Saturday, July 29, 2006
Well, the first leg of the journey began Thursday evening but we didn’t get very far. About 5 miles out of Mountain Home we had a tire blow out and we sat on the side of the highway waiting as our insurance company tried to sort it all out. They couldn’t find our policy (one of the last things you ever want to hear). Thankfully they said they would call around and get someone out but they would want to be paid up front. No problem…just get us off the side of the road with semi’s seeming to be trying to get as close as possible. They said it might take as long as 2 hours to get someone out. They called us back a few minutes later to tell us that there was someone close and that he was on his way. The blown tire had a few of its metal guts hanging out and when the tire blew, I forgot to mention, it scared us silly (o.k. sillier.) The tow truck came really quickly, jacked it up, took the tire off, and checked the spare which turned out to look almost exactly like the one that had blown. Metal guts and all. It had a cover on it and the really bad part was hidden from view. So neither would hold air and I’m not sure that his rig was outfitted to tow us. He said with the dual tires on the back that we could limp in to Mountain Home. 5 miles of freeway and 5 into Les Schwab Tire store. The driver followed behind us as we drove from 5-15 miles per hour he yellow lights flashing. When it was all over we asked the driver what we owed him (The insurance said it was $65 to fix the tire and $35 to come out.) and he said whatever we thought was right. He didn’t fix the tire but he did get us safely in. We tried to give him some but he wouldn’t take it saying he didn’t do anything. Nice guy…and a blessing. We were beat so we camped in the parking lot of Les Schwab.
If you are thinking of going camping, let me advise you Les Schwab is not your best choice. Trains, it’s very close to trains. We like trains but not hourly all night, sounding almost close enough to touch. Classic rock music (think Steve Miller, the Eagles etc.) playing all night long. I’m not really sure from where. Maybe Mt. Home has it own sound track. It’s not good. “Freebird” gets old. So cross Les off your camping list. In the morning we had coffee at a local gas station and waited for Les to open. In the end we got new tires all around and the piece of mind knowing that they are fresh and we have a spare. We were still beat but felt better after they were fixed and we headed to Craters of the Moon. (http://www.nps.gov/crmo/ ). We have been before but it was about 9-10 years ago, I think. We had fun walking the trails and looking at caves. (Pictures soon.) From there we drove to Arco, ID and are spending the night in an RV Park called the Landing Zone. ( http://www.geocities.com/landingzone_2000/ ) It was pretty nice, large trees and shade. It was fairly cool after our plugged in air conditioned nap. We are going to stay on highway 20 and head into Idaho Falls tomorrow. We will update you then. God Bless. m
Well, the first leg of the journey began Thursday evening but we didn’t get very far. About 5 miles out of Mountain Home we had a tire blow out and we sat on the side of the highway waiting as our insurance company tried to sort it all out. They couldn’t find our policy (one of the last things you ever want to hear). Thankfully they said they would call around and get someone out but they would want to be paid up front. No problem…just get us off the side of the road with semi’s seeming to be trying to get as close as possible. They said it might take as long as 2 hours to get someone out. They called us back a few minutes later to tell us that there was someone close and that he was on his way. The blown tire had a few of its metal guts hanging out and when the tire blew, I forgot to mention, it scared us silly (o.k. sillier.) The tow truck came really quickly, jacked it up, took the tire off, and checked the spare which turned out to look almost exactly like the one that had blown. Metal guts and all. It had a cover on it and the really bad part was hidden from view. So neither would hold air and I’m not sure that his rig was outfitted to tow us. He said with the dual tires on the back that we could limp in to Mountain Home. 5 miles of freeway and 5 into Les Schwab Tire store. The driver followed behind us as we drove from 5-15 miles per hour he yellow lights flashing. When it was all over we asked the driver what we owed him (The insurance said it was $65 to fix the tire and $35 to come out.) and he said whatever we thought was right. He didn’t fix the tire but he did get us safely in. We tried to give him some but he wouldn’t take it saying he didn’t do anything. Nice guy…and a blessing. We were beat so we camped in the parking lot of Les Schwab.
If you are thinking of going camping, let me advise you Les Schwab is not your best choice. Trains, it’s very close to trains. We like trains but not hourly all night, sounding almost close enough to touch. Classic rock music (think Steve Miller, the Eagles etc.) playing all night long. I’m not really sure from where. Maybe Mt. Home has it own sound track. It’s not good. “Freebird” gets old. So cross Les off your camping list. In the morning we had coffee at a local gas station and waited for Les to open. In the end we got new tires all around and the piece of mind knowing that they are fresh and we have a spare. We were still beat but felt better after they were fixed and we headed to Craters of the Moon. (http://www.nps.gov/crmo/ ). We have been before but it was about 9-10 years ago, I think. We had fun walking the trails and looking at caves. (Pictures soon.) From there we drove to Arco, ID and are spending the night in an RV Park called the Landing Zone. ( http://www.geocities.com/landingzone_2000/ ) It was pretty nice, large trees and shade. It was fairly cool after our plugged in air conditioned nap. We are going to stay on highway 20 and head into Idaho Falls tomorrow. We will update you then. God Bless. m 
On the way to Idaho Falls a few items started to blow off the roof of the motor home. Thankfully everyone had already ridden our tail and then screamed around us so no one was killed. Paige climbed the ladder onto the roof because I’m afraid of heights and heavier so she lowered boxes down using a bungee cord. Most everything on the roof was light so we didn’t have much trouble. We even laughed about it as we were getting them inside the RV. VERY CROWDED inside but it is sorted now. We went into Idaho Falls bought a TV at Wal*mart and some more food and headed continued on toward Jackson Hole, WY. We called ahead to an RV Park called the Virginian about a mile out of Jackson city center. We parked and Paige and I walked into the town had some pizza for dinner and wandered around. We saw the Mangy Moose store, The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, The
Antler Arches and various other gift shops etc. It was very nice. We came home and watched an episode of the TV show Lost and went to bed. This morning we got rid of some more stuff and rearranged it so it isn’t so crowded. The dogs are having a blast. Sunday, July 30, 2006 pt 2 and into July 31st, 2006
We drove from Jackson Hole to Yellowstone. On the way we drove past the Grand Tetons.
http://www.nps.gov/grte/ Wow they were something else. At Yellowstone http://www.nps.gov/yell/ we saw Old Faithful, springs, waterfalls and various other geysers. On the way to our campground / park we saw a huge bison in the road. Pretty cool. He looked mad at the people in the car in the other lane like he might ram it. The dogs started barking and I hit the gas so he wouldn’t go for us. We are having problems finding a place to stay for the night. We are heading out of the park toward Cody, Wyoming. Currently the road is blocked by a herd of bison. We are far enough back that we can only see them from a distance. It was cool too the bison were right next to the car I think we got some great pictures. Yellowstone Lake is pretty large and there are waves crashing on the shore like the sea. We drove into Cody, WY and decided to just stay the night at the Wal*mart parking lot with a bunch of other, much more expensive RV’s. There had been Hells Angels rally this weekend in Cody and there were a few in the lot as well. We went to sleep and the wind really picked up. We were all parked so the wind was hitting broadside and making it impossible to sleep. About midnight we moved the rig so we were with the wind. In the end we moved to the far side so we were protected by the building and were able to sleep. In the morning we had breakfast and headed to Sheridan, WY. http://www.sheridanwyoming.org/index.php We were sure impressed at the variety of scenery we have seen so far. Simply amazing.
We got to the KOA and are considering staying 2 nights and taking a day trio us to Little Big Horn http://www.nps.gov/libi/ (where Custer met his Maker.) I have always been interested in Custer and this is the closest I have ever been. The next day we plan to head to Devils Tower http://www.nps.gov/deto/ but we haven’t really hammered out exactly what is next. We’ll keep you posted. We’ll update nightly if we have WiFi internet access. Check out the pictures @ http://community.webshots.com/user/MKAdams66
Earlier in the blog I was talking about a message we heard at the Pursuit church. It has even greater relevance now as our journey has begun. The Pastor Paul talked about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and it really reminded us what we are doing and why. So bear with me and read the story of Shad, Mesh and Abed from the Contemporary English version:King Nebuchadnezzar ordered a gold statue to be built ninety feet high and nine feet wide. He had it set up in Dura Valley near the city of Babylon, and he commanded his governors,advisors, treasurers, judges, and his other officials to come from everywhere in his kingdom to the dedication of the statue. So all of them came and stood in front of it. Then an official stood up and announced: People of every nation and race, now listen to the king's command! Trumpets, flutes, harps, and all other kinds of musical instruments will soon start playing. When you hear the music, you must bow down and worship the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Anyone who refuses will at once be thrown into a flaming furnace. As soon as the people heard the music, they bowed down and worshiped the gold statue that the king had set up. Some Babylonians used this as a chance to accuse the Jews to King Nebuchadnezzar. They said,"Your Majesty, we hope you live forever! You commanded everyone to bow down and worship the gold statue when the music played. And you said that anyone who did not bow down and worship it would be thrown into a flaming furnace. Sir, you appointed three men to high positions in Babylon Province, but they have disobeyed you. Those Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refuse to worship your gods and the statue you have set up." King Nebuchadnezzar was furious. So he sent for the three young men and said, "I hear that you refuse to worship my gods and the gold statue I have set up. Now I am going to give you one more chance. If you bow down and worship the statue when you hear the music, everything will be all right. But if you don't, you will at once be thrown into a flaming furnace. No god can save you from me." The three men replied, "Your Majesty, we don't need to defend ourselves. The God we worship can save us from you and your flaming furnace. But even if he doesn't, we still won't worship your gods and the gold statue you have set up."
As we (Paige and I) travel (now on the road and in life in general.) life will become tricky at times but we know that God can save us from trials and troubles. Even if He doesn’t we will follow and trust Him.
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