Hello Good, Ole U.S.A.

Well, it’s finally happening: my Precious Carol and I have embarked on an extended trip around the good ole U.S. of A. We don’t know the extent of our proposed travels; therefore, we’ll take it one month at a time. We may be gone for 12 months or it could be only six months. We’ll see. Friends from church are renting our house and our neighbors have accepted our chickens, so we are free to take the trip.

Several of our friends said “Bon Voyage.” The French words mean “good journey” and it historically meant good journey (voyage) by sea. But our “ship” consists of a 17-foot car and a 23-foot, trailer. Instead of being pushed by the prevailing winds, we are being “pushed” by a 420-horsepower engine. Rather than sailing on the seven seas, we are “sailing” on highways.

Our 5,400-pound car gets around 24 miles-per-gallon by itself, but it drops to about 13 mpg while pulling the 4,500-pound trailer. The car’s name is Traveler and the trailer is La Casita — The Little House.

For many years we thought about doing this and began looking at trailers six years ago, but I didn’t get serious about it until this year. Our oldest son, Ron, said, “Dad, if you want to do this, you better do it now. If you wait a couple of years, you won’t do it.” Ron is correct.

Purchasing the trailer in February, we went on a trialrun to Dallas. In April and May, we went on a five-week “shake-down cruise” and traveled through 15 states and Washington D.C. Our highlights were attending the USS Yorktown Survivors Club Reunion in Young Harris, Ga., visiting the new Bible Museum in D.C., and visiting Niagara Falls. Sadly, a man jumped over the falls while we were there. Suicide doesn’t solve problems: it just creates more.

Shake-down cruises are to discover problems of various types — and we found them. The main issues were water leaks. When we returned home, we took La Casita to the dealer for two weeks for the warranty work.

The big day came! That’s the day we started our maiden voyage and we have the first two months planned. We weighed anchor on July 30 — that means, we left the harbor (driveway). We visited family and friends in Oklahoma and New Mexico, are spending a few days in Pagosa Springs, Colo., and Friday we’ll head for Denver to visit our daughter.

Next Wednesday we’ll drop anchor at Yellowstone National Park. We’ll be at the Fishing Bridge Campground; but fishing is not allowed there. Oh well, I’ll go to Yellowstone Lake. They have big rainbow trout there.

Most of the trout I catch will be around 16-inches, and Carol will cook them like salmon. My primary fishing experiences have been for trout in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, and Carol makes trout fish sandwiches with the leftovers. They taste better than tuna fish sandwiches.

Glacier National Park is on our map, and we’ll visit it after Yellowstone.

One of the reasons for the trip is to give me time to finish writing a book. As a child, I asked my father, “Why is Jesus called a priest after the order of Melchizedek?” Dad said, “I don’t know. If you ever figure it out, let the rest of us know.” Well, I have it figured out; therefore, the book. My working title is Jesus Christ: A Priest Forever After the Order of Melchizedek. (Does that surprise you?)

Another goal is to visit a different church every Sunday that we’re on the road.

And of course, we’ll do a lot of sight-seeing.

But my primary reason for this trip is to spend time with my Precious Carol. I have resigned as the president of the Siloam Springs Writers Guild, resigned as chaplain of the USS Yorktown CV-5 Survivor’s Club, and every other leadership role I was in so we can be together. Carol has helped me succeed in every job and position I ever had, and now I want to enjoy time with her. This month is our 52nd wedding anniversary; and next to Jesus Christ, Carol is the best friend I’ve ever had.

But I’m happy to report that I’ll continue writing for the newspaper, so tune back in next week.