Heading Home

This is our last day of work.  Three weeks done, just like that.  When we gathered for devotions yesterday morning, our volunteer coordinator handed each couple a bag of gifts from The Cove: several items from the book store, in appreciation for our volunteer work.  Thank you, BGTC, for the gift!

Deb and Brenda worked doing laundry today, and Bonnie was in the chapel.

We guys started out getting instructions on how to start building a post for the one we ripped out a few days ago.  In the course of the conversation, we got talking with Keith, one of the maintenance guys, about the Cove and Billy Graham and a bunch of other things.  Mike was asking him about the cabins on the property and he was describing what they were like and eventually said, “Well, let’s go up there and we’ll let you have a look at them.”

There are five log cabins on the property, accessible by a road marked “private” with a gate.  This is where the special guests usually stay, any performers, speakers, and so forth.  Neil Anderson was staying in Cabin 2, but the rest were empty so the four of us hopped in two 4-wheel-drive trucks and headed up there.

We stopped at each one and took a look inside while Keith explained about some of the ongoing maintenance projects, such as upgraded kitchen, bathroom, or cleaning the metal roof.

These cabins may look rustic on the outside, but they are anything but rustic on the inside.  Most have two bedrooms and two full baths and are very tastefully decorated and furnished.  I could very easily live in one of these.  They also have air conditioning and high speed Internet access.

Back in the maintenance building, Steve and I spent the remainder of the morning starting on the post.  We planed five two-by-eight boards and then glued and clamped them all together.  Once the glue dries, then they will be shaped and milled to form the proper shape for the chapel.  Since this is our last day, someone else will be doing the remainder of the work.

Running boards through the planer.

The product of a morning's work

In the afternoon we gathered a few more benches from the training center and did some more sanding.  The next group of volunteers will have plenty of furniture work to do.

I had already done most of the departure preparation last night and this morning: dumping the waste tanks, filling the fresh water tank, putting the covers on the bikes and mounting them on the rack, so all we had to do was unplug and go.  So when we knocked off work at 3:30, that’s what we did.  We gathered for a brief time of prayer with the other couples and to say good bye and we were on the road.

Instead of taking the Interstate, we took US-25 north for 40 miles or so until it connected with US-25E, which brought us into Corbin, Kentucky, where we parked for the night at a Cracker Barrel.  The narrow, steep, winding road that was US-25 was a lot more interesting than the Interstate, as it wound through narrow valleys and past small towns and through the Appalachian Mountains.  Some beautiful country out here.