On the road again...

So, early yesterday morning (wow - was it really just YESTERDAY?) we rolled out of our home in Alabama, bound for Idaho/Oregon/Washington/Montana and many points along the way. We had left a tad later than we had originally planned (surprise surprise!) due to Lon's boss asking him to work five hours of overtime on the day we had intended to leave. Then, in the evening, as we were hooking up, intending to pull out in the morning at about 4:00, we discovered that a part for the hitch was missing! We were able to jury rig something that helped us limp to Nashville where there was a service center with the missing part, but we knew they would not open until 8, so we did not pull out at 4. We still made reasonably good time to St. Louis, MO. We stopped there to play in the fun fountain that we had played in last year, and to go up in the arch, which we had not been able to do last year. It was alot of fun, and interesting to learn about how the arch was planned and conceived as a monument to the westward expansion and the energy that Thomas Jefferson put into that. We were at the top of the arch for Sabbath Sundown, which was probably the most memorable Sabbath Sundown we have had in quite some time. While we were playing in the fountains in downtown in the afternoon, we were noticing that ALOT of people with red shirts were walking by, headed to the stadium. St. Louis KNOWS how to show up for a baseball game!! When we were at the top of the arch we were able to look down on the stadium and see the veritable sea of red that the fans were wearing. Also, while we were 'swimming' we stumbled upon a ceremony being held in honor of a local Marine who had recently attained the rank of officer. We witnessed him receiving his honorary first salute and also learned many interesting things about various traditions surrounding the ceremony. It was interesting!! By the time we were done at the arch it was well past bed time for many of us, especially those of us that had not gotten much sleep the night before. We headed over to where the trailer was parked and settled in for the night. We slept well, and LONG. We didnt' get on the road this morning till after 10:30. We dont' have as much to cover today, we plan to stop in Topeka to visit my aunt and uncle who live there, and then get another hour or two down the road toward Denver. Yesterday was a really nice start to the trip though, relaxing and enjoyable. I'm starting to look forward to it, rather than dreading it, as I had been for a while. We covered five states in one day, so that is nothing to sneeze at either!! Please continue to pray for our safe travel. Last night, on facebook, I read about an accident in Oregon where an older gentleman was killed, and the rig they were driving was exactly what we are driving, a Ford Excursion pulling a travel trailer. It just reminded me of the near miss we had last summer, on that same highway, a little further west (near The Dalles) and made me realize again, that we need God's protection on this trip. We also need Him to help us manage Ricky and Mayahna, who seem to save their most testing behavior for trips such as this. We are in the process of laying the 'ground rules for the trip' and it isn't as much fun as it could be, and we covet your prayers for patience and wisdom, and that we can get through it quickly and put it behind us soon!! You can also view pictures from the day yesterday, at my profile on facebook - if you're not on there yet (ahem!!) maybe now would be a good time to take a look at joining in the fun!! I'll try to learn how to post pictures here, too, but don't hold your breath.