weekend was our last chance to perform our trial run. 

We wanted to see what might be needed to stock her cabinets with what we would need, and to test the process of staying in a campground, hooking her up and all (we're not very experienced campers here).  Dad recommended we visit Lincoln's New Salem Village as they have a really nice campground on site.

We drove about 45 minutes south, and decided to visit New Salem village before setting up camp.  One of the things we appreciate about Vera is that she fits in most parking spaces!  The weather was gorgeous and the kids enjoyed checking out the log structures even more than I imagined they might.  (Click here to read more about New Salem, Lincoln's first home away from family where he lived about 8 years before moving on to Springfield to pursue law).  It's a really unique place that we recommend to anyone visiting central Illinois that appreciates Lincoln history!

We finished our tour around closing time, ready for supper.  We easily found the campground and selected a site.  The kids made a beeline for the swingset while Nathan set up our portable grill and cooked burgers.  Nathan and I traded kid duty and I made vegetables in the microwave and set the table for supper.  Afterwards we enjoyed hot chocolate and disappointed the kids only in the fact that we didn't build a campfire (I wasn't keen on smelling up the inside of our camper with the aroma of smoke).

The kids are watching a DVD on the laptop.

We were AMAZED.  EVERYTHING WORKED!  The microwave, the hot water heater, the AC, the heat, the gas oven, the lights (even in the closets!), the fold-down table, the fridge and freezer.  IT.ALL.WORKED!!!!  It appears that we bought a quality RV that was originally purchased with nearly all the amenities available in 1985 (the fridge is new 2011).  The low mileage and obvious care by the previous owners meant that we are enjoying a very nice 'house on wheels'.  I even like the beige and mauve interior!  Nathan and I have roomy beds.  The kids are sharing the 'nest' over the drivers compartment with ample space.  It's the absolute perfect size for our size family.  Not too big, not too small!  Should we have been surprised at anything less when it's from God?  Even today as we start loading all of our supplies for our big trip (display table, camera equipment, home school materials, bedding, and groceries), it appears it will all fit! Amazing!!!

Tomorrow we finish packing her up and Thursday morning bright and early we hit the road for Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky!  We'll try our best to document our travel log here!  Thanks for your prayers!