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Mar. 4, 2008
Preparations Prior to Peoria...
I had not planned to be another night away from home; however, our family has the chance to help a family from church brand their cattle. Instead of driving all the way home, and then back, we are therefore staying at my Grandmother's house in the Valley. Up in the morning EARLY, to be ranchers! There will be pictures of our day as cowhands in future posts, I promise.
Without any of the photos on our computer at home, some of my planned posts are rendered quite boring, and would make my readership very unhappy. This will now be a photo-less post, but on a topic that can survive the lack of photographic assistance. (I hope!)
Our family always manages to take one trip per year, be it around the country, state, or even a jaunt in our local area. This year is no exception, and, in an effort to combine business with pleasure, we are attending our church's denominational meeting, also known as the Presbytery, in late May. (That is a run on sentence if I ever saw one!) Members from all the various churches in the denomination will be descending upon our Peoria, Illinois sister church, and having the grandest time enjoying one another's company (or would that be one and other's? I'm so confused!).
You may wisely point out that the end of May happens to be more than two months away; however, when the Hector family vacations, preparations begin quite a ways in advance.
First, the RV must be prepared for departure. This takes a significant amount of time, due to the fact that it is done in stages. To complete the first stage, the RV must first be simply looked at, and comments are made on its general appearance. The reasoning behind this is to allow the RV to readjust to human contact. If we suddenly got in and started it up, the poor thing may spook, and a spooked RV is an unhappy RV. No, the best way is always gradually. Reconditioning may require several repetitions of this act, usually with a week between sessions. When the vehicle appears ready, it is time to venture inside and repeat the commenting process. After at least a month, the engine can be started, and run for several hours, again, to get it used to normal life. Once we have gotten the RV running, it is ready to go to the mechanic. There, it's various problems will be diagnosed, and hopefully repaired. If the timing is correct, and the mechanic does his job, the RV is returned no more than two days before the leaving date, so as to assure the least amount of time for packing... Yes, always exciting! If we started (and finished) earlier, I doubt that we would know what to do with all the extra time!
We are now at the stage where we are about to pull out the RV, and take it to our mechanic. The next stage, early-packing, is drawing nigh. As this post is getting long, and the hour getting late, that aspect 's description will have to wait until later.
Everyone is getting quite excited about the trip, and there is much anticipation surrounding seeing old friends, and developing new friendships. Thomas secretly hopes that he cannot go, but not because he does not desire to go. The only thing that would keep him from going is if he got a job with the Oakland Fire Department. He would be delighted if he obtained a position with the OFD, even if that meant missing out on Illinois because of the Academy. (He did say that it would be sad not to see everyone!) Pray for him, tomorrow is his interview. I haven't stopped praying since yesterday...
I for one am very happy to return to Illinois, as we practically skipped it on our way through in 2006. That was when we had reached our burn-out point for vacationing, and just wanted to get home. It will be nice to give the state a second chance. There is supposed to be this place where I can get some really good peanut butter cookies...
Later! |
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About Me
The musings of a GRADUATED stay at home son, eldest of nine. My thoughts on life and its occurrences as I begin, with my Lord's ineffably great help, to form my own household, as I continue to live under my parent's guidance.
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Mar. 4, 2008 - I'm First!!!
I was finally able to be first at commenting! Hurrah!
As the preparations begin, it is my job to first see the RV actually gets to the mechanic. This is accomplished by having several meetings with the upper division of the family and making lists. Many lists it seems to me.
Once that is complete, I move on to my second responsibility, which is to pack. I have been told, several times now, that I packed way too much for the 7 week USA tour, and that I must pack lighter. As I like to "be prepared" I will truly have to stretch my comfort zone to cut back on our supplies. What?!!! Only clothes for five days? Imagine.
But... I will try hard to pack accordingly. Now where's that list?
Blessings, Mom
Edited by hindsfeet11 on Mar. 5, 2008 at 1:21 AM