And We're Off....

We came into Redding today and found a place with free Wi-Fi so I am sending the blog I wrote yesterday.

Monday, April 13, 2009

What a job it is to take everything that will fit into a van and head down the road to begin a journey to live in a foreign land. Over the last few years we have continually downsized our things to the point that we now have the things we really need packing into our van. I wonder what Abraham thought when God told him to take his family and go to a land that He would show them. At least we know where God has told us to go, I feel a great advantage in that. Also, with today’s technology, we are only a phone call or e-mail away from loved ones. We do realize that there will be sometimes while in a foreign country that today’s technology will not work as well as we would like, but it is there.
Saying good-bye to our daughter, son-in-law and four grandchildren was hard. Kristen and I had a deal that if I didn’t cry, she wouldn’t cry. Well, as you can imagine, all bets were off when we actually said good-bye. Neither of us made it.

Pictures of our loaded down car.



It took several attempts to get the back door closed.



Later…
The emotions have leveled out and we are now traveling along I-5 going south. We have come 125 miles now and only have 2,825 more to go to Puebla, más o menos (more or less). It has been a stormy day and with the cargo carrier on the top, the van rocks a lot. I have noticed a few people looking at our packed out van. Unless they really look hard though, it is hard to see in the back because of the tinted windows so I don’t expect to get a lot of those looks. I wonder what they are thinking.
Evening…
We had a hard time believing that it was snowing at Mount Ashland as we were driving this evening. The funniest thing was that it started right after Jim read a sign that mentioned chains. He said we weren’t carrying chains and asked if we needed them, then we saw the snow. As we crossed the California border it immediately stopped snowing. Too funny!
After eight hours of very cramped quarters, we arrived at the house in Lakehead. The kids are now in bed and Jim and I are going to bed also. We’re looking forward to a quieter day tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Morning…
We are up and about and ready to start the day. The sun is shining and the lake is much fuller than last summer when we were here. It is a beautiful day!