The Deluxe Tour

As we have traveled around the U.S., many of our friends have asked for a tour of our camper van. We happily offer several levels of tours, including the premium tour that includes a trip to the wine cellar.

In the past weeks, we've had requests from as far away as Phnom Phen and The Netherlands to see the interior of our van. Because we can't take our van to these places, we offer this visual deluxe tour.



Our used Leisure Travel Van Freedom wide-body model sits on a Dodge Ram 3500 chassis. The inside of the van has everything we need.



A gourmet kitchen with stove, sink, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, and pullout pantry:









A dining/living/office area for meals, blog writing, and card playing:



A master bedroom with an 80-inch-long, king-size bed:



And plenty of storage, thanks to the Mennonites who designed the interior, making use of every square inch of space. We have packed for a four-month trip, and we have storage space to spare. 

Several of the features we appreciate about the van, especially at our age, is that it has a toilet, a propane furnace, an air conditioner, and a water heater. You might think that with all of these features, the van must be 60 feet long. But at just under 20 feet, the van is nimble enough to take on winding mountain roads, and it fits into a normal parking space, whether in a downtown area or a grocery-store parking lot. 

However, that means the interior floor space is limited--only 3' x 7'. When we are getting dressed in the morning, we need to do a dance. Good thing we like each other a lot.

Oh, yes, the wine cellar, We're actually using it to store soda right now. It's below one of our couches over a wheel well. And, it does store about 30 cans of soda or about 6 bottles of wine.

Unless you have any questions, that concludes our tour for today.Thank you for joining us on this tour. Please stay to the right as you exit.

The Big Bend

In Texas everything is big. That includes Big Bend National Park, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The park gets its name from the big bend from south to north that the Rio Grande River makes on the border of Texas and Mexico.

The park, which is located in a remote area of southwestern Texas, is one of the least visited national parks. Its features are carved by an unusual and striking combination of mountains, river, and desert.

The mountain ranges thrust up dramatically from the desert floor, revealing mineral deposits and layers of various geologic eras.









In the center of the park the Chisos Mountains rise around a natural basin, with a "window" that opens to other mountain ranges in the desert. The aerial photo (not ours) shows the unique formation of the basin.



Although the Rio Grande River winds somewhat lazily at the southern border of the park, it has cut some deep and impressive canyons.



The most spectacular canyon is the Santa Elena Canyon. We visited it before sunset and again the next morning, an hour after sunrise.

The aerial photo (obviously not ours) shows the cut of the 1500-foot canyon along its 11-mile length. In the evening we talked with six canoers who had paddled through the canyon, risking the Rock Slide Rapids and capsizing several times.

Bas was able to hike into the canyon and said it was by far the best hike of our entire trip to this point.

The vast desert in the park is home to javelinas. We saw a number of these very strange animals but the photos we took were from too great a distance so we include this one from the Web.

Thankfully we did not see some of the other creatures that live in the park.

Ironically, in the parched desert, we saw signs indicating the flash flood levels when the few inches of rains do fall on the mountains and run off into the plains.







When we left Big Bend National Park, we drove on the Texas Mountain Trail over some of the most wild-and-scenic roadways of the trip. 

As we ascended and descended on roads with steep 15% grades (!) and roller-coaster dips, we passed through a ghost mining town, a movie set, and a valley with hoodoos and balanced rock. We also had some spectacular vistas of the Rio Grande River.In some places, the Rio Grande was only 50 feet across. It was strange to be so close to Mexico and easy to see how hard it is to guard the U.S. border along this meandering and shallow river. 

You Know You're in the South when . . .

Before taking your food order, the waiter brings you "bowled peanuts" (peanuts boiled in salt water for eight hours).



Spanish moss hangs from the trees in your neighborhood



The porches (piazzas) are on the side of the house



Not only does the local KFC serve liver and gizzards every day, but fried gizzards are considered to be the secret to life.







The rocking chairs are lined up on the porch.


Some guy named Bubba owns half the town: the drug store, the country store, the grocery store, the restaurant . . .







Most of the menu items are "Frahd"-- frahd green tomatoes, frahd okrah, frahd pickles, frahd hush puppies, frahd chicken, frahd catfish, frahd pah.





Tasty, y'all.

Blessed

We've just enjoyed precious hours with my (Lynn's) niece Becky, her husband, Ken, and children Kaden and Elaina. We were so engrossed in our conversations last night that I forgot to take photos. The family leaves very early for work and school, so we didn't see them this morning.

So, instead of sharing recent photos, I'll share images and words from their home.

Blessed. That says it all. This family is keenly aware that God has blessed them, with each other, with love, with joy.



Ken and Becky have made it a personal discipline to choose joy. When they learned that they would be unable to conceive children, they chose joy. They also chose to adopt. Through this process, God blessed them with two precious children through domestic open adoption. Kaden and Elaina's first parents came from various backgrounds, including alcohol and drug use. Kaden and Elaina's first moms chose life, and then they sacrificially shared that life with Ken and Becky.



For the past 12 years, Ken and Becky have loved and equipped these children in the shelter of their home. They have breathed life into them. They are guiding them through the shoals of learning disabilities. For a time, Becky homeschooled them.



Today at 12 and 10, Kaden and Elaina are loving, funny, delightful children.






They are currently in 6th and 4th grades at the inner-city eSTEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) school in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Becky serves as the reading teacher for the 5th grade. Yesterday we visited the school that is bustling with energy and learning. Becky is also working on a master's degree in teaching.

Ken has served for nearly two decades with various military groups, where he has worked as an aide-de-camp to a general as well as in many other administrative and logistical roles. He is devoted to his family.

Above the fireplace mantel in their family room, Ken and Becky have hung a word collage that captures their family's values and special moments.



What is also evident in this family is their love for God--in how they welcome people, in how they love each other, in how they view themselves.



They are truly a blessed family.