Having good friends is a huge blessing, and being away from them for a while helps us appreciate them even more.  We made it to town just in time for a birthday party for one of our buddies at the local bowling alley.  Then our baseball coach from last year found a way to get Mason added to the roster to play the last baseball game of the season, something he’s really been missing (the team was short of players because several families were on vacation).  They even found him a full uniform, complete with cleats.  Too bad the game got rained out.  Another good friend, who lives near where we stayed, carted our kids to and from VBS several nights so that Dan and I could have a few dates.  Blessed “alone time”.  All of this without even asking.  See what I mean - these are some really good friends.  We attended play dates, swim parties and a cook-out all in one short week.  It was great for the boys, and even better for Mom and Dad.

This past week was an opportunity to review where we’ve been – what’s working and what’s not.  To look ahead and decide what we need to change, and yes, there will be some changes.  We also took time to discuss what we feel God is doing in our lives through this trip.  Our unanimous assessment is that we are here to learn some lessons that we might not be able to grasp at home and that we are going too fast.  The reason that we were moving so quickly was to avoid winter in the northwest, but after a long discussion we’ve decided that we would rather savor the journey along the way than rush through it just to avoid the snow.  If we have to turn south before we reach Seattle that will be a bummer, but at least we will have enjoyed ourselves on the way.  Plus, if we move too quickly the kids aren’t able to process everything.  Attractions start to run together and they forget where we’ve been.  By slowing down we’ll have more time for making our Travel Journals and for the rest of our school work.  And then there’s the budget.  We’re starting to really feel the weight of the cost of diesel.  No longer can we go because the schedule says it’s time to go.  We have to make sure we have enough money to cover the expenses along the way before we set out. 

We got a lot of odds and ends taken care of at home.  Very productive.  When it came time to leave I held my breath.  We invited our friends inside the RV to say goodbye and take a few pictures and then they left.  No tears.  No complaining.  No protesting. 

Daddy shouted out the checklist..."Doors secure?"
"Check!" we yelled.
"All kids buckled?"
"Check!"
"Ready for departure?"
"Ready!"
"Count me down...10,9,8..."

When we reached blast-off there was a squeal of excitement as we pulled out.  Then Dan turned off the generator, which had been running to power the roof air conditioner while we were sitting still.  The excited squeal was quickly followed by an irritated "HEY!"  The problem was, he turned the generator off before I turned the air conditioner off, so we immediately blew a fuse causing the video game that the kids had just started to go dead.  Oooops.  We weren't even a block away and we had to stop and reset the breaker.  Oh well.  Guess we're a little out of practice. 

I don't know what I was worried about.  The kids are fine.  As I write this we are on I55 heading to St. Louis ready to learn about Louis and Clark.  That’s also the place where Griffin will audition for the Missoula Children Theater’s production of “The Wiz of the West”.  It should be lots of fun.  If you know of a place that we shouldn’t miss while we’re there, please let us know.