Carol's Capers

I have a nice long post about what we did Sunday- Monday on my laptop, but, alas, I will not be posting it today. At least, I’m not planning on it. Hannah and Daniel came down with a cold Tuesday and Bonnie got it a Wednesday, and now I have it. :( Ick. I do NOT like being sick on the road. It’s hard feeling so helpless when everyone is working and doing things and you feel miserable and like crawling into a ball. I’m feeling well enough now to sit here at the computer, but, I almost feel guilty. There is quite a ruckus of people and hammers above my head constructing the Bartlett’s house. It’s suppose to snow (!!!) on Sunday so they wanted to get as much work done as possible. I don’t blame them.

So, where are we now you ask? We’re staying with the Bartlett family in North Dakota, way, way, way far away from lots of things. But, not far from a DSL switch, thankfully!

Let’s back up to Tuesday. You all know about our bus problem by now and that we’ve been praying for help with this bus. Now, the Bartlett’s have a friend who knows about our engine and we decided to go see him. If we hadn’t met the Sciglianos (now I'm spelling your name right!) on Tuesday we would have thought no one lived in northern North Dakota besides the people who mow the side of the highway. (And, the Bartletts!) We kept driving and driving, and then there would be a ‘slew’ (it’s like a swamp) on both or two sides of the road. It reminded me of nightmares I had as a child; water on both sides of the road and the car (or whatever) would stall in the middle and I would wake myself up because I was so scared! LOL Anyhooo….

The roads kept getting smaller and smaller and finally we were on a dirt road about 11 miles from Cando, population around 200, maybe. And at the end of a dusty trip down the Scigliano’s road we arrived at their house!

Although we didn’t get any real bus ‘work’ done since we didn’t have time to take anything apart we got to know them a little! They burn bio diesel in their cars and press their own flax seed oil. 8-) Mom was ecstatic about the flax seed oil. It actually tastes much, much better fresh than it does from the bottle from the store. I don’t think I’d mind eating it all the time if we got it fresh! They grow and grind their own flour and have a certified ‘organic’ farm. The piano players from their house and ours took turns playing on the piano, which has five pedals. One of the pedals changes the piano into a harpsichord and another one turns it into a mandolin. I’ve never heard of that before!! We decided to stay the night instead of trying to find the Bartlett’s house in the dark. We played Dutch Blitz that night. Fun!  Next morning we started off for the Bs after pancakes and devotions. We started driving and we finally saw some hills!! Yay! I’ve been told the flat can grow on you and eventually you can appreciate it but I’m not use to all this flat yet! The hills were a nice reminder of home. Actually, after we got past the Indian reservation it reminded me a little of New Hampshire. What do you think Mr. Ed? :-)

My throat feels so yuck I don’t want to talk but sitting here I’m listening to all the ladies talking in the kitchen. I don’t want to be sick. I wouldn’t be here typing if I was feeling good so something good is coming out of it. : p

We arrived at the Bartlett’s (they didn’t tell us the signboards we were suppose to turn right at were facing the other direction and we drove right past them!) and made it down their dirt road, again filling the bus with dust.

The Mrs. Bartlett is SO organized. They are living in the basement of the house they are building. I’m impressed! Mr. Bartlett’s blog can be found here and Jonathan’s can he found here. The boys and Bonnie jammed before we went to the concert on Wednesday. Recording them would have been a good idea if I had all the equipment, Mr. Ed. This whole idea of being self-sufficient and growing your own food is fascinating. They have a big garden, make their clothes detergent, butcher their own chickens, etc., etc.. Pretty neat. It’s a lot of work I’m sure, but very fascinating all the same.

We went over to a friend of the Bartlett’s to do the concert that night. It was more dirt roads! Am I surprised?! We left the trailer at the B’s house and made our way down this little drive way and then pulled into the field and then BACKED down the rest of the driveway. We have a good driver!!!

The room was small so we ended up setting up in the area where the food was served. Jonathan video taped the concert. Now they will have a reminder of all the mistakes we made! Oh nooo! We met new people and the Sciglianos came! Yay!

*picture here*

Rebecca, Bonnie, Evan and I.

I’m so glad I didn’t have the cold nor a head ache last night . That would have been so miserable. Bonnie and Hannah had it, but apparently I’m a wimp (or they didn’t get it as bad?).


I have pictures that need to be posted, but they may have to wait. I’ll have to do a big photo post. :)
Till next time….