Busy Days

Yesterday, Bill needed a haircut. We were told about a new barber in town so he thought he would give them a try.  When he got up that morning, he found that the trailer jack motor had blown a fuse and we couldn't unhook the camper. So Bill got on his bicycle and went over to the auto parts place. He found what he needed and then went on a 20 mile ride then on to the barbershop. You can follow his rides here downloaded from the Garmin on our Facebook page, Twice Across America . He came back all nice and trimmed up and said we had to go back and get some pictures of the shop. The barber was a fantastic lady named Vicki.

She's a great barber and has a heart for our veterans as displayed in her shop.

We had a nice conversation and then went back to our little beach house on wheels. Today was Sunday and Bill got a chance to share about the trip at Impact Ministries here in Wheatland, WY.

It warmed our hearts to be received so well and we've been invited back this summer to share more with these dear people.

We met Mike, the son of someone we knew when we lived here before and Kyle who was a new Christian. Here's a picture of Pastor Jeremy, Mike, Kyle, and Bill.

We talked with them for a few minutes and Kyle gave us his challenge coin which we will in turn share with another military man or woman. Pastor Jeremy was very excited about our mission and wants to follow us as we come across. Thank-you all so much for your prayers and for your generous gifts to us. 

May 17th, The winds of Wheatland!

Bill decided to take the bike out this morning for a ride through town and some sideroads. While he was out he went by the Platte County Sheriff's Office where he told them about the trip. They even had a picture taken together! Thank-you officers for the great job you do looking out for all of us!
The local newspaper wants to do a story about him and took some pictures of him too. When the article comes out, I'll scan it and put it on here for you to read. If you would like to see how Bill did on his ride today, you can go to Twice Across America on Facebook. Please leave a comment and thank-you for reading.

Help support Twice Across America at Generosity.com

May 16th

Left this morning at 8:30 with raindrops tapping on the roof. I'm starting to get into a routine of packing up each morning. Making the bed involves a lot of climbing around, but it's so comfortable, I'll forgive this shortcoming. Everything put away, tucked away, and secured.....Let's go! We're on route 2 headed for Lincoln, NE. The road is quiet, slow rain.

There's lots of building going on in Lincoln and the city looks shiny and new. Kearny was the next town we drove through..."Sandhill Crane Capital of the World"! It must be beautiful to see them all fly in. You can go here to see a video of the event. Also had to stop for gas,the most expensive was $2.49 a gallon, but we managed to find some at $2.19. Filled up, had some lunch and we're back on the road. We crossed into Wyoming and soon entered Cheyenne. It's 36 degrees with snow squalls!

Looks like we'll be using the heater tonight in the little beach house on wheels. As we get closer to Chugwater, the snow is starting to accumulate and it isn't long before we see a snow plow.

And to think that back home in Tennessee, we've already mowed the grass 3 times and even picked strawberries! We passed a large truck with these signs on the side...

I think we will put some distance between him and us, what do you think? We arrived in Wheatland where the snow had turned to rain and it wasn't quite as cold.  Soon we'll be back on the road to Seattle to get ready for departure on June 6th. Thank-you for your prayers, they have kept us safe and well.

May 13th through 15th...

May 13th

We spent a peaceful night at the campground...$40, sure different than 27 years ago. The WiFi was sure handy though. I spent a couple of hours behind the wheel today; just have to remember to position the truck closer to the center line, make wide turns, and don't forget that I have a camper back there! LOL! We drove by Camp Nelson National Cemetery

and stopped in to pay our respects; so sad to see so many buried there.

There were fresh graves being dug as we passed slowly by. I pray that we don't have to lay one of our children here. We drove on to Nicholasville and stopped at the combination police and fire department. While I was waiting, shot a picture of all the paper I shuffle through during the day.

We want to be able to reach as many as we can. Bill came out with 2 patches.

The one from the fire department, the firefighter took from his own uniform. We talked to Officer Todd and found out it's Police Week. Craig Sutter cycles from here on the Unity ride to Washington, D.C. We even got to take a selfie with Todd! (This one's for you Deb!)

So cool! Thank-you for what you do! The next stop was Southern Acres Christian Church in Lexington, KY to see if they would like Bill to speak on the way back. 27 years ago, the youth group there cycled with Bill and had large signs on the church van that said, "Stop abortion, Stop killing babies!" I mention in my old journal how blessed we were here. This time, the reaction was cool....so prayer warriors, pray for conviction to pour down on Southern Acres Christian Church and light the fire once more. Our police, firefighters, and military are dying every day in defense of you and me. Can't we at least say, "Thank-you"? Bill stopped in at the Woodford County Fire Department and received a patch. He was received warmly and with enthusiasm; so different from where we just were. Are America's churches truly not interested in the lives of our public servants and military? Perhaps God wants us to just show our appreciation for these brave men and women....we so want to share with others to show their appreciation too. Well, the trip is just starting, pray for direction for us. The Kentucky State Police station was right along the highway, so Bill and I stopped in and met a very nice P.R. officer who gave us several patches and encouraged us to go to their Facebook page.

We took pictures around the waiting area with her permission

and went back out to our camper for some lunch. Almost every officer we've met so far had a bullet proof vest on....how many of us have to do the same? We continued on and at the next red light we saw a young man in a black vehicle with "Fraternal Order of Police" on his license plate. We hollered over, "Thank-you!" and Bill quickly told him what we were doing. He hollered, "Sa-weet!" and we both went our separate ways. We spent the night at a very nice Yogi Bear Camp Resort in Scottsburg, IN.

$34.04 and we had full hookups in a quiet spot. No WiFi though!

May14th

We spent a restful night and were on the road by 7:30 AM. We needed to put some miles down, so drove 500 miles! In headwinds all day! Went through 3 tanks of gas....Yikes! Sometimes the Garmin is a never-ending source of amusement...we started the day with this message...."Turn left on Our Demise Road". Yikes! I don't think I want to go down that road this soon! Since we decided to go on the highway, there's not a lot to tell you about. We saw an old abandoned motorhome and stopped to take a couple of shots of it.

It had "Dare to Dream" on the side.

What happened to that dreamer? Were his dreams realized...or dashed... So allow me to inspire you to follow those dreams of yours before sickness or age take their toll. We were 2 very tired people when we finally found Trailside RV Park in Grain Valley, MO. $34.20 with water and electric but alas, again no WiFi.....that worked anyway. Will definitely need to find a place where we have internet access tonight. Trailside was nice but right next to the interstate and the traffic went by all night. That was a little much for this little country girl.

May15th

We got up early to got to Mike and Marisa's church this today. Now, I'm a Baptist and we were in a Catholic church this morning. I was respectful and watched the service with interest. I appreciated the respect shown to God and was amazed by the formality of the ceremony. Have the rest of us lost our sense of awe of God? I know that as a born again Christian I have freedom in Christ, but how far should that freedom go?   Our friends took us to lunch at Cheddar's and we had good food and conversation. Thank-you Mike and Marisa! While we were there, we saw 4 officers sharing a meal at another table. Bill and I went over to thank them for all that they do. They relaxed and we all chatted and shook hands. Bill gave them each a card and told them what we were doing. To a man, they all thanked us and relayed how no one thanked them anymore. Thanks guys! We appreciate you! Jason gave us his card so we'll be going to the Facebook page to share. They also told us about how 3 of them have their own business called, "Hero Outfitters" maybe some of you out there can give them some business.  So we're easing on down the road towards Victorian Acres RV Park. Hope it lives up to the name. :) Can't you just picture lots of gingerbread molding on the office building with hanging pots of beautiful flowers....:) I'll let you know what it really looks like! LOL! Just entered Iowa. Lots of big fields with irrigation pivots. The landscape has flattened out now and you can see to the faraway hills. Here we are at Victorian Acres! Very nice place! Two big pots of flowers on either side of the office door and lace curtains at the windows. Sigh, I think I'm home! :)

P.S. Here are a couple more shots of patches we received from generous officers and firefighters from Versailles

and Salem.

Thank-you all so much for your service!

May 12th has been busy!

Between Pioneer, TN and Caryville, TN, we were on a quiet back road with small one lane bridges and plenty of pull offs for the way back. We went through a section where there were hundreds of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies....or, before I looked it up, big yellow ones! LOL! They were beautiful! They were like flying flowers in the sunshine. A little further along, we passed a large logging operation right next to the railroad tracks. They were loading up train cars with large, peeled logs. We didn't have too much time to watch as a large semi truck came barreling down the narrow, curvy, road back in the woods right toward us! Bill quickly moved over as far as he could and the truck zoomed past barely missing us! Whew! For all of you that are praying for us, thank-you! Just stopped for a picture of the post office in Pioneer TN.

We were there 27 years ago. We talked to an amazing Post Mistress named Judy.

She shared blessings from her life with us and we were blessed in return. Another prayer warrior to pray us across this great land of ours. So glad to have met you Judy! You were an encouragement to us. Since Bill still needs a haircut, we found this place in Jellico, TN.

He was out to lunch, so we had our lunch in the camper. We waited a little longer, but an hour and a half had gone by and we needed to be on our way. We stopped at the Jellico Police Department so Bill could go in and talk with them. Only police station I've seen with a drive up window...He just came out with a T-shirt and a patch...from the fire department.. :) more to pass along as we go across.

In Corbin, Bill came away with a patch and a coin.

We found out that Corbin was the birthplace of KFC! We had come through here 27 years ago and didn't know we would come across it so soon. So we just had to have us some finger-lickin good chicken! Just a leg and thigh each and no sides, but delicious! We reminisced about being there so long ago with our 3 young children and how they are all grown up now and on their own.

After lunch, Bill went in to see the sheriff of Laurel County and received another patch.

We decided to stop by the firehouse too as they were close by. So far, everywhere we've stopped, these hardworking men and women are all so appreciative of what we are doing. Thanks so much to all of you! Dillon just gave Bill a patch from the London, KY Fire Department! Thank-you!

Another patch from the chief at the city of London Police Department.

We appreciate you! So we were getting tired by then and started looking for a campground. Again, the Garmin didn't show anything close by and we were practically on top of Renfro Valley RV Park in Mt Vernon, KY. A few minutes after we parked, got all the hookups taken care of and started up the computer, it started pouring! So again, we found a campground just when we needed it. Thank-you for your prayers. If we have WiFi tomorrow, I will see you then!

May 11th and 12th.....

We had some long sleeved white T-shirts made for Bill at Standard Printing in Johnson City. We wanted to do lots of different cycling shirts for police, fire and military, but it was just more  than we could handle financially. The printing place gave us an excellent price and the white shirts are way more visible. So if you see this guy on the road this summer...wave Hi!

The next few days were busy, busy and Wednesday came before we knew it. We left the house at 1:45 in the afternoon feeling like a couple of pack mules! LOL!

After all the stuff we packed in the camper, still managed to forget a few things...the tea kettle and coffee!! Will definitely have to hit a grocery store soon. We were pretty tired when we left, so only drove about 4 hours. I was searching the Garmin for campgrounds and it said there was one 43 miles away. Then Bill noticed we were driving past a state park sign with a campground. Yay! We were right next to one!

So in we drove and found a nice, quiet spot.

We were the only ones there. :) It was called the Norris Dam State Park and had 30 amp service and water. There was a dump station available too...all for $22 a night. I had some trouble sleeping as I was a little bit homesick, but that will pass in a few days. A few days before we left, I had my hair trimmed at Ila's so now I'm kinda spikey. :)

After the humidity yesterday, I could see that the curling iron would only be used for special occasions. In the morning, we stopped and got some shots of Norris Dam

and talked with several game wardens and found out that the company building the dam had built the whole town of Norris to house all the workers it took to build the dam. When we told one of them about our trip, he gave us some patches too! Thank-you!

So we're on the road again heading for Kentucky. 

Be part of this great undertaking at Generosity.com

A few days to go!

It's been a little crazy around here and the next couple of days we will be concentrating on packing and cleaning. Bill officially left his job on Friday so we will be living by faith in earnest now. Bill left amid tears and many blessings.

With the help of a Command Strip, one of Patty's gifts is now part of the little beach house on wheels.

And I think that Yeti cup will fit just perfectly in the truck cup holder. If you would like to be a part of the journey, you can donate through Generosity.com and we will receive the funds throughout the summer. A couple of very unexpected blessings occurred this week. The first one was a gas card given to Bill from a very generous gentleman to cover all of our gasoline costs during the summer. What a blessing from God! After seeing the pictures of the time I washed Bill's bicycle computer, another generous gentleman gave Bill a Garmin bicycle computer! 

Now he can download all his trip information each day and share it with you all; so you will know how fast and far he goes each day. By the time we leave Seattle on June 6th, we should have figured out the sharing on Facebook part! LOL! Bill got a chance to speak at New Victory Baptist Church yesterday and it went very well. We even had a fire truck at the church! Thank-you Jonesborough Fire Department! We enjoyed a meal after with some of Bill's family and our nephew Zach treated us all! Thanks Zach! And, I have to say it.....I ate a frog leg. Now don't go running off and screaming, it wasn't half bad. A couple of gentlemen in the restaurant encouraged me to try one; after all, the guys at Duck Dynasty can't be wrong.....right? I wouldn't order a plateful at a restaurant, but if you needed food...I think I would just catch me a few big 'ol bullfrogs and have at it! LOL! You can hop on over (sorry about that! LOL!) to our Facebook page, Twice Across America, and watch the video of Bill speaking yesterday and now I really need to get back to work. Continue to follow us on Facebook and this blog and we covet your prayers.