Arizona to California

Wednesday, June 16

From the Grand Canyon, we headed for our motel in Kingman, AZ. Since it was too early to check in, we decided to go have a look at the Hoover Dam first. We had a cold lunch along the way. 

Isaac: Simply getting into the Hoover Dam was interesting. We had to go through security, where they asked us questions and then had us pull over, so they could take a look inside the carrier on the top of our van. The guards were dressed in black and wearing masks; I didn't envy them -- it was 113° outside! 

We stopped at an overlook and got out; it felt like you'd just stepped into an oven. Easily the hottest I've ever felt. The only other thing we did was take a walk to a bridge a couple hundred feet higher than the dam to get an even better look. Jasmine, dad and I were the only ones to go on the walk, the rest stayed in the van. 

The Hoover Dam is truly an engineering marvel, one of those "must see" things if you are in the area. All tours were closed, so I didn't learn a lot about it but here are some things I know:

• It was built from 1931 to 1936 during the Great Depression 

• It was built before computers

• A concrete structure this big had never been attempted before

• There's enough concrete in it to pave a two lane road from Seattle to Miami

     * * * * *

Thursday, June 17

For breakfast, dad cooked sausage links and scrambled eggs on our electric burner in our motel. We were out of there by 9:30, and we headed towards Bakersfield, CA. It would just be a day of driving, so we settled in for the ride. 

Jennifer: I was calmly reading a book, when I looked up and noticed that we were pulling into a tire shop. Confused, I turned my attention from my book to what was going on around me. Dad was asking the attendant to check the air in the tires, since he thought they were a little low. My immediate thoughts were, "Good, this won't take long." I turned back to my book but before I knew it, we were filing into the tire shop and preparing to wait forty five minutes for new shocks to be put on our van. Surprised, but not worried, I (in typical Jennifer fashion) simply buried myself in my book, emerging a few times to play the ABC game in the waiting room and send some messages to our cousins. 

Around an hour later, we were back on the road. Nothing very traumatic had happened, but that turned out to be the least of our worries. 

~~~~~~~~~

We headed off once more for the aforementioned Bakersfield. We continued our audiobook "From the White House to the Amish". It was a nice ride, and we were all engrossed in our story when dad suddenly hit the breaks and the van began slowing down abruptly. Everyone's basic thought was "Uh oh" but it was not nearly a strong enough interjection, as we soon discovered. 

We made a quick exit down an entrance ramp, which happened to be right close to where our gas light came on, and the GPS said it was 55 miles to the next gas station. (Dad was sure he had allowed enough gas to get to the next station but now things weren't adding up.) Turning around, we headed back to the gas station we had apparently passed 37 miles earlier, praying as we went. Dad did everything he could to stretch the gas as far as possible -- drove slowly, turned off the a/c, coasted down several long grades... Just as the gas station sign popped into view, we found ourselves stranded on the side of the interstate. 

The gas station in the distance...

Lillian: I felt disgusted at the thought -- stranded, with no a/c. I hate being hot; I get overheated and sick. I hate the feeling of fear, not knowing for sure what will happen. With no gas in the tank, being stuck 1.5 miles from the gas station, I felt both things. 

Jasmine: "Well, there she went," (that was dad). 

I'm not the pessimistic type when it comes to things like this. I kept thinking to myself, "I mean, we're still driving. Surely we'll make it, but even if we don't, we may as well not worry until we run out of gas."

When we coasted to a stop along the freeway, I knew that if I had the option, I'd be among the "doers" rather than the "sitters". Do I enjoy walking through the blaze of 113° desert wilderness? Nope. I like it a whole heap better than sitting in it though! I was more than happy to accompany dad on the rescue mission. I hopped out into the wilderness oven, water bottle in hand.

The rescue ended up looking like a $24.99 one gallon gas can filled with fuel at a similarly exorbitant price. It also included a kind couple who offered us a ride to the gas station, saving us about a mile of walking. God bless them (and their dog).

Here come our heroes with the precious gas can! The couple picked them up after they had walked all the way up the road and off the exit and then brought them back to the exit to walk back to the van. 

We were certainly glad to see them!

We later discovered that our GPS was spitting out incorrect information, and we actually could have made it to the next gas station, instead of turning around!! I suppose if the GPS was always right, we'd never have any stories to pass on to our children...

~~~~~~~~~

All's well that ends well, as Ma Ingalls would say. And Charles, with his ever present legos, would agree.

The Grand Canyon

Let's camp on our trip, we said. It will save big dollars, we said. It will be fun, we said. 

Let's cook on our trip as much as we can, we said. It will save big dollars, we said. We can use charcoal when we camp, we said. It will be fun, we said. 

Let's buy an air mattress, we said. The youngsters will be fine with sleeping bags, we said. The parents deserve an air mattress, we said. It will be comfy, we said. 

Ever slept on a half full air mattress? It causes hilarious giggling when you're squished together at 4 in the morning (incidentally, that's also when 

the birds start singing in Arizona)

Let's visit the Grand Canyon, we said. It would be cool to go back where the parents went on their honeymoon, we said. 

Then and now.....

Also......

If everything went smoothly, we wouldn't have any good stories to tell, right?

In spite of the glitches, camping was fun. Our friendly RV neighbors let us cook breakfast at their campsite...

We slipped in and out of the air conditioned van to check out the sights...

And hung out at our campsite in the late afternoon breeze...

Until it was time for a cold supper and a hike down the canyon to watch the sun set...

Pictures do not do justice to the beauty!

Due to the heat and the fire ban, we decided to rearrange our schedule and camp only two nights, instead of three. So this morning was pack up time...

(The magician at work)

Until next time....

The Adventure Begins

We are two days into our big adventure, and I thought I'd spend a little time bringing you up to date. 

I think this should be my new life motto...

Friday was a busy, busy day of doing all the last minute laundry and packing and rechecking of lists. It went well, but oh, was I tired at the end of that day. I think everyone we've talked to has thought we were just a little bit crazy (or maybe a lot) when they heard we're planning to set out on this trip with only a minivan. That's ok. It's not the first time people have thought we were crazy, and certainly won't be the last! The dad at our house just happens to be a man who lives to think outside the box. 

We bought a carrier for the top...

And fully utilized the empty space beneath for our pantry. 

The back is packed to the gills and our van certainly won't be winning any awards for great gas mileage but we Chris got it all in there -- two tents, five sleeping bags, one air mattress, cooking supplies, clothes for seven, and 4,559 other miscellaneous items. 

Real life picture of the mother the night before the big day. (The picture was staged but it was exactly how I felt!)

Day one was a travel day. We listened to several things and engaged in multiple activities. The most memorable chunk of the travel time would have to be listening to some of That Sounds Fun's Enneasummer 2021 podcasts and delving into lively discussions for quite some time afterward.

After an Aldi stop for ingredients, we arrived at our Airbnb and whipped up a breakfast supper, using our electric burner and electric skillet. It was great to stretch out and relax. 

Today, we hit the road early again, heading toward the Texas panhandle. Our youngest -- all of us, really -- are huge Hank the Cowdog fans. Chris has dreamed of somehow giving his children a chance to meet the author, John R Erickson -- even emailing him personally one time. When we talked about places to visit, we thought it would be fun to see the area where he lives and the town his books are based in. Jennifer remembered that in his book "Finding Hank", he mentions how people sometimes show up at the church he attends, hoping to meet him. We decided to be one of those people. 

We didn't get to meet Mr Erickson (Chris emailed him and he answered, saying they were unable to attend), but we did visit the church he attends and enjoyed southern hospitality and beautiful, pipe organ music.

 

Then it was on to our next Airbnb to relax, cook supper and wash up laundry in the most eclectic little house I have ever seen. 

Tomorrow it's on to the Grand Canyon and the adventures of camping!

This n That

 It's a week of preparation in the Eicher household. We're about to embark on a three week vacation and we are busily doing all the things -- making lists, buying stuff, trying things out, hashing details. We've talked for years about going back to the Grand Canyon someday (we were there on our honeymoon) and have thrown the idea around about taking the family there in honor of our twentieth anniversary, but never really got serious until maybe six months ago. Now it's morphed into a three week excursion with lots of other places and experiences on our itinerary. Honestly, I'm not sure if it's crazy or exciting but it's happening!

We did a test run the other night

on setting up a tent...

Seven years ago, when we did our big trip to visit Laura's little houses, I got the children to write blog posts and kind of took you all along on our adventures. I'm thinking we'll probably do some of that again, but I really haven't figured out a game plan yet. (I've got too many other game plans I'm still figuring out at this point -- like finishing up sewing  that should have been done weeks ago.) 

I think I've said this before, but vacations and I have a complicated relationship. It's always hard for me to just throw myself into it and have fun because A) All the work and what about this and how will that work and what if.... and B) I can't help but feel apologetic because elaborate vacations seem so self serving and selfish. After all, we should probably really be giving all the money we will spend to the poor and all the time we are "squandering" to some kind of ministry, you know. 

For the record: This time I am trying really hard to just be enthused. 

It is going to be one big, gigantic adventure, of that I am sure. We will be camping part of the time and we have never gone camping as a family before -- need I say more? We should have lots of stories to entertain you with these next three weeks!

In the mean time, I wanted to share this opportunity with you all. I told you recently about Shari's book, remember? If you've been thinking of pre-ordering a copy, she's got a fun little offer for you over on her blog right now. Go check it out! I love her creativity. If you want to pre-order her book, you can do so right here. 

Also, some of you avid book fans, give me some audio book suggestions for the whole family. What books have you listened to that would be fun for an audience from 19 - 8 years old? (Plus two 40 somethings) I'd love suggestions. 

And now I should run along. 

Stop worrying and go enjoy the things that should be enjoyed -- like pretty flowers.

Cheers!

A Test Run

It's been nearly 10 years since I started this little old blog, and I'm still not really all that sure what I'm doing. I set up a blog, and have run it all these years, strictly by googling. I guess it's worked -- here we still are!

A number of you are subscribed to my blog via email, and blogger recently announced that they are discontinuing their email subscription service in July. In typical Bethany form, I've been googling and trying things and tweaking and I think I have successfully switched to a different email subscription service. 

You should not need to do anything, this post should show up in your email as usual. I have subscribed via email to my own blog, and if I do not receive an email, then we will go back to the drawing board!

Thanks for your patience. 

Twenty Years

 I don't have very many words, but some days just can't slip by without some commemoration of some kind. 

Twenty years ago today, those children in white said "I do". Their "I do" was very sincere but there were a whole lot of things that they "didn't" back then. The one in the dress, in particular, was very naive. She didn't know much about love or respect or relationships or sex or running a house -- she barely even knew how to cook!

It's amazing what the grace of God can accomplish with sincerity. 

Our marriage has never been perfect (how can you have perfect with two imperfect people?) but it has been very, very good. Today, twenty years later, I realize so much more how incredibly blessed I am. 

We still need a picture for 2021...

Last weekend Chris surprised me with a little getaway for our anniversary. It was one if those imperfect times, with rainy weather and me spending most of a day in bed with a terrible migraine. The last day was gorgeous and we biked twenty miles together under the bluest sky. 

Kind of like our imperfect marriage, altogether the weekend was very, very good. 

That's pretty much it. I am so blessed and so very grateful. 

One last picture which I like to title: "We're really terrible at selfies but we're pretty decent at marriage!"