Come along for the Ride!

I am so glad you are here. Stay with us as we travel everywhere. I hope you will enjoy the ride.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Our trip back from the West

We left LA just before noon on Friday and we knew that the traffic would probably be ridiculous. Everyone from California was on their way to Las Vegas for the weekend and everyone from the Vegas direction seemed to be headed toward the beaches of California. Traffic was really bad. And to make matters worse, at one point we saw a terrible 6 car accident that required 2 helicopters to carry away those that were hurt and this tied up our lanes for over 2 hours.
When traffic got moving again the two truck drivers that were in front of me were apparently sleeping and so I had to change lanes to get around them. That was not easy to do because traffic was backed up for miles and miles and now that their lane was moving they were not happy about letting us in the blocked lanes out into their lanes. Oh well.
It was pretty smooth sailing after that until we got close to Las Vegas. Then traffic was slow again. I am always nervous driving through there because you must be on guard. There is so many distractions that if you let down your guard, you are in trouble fast. I was glad to get through that area. Now it was just many miles of desert.
We did not have to deliver our load until Monday in Chicago so we had the weekend to get there. We thought about it and planned to try to get to route 70 in Utah by tonight. Then we planned to sleep at a truckstop or rest area there and then get up and have the entire day to drive across the Rocky Mts. in the daylight.
We slept at a rest area after filling our truck with fuel. The morning was beautiful and it looked like it was going to be a really nice day. Pops drove and this gave me the day to just ride and take pictures. This is a switch to our normal routine but I really wanted to just ride through the mountains and Pops was good about making that happen.
The drive was a long one. We figured that it would take us most of the day and we would reach Denver around dark.
We did take our time and stopped at several scenic areas and rest stops. We did find some more Indian vendors at one rest stop and I purchased a few more items. I liked the colors and style even though the quality wasn't the best.
I absolutely loved this day. Pops and I had a wonderful time and time went by so quickly. I did take pictures, over 500 hundred of them actually. Although some had to be deleted because remember all these pictures are taken while we are moving at 70mph, and most were taken with the camera on my phone.
We switched over driving just after passing through Denver. We stopped at a weigh station and Pops went inside to be checked. So then I drove us into Nebraska to sleep.
We had found a church to attend by using our church directory. I called the number and was told they would lov to have us and that we could park in their grass if we had to. It was the Valley Christian Church in North Platte, NE.
We showered and slept and then got up for church.
When we first walked inside we saw several people sitting at tables with coffee and sweet rolls. They were homemade sweet rolls. Well I wasn't passing those up.
We sat down at a table with a man and woman we assumed were husband and wife and we were right. They were Ray and Trenda Seifer. Trenda was the baker of the sweet rolls and they were very good.
Ray and Trenda made us feel very welcome right from the start and we spoke with several other there as well.
Before long we were shown to a Sunday School Class and it was taught by a man named Dave and his wife was Becky.
The lesson was about the Samaritan Woman at the Well and her discussion with Jesus about Living Water. It was a very interesting lesson and everyone participated in the discussion.
After Sunday School we went into the auditorium to worship and it was a really nice service. Once again it closely followed the timing and schedule of our home church at Wills Mt. We enjoyed the singing and the meditations very much.
Then Brent Montgomery, the evangelist got up to start his sermon. He was preaching from Hebrews 12:1-3 and the title was, Crash Through Our Quitting Points." He talked about when we reach our point of just wanting to stop and not go on that we must "crash through." It was a perfect sermon for me at that time. It was exactly the words that God wanted me to hear. I was in tears as I listened to God's words speak to me through Brent.
I am forever amazed at our God.
After the sermon we stuck around for a little while and visited with some of the people and then we drove over to Walmart about 6 blocks away to get some groceries.
When we left Walmart I was driving and I headed back the exact way that we came but quickly realized that I had turned onto a one way street, the wrong way!
Some nice man in a big SUV blocked traffic while I got turned around and went the right way.
I drove us the rest of way through Nebraska and into Iowa and then Pops drove. I went to sleep.
I woke up when we were at our delivery near Chicago. And after the load was off Pops and I went to Elgin, Illinois for a layover.
I am feeling much better. Thank you for your continued prayers and I really want to thank all of you who called and messaged me. It is nice to feel your love and concern.



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