October 2023 – RVing With a Purpose

Week Two in Muskogee – Making Homes Home Again

Sunday, October 29, 2023

We took over leadership of the Oklahoma disaster rebuild team Friday October 20th after working a transition week the previous week. Most of the homes we are repairing have suffered significant flooding, some with six inches of water in their home and some with several feet of water. Working with us this week were Laura, Chris, Bruce, Janette and two NOMADS participating in their first project, Lee and Beth. This week we completed and had Bible presentations at two homes bringing to a total of four presentations in Muskogee. We completed Ken’s home, which is the converted 100 year old passenger train car we began last week. We enjoyed Ken’s stories of how his father acquired the “home” and set it up on their property when Ken was a young boy. We replaced the flooring in the middle room, the kitchen and bath/laundry room, and made some improvements in the booth dinette. The home created some unique challenges for the team due to the curved walls.

Bible presentation for Mr Ken. We were glad to have his case manager and a representative from the Muskogee County EMA attend our Bible presentations.

In Christine’s home we completed the NOMADS portion of the work. NOMADS removed rotten subflooring at Christine’s and installed new piers and floor joists and new subfloor in the kitchen and bedroom. The remainder for the rebuilding at her home will be done by another agency.

Bruce, Lee and Janette removing the old subfloor

Gary, one of the ROAD project managers, working with Lee and Bruce to replace all the floor joists

Bruce, Sam (on of the project managers) and Lee cutting subfloor material

After we finished installing the sublfoor, the group that is coming in to finish the house for a television program wanted to see what else needed to be done under the house so we removed a section so they could crawl under the house.

In addition to completing two homes, we worked on two others. Margaret’s home was begun by previous weeks NOMADS and hopefully will be completed early next week. The house required roof repairs and drywall removal and repairs and our work this week of sanding drywall, and re-texturing and painting the ceiling and walls.

Lee helped with painting the high places

Almost finished ceiling and walls in Ms Margaret’s house

William’s home is still a work in progress without an anticipated completion date yet. His house requires total roof removal and reinstall including replacement of part of the decking. Also, to be replaced is the soffit and fascia which is partially completed and some drywall repairs and bathroom vanity repairs.

Laura and Chris removing old soffit and fascia

Angela and Jake, our Habitat for Humanity friends, working on William’s roof.

The weather has been great for work this week and since we can walk to Braum’s Ice Cream from our full hookup and level campsites (and the BBQ restaurant is only a mile from the campsites), all is really good in OK.

On Friday we had to say goodbye to our wonderful new friends and NOMADS, Beth and Lee. We hope to work with them again soon. Friday also brought a change in our weather. It has rained all weekend. Much needed rain due to the drought conditions but now the temperatures are dropping like a rock. Next week may require lots of layers for work. Hope you all had a great week.

Beth and Lee leaving

We also welcomed Ken and Michele to the team.

Week One In Muskogee

Sunday, October 22, 2023

When we arrived last Saturday in Muskogee, OK we were greeted by our leader Charlotte and then later our friend Suzanne. We got Fred setup and then relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Sunday the NOMADS team visited one of the local Methodist churches. The early service was held in a lovely little chapel. We were warmly welcomed, and the service was good. In the afternoon we tried to get our tools organized and ready for work, and then had the usual Sunday team meeting where we met the remainder of the team.

After Monday morning devotion, we were taken to Mr. Ken’s house where we spent the week installing laminate flooring and luxury vinyl plank, after preparing the subfloor. This was one of our more interesting home repairs. Mr. Ken’s house is a 100 year old train car. Train cars have more curves than regular homes so there were a few challenges. Hopefully we will complete this project tomorrow when we return to do some caulking, and cleanup. Thursday we had two Bible presentations for homes that were completed this week. It was a good team but sadly they all left for other projects or home and we have a totally new team who arrived today.

It was great to have Bill providing music for our morning devotions.

Suzanne and Anne flooring Mr. Ken’s living room

Anne installing the last plank at Mr. Ken’s

Sue and Becky cutting trim for Mr. Ken’s rail car home.

Part of this weeks team installed and stained these new cabinets.

It’s always such a joy to do a Bible presentation when we finish a home. This was the first Bible presentation for most of the team.

This weekend, we enjoyed the Okie Jeep Jam that took place here at the event center where we are all parked. There were about 300 jeeps in attendance. It was a family oriented event with some groups of 3 generations enjoying the fun. We enjoyed watching the various events.

Last week the NOMADS RVs were the only one in the park. This is how it looked this weekend.

One of the most customized Jeeps trying to balance the teeter-totter.

There was a steady line going through the Jeep playground every day.

The mud pit was one of the main attractions. Most of the Jeeps came out of it completely covered in mud. There was a mobile car wash company set up on site.

This afternoon we had our first team meeting with our new team and we are looking forward to another good week of work for the people of Muskogee. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

We had to pass under the trees where these giant acorns grow each time we walked to the ice cream shop.

South Carolina to Oklahoma

Monday, October 16, 2023

Last blog post we had just returned to SC to visit with Randy and Debra. We, of course, had motorhome projects – just like keeping up your house – and other routine maintenance items. We also spent a few hours one afternoon assisting Randy and Debra with one of their ministries through the Edgefield Baptist Association. They collect magazines and devotional books and Sunday school literature and donate it to the International Seafarer Ministry in Charleston. We sorted and boxed up the books/magazines and Randy and Debra will deliver them to Charleston in a few days. The ministry in Charleston provides the reading/study material to the people who come into the port on the big seagoing ships. Please read a little about this really great ministry.

We had a nice but shorter than planned visit. We received an invitation to a retirement party for the first dispatcher Max hired when 9-1-1 was first implemented for Blount County. We couldn’t miss the opportunity to attend her party, so we returned to Alabama. Carrie dispatched 37 years, 30 years for Blount County 9-1-1. There aren’t many people who stay with anything for that long. Thank you, Carrie, for your dedication.

It was great to see Carrie again as she moved into the next chapter of her life.

Having extra time in Alabama, we were able to see a number of our friends at Camp Sumatanga and around town. Sunday we met Donna and Barry at the Huddle House for breakfast and then worshiped at our home church and Sunday school class. Good times!

Sunday afternoon we drove up to Red Bay. Monday morning we dropped Fred off at 1st Class Glass for a new windshield. We were hit by a rock while driving on the interstate on our last trip. The windshield replacement takes two days. They removed the broken one and installed the new in less time than it took us to go to Jack’s for breakfast and return. Then Fred had to stay inside for the rest of the day and we spent the night inside the shop in Fred. Tuesday morning, they put another coat of sealant on the windshield which then had to dry for another 2-3 hours, and reinstalled our mirrors and wiper blades and we were out of the shop shortly before noon. The people at 1st Class Glass were very professional and proficient. Very nice as well. We really appreciated them working us in so quickly. We then took Fred across the street to Trevor Nichols to get one of our slide toppers replaced. Again, very professional and fast service. Trevor even had his people replace the trim on our floor coverings we bought from him six years ago and didn’t charge us for the work. After parking Fred for the night, we visited our friends at Hometown Pizza. Pizza and lasagna are still just as good as ever. Wednesday morning, we took Fred to Fowler Detailing for a wash, wax, roof treatment, and rims polished. Of course, about an hour after we left the shop if rained. Oh well Fred still looks better than before.

First Class Glass has all the right equipment for installing big windshields.

They also keep a lot of windshield in stock so customers don’t have to wait for one to be ordered.

Waiting on the windshield sealant to set

Thursday morning we departed Red Bay, so pleased with the service we received from all the nice people who call Red Bay home. We drove to a COE park in Arkansas to relax for two days and prepare for our next NOMADS project.

Cherokee Park Corps of Engineers Campground in Arkansas

We got to watch one tugboat lock through with a work barge.

Saturday morning we drove the final leg of our journey to Muskcogee, OK. We will be working here for four weeks repairing flood damaged homes from a 2022 flood. Please remember us in your prayers for the safety of our team, the work we hope to accomplish, and the lives that will be touched.

NOMADS parking in Muskogee is on an old runway.

Another Great Huddle At Talona Ridge RV Resort

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

One of several beautiful sunrises at Talona Ridge

We were in the WalMart parking lot in Murfeesboro, TN when we last left you. We were up and on the road to Ellijay before daylight and arrived before lunch. We needed to arrive early because we were ambassadors for this event, meaning we had other attendees we needed to meet and greet as they arrived. We were assigned nine couples to welcome, give them a welcome bag and generally be their point of contact for any questions or concerns for the weekend. We especially needed to be sure that our five people who had not previously attended a Switch It Up Huddle felt welcomed and included in all the activities.

Snacks for our first evening get together

Huddles are all about making friends and building community of RVers. Talona Ridge RV Resort is such a great resort with caring owners and staff. The view of the mountains is wonderful and there is usually a great sunrise and sunset to photograph from the top of the resort. We had 157 people taking part in various activities such as skeet shooting, High Tea, the Give Back, white water rafting, visiting the apple barns and orchards, a winery tour, motorcycle ride, paddle boarding and kayaking, catered meals, fire side music, hiking, pickle ball, and probably several other things we forgot since we couldn’t do them all. (Some of the pictures are from the Huddle Facebook page since we couldn’t attend everything.)

The resort has 4 pickleball courts that some of the Crew used.

Several of the Crew enjoyed a motorcycle ride through the North Georgia mountains.

The safety briefing was very helpful this time – especially the parts about what to do when you fell out of the raft. At one time we had around 10 of our people in the water and a few rafts overturned. As scary at it was for some, it was later recognized as a great team-building exercise.

Our raft while the guide was still with us

We always do a community give back at the Huddles and this year we worked at the Gilmer County High School. It was a more physical project than some give backs have been, but we still had about 75 people involved with landscaping, clearing trails and painting. Things looked much better when we left, and the school officials were very appreciative. Other Huddles we have done things like work at the local food bank, bring supplies for and then bag up supplies and goodies for all the teachers at the Elijay schools, or work at children’s homes doing such things as repairing bikes, painting/staining, cleaning, etc.

We had to dig holes and set 18 posts for a safety rope on this part of the trail.

Spreading gravel with wheelbarrows and rakes

In addition to trail building and maintenance, there was painting.

Sunday morning we had another wonderful time of worship together. It is always so special to worship with all our RV friends. Switch It Up, which began as a YouTube channel and still produces great and fun videos, has become so much more than “just” a YouTube channel. We are working to become a group of people (RVers) coming together to inspire others, create community, and impact the world. Many of you know that we lead/facilitate a weekly Bible study. Our group is a part of the Founders Club of Switch It Up crew. We hope to start other groups in 2024. We would appreciate your prayers.

One of our favorite parts of a huddle is Sheila sharing her testimony and message on Sunday morning.

Since Switch It Up still has a YouTube channel there is a lot of video recording at the huddles. This is Harold from the YouTube channel 1StrangeAdventure recording the question and answer session for Todd and Sheila.

And here we are setting up for a group photo and drone shot that will probably be use in one of their videos.

After a few extra days at Talona Ridge to rest and get caught up on some business items, we headed back to South Carolina to visit Randy and Debra and get ready for our next project. We will be heading to Oklahoma in a few days to lead a NOMADS team on a DR (disaster rebuild) for people who suffered flood and wind damage in 2022. Please keep us and all our NOMADS friends in your prayers for safe travel, and then safe work in OK. Love you all!