Day 2 Travel Journal - The Perils of Jim and Michele

Day 1 -Travel Journal

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I was unable to sleep at all last night. I kept thinking of something else I needed to do or take along. I think my mother put the power of suggestion in my head. She called to ask if we were all ready to go and excited about our trip. My mother had informed me that years ago whenever we would travel she would be too excited to sleep so she would wake us up at 2:00 am to get in the car to travel. Now I know the truth! I had thought it was my father who wanted to leave so early! I never knew it was mom!

I started to get excited concerning our 2,500 mile trip (one way) that I stayed up all night. Jim woke up at 2:00am and noticed I was not in bed. He scolded me and sent me off to be like a child. He tried to go back to sleep while resting in his recliner. I laid there pondering that if fell asleep now, Jim would have a hard time getting me awake in a couple of hours. Therefore I stayed awake praying then got up at 3:30 am, made the bed and got dressed. By this time Jim entered the bedroom chuckling exclaiming that he could not believe I was unable to sleep. Hence we gathered our last minute belongings loaded them and the animals in the car to head off to the church where we keep our RV. By the time we loaded everything and everyone in the RV along with Jim hitching the tow dolly and car; it was 6:00 am! The exact time Jim wanted to leave.

Knowing we had a long journey ahead of us, I grabbed my trusted old pillow, lay down on the couch and slept 2 hours. To my amazement, Jim had made incredible time. We were already outside of Flagstaff, AZ at the interchange of I-17N and I-40 E. We stopped at a Rest Area 20 miles before Winslow, AZ for the usual “pit stops” and we ate breakfast in our RV.

Things were going so well until we came upon torrential downpour and thunder showers. The passenger side windshield wiper broke off ! Praise the Lord it was the passenger side and not the driver side! Jim drove a while longer until he came to a truck stop. They did not have wiper we needed. We were now 100 miles outside of Albuquerque, NM where we plan on staying the night at a KOA. At 35 miles to our destination the RV began to act like it was out of gas! Jim looked at me and said, “Well you said you wanted this trip to be an adventure!” I replied, “Excuse me dear, but this is not what I meant!” Then I chuckled and said, “Are we having fun yet?” NOT! LOL

So there we sat in the RV on the shoulder of I-40 E waiting for our insurance company to find someone to come out to assist us! They called us back trying to explain that they could not find anyone to come out to help us! Let me just stop here a minute to explain something. Sometimes cheaper isn’t better! Since Jim had found that we could have towing on our car insurance policy he canceled AAA to save on expenses. After all, we all are trying to do our part. Not a good idea people. We have had AAA for many years and they were always willing and able to deliver. So, here we were wondering what we do next. Jim did the only thing we could do – he called AAA and had us reinstated so we could tow and hopefully get the RV fixed. So two hours later we were rescued by a very nice, helpful gentleman from a towing company in Albuquerque that AAA sent. He towed us all the way to our KOA in Albuquerque and helped us get set up. He even gave us a name of a mechanic that won’t charge an arm and a leg or even a major organ! LOL…

It was now 8:00 pm, we had not eaten since breakfast and too tired to make dinner so we went out to eat a salad. We were almost too tired to eat!

Now I sit typing this post in MS Word to be posted whenever we have Internet connection. Jim is snoring, the dogs are exhausted from the whole ordeal and the kitty is checking out the RV and probably getting into trouble!
I think I will join the majority and close for now, trust that the Lord has it all under control.


Day 2 - Travel Journal

Monday, May 25, 2009

Not a good night for Jim! Salad probably was not a good idea. He was up most of the night hugging the commode! Poor guy! I slept through the whole thing too! I’m so bad! It may be pay back, this morning my stomach is not feeling to good either! Oh NO! What’s next!????

Stay tuned for the next edition of the perils of Jim and Michele!


Please pray that the repair will not be costly. If so, we need to make a decision as to what to do next. How to get all our things and animals back to AZ. Then how will we go back to PA? So pray for the Lord to reveal His will. We know He has the answers and knows best. For some reason I am calm. I am at peace and not anxious. Thank you for your prayers. I know that Jim is concerned. He knows how much I want to go back to visit mom and family. But I know that God will provide too. He knows best.

Thank you all for your continued prayers.