Moving On

I don’t like goodbyes.  I’m really not that good at them.  When it comes time to part ways from those whom we’ve gotten to know, it’s this awkward exchange of handshakes and hugs (for those that are the huggy type) and then standing around and looking at each other, each expecting the other to say the last goodbye and then not knowing how to respond.  At some point you just have to walk off, get in your rig, and drive away and think Well, I’m glad that’s over.

But this group did it right.  While some of the awkwardness and standing around was still there, we received a sendoff by prayer.  Most of the group braved the near-freezing temperatures and the brisk wind to stand in a circle, hold hands, and offer up prayers of thankfulness and intercession on our behalf.  With that, we got in our rig, drove away, and thought That was a great project.

We left just before noon.  It took us most of the morning to pull the duffel bags we had packed in totes on the back rack, and repack them with clothing and items for the cruise.  There seems to be a million details, hopefully we won’t forget anything.  From confirming our parking location to making sure all our travel documents and paperwork were in order to counting socks to making sure all our devices could be charged, it takes a surprising amount of time.  And then it was just five miles down the road that we stopped at the Giddings Library to print out some luggage tags.

But we finally were underway, back in the travel mode after three weeks in one spot.

We stopped in Brenham to walk around a bit and view some of the city murals that Brenham is famous for.  There are also lots of antique stores in this area and we browsed a couple, appreciating the artful placement of the pieces and also appreciating that we don’t have to pay for those pieces.  We can’t afford them and can’t fit them either.

The armadillo ones were cool.  We saw several armadillos at the camp, something you don’t see in Michigan.

It’s too bad that the Blue Bell store was closed today.  Ice cream would have added nicely to this stop.  Ice cream adds nicely to any stop.

Our route took us directly through downtown Houston.  This is my first time driving through Houston.  Hopefully it will be the last time.  My impression of Houston, from my vantage in the cab of an RV on State Highway 290 and Interstate 10, is one super long freeway interchange that spans at least 30 miles and winds among many other roads in a fashion that resembles concrete shaghetti.  Houston is just one big bowl of it.

My sidekick and navigator is always looking for something to do along the way, some stop to make things a bit more interesting.  Last night, some of the possibilities were the Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge and the National Museum of Funerals.  Someday we ought to take a trip and just visit all these oddball places just to say we’ve been there.  And I’ve read that you actually have a small chance of seeing a prairie chicken at the Refuge.  And I’m just dying to see the Museum of Funerals (sorry, couldn’t help it).

Instead, Deb found a tiny city park just off of I-45 that had a lot of mosaic sculpture.  Smither Park, barely larger than a few city residential lots and in the midst of the Houston concrete spaghetti, contains some fantastic pieces of mosaic created out of just about anything imaginable.  We strolled around here for a bit, grateful to be off the Houston freeways, and glad to stretch the legs.

Leaving here, we drove the remaining 30 miles to Santa Fe, to a field where we are parked for the night.  Tomorrow it’s on to Galveston, hopefully meeting up with another SOWER couple for breakfast, and then boarding the ship for our cruise.

Again, we may go dark for most if not all of the next seven days.  Stay tuned, however, all will be posted when we get back.

The Day After

This was one of those days when it feels good to start slow.  SOWERs are usually early-starters, with the whole group coming together for devotions at 7:30am.  So breakfast and showers and all that stuff needs to be done before then.  Today’s breakfast was around 8:30.

Very little agenda today except get the laundry done, which we started right away.  We decided to have another go at the Cotton Gin Museum, and get in on the 2pm guided tour.  So we finished the laundry in the morning and we were there to send off one couple who left, circling in prayer and saying goodbyes.  With their big fifth-wheel gone, the place looks even emptier.

After lunch we drove to Burton and the museum was actually open.  This time, for the guided tour, there was a rather large crowd, so the cotton gin building was rather packed during the tour.

It would be interesting to see this one in operation, as they fire it up once a year in April for the Cotton Gin festival, ginning  a couple 500 pound bales of cotton.  It is still powered by the 1925 Bessemer engine, a two-cylinder behemoth that occupies the lean-to on one end of the building.  This engine is started by a blowtorch and compressed air, the compressor being powered by a Model-T engine in the same room.

It’s obvious that the volunteers are invested in this place.  They either worked here or are descended from someone who worked here.  Our guide was a fountain of information, sometimes so much information that it ran in several directions at once and made it a bit difficult to piece together.

But it was a fascinating tour and my engineering brain, after years of working with tiny circuits and software code, has a little difficulty imagining someone designing this enormous mass of pulleys, belts, machinery, and structure and keep it operating in a way that achieves something meaningful.  Perhaps I should have been born 100 years earlier. Designing and operating this stuff would have been fun.  And certainly easier to see. Putting a ten thousand transistors on the head of a pin takes lots of expensive equipment and you still can’t see it.  This mechanical marvel is easy to see and it it obvious when something goes wrong.  The flailing belt or pieces flying are a pretty good indication.  Nowadays, it’s just a little puff of smoke, if even that.

On the other hand, these guys worked in blistering heat, breathing cotton lint dust, and something going wrong can take your arm off. So I guess I had it pretty good.

We arrived back at camp in time to make a quick dinner before heading off to the conference room where several of us watched the movie The Long Long Trailer with Lucille Ball.  This movie gets funnier the longer we are on the road.  We recognize and can identify with many of the scenes in the movie.

Tomorrow we pull up stakes and head towards Galveston.  Since we are in the area, we booked a cruise out of Galveston, and will be at sea for seven days, stopping at Cozumel, Belize City, and Roatan.  So these updates may be a bit spotty for that time period because of no internet and no cell service.  Supposedly there is WiFi available on the ship for about twenty-five bucks a day, but, for that price, we will just go dark for a while.

End of Project 7

Our seventh SOWER project is now in the books.  Seems like we just got started and now it’s all done.  We really didn’t do a lot today.  Looking back on it, we managed to dig a hole about two feet in diameter and about eighteen inches deep.

One of the other guys, an experienced SOWER with over 50 projects completed said that sometimes the work of a SOWER is waiting around for the host to tell them what to do.  We did that today.  By the time we were told what to do and where to go, it was ten minutes to break time.  After break time, we actually started digging the hole by an electrical pole to figure out where the buried conduits went.  And then we had to deal with the Texas clay, which was sometimes as hard as concrete and sometimes a completely unworkable goo that was almost worse than concrete.  So, by noon we had enough of a hole dug to determine directions, and Josh started trenching with the skid steer so we could lay another conduit.

After lunch, Josh went in search of some trenching shovels to help scoop out lumps of the aforementioned goo that remained in the trench.  He was gone a long time and reappeared 15 minutes before our scheduled end-of-project meeting.

So we had a lot of conversation today.

All of the RVICS left just after lunch, so the RV area has a lot of open spaces.  The Texas Parks and Wildlife group who was here for most of the week left today also, a steady stream of white pickup trucks leaving as we were digging our hole by the road.  So now it’s very quiet around here.  Our SOWER group will begin tricking out tomorrow, and we’re hanging around until Saturday morning.

I created a video collage of this project, which can be accessed at this link:

We had our end-of-project meeting this afternoon, wrapping up the last three weeks. Soon we’ll be bidding goodbye to these new friends of ours as we all go our separate ways.  Maybe we’ll see one or more of them on future projects.

Almost Done

Things are winding down here at Tejas.  With so many volunteers here I think it’s a bit difficult to keep all of us busy.  Maybe we all just have to work slower.

It was another frosty morning but warmed up rapidly and we soon started shedding layers.  The wire guys continued stripping wire, ending up with two trash cans full of the stuff by the end of the day.  The rest of us removed the forms and dealt with the dirt piles on the brick walkway we did last week.

That took us up until 10:45, when we were all invited to a Volunteer Appreciation gathering in the Hub.  We each got to pick out a drink and something from the camp store.  Drinks were lattes and coffee-related things and smoothies.  Deb and I both had a mango smoothie which was super good, in spite of the several brain freezes experienced while drinking it.

Then it was to the Four Seasons Conference Room where we sat with some of the staff for their weekly devotions and praise time.

Then it was to lunch.  So the morning was rather short with all these other activities going on.

After lunch some of us were sent to the wood storage shed at the back of the property to sort lumber.  We were told to throw anything less than 4 feet long on the burn pile and sort the rest.  This is probably the make-work task that gets thrown out there when there’s nothing else to do.  We finished up an hour early so it was a short day.

The work was done, but the day was not over.  A group picture was in order so we trooped over to the dining hall and the chapel for said photo.

After dinner one of our group brought out Blue Bell ice cream and all the fixins and we enjoyed an ice cream social on what is to be our last evening all together as some will be leaving tomorrow.  Then it was a time of games before turning in for the night.

Tomorrow is the last day of work.  As usual, we’ve gotten to know these other volunteers by working beside them, by eating with them, and by conversations with them, appreciating their life stories, and especially appreciating their brother/sister-hood in Christ.

Warming Up

Another 18-degree morning here in Central Texas.  From here on out it should start warming up.  Because of the cold mornings, painting is out of the question, so the women were in the Hub (the camp store) taking inventory.  For most of them, there were no cries of dismay when they learned there would be no painting for the remainder of the week.  Painting is not a favorite task, particularly when it is overhead.

The guys were in the maintenance barn all day, first cutting a couple picnic tables in half and modifying them for use in the shooting range.  The modifications allow them to be used as a rest when aiming a firearm at a target.

Then it was making benches.  A fairly simple design that has been used elsewhere in the camp.  We made seven benches.

Because we had completed the list of jobs that we had in front of us, we took off a half-hour or so early.  We don’t know what we will be doing tomorrow.

It was a sunny afternoon and made it all the way up to the mid-40s so we took a walk, even shedding a layer over what we had on this morning.  It may be still rather cold but it was good to be outside in the sunshine.

A Slow Start

Another cold morning, 18 degrees when we got up.  Because of the cold, there would be no painting today.  Some of the women helped out with the laundry in the morning but the rest of us didn’t really get started until after lunch.  So we took the opportunity to get our own laundry done.

While it was cold, the bright sunshine started to thaw things a bit, and everything was soon dripping and dribbling.  Which makes for muddy roads and pathways.  Hard to keep the floor of your rig clean in these conditions.

We spent the afternoon in the maintenance barn, cutting picnic tables in half and rebuilding them into smaller tables that can be used on the shooting range.  Other guys stripped the insulation off of discarded electrical wire.  The copper is then sold for scrap and the money used to buy new tools.

In the Midst of the Deep Freeze

I woke up a few times during the night and could hear the rain lashing against the RV.  The wind-driven rain mixed with sleet makes quite a bit of noise when you live in a tin can.  It was 21 degrees when I got up this morning.  Our plumbing survived--we were able to take our showers.  The people camped on either side of us drained their plumbing and winterized their rigs; we’ve been through cold snaps before and made sure the tank heaters were on and it was warm enough on the inside.

Since the camp was serving cinnamon rolls for breakfast, we risked the trek to the dining hall to get breakfast.  Stepping outside, we could see everything encased in about a quarter-inch of ice.  The entire RV parking area was an ice rink, partly due to the rain and partly due to dribbling faucets.  Many people, including ourselves, let the faucet dribble to prevent freezing.  Many people here could not get into their cars as the doors were frozen shut.

It took us a while to walk to breakfast as we had to avoid the ice rink parking area.  Walking on the grass was like stepping through thin glass as the grass was encased in ice which shattered when stepped on, making for a tactile crunch at every step.

We were some of the very few that made it to breakfast.  Coming back, we streamed our church service because there was no way we were getting out to any local church.  We took a walk after lunch but the wind made for a very cold hike.  So it was a rather low-key day.

Some of the women, including Deb, helped with the camp laundry for a few hours as there is a short turn-around between groups this weekend.  We’ll make up for it by having a short day tomorrow. Because of the cold, we won’t start work until after lunch.

Lunch and dinner today were cancelled because one of the weekend groups canceled.  So we made potato soup for lunch. Good high-calorie stick-to-the-ribs stuff to combat the cold.  We were getting used to being fed all the time so it was a bit novel to actually get something out of the refrigerator and make a meal.

In times like these, we are there to help each other out.  One of our volunteers had one leg of his electrical stop working and I helped him get it going again.  Another person had some water softener salt that he came around and spread on people’s doorsteps.  Texts have been exchanged about running low on propane.  Others have made grocery runs.  We’re all in the same situation so we may as well all pitch in.

Living in a Tin Can

It’s cold here.  We are sinking into a frozen state with the temperature having just fallen below 32 degrees.  Yeah, I know, back home the day started at 15 below so we don’t have any room to complain.  But at home the house is actually built for colder weather.  Here, in this tin can that we call home, the cold seeps in from all sides, and especially through the floor.  I’m writing this wearing a double layer of socks.

It seems like the entire state of Texas has hunkered down and is not moving.  We disconnected this morning and drove the RV to Burton, the site of a Cotton Gin museum, complete with a live demonstration of a cotton gin in operation.  We got there at 10am, precisely when it was supposed to open.  The place was deserted.  Phone calls went to an answering machine.  There were no signs on the door, and nothing on their web site to indicate any change in schedule.  We waited around for another 10 minutes or so and then left.

In an attempt to rescue this outing, we drove to Round Top, the site of an annual antiques fair, happening this weekend.  We’ve heard that the traffic is crazy during this fair, and the many antique shops along the road are mobbed with people.  This is the weekend of the fair.  And the roads were largely deserted.  There were a smattering of cars at the various shops, but nothing to suggest that a large event was in progress.  Nobody is moving.  We seemed to be one of very few on the road.

We did stop at Royers Pie Haven, a place in Round Top that was recommended by several others in our group.  We came away with a cinnamon roll and a slice of Texas Trash Pie, and even brought a couple pieces of pie to others in our group who wanted some.  So the trip wasn’t entirely a bust.  The pie and the cinnamon roll were very good.

One thing that this trip did: it warmed up the RV so we were very comfortable by the time we got back. And then the afterburners plus an electric heater kept it nice and toasty until the afternoon, when the falling temperatures overwhelmed the electric heater and the cold started seeping in.

I have been monitoring the temperature back home and saw that our furnace has been running non-stop since yesterday morning and the temperature inside fell to as low as 54 degrees.  The system just isn’t designed for 15 below.  So Abigail woke up to a cold house this morning.

One of our group texted a picture of the grocery store near here.  This is apparently an issue all over this area. The roads are deserted, the stores are empty, you’d think there was something major going on.

We got back just in time for lunch.  Pulled pork sandwiches and peach cobbler.  Just the thing for a cold day.  We stuck around the dining hall and played games for a while.

We braved the cold again for dinner.  Lasagna.  And really good lasagna.  Again, we are fed well.  We were told that this project and one other that we’ve been to are at the top in regards to keeping the volunteers fed.  I guess it’s all downhill from here.

Actually, we don’t serve at particular projects just for the meals.  We come to serve by working.  But the meals are a nice perk.

On the walk back, we could see that the footbridge over the dry creek was icing over.  We almost saw it very close up when one foot went one way and the other foot went a different way.  Now it’s actually getting treacherous to walk here.  The wind is howling around this tin can, and the only thing missing is the snow.  Perhaps we’ll see that tomorrow morning.

Eating Large

We’re done with working for the week, now it’s time to eat.  Several of us piled into a couple cars and headed to Brenham, about 45 minutes east of here.  First stop was LJ’s, a barbecue, named one of the top 50 BBQ places in Texas.  Little hole-in-the wall place along the main road into Brenham, the small parking lot fills quickly and there can be waiting lines.  But we were there somewhat early so we snagged a few tables.  The brisket and the ribs were delicious. Rather than order a meal with side orders, Deb and I just split a half pound of brisket and a half pound of ribs.  The side orders would have just meant less room for what came later.

After packing the pound of protein, we proceeded to the opposite side of town, to Blue Bell Creameries.  That space left over from not eating side orders? Yeah, we filled it up with ice cream.  The factory has an observation area where the making and packing of the ice cream can be viewed.  We viewed this briefly, but the main reason for coming here was the dollar-a-scoop ice cream in their ice cream shop.  And they weren’t just little scoops, either.  They were the dig-down-several-times-come-up-with-a-softball-sized-scoop scoops.  You can first ask for small samples, sampling everything in the case, if you want.  I ended up with a mango and a strawberry.  And then a triple chocolate and a cinnamon.  The cinnamon wasn’t my favorite--somehow, cinnamon and ice cream just don’t seem to go together, however the others were excellent.  And I came away very full.

We got back to camp with an hour to spare before dinner.

And then it was pot roast and mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner.  Couldn’t miss out on that.

So if I come home a little larger than when I left, you’ll know why.

Completion

We completed a few things today.  First of all, we completed the second week of work here at Tejas Camp & Retreat.  The third week may look a bit different than the last two due to the decidedly colder weather that’s in the forecast.  We may be in the maintenance barn building benches and picnic tables for the shooting range--an inside space where the doors can be closed against the elements.

Second completion is the brick walkway.  Most of the morning was spent placing the last bricks, cutting pieces to match the angle of the adjoining walkway, and spreading polymeric sand to fill all the spaces.  Once the whole area was wet down, the polymer hardens and locks everything together.  The result turned out pretty well.

The forms still have to be pulled and some dirt hauled away, but that will be done later.

The women completed painting the porches on the Maverick cabin.  Not sure where they will be this coming week as paint and cold weather generally don’t mix well.

Preparations for the coming cold snap have been going at a frenzied pace.  Even in the RV park, there is lots of conversation about what to do with plumbing, what to do if the power goes out for an extended time (the big ice-mageddon of several years ago in Texas resulted in power loss for several days in some areas), and about topping off propane supplies.  We will be seeing this all start to unfold tomorrow evening, starting with almost an inch of rain which will turn to something a little more frozen at some point.

And the camp is developing contingencies for what to do with nearly 400 guests when all the outdoor activities are shut down.  Should be a fun weekend.

Bricklaying

One of the cool things about these volunteering gigs is getting to know people from all walks of life.  Teachers, accountants, farmers, engineers, missionaries, and a whole lot more, and each one has a story to tell.  We often hear these stories in the form of testimonies during our morning devotional time.  This morning we heard from a former oil field worker whose parents were badly injured in a motorcycle accident.  He vowed revenge but could not find the other driver.  He was deeply moved by his dad’s forgiving attitude,  even while his dad lay in a hospital bed with serious injuries.  He accepted Christ soon after and believes God spared him from harming this other person.

We moved a lot of bricks today. Once from the pile in the back of the camp property onto a skid, then off the skid about 30 feet to the walkway we were working on, then from the piles by the side of the walkway into their final position.  As one person quipped, at least we didn’t have to make the bricks.  Or forage the straw as the Israelites did under Egyptian rule.  Count your blessings, right?

We have about two-thirds of it in place.  Not bad for a bunch of old amateurs.

Others in our group continued to insulate exposed plumbing in some of the cottages.  With the weekend forecast deteriorating into ice storms, snowpocalypse, and similar calamities that Texas is not prepared for, the urgency to protect the plumbing has been rising.

The women continued to paint and do laundry. With a major event every weekend and another event starting next Monday, the ever-present piles of laundry need continual servicing.

We were treated to a nice sunset today, a warm day.  Kind of the calm before the storm.  A couple more days of 70’s, then ​Bam,​ cold and ice.

Several of us got together and played games this evening, kind of a tradition on these types of trips.  What we really come for is the fellowship and the snacks that everyone brings.

I managed to bid farewell to our Chinese pastor friends, who are returning to their homes in various places across the country.  At least they are getting out before the cold and severe weather sets in.

Meeting the Marvel Men

Cool and cloudy this morning, 39 degrees when we got up.  The clouds meant that the day didn’t warm up as fast as other days, so we were working out in the cold for a good part of the morning.  We took our first break a bit early to warm up hour hands.  All of us were clutching mugs of coffee or hot chocolate at break time.

Back to the walkway this morning, more digging to get to the correct level, then we put forms in and put in a base layer of sand.

That one sentence describes the entire day of work for three of us.  The others went to caulk some more showers and then to insulate pipes against the coming cold.  We’re supposed to have a cold snap over the weekend accompanied by (at some accounts) an inch of ice and even some snow.  This camp has quite a bit of exposed plumbing so there is a mad scramble to insulate said plumbing before this weekend.

I wonder if the big groups coming in this weekend realize that it is going to be near record lows.

Several of the women painted, as usual, and many of them joined the other women in the laundry room after their hands got cold.  There were mountains of laundry again after this weekend so the staff appreciated the women pitching in with the laundry.

After work I spent some time disassembling the toilet and replacing all the seals.  Not the most fun job, but it did seem to fix the leak that we had been seeing.  I also set up a new Starlink antenna.  There is WiFi here but it is rather abysmal, particularly on weekends when lots of people are here.  The cellular data service also grinds to a halt on evenings and weekends.

This past weekend we noticed a rather large group of Chinese men eating together in the dining hall.  With our rather strong family connection to the Chinese we recognized the language being spoken and the characters on their shirts.  The English on their shirts said Marvel Men and we learned later that this is a manhood model defined by an organization called Trailhead Fellowship.  We were encouraged to see the presence of so many Chinese Christians and were given an opportunity to connect with them this evening.

We were on our usual walk to take out the trash after dinner, a trek of nearly a half mile.  The dumpsters are near the main gate and we saw a guy standing out there, poking at his phone.  Striking up a conversation with him we learned he was in the same group as the Chinese although he was American, and speaking fluent Mandarin himself.  He was waiting for an Uber that never came.  His group of three Chinese pastors and himself wanted to go out to dinner but their ride never materialized so they resigned themselves to noodle bowls for dinner.

He introduced us to the other three guys.  One of them wants to do ministry from an RV, going to various places to minister to pastors who are burned out, to encourage them, give them respite, and the like.  “Pastors usually have no one to confide in, to open up to,” he told us, and he wants to be that person.  He was especially excited to see our RV and we walked over there and talked about the RV life for a while.

Brent, our initial contact, was also from Ann Arbor, Michigan.  His daughters went to Hope College so we had some conversation about this also.

It was dark when we finally parted ways.  Deb had the great idea of digging around in the freezer for one of our pulled pork packages and a package of brisket.  It may not be much but it’s hopefully a nice little addition to the noodle bowls they were planning to have and perhaps an encouragement to our new Chinese friends.  What a blessing to meet up with these guys and to hear a little bit of their stories.

What We're Missing

Abigail called this morning.  Today was her day off and that’s probably a good thing because of the snow storm currently going on.  She told us of a 100-car pile-up just outside of Hudsonville on I-196 that had the freeway closed in both directions.

“I’m not going anywhere today,” she told me.  ​Wise thinking.

While we’re not that cold, it was 29 degrees when we got up this morning.  This weekend we’re supposed to be back down to freezing with possible rain or freezing rain.  We may not be going anywhere either.  So we’ll be having our own storms, Texas-style.

After a slow start due to the cold, we finished the shooting range this morning.  A couple more poles set, a few more target frames mounted, and done.  Just in time for lunch.

We split up after lunch, with three guys going to finish caulking the showers and the rest of us starting a project to lay a brick walkway.  This is a high-traffic area where everyone just short cuts across a small section of lawn, making it difficult to maintain any grass.  So, put a walkway where everyone walks.

We managed to measure and mark the space, and to start to remove the top soil.  The soil is as hard as concrete so we spent the rest of the afternoon busting it up with shovels and a spud bar.  That was physically demanding work, especially for us old guys.

We ended the day with most of the dirt removed.  There may be a little more digging tomorrow ... for someone else.

The women painted.  Because there were still guests here, they were not able to continue where they had been, so they moved everything to one of the bunkhouses.  There are several bunkhouses and the rest of the building they had been working on, so they have job security.

Sunday

It was 21 degrees when we got up this morning.  Our little electric heater couldn’t keep up so we had to turn on the propane furnace for a while.  Other than a rather cold floor and 49-degree interior temperature when we got up, we were otherwise fine.  Several others had frozen plumbing in their RVs.

But it wouldn’t last long.  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day in the low 60’s.

After a chilly walk to another great breakfast, we decided to attend the 9:30 service at the First Baptist Church in Giddings.  Seems like we always end up at a First Baptist Church wherever we go.  Every town has one.

We had just sat down when an older guy plops down on the seat next to me, puts his hand on my shoulder, and said, “You’re Tejas people, right?”  This started a conversation about how he pinned us correctly.  I guess we look like out-of-towners.  He also invited us to have lunch with him and his wife after the service.

Nice church, good sermon, we’ll probably be back next week.  We had a reminder from Genesis 37 that God often shows you his plan before you’re ready to do it.  Whether it’s a burden, a nudge, a sense, or, in Joseph’s case, a couple of dreams, God pulls you in some direction.  It may be some time before that plan is actually realized and the space between what God is stirring and when you actually carry it out is filled with your growth.  In Joseph’s case, he was a tattletale and also showed poor judgement in revealing his dreams to his brothers, who hated him all the more because of it.  When the plan was carried out, however, he was a high leader in Egypt.  The time in between was some pretty frustrating growth times for him and probably seemed like forever.

This is one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament.

Mike met back up with us after the service and we followed him to Reba’s, a downtown restaurant where his wife, Carolyn, was waiting.  We had a lovely time chatting about the fast growth in the church, in the area, and the changes he has seen in the lifetime he has lived here. 

This is one of those small towns where everyone knows everyone else.  They were continually greeting those that came in and out of the restaurant, who greeted them back with a handshake or a hug.  So we got to participate in some of this small-town Texas hospitality.

After we parted ways, we walked several blocks to Poco Loco Supermercado, a Mexican grocery store, just to check it out.  We came away with some fresh queso, which we like to fry in a pan and eat for a snack.

Back at the camp, it was time to address the puddles of water that are starting to form under the toilet in the RV.  Seems like something is always in need of attention.  I have some new seals on order, should have it fixed sometime on Tuesday.

Then on to the dining hall where we shared dinner and RV stories with fellow SOWERs. Seems like we do a lot of eating.

Tomorrow starts week 2.  Starting the day at just above freezing will be an interesting test of clothing choices.  Layers will be in order, as the afternoon temperature is supposed to be 65 degrees.

A President Day

We had breakfast with 400 kids.  The dining hall gets pretty noisy with all that youthful energy in there.  Our schedule sheet showed that breakfast was available starting at 7:40.  At this time, the line was already beginning to form at the closed doors to the serving line and was rapidly growing longer as more kids flooded in.  But then we were told that we could go through the serving line ahead of them since we were volunteers. We came in through the exit door, got our stuff, and were already seated and eating when the serving doors opened at 7:45.  It felt a little odd, cutting the line ahead of everyone, but that’s the thing here so we’ll do it.

We drove to the city of College Station, home of Texas A&M University and also home to the George Bush Presidential Museum and Library.  This was a little over an hour away.  The fix to the RV engine appears to be working as it ran fine the entire day.  The Museum was recommended by a few people here and it was well worth the trip.

I’m normally not much of a museum guy but this was interesting and it was well laid out.  Interesting because I can remember many of the events and people described here.  Interesting because it filled in some of the detail and some of the back story of those events.  Interesting because we live in such different times now compared to then.  We ended up spending nearly the entire day there.

I even got to sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.  You know I'm an impostor because no president would be sitting here without a neck tie and wearing a hoodie.

We saw the place were George HW and Barbara are interred, and also the locomotive whose last trip was pulling the train that brought George to his final resting place.  It was painted and decorated to look like Air Force One, but I saw no mention of it being called something like Locomotive One.

It was a good day to be inside.  Although it was sunny, the temperature only reached the low 50’s and the wind made that feel much colder.

We made it back to camp just in time to cut ahead of the line for dinner.

Dinner always tastes twice as good when someone else makes it and someone else cleans it up.