Friday, July 30, 2004

Long Day Of Driving

We have been very busy over the past week. My brother told me to keep a log of each day so that I could easily update the blog. That was a really great idea. Like most great ideas it needed follow through in order to actually work. I of course did not keep a regular log of each day so now I am going to try to give a brief description of the past few days.
Our travels from Minnesota to Ontario went very well once we got out of town. The driving went smooth on the first day despite the late start. We stopped at a little hotel that would happily take us dog and all.
Friday morning we awoke early in order to go for breakfast (delicious French Toast) and attempt to leave by 7:00 a.m.. We had a long day of travel ahead of us.
We drove for many hours before reaching the border with Canada. We crossed at Sault St. Marie which is a typical border town (not much there except for the border). There is very long bridge which connects Canada and the U.S.. the line up on the bridge was quite long and we got to see almost every inch of the bridge in slow motion (approx. 5 MPH).
When we arrived at the border we were both excited and nervous. Excited to be arriving in Canada but nervous about crossing the border with all of belongings in the trailer and on top of the Pathfinder, and duct-taped to other boxes on top of the vehicle, and stuffed so tight in the back that the back door was now spring loaded with everything from pillows to computer components. Needless to say we didn't’t want to have to unpack everything to show the customs agent what all we were bringing into the country. Oh, did I mention we also had a dog? When we got to the border the Canadian customs agent looked at us with puzzled look and asked us a few questions about where all we were going and how long we would be staying and what on earth were we doing with all this stuff? He eventually just waved us through and never even asked about the dog. Another miracle! We were so excited that we missed our turn and ended up lost for a few minutes.
The rest of Friday was uneventful but very long. We finally arrived home at about 12:00 a.m. and basically fell into bed. That is a day of driving I could really do without for a while.

Thursday, July 29, 2004

A Bumpy Start

This morning we woke up with every intention of leaving for Canada at 9:00 a.m.. Wait let me start at the real beginning. The original plan was to leave at 7:00 a.m. on the nose but last night just as we were finished loading the trailer the spring on our garage door broke. The office at the apartment does not open until 9:00 a.m. so we planned to report the problem then hit the road. Little did we know we would not be leaving for quite some time. Once we got the garage door opened (by hand) we attached the trailer to the ole Nissan Pathfinder. We pulled the vehicle and trailer out of the garage and noticed that the trailer hitch was just about to pop right off the vehicle. This certainly was not what we were hoping for. We unhooked the trailer and began the wringing of hands. The hitch would have to be reinforced with a weld in order to take the trailer but we would also have to lose quite a bit of weight. The men left to try to get either a weld, a new hitch, or even a U-Haul truck while the ladies unloaded the trailer and sorted out some items to be stored in Minnesota. After a few wrong turns we ended up a nice little weld/hitch shop (who knew there was such a thing?) and they fixed us right up.
We returned to the apartment (about noon) and loaded the items that could no longer go to Canada and drove them over to our good friends house where they will store them at least temporarily. Upon returning we loaded the trailer (maybe the 4th time now) and attached it to the Pathfinder. No problems this time though it was now 2:30 p.m.. We took off down the road and here I sit writing this down before my mind disconnects completely. Thank God for all His help. I am sure that He still holds us in His hands.

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Goodbyes beginning

The "goodbyes" are beginning... Starting this past weekend we said goodbye to the first round of friends, family, and animals. It doesn't ever get any easier. I just wish I could grab all of them and fit them into the 44lbs each that Air Portugal  is allowing for the second leg of our trip. I will miss all of them so much.


Two Cars In Two Days

In the past two days we have sold two cars! On Monday we sold the Hyundai which was the car we pretty  much had to sell and on Tuesday we sold the Taurus. Both sales were an answer to prayer but we hated to see our little cars go. It sort of solidifies the idea that we are REALLY leaving and that when we come back (whenever that may be) we will be starting over. God has us in His hands and that is the only place to be whether we have no cars or a fleet of cars. Only He can truly provide for us... May we never forget.

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Ellie Finds A Home

Yesterday  the kitty found a home with a nice lady who saw a picture we had out at our garage sale. We were so happy to find a good home for her but we still found ourselves doing a little crying  after she left. I keep telling myself not to get attached to these stupid pets... One day I'll learn.


Saturday, July 24, 2004

Mum And Pops Rescue Us

On Thursday afternoon Michelle's parents arrived full of energy and ready to get us out of here. I think they could tell that we were nowhere near ready to depart by the following Wednesday. They have been such an incredible blessing! Thank God for parents who care for their kids enough to drive 2 days just so they can pack for a week and then drive for 2 days again.


Saturday, July 17, 2004

A Day Of Packing

Today we spent most of our day packing and cleaning. First we did some basic packing upstairs and began working on clearing out the office. We got a little frustrated with it all and decided to go downstairs and clean the garage so that we could get away for a moment from the upstairs clutter. We ended up spending much of the rest of the day cleaning out and organizing the garage. This turned out to be a great accomplishment as it gave us a place to put all of the items we had packed upstairs thus eliminating some of the clutter. All in all it was a great (though quite late) start to a big project. We are one step closer to getting to Senegal where our hearts are already waiting for us.





Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Car

Still nothing on the car... Hopefully soon.

Thursday, July 01, 2004

Car Update

We had a couple of people contact us about the car. Hopefully we will have it sold soon...