The Boneyard at Lacey

I am sure you are asking what is "the boneyard?" The boneyard is what I called the campsite last week. Found out yesterday that where we park all the trailers, our motor home and the condo's in carnival language is called the boneyard.

Ron went around after everyone was in place and took a few pictures to show you what it looks like where we are going to be living for the next two weeks.





The top picture is Alice inside the motor home after we got to Lacey, WA. and before we are set up. Once we are set up the TV is between the two front chairs and the plant that is in the sink is on the counter.

In the second picture our motor home is parked between a condo and a trailer. At least in Lacey we are not parked on soggy wet grass. Being parked on black top the motor home should stay a little cleaner.

This picture shows all the rigs in a row. The open space between the two trailers is waiting for a late arrival of one of the trailers. That is where Diane's trailer will go. Her hubby, Eric, had to take it in and get the wiring fixed ~ they had the brakes as flashers and the flashers as brakes. Not a good thing while traveling.


The top picture is another view of the front of all the rigs lined up. The rig to the far right belongs to Rick & Theresa, our bosses. It is a very nice fifth wheel with three slide outs. They always park on the end. The next picture is a view from the back. The wide area between the two white lines is a bike path. Can you see the porta pottys to the far right? That's right folks, the bathrooms for those living in the condos. Makes me so happy to have my own private bathroom in our motor home. Oh the comforts of home.

Well I just wanted to show you where we are living for the next two weeks. I hope to have more pictures later in the week of where we work and what the views are from our ticket windows. Ron took some pictures with his phone last week and I downloaded them to the computer but can't figure out where they are at so I will have Ron take more pictures this week and try again to let you see where we actually work and what beautiful outfits we get to wear (that's a joke folks!).

Hope you enjoyed seeing where we live right now.

The Carnival Schedule

Our schedule for the next 12 weeks is listed below. The dates listed are all Monday's and is the date we move to a new town. The carnival usually runs Thursdays to Sundays if we are only there for a week. I don't yet know the schedule if we are somewhere for two or three weeks.

If you are able to meet us somewhere along the road, give us a call to see if we have any off time that we could get together. Because the carnival is usually only open afternoons and evenings we are usually free in the mornings. Don't know what are schedule will be when we are open all day like at the state fairs.

So for the next 12 weeks this is where we will be:

March 29 ~ Lacey, WA ~ we will be here for two weeks

April 12 ~ Puyallup, WA ~ we will be here for one week at the Puyallup Spring Fair

April 19 ~ Wenatchee , WA ~ we will be here for two weeks

May 3 ~ Sequim, WA ~ we will be here for one week

May 10 ~ Port Townsend, WA ~ we will be here for one week

May 17 ~ Ft. Lewis ~ we will be here for one week. I think we will be on the base itself. If it is different than that I will let you know

May 24 ~ Portland, OR ~ we will be here for three weeks at the Rose Festival

June 14 ~ Marysville, WA ~ we will be here for one week

The above schedule is all that we have for now. When Theresa gave me the schedule she said they are still firming up some of the smaller places we will be but once she has the schedule for the rest of the carnival season she will pass it on to me. We do know that our last carnival is the Puyallup Fair in September. We don't have the exact dates but once we do I will post it.

NOTE: I will do a post every Monday that we move so I can post exactly where we are in each town. Since we are new at this I don't know where each specific location we will be just the towns. I will also try to post when we will be open at that location.

Again, if you have any questions drop us a line via email, through comments or give us a call. We sure hope to see some of you along the way.

Thanks for traveling with us. We love you all. Ron & Alice

First Official Moving Day - What an Experience!

Today was our first moving day! Moving days are always on Mondays.

We moved from Kelso, WA to Lacey, WA. We are at South Sound Center Mall, exit 108 off I5.

There was excitement in the air this morning as we woke. Our first moving day with the carnival. We had all of 70 miles to go. I think the excitement was mine and Ron's as everyone else just seemed anxious to get things ready to move and then do it.

Weather wise the day looked good. A bit overcast with peeks made by the sun. The goal was to be on the road by 11:00 a.m.

We woke up about 9:30 this morning. Ron made hazel nut coffee - boy did it smell good. Ron tried to hook Maggie (our Magellan GPS system ~ thanks Jamie and Suzanne ~ we expect to get lots of use out of it) up so we could plan the route from Kelso to Lacey. It would not stay powered on. So Ron tried to start the motor home - it wouldn't budge. In looking for things that could be wrong, Ron figured out we had left the levelers in the on position (something to add to our check list when we set up). So he did what needed to be done. He jumped the engine battery with the house batteries (good thing we have a double set up). It started right up ~ yippee!!

We programmed Maggie for the trip to Lacey including a stop to do laundry. We then readied the motor home for travel: moving stuff on the counters into the sinks in the bathroom and kitchen, locking the fridge and freezer so they don't swing open unexpectedly, rolled the rug that goes outside the front door, unlocked the step so it would retract whenever the door is closed, moved the laundry hamper from the front seat to the back of the motor home, disconnected the water and electricity and finally took the curtain off the front window and raised the levelers.

A couple of the guys wanted to ride with us so in jumped James and Michael. Michael knew where we were going and what rest area to stop at to dump the holding tanks. We pulled out at 11:02 a.m. Right on schedule.

We had an uneventful trip to Lacey though James got a little frustrated when we said no smoking in our rig. He was so thankful when we stopped at the rest area to dump our tanks. Don't know if he will ride with us again. But our rules are our rules. And not smoking in our motor home is one rule I am not negotiable on. Michael is a smoker but he did not seem to mind. It was nice to have Michael along for the ride as we learned a little more about life with the carnival.

Michael told us the plan is that we all convene where we park our rigs and the condo's and everyone helps set up. He had a word for it but I can't remember what it's called. I will find out and share that with you after our next move. It took from about 12:30 to 4:30 to get all the trailers, fifth wheels, and the only motor home (ours) set up with electricity and water. It takes everyone to pull electrical lines from the electrical box to behind the rigs. Each rig is set up by those who live in it. The people who live in the condo's have to help set up their condo. It is easy to tell who has done this before and those who are new at this. Lots of bossiness from those who know what they are doing to those who don't. It started raining about 3:30. I came into the motor home where it was warm ~ Ron stayed out and helped to finish up the water and electricity set up. Another job that had to be done was to move the porta-pottys over to behind the rigs. They had been put along the fence at the end of the parking lot.

After all the rigs were hooked up to water and electricity. People went to their own rigs or condo to get set up. We are going to be here for two week so in our rig we set up the TV and Wii, moved stuff from out of the sinks and back onto the counters. We thought the plan was going to be that we would go do laundry and pick up groceries after everyone was set up. We had made plans to go with Diane, Rose and Marva to do that. After waiting around for about an hour ~ it was now about 5:30 p.m. Diane came over to our rig and asked if we could go and do laundry and grocery shopping tomorrow. I told her that would be fine as she and I are both off tomorrow. She was waiting for Eric to show up with their trailer and it would be another couple of hours before he arrived. He had run into some problems and had to get some electrical wiring fixed before he could leave Vancouver. He did not work last week so stayed in Vancouver until today. So instead of going to do laundry and grocery shopping I got out the computer and started reading emails and catching up here on my blog.

About 6:00 Ron came into the motor home. He had been out walking around and burning off some energy. Ron set up the DVD player so we could watch a movie tonight. While he was doing that I made dinner. Nothing fancy tonight as I was going to buy some chicken at the store but that is put off till tomorrow. So we had rice, hot dogs and cheesy tortillas.

One of my observations about moving day ~ you hurry and wait a lot. Everyone is anxious to get out of the old campsite but not everyone moves at the same speed. So we hurried to Lacey to only have to wait for someone to tell us where to park. They definitely have a system to how things are done. I just kept telling myself I was so thankful I was not the one in charge. Leave that to someone else. That way if there are problems no one will be yelling at me.

One story from today ~ Pat, one of the ride managers and the one in charge of setting up the camp today had gotten his fifth wheel into place. Set up his Direct TV which was no easy task as we are backed up to some trees and then threatened anyone who bumped his set up. A couple of the younger guys were not watching where they were walking and almost walked right into his set up. Pat yelled, they jumped and moved quickly away. I heard rumors that Pat's threat was if anyone knocked down his satellite system they would be in big trouble. Boy did those boys move away fast. Don't know what Pat would have done but no one wanted to find out.

One of the rules we found out about working/traveling with the carnival is that we are not allowed to wander the malls or eat at certain restaurants. Here in Lacey it is Applebees. We are not sure of the reason behind the rules, no one seems to know why, just that we are not to do that. Good thing we did not know that last Tuesday when we pulled into Kelso because the first thing Ron and I did was walk through Three Rivers Mall and go shopping at Target. They are right next to each other. Sometime when I am working with Theresa I will ask her the reason for that rule. Ron and I wonder if it is the negative atmosphere that has been associated with carnivals in the past.

Another rule we found out about is that we are fortunate to have our own rig and not live in the condos. If you live in the condos you cannot have any visitors to your condo room. There is no drinking or smoking in them either. Because we are in our own rig we can smoke if we want - we don't! and there are no rules about drinking. A good thing because Ron has had a beer a couple of times after working. We can understand about the no smoking and no drinking in the condos because of liability issues. One of the things we noticed was that if a smoker dropped a cigarette but someone was yelling at them to pick up their trash. Us and visitors ~ we can have visitors in our own rig ~ so if you are in the area sometime give me a call and if we are off we would love to get together. In speaking with Theresa, the owners of Fantastic Shows, the Burbanks, run a tight ship and they don't tolerate people who abuse the rules and for that Ron and I are thankful.

We are all settled in now. We have had dinner, Ron got the DVD player working and so now we are watching a movie and doing stuff on the computer.

Sure hope you enjoyed reading about moving day.

The End of Week One!

I am sure most of you are wondering how our first week went...so here goes:

If you read the previous post you will know all about our first day but to sum it up here it was a good day.

First I should tell you that Rick & Theresa are the show managers and our bosses. The carnival opened on Thursday at 3:00 so we reported at 2:45...fifteen minutes before carnival start time. We each got our uniform shirt and jacket and put them on. Not the most stylish of things. We found out that they check a jacket out to us for the season but we have to check it in and out each day. Every day we get a clean uniform shirt. I was going to say new BUT some of them have definitely seen better days. We check those in and out each day too.

The first day the carnival was open in Kelso, Thursday, we were only open for 3 hours. It was raining hard and so Rick closed us down at 6:00. It was a very slow day but a good day for Ron and I to get in practice on learning the procedure for selling tickets. Thursday morning, Ron's plumbing skills came in handy as one of the showers in the condo trailers (where the single people live) was plugged. Ron pulled out some of his tools and fixed the clog. The guys in that condo were so excited to have two working showers. Michael made the comment "what do you know, we thought we were just getting ticket sellers and we got a plumber too."

Friday we opened up at 1:00 and closed at 8:30 p.m. Ron made a whopper of a boo-b00 - he sold a ticket worth $88 when it should have been $8 BUT he caught it before it was given to a customer. The weather on Friday was mixed with rain and sun and gray clouds. Business was a little busier. During our 15 minute breaks we usually just hang out in the back of the ticket box. During our half hour lunch breaks we usually walk around and talk with others who are working. It felt good to both of us to put in a full day. We each bought a Funtastic Shows baseball cap - a necessary part of the uniform for those rainy days.

Saturday was our long day. We were open from noon to 10:00 p.m. The weather was beautiful - lots of sunshine. The great weather brought out many people. We saw lots of grandparents with their grandchildren, groups of teenager and moms and dads with their kids. The best part is seeing the excitement on the face of the little kids as they watch the rides go round and the anticipation on their faces, knowing they will be going on the rides soon. It was also fun to hear the shouts of glee when prizes were one at the game booths.

One of the games is to hit the hammer as hard as you can to see how strong you are. Children under the age of 12 always win at that game. It is so cute to see some of the little toddlers carrying these big plastic hammers which are twice as tall as the children. I hope to get some pictures on a sunny day soon.

Late Saturday afternoon, Theresa had me go in the office to learn how to do some stuff in there. I worked in the office for about an hour and a half. It was so good to be doing some familiar things like checking time cards and tallying numbers for different reports.

Sunday we were greeted with a dry day but it quickly turned to rain. I had a rough morning. I was feeling very homesick and missing our Northwood family and getting ready for church. I wondered what the bulletin looked like, missed the marching around the sanctuary with the palm branches singing Hosanna! Hosanna! and being home. I shed a few tears, got a couple of big hugs from Ron and then prayed for the Lord to take away my tears. Reminded myself that we are where we know the Lord is leading us and felt the peace of God come over me.

Ron worked the ticket box by himself for the 2 hours we were opened. Rick closed down due to no customers and lots of rain. I worked in the office for six hours. Theresa taught me some of the stuff to do for payroll - oh, the memories that brought back: frustration over not being able to read people's writing, numbers not adding up and things missing from the time sheets. Theresa and I connected with stories of doing payroll and the joys (headaches) that come with that job. I also counted money, input stuff into the computer and other general office duties. It felt so good to be doing office stuff ~ I am definitely at home working in the office.

After Rick closed us down the for day, Ron did the tear down of the ticket box. That includes removing the computers from the ticket box to the main office, laying the chairs on the floor and securing everything inside. He also got the fun job of emptying the garbage. Kenny, the ride boss, then had Ron help with tearing down a couple of the rides. Boy do they get dirty doing the tear down. Ron needs to remember to take work clothes on closing days so he doesn't ruin his "show clothes." That's what they call our uniforms. Kenny liked the work Ron did and so is going to have him help with the set up on Tuesday.

We are slowly getting to know some of the people and learning some of the jargon. Those who work in the games are called gamers. A few people have taken us under their wings. There is Marva, Roseanne and Diane (who Ron calls Michelle ~ why I don't know, he just does and she just laughs about it). They are all gamers and have been with the carnival for multiple years. Marva and Rose are mother and daughter. Diane's husband, Eric, will be joining us when we get moved to Lacey. Eric is also a gamer.

Michael, a ride man, has also welcomed us on board. He made sure on Wednesday night to get us set up with water and electricity. His actions definitely helped us to feel welcome. A couple of other guys, Sean and Albert, two brothers, are also ride men. They have also been encouraging to us. A few of the other ride men are Ricky, BJ, Thomas and Daniel. BJ and Thomas also are in charge of the uniform trailer. One of the requirements for being a ride man is that you also know how to service your ride.

One of the jobs that Ron picked up was shuttling people from the campsite to the lot (that's where the carnival is at) and taking people to the store. It made us getting to work a breeze since Ron was driving. Sunday night we finished up with work and running people around about 9:00 p.m. All in all it was a good week. Tomorrow starts a whole new adventure for us as we tear down camp and move to a new location.

Thanks for your continued prayers for us as we settle into this new life ~ a life of working & traveling with the carnival.

Alice & Ron

Our first full day!

We have had a good three days. We spent Sunday & Monday nights at Chehalis Thousand Trails. We spent lots of time reading, resting, spending time on the computer and going for a couple of walks. Tuesday morning we ate breakfast and then went on a walk. After lunch we got the motor home ready to leave Chehalis. We then went to the laundry there on site and did two loads of laundry. While the clothes were drying we played some pool. Ron won 4 to 3. We then drove from Chehalis to Kelso (Three Rivers Mall). We saw where the carnival was parked at parked the motor home behind Target facing the carnival. We went for a walk through the mall ~ it is about half empty of stores. We then went to Target to buy some UNO cards. When we got back to the motor home and started making dinner, Ron put the UNO cards in the cupboard and what did he find ~ another pack of UNO cards. I didn't think we had any ~ lesson learned check before buying stuff. In the evening we read and I checked emails on the computer. We ran the generator for about an hour.

After a breakfast of bagels & cream cheese we got ready to walk across the street to the carnival site. We arrived at 9:00 this morning and was told it would be about 15 minutes so just hang loose. We watched the set up guys busily working. Ron was just itching to get out there. He kept wandering around, just watching what everyone was doing. We then met briefly, and I mean briefly ~ like 2 minutes with Rick. He said Theresa would be in at 10:00 and then we would complete our paperwork and then learn how to sell tickets. Our first jobs will be as ticket sellers. Rick said, go grab some coffee and come back at 10:00 and when we complete our paperwork make sure we put down we started at 9:00 since that is when he told us to be there. Okay with us. We then walked back to the motor home for about 45 minutes.

At 10:00 we met Theresa and completed our paperwork. We chatted for a few minutes and then stood around waiting for Rick and Theresa to figure out who was going to teach us what. About 11:00 we were shown where the ticket booth is and we did some spring cleaning. The booth had not been cleaned since the end of last August and the Salem OR State Fair. Ron washed windows, I dusted and wiped down counters and swept the floor. It was so much nicer being all clean and shiny. We took a lunch break about 12:30. When we got back from lunch - we had walked over to the motor home, remember it was just across the street, Rick then showed us how to set up the computers and how to sell tickets. The training took all of about 15 minutes. One note of interest here ~ you no longer get tickets you get a little card like a credit card, that you put money on. You can use the card for rides, games and buying food. Pretty slick. Everything is computerized ~ Ron did pretty well and caught on pretty fast. He then had to reorganize how the booth was set up ~ putting the card reader (like a library card scanner) and the receipt machine in the right place.

We finished up with the training, talked with Rick & Theresa again about the plan for tomorrow and the rest of today. We met Kenny ~ he is in charge of the Camp and Ricky ~ he is in charge of transportation from the Camp to the Carnival. The Camp is about 1 1/2 miles from the Carnival site. After talking with them we then walked over to Target and bought white tee shirts. We have to wear white tee shirts under the uniform shirts. One nice thing we found out today is that each day of the carnival we are given a clean uniform shirt and we turn it in at the end of the day ~ one less thing I have to worry about washing :). About 5:30 we were told where the Camp was and we drove over there. I made a quick dinner of hot dogs, chili and carrots. After dinner we went out and met more of the people who work and travel with the carnival. There are three semi-trailers of condo's (8 little bedrooms for the workers ~ we are so thankful we have the motor home to live in ~ feels like a mansion compared to the little condo rooms). Kenny showed up about 6:30 and showed Ron where to park the motor home. We are on a grassy area between one of the condo trailers and the big generator/truck that provides us with power. The generator runs from about 6:30 to 10:00 pm and again from about 6:30 to 10:00 am. Michael, one of the set up guys got us hooked up with water ~ it took 150 ft of water hose! But we have water and that is a good thing ~ we do have the water tank full on the motor home but it is nice to keep that for reserves.

Ron talked with one of the guys and he encouraged Ron to talk to Kenny about learning how to set up and tear down ~ they can always use the help so Ron will talk to Rick and Kenny about also jumping in right away and learning how to set up and tear down the rides. I know he is anxious to be busy and not just sitting/standing around ~ like we did a lot of today :).

The one piece of news is that everyone smokes! I told Ron we would have to take up smoking and he just laughed and said "I don't think so." I agree ~ that is one habit we won't be taking up on this new journey.

And that brings us through the first day of our new life of working for the carnival.

Prayer requests ~

1. For us to meet and make connections with another Christian couple on this new adventure.

2. For clarity of mind tomorrow when we actually start the job of ticket sellers.

3. For me to get into the routine of packing our lunches and water bottles since we can't just walk across the street to the motor home for breaks or lunch.

4. For us as we begin to build relationships and friendships with those we will be working with.

Praises ~

1. For the uneventful trip to Kelso.

2. For the warm greeting we have received from Rick, Theresa and the other workers.

In closing I just wanted to say Thanks for traveling with us along on this journey. We look forward to staying connected with each of you as we go. We love you all!

Let the Adventure Begin!

We are in Chehalis! The sun is shining, the sky is blue and it is so quiet. We are enjoying this beautiful day the Lord has made.

What a great day we had yesterday. We woke up early. I think we were a little excited and anxious to start the day. We did the final preparations getting the motor home ready to leave. Before we pulled out of Birch Bay we had a time of prayer. Thanking the Lord for this adventure we are starting, for the jobs we both will be starting and that we had gotten every thing done on our "to do" lists. We took the suburban over to Marquez and Nicole's and then went to the church.

What a great service and a tremendous send-off. Ron's sister, Judy, surprised us by coming to church to see us off. One of the songs we sang "They Will Know We Are Christian's By Our Love" was such a great song to send us off ~ we know that our love for the Lord shines through us and we are so excited to see how the Lord will use us as we work and travel with the carnival. One of the questions Charles asked during the sermon was "Are you BOLD in your walk with the Lord?" One of our prayers is for us to be bold in relationship with the Lord as we work, travel and meet new people. Thanks for the reminder Charles to be bold as we walk with Jesus. At the end of the service we were blessed with a generous love gift from the congregation. All we can say is Thank You! And we will definitely miss being a part of our Northwood Family. After the service we had cake and coffee and received lots of hugs. Thank You Northwood Family for loving and caring for us. We know that we will be surrounded by your prayers and thoughts as we travel and work the next six months.

After the service we went to Subway for lunch with Patrick & Patricia Alesse, Glenn & Marla Tuski and James Knight. It was fun to be together one last time and get those last hugs.

We then got on the road. First stop was at Costco in Bellingham to get gas and some groceries. We finally left Bellingham around 2:30. We then stopped at Winco in Marysville to get the more groceries. We left Marysville about 3:45. We drove through Everett and Seattle with no problems and very little traffic. We had our first hiccup with the motor home when we were stopped in traffic in Tacoma. The motor home just died. I sent up one of my arrow prayers "Oh Lord, please start the motor home" and God answered my prayer. It started right up ~ Ron has no clue why it died in traffic. We arrived at the Chehalis Thousand Trails Campground about 7:30 p.m.

The 2nd hiccup happened when we tried to climb the hill from the check-in gate to get up to where the campsites were. Remember our trip to Montana and how the motor home didn't like to climb the mountain passes - well, the motor home wasn't going up this hill either. Ron tried not once, not twice but three times to get the motor home up this hill (it is pretty steep) but it was not to be. We coasted back down the hill and finally talked to the ranger on duty. After a lengthy discussion it was decided we would just camp in the flat parking lot by the lodge for the night. There was an electrical box available for us to use. So that is what we did. After we got level and the electrical hooked up we made dinner. We had hot dogs and Zataran Dirty Rice - it was pretty tasty but a little spicy to my liking. After dinner we reflected about the good day we had, how the Lord protected us in the middle of a traffic stop and we had a safe place to spend the night.

This morning we woke up and got going about 9:30 a.m. the first thing we did was unhook the electrical and went up the hill to find a campsite. Yes, that's right, we made it up no problem! Ron just shook his head and said he doesn't understand why sometimes it will go up steep hills and other times it just doesn't. Who knows if we will ever know the answer to that question. Anyway, we found a great campsite at the top of the hill. We have great internet service up here. There are about ten other rigs up here. We are enjoying the quiet and solitude of the area. Today is a day of rest and relaxation for us. We thought we needed a day of rest and transition before we head off to Kelso tomorrow afternoon.

I just want to add a BIG thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for us the last few months. We have felt and know God is with us and has opened the doors for us to start this new adventure. Thank you for traveling this road with us and we look forward to having you along with us on this journey. Many of you have asked us our itinerary ~ as soon as we have it we will pass it on.

That's all for today, now it is time to get back to some relaxin'. Alice

Answered Prayer and Other Thoughts

Hello dear friends:

I wanted to update you on answers to some of our prayer requests that we shared last week as well as share a couple of new prayer requests with you. Answers are in red.

1. For the money for my last two prescriptions to come in. One is $80.08 and the other is $96. Someone graciously loaned us the money to cover these two prescriptions as well as the two that Ron picked up on Monday of this week.

2. For Ron to feel better. He is fighting a cold. He needs to finish up a job at The C Shop and one for a customer in Bellingham. Ron saw Dr. Moore on Monday and we found out that he had a bad case of bronchitis. He started Ron on an inhaler and antibiotics. Today, Friday he is feeling somewhat better. He did finish the job in Bellingham as well as the one at The C Shop.

3. For the two outstanding invoices that is owed to us to be paid. We received payment for one of the jobs and that allowed us to pay the contractor who had helped Ron on that job. We have been told we should receive the $900 for the other invoice around the first week of April. Please pray that that money does come in as expected.

We continue to trust God each day as we travel this new journey. He is faithful and always near. We have seen answers to our prayers almost as soon as we have asked. On Monday after Ron saw Dr. Moore, he sent us over for Ron to get a chest x-ray, thinking that Ron had pneumonia and if that was the case we would not be able to leave on Sunday as planned. On our way to the x-ray place I prayed for Ron to not have pneumonia. Monday night Dr. Moore called and said Ron did not have pneumonia - thank you God for that answer to prayer.

Prayer requests that I want to share:

1. For tomorrow, Saturday to go smoothly as we both will be going in multiple directions finishing up our "to do" lists. Errands have to be run, appointments kept and a few final visits with friends.

2. For Sunday as we deliver the Suburban to Marquez and Nicole and then go to church at Northwood. It is with mixed emotions that we are looking forward to that day. We are so excited to actually get on the road and start our new life for the next six months, yet sad to know that we are leaving our friends and family for an extended period of time. I am so thankful to God for the calmness that has enveloped me since we sent out the first emails inquiring about working for the carnival, to going to Portland for the job interview and the peace that we both have had as decisions have been made as we move one foot in front of the other regarding this new adventure.

3. For good rest for both of us.

4. For continued healing for Ron from the bronchitis.

Praises:

1. For continued healing for Ron.

2. For the work that Ron and I both had this week.

3. For good friends to share meals with. For lots of laughter and stories shared. For how this helped with not having to buy so many groceries this week.

4. For friendships and help the last few weeks as we have readied the motor home, storage unit and ourselves for this new adventure.

Side note: if you are in the Blaine area this weekend we would love to have you visit at Northwood on Sunday as we celebrate God and worship together with our Northwood family. The service starts at 10:00 and the church is on the corner of 6th & C in Blaine. We plan on leaving from the church around 12:30 p.m.

Thank you for keeping up with our family through this blog. I enjoy writing and sharing what we are doing and how God is working in our lives. Today as I finished up working at the church I had a couple of moments thinking this is the last time I will run the bulletin off, fix the power point, do the script for the service and I felt sad. Sad that I won't be doing something I know how to do and enjoy doing. Sad that we won't be here for Easter, we won't see the lilies on the altar, we won't see Opal, Jamie or Suzanne, sad that there will be no trips to Lewiston this summer, sad that changes are a happening. YET, I was excited. Excited that next week Ron and I start new jobs. We get to try new things. We get to meet new people. Excited that Ron and I will get some traveling in, see new parts of Washington and Oregon and excited to see how God will work in our lives as we share our relationship with Him with others. We are excited that some friends are going to try to see us this summer at one of the fairs that we will be working. Excited that changes are a happening.

People have asked how often I plan on updating my blog. I don't know. Right now I know that I plan on updating on Sunday, March 21st after we arrive at Chehalis Thousand Trails and again on Wednesday, March 23rd at the end of our first day of work in Kelso/Longview at Three Rivers Mall.

That's all for now from the little town of Blaine. I will write more on Sunday night. Please keep us in your prayers as we have a big travel day on Sunday.

Sunday Night Ramblings

I have been sitting here at the computer thinking about updating my blog. My mind has been wandering tonight thinking of things that need to be done this next week, what we did last week, what we know and what we don't know.

So this is what we need to do this week (not in any particular order):

~ go grocery shopping, Haggens and Costco, making lists for both
~ work for Patricia at The C Shop one more day ~ Alice
~ finish up at Chad's in Bellingham and at The C Shop ~ Ron
~ get blood drawn ~ Alice
~ get new driver's license ~ Ron
~ go shopping for black pants for work
~ dinner with friends
~ work at the church Tuesday & Friday ~ Alice
~ Clean Up Day at the church on Saturday ~ Ron
~ drop off the truck, drop off the suburban
~ pick up the rocking chair from Kristen, take it to storage ~ Ron
~ fill the water tank in the motor home

I am sure there will be more to do this week, can't just think of things right now.

Last week was a pretty good week though Ron is sick again with a cold. He has been coughing and coughing. Sure hope he gets to feeling better real soon. Can't be sick starting a new adventure!

While doing the overheads for church this morning I looked around the sanctuary and realized how many good friends I will miss seeing over the next six months. Yes, we are excited about our upcoming adventure and all the new people we will meet along the way, but today I was feeling a little sad about not seeing friends on a regular basis. Ambivalent - that is how the feelings have been today.

Prayer requests for this week ~
~ for the outstanding invoices that customers owe us will get paid
~ for Ron to feel better so that he can do the work that needs to be done
~ for all the last minute details will be thought of and accomplished

Praises ~
~ for all the encouragement we have received about this crazy new adventure we are going on
~ for good emotional and physical health for Alice. It has been a great winter.
~ for the work that Alice has had this month
~ for family and friends that love and care about us

We know the first three places we will be: Kelso/Longview, Lacey and Puyallup
We don't know the full itinerary for the summer but know we will be in Salem, OR in August and Puyallup, WA in September.

We know that we will miss our friends and family.
We don't know the people we will meet along this new adventure but God does!

We are looking forward with mixed feelings to next weekend. It will be a busy one for us. On Saturday I (Alice) is going to lunch at Paso Del Norte with the ladies of Northwood at noon. I am looking forward to time to visit before we actually leave. You just can't get in lots of visiting time after church on Sundays. Ron is planning on attending the Spring Clean Up day at church. The men will share a pizza lunch after working on the church grounds. Saturday evening we are having dinner with friends, Jim & Mei. We are looking forward to one last hurrah with them before we hit the road. We also have to take the truck to where we are going to be storing it while we are gone.

Sunday morning we drop the suburban off at Marquez and Nicole's and then go to church. We are looking forward to a sweet time of fellowship with our Northwood family. If you are in the area and want to say one last goodbye, the service starts at 10:00. We plan to be on the road around 12:30 or so. Would love to see you there. It will be a fun and busy weekend, filled with lots of laughter and I am sure some tears. It's exciting to be heading out on this new adventure that the Lord is leading us on and yet a little sad knowing we won't see friends and family for six months (unless of course, some of you surprise us and come and drop in on us along the way)!

Thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts.

We Have a Date!

We have a date! We leave Blaine on Sunday, March 21st to start our new adventure. Our actual start date for work is Tuesday, March 23rd. We begin in Kelso/Longview WA at the Three Rivers Mall. We will be there for a week and then go to Lacey, WA for two weeks and then the Puyallup Spring Fair in Puyallup, WA. We are so excited to actually have a start date ~ it just seems so much more real to us (not a good phrase of words but you know what I mean). Our plan for that Sunday is to take the Suburban to Marquez and Nicole's on the way to church, attend Northwood's service and say good-bye to our Northwood family and then after the service and last minute farewells get on the road to Chehalis. We will stay at the Chehalis Thousand Trails Sunday and maybe Monday night (depending when on Tuesday we have to be at Three Rivers Mall.

Now to back up a little bit on what we have been doing. On the 27th of February we celebrated with Opal, Jamie, Suzanne and Suzanne's family Opal's 2nd birthday! We shared lots of laughs and stories and enjoyed watching some race on TV along with eating great pizza and a colorful birthday cake that Suzanne and Oliver made for Opal. It is just so fun to be with them. Opal is such a delight and has the cutest laugh ~ we will definitely miss seeing her while we are gone.

The small storage unit has been totally eliminated ~ thanks Gerald for your help in accomplishing that great feat! The large storage unit is now organized and we can actually find things in it. One of our projects next Fall/Winter will be to go through all the boxes of stuff that we have tucked away and see what we can now eliminate after 3+ years of full-timing it in the motor home.

Ron has worked a few days for which we are thankful. Now to get paid for those jobs. He is finishing up a bathroom today for a friend and then will finish up what he can at The C Shop for Patrick and Patricia. We are hoping for a few more jobs to come in this week and next. Ron's shoulder is feeling better every day. For some of you that don't know he pulled his bicep muscle in his right shoulder in mid December and has been nursing it along since. Dr. Moore said it just takes time to heal.

I have been working on cleaning, sorting, tossing and reorganizing the cupboards in the motor home. It was a good thing that I did as I found a shirt and a sweatshirt for Christopher and Max tucked away. I quickly sent them off to them and thankfully they both still fit the boys. I guess I just need to take better care of when and where I tuck things away.

This week has started off in a nice way. Saturday morning there was a small get together with friends from a loal Yahoo group that I belong to, then we had dinner with Tim & Cindy and then spent time visiting with Jim & Mei. We went to church yesterday, helped serve communion and then went to Kathy's (Ron's sister) for dinner with the brothers and sisters. It was good to all be together and laugh and share stories before we head out for six months. In the afternoon we went to Fred Meyer's to pick up some of my prescriptions ~ I have to go back later this week to get the final two. We then stopped and spent a few hours with Gerald and Sandra. It is so fun to sit and visit and share our life stories with each other. We will definitely miss being able to drop in on them.

Today, like I said Ron is finishing up a bathroom project and I am just putzing around the motor home and doing some writing. Tonight we are going to Kevin's for dinner with him and Brenda. It has been awhile since we have all seen each other and we wanted to get one more visit in before we leave. That seems to be the theme of things - do this or that one more time before we leave and it all equals fun for us. The rest of the week I will work at the church a couple of days, take care of a few appointments, see a few more friends ~ Stacey on Tuesday, Dee on Wednesday, Glenn & Marla on Saturday are so far on the list. If you are local and want to get in one more visit give me a call (305-2969) or drop me a note via email (ali1257@gmail.com). We would love to connect with as many friends as possible before the 21st. This coming Friday the ladies of Northwood are going to have a sleepover at the Sandcastle ~ we are going to have a potluck supper, a time of sharing and fellowshipiing and just hanging out together followed by a Saturday morning potluck breakfast. I am looking forward to that special time and thanks Margaret for setting it all up.

To close I would like to share some of our prayer requests with you. As you think about us and our upcoming new adventure we still have some things that need to be taken care of here:

1. We are still somewhat short of cash to pay for the last of my prescriptions. We know and trust that God will provide but it never hurts to bring the petitions before the Lord.

2. Along those same lines for a few more jobs to come in for Ron.

3. For me, that as I finish up things at Northwood stuff that needs to be done will get accomplished.

4. For continued healing for Ron's shoulder muscle.

5. We praise God for the good health that I have had this winter and continue to look forward to more good health as we travel.

Guess that's all from here for now. My goal for the blog is to update once a week to let everyone know how we are doing and where we will be. So for now, I say see you all later.

Alice and Ron

Doing Some Catch Up

Thought I would take a few minutes to just write while waiting for Ron to get back home.

Today is a day of celebration! Opal is two today! It is so hard to believe that two years have gone by already. Most of you know she started out at 1 lb 15 oz but you could never tell that from looking at her today. We were able to spend some time with her last Saturday. It is so fun to watch her walk and run, carrying her little baby and giving such great big hugs and kisses. We sure do enjoy her and will definitely miss seeing her while we are gone for six months. We will be celebrating Opal's birthday on Saturday with Jamie, Suzanne, Opal and extended family on both sides. Can't wait to see everybody. Sorry that Brandon, Danalynn and the boys won't be able to join us.

We have been busy working on the two storage units. The big unit is now organized and you can actually walk down the middle of it and find things that you are looking for. On Monday we worked on both units and Ron made a trip to Goodwill and the dump. Hopefully Friday, Saturday or early next week we will be able to move the last of the stuff from the small storage unit into the big storage unit. Ron thinks it will just take a few hours to be done with that job.

We have had more answers to prayers - we have a place to park the truck while we are traveling - yeah! And the suburban also has a home while we are gone. Yes, that's right we are not going to have a second vehicle while we are traveling/working with the carnival. Ron says it will be no problem as we will stop for groceries and to do luandry as we move from one carnival site to another. We will save money by not having to pay for gas for two vehicles.

A friend has offered to pick up our mail and send it to us every few weeks. I was excited that she agreed - gives us more reasons to call each other while we are gone.

We made our rounds to the doctor's this past week. We received encouragement from each of them and got the medications lined up so they only need to be filled every three months.

Today we are moving from Beachwood to a friends place. We will be house sitting while they are off in Hawaii playing and relaxing. A treat for me is that they have a washer/dryer that we can use - no trips to the laundromat this week!

The weather here in Blaine can't decide what to do today. It started out gray and raining and now the wind has picked up and the sun is shining. I love that sunshine!

We are thanking God for the work that Ron has had this week. And that Ron's shoulder is doing much better. It still aches some at night but he is able to use his arm without much problems. I have also had a couple of extra days of work at The C Shop. It smells good there - they are in high production mode of making lots of bunnies! But as I shared with Patrick yesterday, I am so glad I don't work downstairs - it is cold and I would be so tempted to eat some of those bunnies.

Prayer requests this week are for us to continue to have work so that we can pay our bills and put a little away for the first few weeks of traveling/working with the carnival until we start getting those regular paychecks. Also for continued healing for Ron's shoulder. And for thing to continue to come together as we prepare for this major move/change in our lives.

Just heard from Ron that he is on his way home so I guess I should wrap this up for now. If you have any questions or suggestions for us, don't hesitate to leave a comment or drop us an email. We love to hear from you.

Alice

Answers to Questions about our new Adventure

I have been asked by some where did the idea come to go and work for the carnival? how did we find the jobs that we are going to be doing? and where will we be traveling? so I thought I would tell the story of how this has all come to be.

For the past couple of years we have talked about traveling and working and in those talks "working for the carnival would be fun" as entered our conversations. It was an idea just sitting there waiting for something to happen. Well I did some research and found a website www.carnivalmidways.com that lists carnivals all over the United States. We looked at many different carnivals and just kept dreaming.

Well our talks began to get a bit more serious in January as Ron faced little to no work in his plumbing and home repair business. He worked for one week in December and 7 days in January. One day Ron said, pick where you want to go and let's see what happens. We had been praying about Ron's work situation and wondering how the Lord would provide for us. So one Friday in the middle of January I sent out 5 emails to carnivals in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. After out trips this past Fall and wanting to stay close to the kids and grandkids guided me in the ones I chose. The following Monday I received two phone calls. One from Davis Amusements who said to call back around the middle of March which is when they do their hiring and one from Funtastic Shows. (Both are based in Portland, OR) I then received a call from Rob Rhew from Funtastic Shows. We talked for about 20 minutes and he asked if we could come to Portland for a job interview. I told him I would call him back after speaking to Ron. I hung up wondering if the Lord was opening a door for us.

I talked with Ron and he said since I had to go to Seattle for an eye doctor's appointment on the 3rd of February we could just drive the rest of the way to Portland. So I called Rob back and set up an interview for the two of us on February 4th. I put the dates on the calendar and just sort of put it out of my mind.

The weekend of January 29-31 I went to the Women of Whatcom ladies conference at Semiahmoo. I was blessed with a scholarship as a commuter participant. This meant I could go to all the sessions and meals but I would be staying home at night. That Friday I met my friend Dee, we had a bite to eat and then went into the first session of the conference. The speaker, Lori Salierno, spoke from her heart, sharing about being broken and in our brokenness God can heal and bring joy into our lives. Lori ended the evening with a challenge for each of us: to ask ourselves what was standing between me and God. Immediately what came to my mind was "how I worry about Ron's work situation." Lori then encouraged us to spend time in prayer turning that barrier over to the Lord. As I knelt next to my chair and prayed...Lord I know you want me to trust you and it is so hard but I am going to turn Ron's work situation over to you. You know what we need financially to meet our obligations and I turn this all over to you. Help me, when I start to worry to turn back to You. I can't explain the peace that came over me...the peace that passes all understanding...that the Lord knew what was going on with us and He would take care of me. When I crawled into bed that night and prayed I thanked the Lord that I didn't need to worry any more about Ron's work, He was in charge and He would take care of everything.

Saturday the conference continued with Lori speaking three different times. She spoke on being deployed to the mission field and that our mission field is wherever the Lord puts us. In session four she spoke about being empowered, reminding us that with God anything is possible and that as long as we seek Him, he will guide and direct us. We just have to be open and willing to follow his leading. She asked the question: am I going to be available when the Lord calls me to do something? I prayed, Lord, help me to be willing and open in all situations that you put me in. In my mind I was thinking in my work at the church, working for Patricia and Patrick at The C Shop and with whomever I came into contact with. Little did I know where the Lord was leading. Session 5 on Sunday morning was on being free. Free to be the woman God has formed me to be and that He loves me just the way I am and that I am free to serve him where he leads. I came away from the conference feeling at peace about our work situation, knowing that somehow someway God would provide for us and that through every circumstance that I find myself in I can come out on top with the power, perseverance and strength of the Lord. I was thankful that I had been allowed to go and reconnect with friends and to strengthen my relationship with the Lord.

Ron and I had decided that we would pray about our upcoming trip to Portland sharing with three friends what we were doing and asking them to pray along with us as we traveled to Portland. Many people knew we were going to Seattle so I could see the eye doctor and we knew they were praying for us as well. On Wednesday morning after Ron attended the men's weekly mens breakfast and Bible study we headed to Seattle. My appointment with Christie and Todd went really well. My eye socket looks great. There are no tears or blisters in the socket. My artificial eye had a scratch on it but they were able to buff it out and polish it up real nice. The only recommendation they had was for me to use the silicon oil once a week to keep the eye lubricated. I made my next appointment for August 16th and then told them I might have to change it depending on what happened in Portland. Todd and Christie were excited about the possibility of new jobs for us and said they would also be praying for us.

We had an uneventful trip to Portland and settled into our hotel room for the evening. When it came time for dinner we went to a local restaurant across the street from the hotel. We had a delightful dinner of cod, salmon and shrimp. Ron ate my salmon and I ate his cod. One of these days I will have to learn to like salmon. Dinner was compliments of our friends from Sudden Valley - it was a thank you for the work Ron did on helping them remodel three bathrooms. After dinner we went hot tubbing and talked about whether or not we were crazy to apply for jobs with the carnival. I kept ending every conversation with "we just have to wait and see if the Lord opens any doors for us." We had a good nights sleep, waking feeling refreshed and eager to see what the day would bring.

We got to Funtastic Shows about 15 minutes before the interview so we sat in the car and prayed. I prayed "Lord you know why we are here. We just pray that you clearly open or close the doors for us. You know I don't do waffling very well." Ron said he was a little bit nervous and I reminded him, either they like us or they don't. They can say yes or they can say no. I went in feeling very good, not nervous at all. I felt like I was walking in to just talk to someone not really going for a job interview. Ron was pretty nervous and I could see his nervousness come out a little bit as I introduced him to Rob. Well we followed Rob down this hall and into a conference room. He apologized for the mess - there was carnival toys and tickets on the table and boxes of stuff laying around the room.

Rob asked us to tell him about ourselves. Ron said he was a journeyman plumber. I kept waiting for Ron to say more but nothing came. I shared that my work experience has been as an office manager, secretary, that I had done HR, AR/AP, and payroll. Rob then asked Ron a few more questions about his working career. Ron shared that he had worked as a laborer, been in the Air Force, led a crew in the service and worked construction. I was so glad that Ron finally opened up. Rob then asked how did we decide that we wanted to work for a carnival and we told him about wanting to work/travel and that by working in a carnival it would allow us to do both. He then said he had jobs for the both of us if we wanted them. He then added that Ron would have to shave his beard off (he wants to play Santa for the grandkids again). Ron said that would not be a problem and I just smiled. Now don't get me wrong, I like Ron's beard as long as he keeps it trimmed but he keeps telling me that Santa has a long bushy beard. I wondered if his beard would be a deal breaker. It's not a deal breaker, Ron is going to shave come the middle of March.

Rob then got us applications to complete, talked to us a few more minutes wanting to know about our motor home and our ability to travel with it. Ron explained it was a class A sportscoach and that we had been living in it for the last 3 years and 3 months and that we enjoy being in it. Rob then explained that we would be traveling the Western OR/Western WA areas beginning in Portland then going to the Puyallup Spring Fair and that the other two big fairs they do are the Oregon State Fair in Salem in August and the Puyallup Fair in September. He then went onto explain that they work a carnival every weekend from the time they start with the Spring Fair until the season ends in September with the 3 week Puyallup Fair. We would have steady work for the full six months. He ended the interview saying again, he had jobs for us if we wanted them. To go home and think about it, figure out if it would work for us and then let him know the following week. He told us that I would be doing office work. He seemed excited that I had so much experience with Excel and knew my way around an office. I would also sell tickets if they needed me. Ron would be doing maintenance, set up, tear down and rides. He added we would be working 35 or more hours a week. Ron would probably get lots of over time. He shook our hands and said he would talk to us early the next week.

We got in the suburban and just looked at each other. Ron then said "Well, God clearly opened the doors for us." And then he laughed. I just looked at him and replied, "Guess He did." We left Portland and headed for home. We talked all the way home, making a list of the many things that we would need to do if we accepted the job. Discussed what we would do with Charlies Brown. A sad thing to think about getting rid of him but would it be fair to be locked up in the motor home for hours on end with both of us working. It was not like Ron could take him to work with us. I think the Lord was preparing us both that we would need to find a new home for Charlie Brown. One of the questions we had was to ask Rob if it was a problem having a little dog with us. We came up with other logistical questions like how do they do payday? are we paid via automatic deposit? how do you do banking on the road? what about doing laundry...do they have washers/dryers in the condo trailers for the single employees? In our conversation on the way home we decided to talk with a couple from our church...to ask them to pray with us and for us and what they thought of the idea. We picked up Charlie Brown, sharing with Kristy how the interview went, asked her to pray about what to do with Charlie Brown and for us as we decided what to do.

On Friday, February 5th we met with Gerald and Sandra. We talked about our trip to Portland and how we felt the Lord had clearly answered our prayers about open/closing the door. After a long chat we spent time in prayer and left feeling very good about the possibility of accepting the new jobs. I then went and met with Charles at church. I went in feeling very confident and excited to share about the new possibility of employment that the Lord was giving us. Charles and I had a great discussion. He said he would be sad to see us leave on a personal note but that taking this job does meet some of the things that we have wanted to do ~ work and travel at the same time. We continued to share with friends and family getting positive and encouraging words from everyone. We then spent time looking at our budget and doing some figuring. I sent an email to Rob asking him our questions. We received an email back answering our many questions. The hardest one to read was that we could not take Charlie Brown with us. Unbeknown to us, Kristy was praying that if we had to get rid of Charlie Brown we would find a good home, the transition would go smoothly and that we would have peace about the whole situation.

I am happy to say that the Lord brought a single mom and her little girl, Hannah Mae, into our lives and they were excited to get Charlie Brown. They had recently had to put their chihuahua down due to to health reasons. Hannah just fell in love with Charlie Brown. She carried him around like a little baby and Charlie Brown just played and played. We left him with Sarah and Hannah feeling like it was a good match. I told Sarah to call if there was a problem and we have not heard anything...so in this case no news is good news.

On Monday morning, February 8th, I called Rob to tell him that we wanted to accept the positions with Funtastic Shows. He said he was glad to hear that and he is looking forward to having us on their team. We don't have the exact date to be in Portland but know we will be going around the middle of March.

We will be traveling/working with the carnival for six months...from the middle of March to the end of September. After that we hope to go to Lewiston and spend some time with Brandon and his family and then back to Birch Bay to spend some time with Jamie and his family and of course all our friends at Northwood and in Blaine.

Now we are busy getting ready for the new adventure. We are cleaning, organizing, sorting, discarding and donating things from our storage units to go from two to one. We have already gotten rid of 27 boxes of books. The owner of the used book store in Blaine was excited to get them all. Ron has built shelves and organized all his plumbing stuff and now we are ready to move the boxes and bedroom set from the small storage unit into big storage unit. We have made arrangements for a friend to pick up, sort and send us mail packages every three weeks or so. We are letting friends borrow the suburban while we are gone. They only have one car, so having an extra vehicle around will be nice for them. We are still working on what to do with the pickup while we are traveling but know the Lord has that under control. In the next two weeks we will be sorting through some of the stuff in the motor home to clean it out as well.

We are excited to be taking steps in this new journey and are looking forward to see how the Lord leads us along the way. Once we get our itenerary I will post it here ~ maybe we can meet up somewhere along the way.

Sorry this post was so long but I wanted to share how God has been working in our lives, the doors he is opening for us and how we are doing with the upcoming changes.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please share them with us. We look forward to staying in contact with each of you.

Alice

The New Adventures of Ron & Alice

Today Ron and I are beginning a new adventure. We are stepping out in faith that the Lord is leading us on. We have accepted positions with Funtastic Shows (www.funtasticshows.com) and will be working and traveling with the carnival for six months. Our trip will begin the middle of March and start in Portland, OR.

We will be traveling around Western OR and Western WA. We know that we start with the Puyallup Spring Fair in April and will be going to the Oregon State Fair in Salem, OR in August and end with the Puyallup Fair in September. We don't have our full itenerary but once we have it I will post it.

What will we be doing? I will be doing office work and selling tickets. Ron will be doing maintenance, set up, tear down and rides.

I will keep you updated on our plans and of course on our travels and our work. We would appreciate your prayers as we step out on this new adventure.

February Thoughts

It's February already! Where has January gone?

We seemed to have just muddled through January. Work for Ron has been very slow. He worked at The C Shop and then remodeled a bathroom and other stuff for a friend out in Sudden Valley. Hopefully work will pick up for him. I am still working about 5 hours a week for our church. I have been working on the Annual Report for the C&MA denomination and getting ready for the Annual Meeting at Northwood. I did a couple days work for The C Shop. And it's that time of season where we are involved in the Blaine Boys Basketball program ~ Ron runs the clock and I do the score book for the home games.

We are currently at NACO and will be here till the 20th of February. We then do a lot of moving around. We go to Beachwood on the 20th and then begin house sitting for friends on the 24th of February until the 2nd of March. Then we will go back to Beachwood for a week.

I was blessed to be able to attend the Women of Whatcom Ladies Conference last weekend. I found myself being challenged and reassured of my relationship with the Lord. Challenged to not only trust God in the big things in my life but for the every day little things that niggle at heart (worry and anxiety). I was reassured of God's love. I was reminded how God loves me just the way I am and that there is nothing that can change that.

February finds us going to Seattle for an appointment with my ocularist. Christie makes my artificial eyes and checks the socket for any abnormalities. Still doing basketball and planning to house sit for friends.

Our prayer for February is that God will open doors for employment for Ron and that we will continues to seek His will for our lives.

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone

I know I am a couple of days late but we have been busy! Brandon, Danalyn, Max and Christopher arrived about 9:00 on December 23. It was so good to see them safe and sound. They said they had no problems on the roads and for that we are thankful.

Christmas Eve found us going out for lunch; the first place was closed so we ended up at IHOP...what a fun table we had with the whole family together. Christmas Eve night we had a ham dinner and then went to the Birch Bay Bible Community Churches Christmas Eve service and then drove around to see a few Christmas lights. We called it an early night as Ron, Danalyn and Christopher were fighting colds.

Christmas morning we opened gifts and then us older folks and the littlest ones took a nap. We joined back up for a turkey dinner in the evening. We laughed a lot and enjoyed being together as a family.

December 26 Jamie, Suzanne and Opal went to Wendy & Bryce's for the day and Brandon and Danalyn went off for a ride and out to lunch. Grandpa and Max watched football and basketball while Grammy and Max took a much needed nap. In the evening we joined the rest of the Workentin's at Olive Garden for dinner and time together.

As I reflect on the past few days I am thankful for the trip that Brandon, Danalyn, Max and Christopher made from Lewiston to Blaine so that we could all be together for a few days. What a fun time watching the cousin's getting to know each other and Opal and Christopher playing together ~ they chased the ball, played with the play food and chased each other around the trailer. Max built one of his new Lego sets and the adults visited and laughed together. It was the best Christmas gift this mom could ask for.

Now the motor home is quiet, Ron is napping or watching football, not sure which and I am catching up on emails, posts and Facebook.

Wishing each of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010 New Year!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the motor home! Yes, that's right, we got the motor home back this past Thursday. It is running great and the ozoning worked great ~ no smell of fire anywhere. We are parked at Beachwood until the 29th of December.

Charlie Brown is home now ~ thanks Norm, Kristy and family for taking such good care of him. Again thanks, Jim and Mei for your hospitality while the motor home was being repaired.

The Christmas lights are up! and look delightful. They run from the dining room window through the living room around the front of the rig and back down the other side of the living room and into the kitchen! I love sitting in the living room with a cup of hot chocolate looking at the lights. It is wonderful to be back in our home!

We have a couple of busy weeks ahead of us. The Living Nativity at Northwood is this coming Friday, December 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. If you are in the area come out and hear the Christmas story with live animals, singing of Christmas Carols, warm yourself by the campfire and enjoy some Christmas goodies. We celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary on December 20th. We will begin by watching the children's Christmas program followed by a potluck at church. In the evening we will probably go out for a movie and dinner. December 22nd will find us picking up 200 pumpkin pies from Costco for our annual Christmas Dinner Boxes that the community gives out to those in need. We are packing boxes on the 22nd at 4:00 at Northwood and then handing them out on Wednesday, December 23rd from 4 to 7 p.m.

Brandon, Danalyn and the boys are arriving in the evening of December 23rd. We will be together till Sunday, December 27th. We are looking forward to Christmas with the family. Christmas Eve will find our whole family together ~ first time in years ~ celebrating the birth of Jesus and being together as a family. Christmas Day we will celebrate in the morning with everyone and then in the afternoon Jamie, Suzanne and Opal will be going to Wendy and Bryce's for Christmas with her family.

On a sad note, we are remembering Ron's cousin, Gayle and her family as they mourn the loss of her brother, Kevin. He passed away Tuesday morning from a massive heart attack at the young age of 52. Tomorrow, Sunday, December 13th, Ron, Judy, John and Kathy are going to Pasco for services for Kevin. We would appreciate prayer for safe travels for them and for God's comfort for the whole family during this difficult time.

Bye for now, take care and keep warm during these chilly December days. (It is being forecasted that we are to get snow tomorrow and Monday for the Blaine area so I am really glad to be back in our home where my heavy coat was :).

Love, Alice

Catching Up

What a beautiful cold crisp morning it is. Thought I would just take a few minutes and catch everyone up to what's going on with us.

We spent Thanksgiving in California with my aunt, uncle and cousins in Middletown. We enjoyed lots of good food and great conversation. Our trip to California was uneventful except for one little blip ~ Ron locked the keys in the suburban at the hotel in Corning but again, God was faithful. A woman came out of the hotel just as we realized we had locked our keys inside and she offered to call AAA. They were there within the hour and we were able to continue to dinner. Thanks Kari for helping us out!

We made our regular stops at the Olive Pit and the Jelly Belly Factory and then took the winding road from Napa to Middletown. The weather was gorgeous the whole time we were there. While there Ron was able to help Uncle Don put up a new weather station; Alice couldn't watch as Ron was at the top of the extension ladder. We spent most of our time visiting, relaxing and enjoying being with family.

The morning we left we had a low tire so Ron filled it with air and once again the Lord protected us. We left on Saturday, arriving home late Sunday afternoon and on Monday Ron took the suburban to Les Schwab tires and found out we had made the whole trip home with a nail in the tire. Praising God we did not have a blow out along the way.

We arrived home to find out that our motor home is still not ready for us. Hopefully it will be ready the middle of next week. We are still in our friends condo and Charlie Brown is still visiting Norm and Kristy. Thanks Jim, Mei, Norm & Kristy for your help during this time.

We are getting back into the swing of things ~ Ron is picking up jobs and Alice is once again working at the church. It does feel good to have a routine and schedule once again.

The next two weeks are filled with Christmas activities. Alice is busy helping with the Living Nativity at church. This year it is on December 18 from 6 to 8 pm at the church. If you are in the area please plan on attending. It is a time to hear the Christmas story, listen to Christmas carols and share in some refreshments.

Another activity we will be helping with once again this year is the giving of Christmas Dinner Boxes through our church. The community comes together to fill and distribute 200 Christmas Dinner Boxes to needy families in the local community. We will be handing those out on the 23rd of December.

Also on the 23rd Brandon and Danalyn along with the boys will be arriving from Lewiston to spend the Christmas holiday with us. It will be the first Christmas in years that all three of our families will be together for the Christmas holiday. Ron and I are looking forward to that special time with Jamie and his family and Brandon and his family.

Don't know much else so will close for now. Take care. Love Alice & Ron

The Continuing Saga of Motorhome Living

It seems like life keeps rolling along with another adventure in the saga of the motor home.

Last Tuesday while I was working at Northwood I received a call from Ron to come to Grandview and N. Star Rd as there had been a fire in the motor home. Let me say right off the bat, that no one was injured and for that we are very thankful.

Needless to say I left abruptly from the church and headed towards the motor home. I could not imagine what had happened. I was trying to picture what I would find...the picture of a totally burned out motor home kept coming to mind. When I got to the motor home I found the engine cover off, fire extinguisher foam all around the front of the motor home and Ron on the phone with the insurance claims person. As I stepped into the motor home it reeked of smoke...ugh!

What happened: the diagnosis from Jerry Chambers Chevrolet was that a oil hose burst and the oil on the monifold caught the engine on fire! The fire burned up the speedometer and throttle cables and all the hoses leading to and from the engine including the leveler hoses that run the length of motor home, the master brake cylinder. But I am getting ahead of myself...back to making phone calls...I quickly called Kristy to tell her what happened and to see if she could take Charlie Brown ~ I had no clue what was going to happen or where we would be I just knew if Charlie Brown was being taken care of that would help ~ just what do you do with a dog in the midst of a crisis. Well, Kristy came to the rescue and met me at Fred Meyer's so we could do the dog exchange ~~~~ thanks Kristy and Norm for helping us out in this jam.

Next was a phone call to our insurance agent Jim (if you need insurance he is the best agent to have!) Jim drove out to where the motor home was to help us brainstorm what all needed to be done. Knowing that the motor home was going to be out of commission for at least a little while I asked Jim if he had an open unit in their fourplex ~ yes he did...so my next job was to gather up all the food, the pillows and my med's and go and get our stuff organized. Jim and Ron continued to make phone calls to the adjuster and the tow company. After making arrangements to have the motor home towed to Jerry Chambers Chevrolet and finding a tow truck company that could tow the motor home (it needs the big tow truck like for semi's because of the type that it is) and gathering some clothes together Ron and I made our way back to the condo unit ~ thanking God and Jim that there was an open unit just when we needed it.

Now it is Saturday and this is where everything is...Ron spoke to the adjuster and was told that it would be the middle of next week before we hear if they are going to repair the motor home or total it so we are kinda in limbo for the time being...we have a place to stay ~ the condo in Birch Bay and everyone is okay...we just have to be patient as we await the outcome of their decision.

Our mind wanders as to what we will do...if they fix the motor home it will just mean we are displaced for a couple of weeks...no big deal Alice will continue to work at the church and Ron will work as a plumber...just need to get a few jobs :) and life will go on. BUT if they total the motor home then we have to decide what to do....do we buy another motor home or get a 5th wheel or do we find an apartment/house to rent and put our dreams of traveling and working on the road on hold?????

We are in a space of much prayer as we continue to trust the Lord, knowing that He is in control and just take one day at a time ... believing and trusting that He will open the right doors and guide us in our decision making. We would appreciate your prayers for us as we deal with the insurance adjuster and make decisions as they are needed.

One thing I keep thinking about is the holidays...as you know we have been planning to be in Napa/Middletown for the Thanksgiving holiday with Alice's Aunt Joan and Uncle Don...with everything up in the air about the motor home that decision is now also on hold....once we know what is going to happen with the motor home then we can decide what to do about Thanksgiving...some friends are saying just go as we planned everything else will work out and yet some are saying maybe the timing is just not right and we should stay in the area...Ron says we won't make a decision about Thanksgiving until after we talk to the adjuster later in the week. I keep thinking of the plans that have been made and how everything seems up in the air and not really sure what we should do...I just wish a decision one way or the other would be made but I guess this is where patience comes into the picture and more trusting of the Lord...not making a decision until we have more information...ugh I hate waiting and not knowing.

Well, now that I have rambled on about all the thoughts that have been going through my head the last fews days I will close...stay tuned for the next chapter in the life of Alice and Ron.

Back in Blaine

We are back home in Blaine!

Our return trip to Blaine was very uneventful. Weather wise we saw snow, rain, felt lots of wind and sunshine. The motor home ran great except for three small blips.

Friday night the main battery quit working. Fortunately Ron could jump the motor home off the house battery and get the motor home started. Saturday morning we pulled into Les Schwab in Pendleton, found the paperwork on the battery and got help from a young man who identified the problem ~ the battery was not powerful enough to run the motor home and so it wore out. Fortunately for us it was under warranty. So 45 minutes later we were on the road for Portland/Vancouver.

We faced some pretty strong head and side winds all the way from Pendleton to Portland. Then the rain started and it came down in torrants at times. The blip of the day was when we were pulling out of the rest area the motor home acted like it was gasping for air (gas). Ron babied the motor home for about a 1/4 of a mile and then it was fine. We stopped for the night in Rochester just south of Olympia.

This morning we woke up to total fog. We waited until close to 10:00 this morning before leaving to allow the fog time to burn off. Once the fog was gone we had a beautiful sunny day. Our blip for the day was just like Saturday where the motor home acted like it couldn't get gas. After some coaxing the motor home did just fine the rest of the way home.

We are now settled in at Beachwood till the 10th of November when we will move to Thousand Trails till the 20th when we will leave for California. The next trip will be in the suburban - going to California to see my aunt and uncle for Thanksgiving.

Thanks for traveling with us on our vacation and for your thoughts and prayers for us to have safety on the road. As we look back over the past four weeks we see God's hand in protecting us as we traveled along with helpful strangers in just the right place at just the right time. We saw some beautiful scenery, spent lots of time resting and relaxing and just enjoying being together.

Alice

Can You Spelll FRUSTRATED?

Okay, we got ready to hit the road this morning. First stop Albertson's for some groceries, then onto Costco for more groceries and gas. All was going smoothly.

Now onto the Copper Mine. The motor home started acting up again, acts like it is struggling to get gas. We just looked at each other and sighed.

At the mine we decided to turn around. As we drove out I asked Ron where were we headed. He asked me where did I want to go?

A: Home
R: totally quiet
A: We said if we had any more problems we would head for home.
R: You are right.
R: Let's go back to SLC and rent a car for a couple of days and so some more sightseeing and then head for home on Monday or Tuesday.
A: That sounds okay to me.

So back to KOA we went. They gave us a weekly rate instead of a daily rate since we had already been here for two nights. :) We then set up the motor home and got ourselves situated. We then got online to find a rental car. Avis had the best deal so Ron took the shuttle to the airport to pick up the rental car. I am writing my blog and on Facebook.

So our new revised plan is to go to the Copper Mine tomorrow, to Antelope Island on Saturday, find a church to attend Sunday services and then reorganize our itinerary to head out on Tuesday for Blaine. Not sure of the route yet, we will decide that on Sunday night.

We have already talked and decided to still go to my aunt & uncle's for Thanksgiving...just in the Suburban. Kristy has already said she can take Charlie Brown for us during that time ~ Thanks Kristy ;)!

We may not understand why all the delays but we are trusting the Lord as he leads us on this journey. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as we have traveled this journey (keep praying we aren't back in WA yet).

I will do an update of our new plans and new itinerary before we hit the road on Tuesday headed for Blaine.

Alice

On the Road Again!

We are back on the road again! Yeah!!!!

After 3 days in Wells, NV waiting for our scheduled appointment with the mechanic this morning the problem with the motor home was figured out...the fuel filter put in in Missoula was put in backward! Yes, backward! and the rotor needed to be replaced. After putting in a new fuel filter and replacing the rotor, Chris the owner took the motor home for a test drive up some passes and then talked to Ron and adjusted something with the carburator we were back on the road.

We drove from Wells, NV to Salt Lake City with no problems. Chris had said if we had a problem turn around and he would work on it some more but there was no need...yippee!

The drive was beautiful, the mountains looked great with the sun and shadows and we arrived safely in Salt Lake City. We saw lots of salt along the side of the road and stopped and viewed the Bonneville Speedway where cars have been clocked as fast as 600 mph ~ Ron thought that would be fun to go that fast.

We drove straight to the KOA (thanks Jamie and Suzanne for the use of your GPS system!) and got checked in and set up. We will be here for two nights...tomorrow we are going to do some sightseeing. There is a free shuttle that takes us right downtown so no need to rent a car. We are going to evaluate our itinerary and make some necessary changes so that we get back on schedule to be in Arizona at Verde Valley (Cottonwood, AZ) Thousand Trails on 11/1 as planned.

We are praising the Lord for a good Christian mechanic - Ron and Chris shared about Christ in their lives as they were doing the test drive - the repairs were made quickly and quite affordably.

Thanks for coming along on our trip and I will do another update at our next stop...not sure where that will be...will figure that out tomorrow night.

Alice and Ron