Side of the highway
4:51 pm CDT
Of course I’ve been somewhat lazy about writing down as they happen. You may have noticed my plan of logging isn’t working like I thought it would. : P I’m sitting here and listening to my siblings practice and play while we’re on the side of the road. Yes. We are on the side of the road. Nothing like a breakdown to make you start writing. Haha. This morning we left Birmingham, AL and headed north. Around 10ish Vincent commented about a noise he heard coming from the engine area. We stopped and they concluded the air compressor was the culprit. We drove for a few more minutes and listened to the engine at different speeds. After a truck honked at us and we smelled something funny, like burning, and dad pulled over again. We found a oil trail from the road and a huge puddle of oil under the bus. I had just got finished reading about David and Goliath this morning And, we got to see Facing the Giants just recently. God is bigger than all the bus break down giants, that is for sure. Vincent got all greasy and we all waited a little nervously as he disassembled the compressor. See, this problem could have ruined the engine as well. We wouldn’t know until the compressor was off. Wondering how and if we would be able to find the parts, who could bring them to us and how this was going to effect the rest of the trip, was going through our heads. The attitude was good, but a little apprehensive as well. We all sighed in relief and praised God when Vincent brought news it was just the compressor and the engine had survived, unscathed. Praise the King!
Oily, eh?
We got on the phone and found our parts guy on the ground in Jersey had the part for $150 plus shipping overnight (that was more than the part, btw!). Woohoo! Soon after we got off the phone two men in a truck pulled up behind us. The driver, Tony S., had filled in for a rather famous quartet a while back and had empathy for us. On his first tour with his group the bus broke down! He agreed to have the part shipped to him and deliver it to us and so dad called the parts guy back to order. Lord willing, by 10am tomorrow morning the part will be here in Alabama. Tony’s mom made us a big pot of supper and Tony and his pastor brought it by last night. Isn’t God good?
Lately I’ve been feeling extraordinarily blessed. I eat three meals a day (and more), I have the coolest family (not like I’m partial or anything : P ), I know the creator of the world, and besides all the other blessings, like health, work, and the ability to work and be creative, I have the promise that God will go with and guide me through the rest of life. It makes me very happy to know God cares and He‘s not going to leave me. It’s a really comforting thought and makes me happy.
I should back up and finished telling you all about our exploits in Kentucky and Tennessee! We had a great time the last few days in Kentucky. At our last concert the R’s came with some friends.
So, how many of you would like a mic cord necklace and crown? ;-)
It’s the in thing. Like totally.
We ate a wonderful breakfast the next morning with the pastor of the church. It was delicious. The R’s met s there to drop food off and we had a nice time of fellowship.
Bonnie and Mrs. R
Our next stop, Tennessee!
It was really pretty (and curvy!) as we drove down the mountain into the valley of Cowen, TN.
Can you guess we stopped at the overlook? J
We enjoyed the hospitality of the H family for a few days. We were going to have a jam/picking on Friday at their church but we ended up doing a very informal concert. I do believe this was one of the few blue jeans and t-shirt concerts that we’ve allowed!
Now, the H family had a little month old baby who was very popular. She was never wanting for people to hold her!!
Here is Hannah and Hannah!
Let me hear it in unison….“awww!!!” :-D She’s was adorable. Mom got IWGS (I Want Grandchildren Syndrome) all over again.
We headed out from Tennessee toward Alabama, the most southern concert of this trip. We stopped at America’s thrift store in Alamaba. After I had become bored of shopping, tired and hungry (this was around supper time) I started to look around for everyone else. I didn’t notice everyone else had made their purchases and left without me! About this time I heard the bus start and I quickly got in the check out line. : P Dad was releasing the break as I walked quickly toward the bus. Hehe. Phew. Close one. ; -) Nah. Vincent said he was going to speak up if someone didn’t notice I was missing soon. : ) Thanks buddy.
We got to see Mrs. S, her daughter and friend at the morning concert!
Our evening concert went fine. Here’s the inside….
And, one of Vincent outside in the setting sun light.
Bonnie got some footage of the concert…maybe we’ll see that on youtube.com some day!
That kinda brings us up to what happened this morning. We stayed at Flying J overnight and then set out for NC, only, now we have a slight delay!
October 30
1307 CDT
On the road again!
Wow. Mr. Tony brought the part this morning, It was the right kind of compressor, Vincent installed it and we are back on the road! Praise God for His marvelous provision. No one else stopped to helped us the whole 24+ hours we were on the side of the road, not even a police officer! After some more conversation we found out Tony saw the bus and our name the first time but he was going by at 85 mph but he was going too fast to stop. So, he turned around and came back. This was a four lane highway with jersey barriers in between. Thank you, Tony! We thank God for sending you!
On route 20 out of Alabama into Georgia we saw THREE Ron Paul for president signs!!!!! Two on a billboard and one sign. We were pretty excited! GO RON PAUL!!!
November 1
1000 EDT
At a rest area in Virginia
We had a great concert last night! We ate pizza before with the church folks and then sang to an almost full house. Bonnie’s song continues to make folks cry.
EDIT: Nathan is on the right
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