The house is sold. I thought I would never get it cleaned, but it happened and now I'm out of it. No more shoveling the sidewalk, mowing the lawn, or taking care of unwanted, pesky critters. (I will miss it and my friends.)
My first trip as a full-time RVer began on July 17. After driving 370 miles I was exhausted. I found driving on the interstate stressful and tiring. I stayed that night at a campground in Indiana. The second day of traveling was much better because I spent most of it on a very nice secondary road. I have also found that 6 hours is about as long as I can stand driving the RV. I arrived in Chatham, IL at the site for my first NOMADS project early afternoon of July 18. Others were there to help me park and get situated. There are 11 of us at this 3 week project. There are RV sites with full hookups right here at the Midwest Mission Distribution Center of the UMC. There are also laundry facilities available. yipee
Our project is to create a chapel out of an existing 24'x24' building. Work that I did involved tearing down the inside walls, putting on sheetrock, mudding, sanding, and now painting. The men put in doors, windows, put up the sheetrock, wired, and are now tearing out part of a wall on another building to put in a door that will open out to a deck that they are also building. We work 7 hours Mon- Thurs with breaks and an hour lunch. It is hot, tiring, dirty, delightful work. We have a good time and work at our own pace. I got to use the nail gun briefly, but I don't think anyone wants me to use it too much... look out!
On our off time we have enjoyed some of the area's attractions and restaurants. We went to an outdoor theater show of Fiddler on the Roof and to the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield (just a few miles away). The museum was great! If you are ever in the area, it is a must see. The way that the information is depicted is very entertaining.
On Friday July 24 my brother, Chad, from Kansas came to visit. We then went to the southern part of Illinois to watch one of our great-nephews, Andrew, from California compete in a trap shooting competition. His team had come in first in their state and now were in the National competition. Andrew did very well. The team came in 10th out of 18. While in that area, we were close to St. Louis and so we took opportunity to go to the Arch, the Gateway to the West. It is very impressive and one should see it. We stood in several lines, though, to have the chance to go up to the top, only to find that it was not as impressive as one would think. The tram ride up was comparable to having 5 people sit in a dryer and the viewing area was small and crowded.
I had the experience of my first mid-west thunderstorm in the RV. The wind was tremendous and I put the lawn chairs under the Jambo so that they would not become destructive, flying objects. It was midnight and I must say I was scared. I kept watching out the window to see if any of the others were headed for the storm shelter. Just in case they were I laid in bed with my shoes on and flashlight ready. No one did, the storm blew over, and I laid awake for awhile just to be sure that all was well, then went to sleep.
So, the first week went well. Blessings abounded. Can't wait to see what is in store for this week.
Take care.
