On the Road Again

May 02, 2026

We departed River Ridge Retreat in Guntersville, AL on Tuesday, April 21. We will now be making a slow road trip toward Arizona with several stops and visits along the way. Our first state was Mississippi with an overnight stay in Vicksburg at a Cracker Barrel.  We thank CB for allowing/encouraging RV’s to stay with them.  Of course, on Wednesday we had breakfast with them and then continued our trek to Shreveport, LA, our second state of this trip.  We had a great visit with our NOMADS friends Mark and Lisa.  We got to tour their beautiful new-to-them home and park BB in their driveway for the night.  Unfortunately, we were having such a great time visiting that we forgot to take pictures.  Thursday morning we visited some more and had some great doughnuts – thanks Lisa.  Before departing, Lisa and Mark shared with us some information on the town of Jefferson, Texas about an hour’s drive northwest of Shreveport.  We don’t have a set itinerary, so we made an adjustment to the GPS and headed to Jefferson.  What a gem this little town is. We parked BB in the municipal lot behind the police station for the night.  Yes, it is approved if you are ever there.  We began just walking around the town. There are many antique stores, restaurants, motels, ice cream shops, an old general store with about anything you could imagine and many other interesting places to stop. 

We visited the Museum of Time and Measurement and especially recommend a visit there.  Mr. Ingram owns the museum.  He and his wife had this huge collection in their house and decided it should be shared with the public and donated them all to the Museum.  He has some amazing clocks.  He has a large assortment of calendar clocks that we had not seen previously.  His wife also had a collection of salt and pepper shakers.  Mr. Ingram’s profession was that of a surveyor and there were all sorts of tools for that trade on display, including a four-foot slide ruler (a teaching tool) being a real surprise. 

Mr. Ingram took the time to demonstrate an old music machine used by a traveling pastor to provide worship music.

Of course, we were very interested in the local cuisine and decided to eat at Kitt’s Kornbread Sandwich and Pie Bar. Oh my!  Never had a corn bread sandwich before.  Yes, we make cornbread and eat it with soup, etc. but this was different.  It was so good!!  Now we must learn to make cornbread that holds together and doesn’t crumble.  We hope we can come close to duplicating the recipe because the owner will not share it.  For dessert we visited the Red Bus Cupcakes.  Nope, didn’t have cupcakes – had homemade ice cream.  Oh so good!! We also made a stop at the peanut butter store and purchased some White chocolate chip and Cinnamon varieties of peanut butter.  We have only tried the white chocolate chip so far.  It is very good.

By midday Friday it was then time to depart Jefferson, and we headed to Johnson Creek COE park where we had reservations for two nights. We spent that Friday afternoon and Saturday relaxing at our waterfront site. Hope all of you are doing well.  May God bless you and keep you safe until we meet again.

Alabama Huddle

April 30, 2026

On Tuesday, April 14th, we arrived at River Ridge Retreat in Guntersville, AL for the Alabama Switch It Up Huddle.  We arrived a couple of days early so we could just get some rest and catch up on some paperwork.  Of course, the fact that it gave us two extra days to visit with friends who also came early was a big perk. We also got to meet some of the new members of the crew who also came in early, so it was a wonderful two days.  We were parked in a waterfront site and could walk to the pier and watch two osprey nests with babies. Relaxing beside the water – it was great. In fact the entire park, manager and staff were great.  We lived about an hour and a half from this park and had never been there.  We will definitely make a return visit. It’s such a quiet peaceful place.

The huddle actually kicked off with a meet and greet and dinner Thursday night. There were about 95 people, including 18 new crew members. Welcome to all of you but especially the new crew members.  Of course you aren’t new anymore.  Friday morning was our “give back” where we assembled all the items we brought to assemble the dignity kits for Convoy of Hope. The kits will be distributed as part of the first response efforts when needed.  Friday was also boat day when we spent several hours on the lake in pontoon boats.  Other outings during the weekend included hiking to some waterfalls, ziplining, e-bike riding, hiking, visiting Cathedral Caverns, and UTV riding.

Sunday morning we had an amazing worship service with great music and Sheila shared another great message.  I know several of us are still discussing the ark without a rudder.  If you don’t know about that, send me an email and we can discuss it.

Monday morning after coffee and doughnuts, the huddle was over.  We sadly said our “see you laters” and look forward to our next gathering.

Crazy Easter Week

April 25, 2026

After closing down the Augusta Disaster Rebuild for now, we made a quick, 23 hour, turnaround.  That means we took Fred to Randy and Debra’s home, about an hour from where we were working, visited, shared a few meals, and transferred everything we need back into BB (Beyond Blessed) and were back on the road to Alabama in 23 hours.  That’s the best turnaround we have ever accomplished and yes, we did get some sleep. It was Easter weekend and we wanted to be at our home church, Lester Memorial.  We made it back to our property on Pine Mountain, AL by 5:30 Saturday afternoon and took our afternoon walk with our dear friends Donna and Barry.  We actually made it to 6:00 am Sunrise Services the next morning.  We saw many precious friends and family members the next few days. 

On Wednesday we drove back to Senoia, GA to visit Anne’s brother and help him with some medical stuff.  On Saturday we returned to Alabama, went to church Sunday, said our “see you down the roads”, took care of some business in Oneonta Monday and made it to Guntersville, AL on Tuesday.  It was so great to see friends and family.  It was definitely worth the craziness.

NOMADS Augusta, GA Disaster Rebuild – Our Week 3

Tuesday, April 07, 2026

We had no new arrivals this week so after recovering from all of Saturday’s banana pudding, the team attended church together on Sunday and enjoyed a quiet Palm Sunday afternoon.

Monday had us returning to the Turpin Hill house.  We all worked hard at this location all week.  We completed all the flooring, painted and installed all the baseboard we could until the kitchen is completed, installed seven doors, trimmed out nine doors, and installed seven lock sets.  We also installed decorative shutters on the front of the house, cleaned all the electrical boxes and panel per inspector’s report, and cleaned up inside and outside the house.

Unfortunately, we never got to meet the homeowner due to his work hours. However, the entire team signed his Bible and we left him a note with the Bible for him to pick up when he gets his mail.

After work on Thursday, we all went to dinner at a combination Mexican and Italian restaurant and after the great meals we all walked across the street for some wonderful ice cream.  We are so grateful for this hard-working NOMADS team and all they accomplished.  It was really rewarding to see the sharing of knowledge and skills by this group. Thank you Dave, Rita, Jim, Pat, and Sandy!

Please keep all the homeowners in Augusta and Ashville who are still not back in their home in your prayers.  NOMADS currently are scheduled to return to both locations in the fall to continue the work.  May God Bless you all.