RVing With a Purpose

Friday, September 14, 2018

We did not set the clock to get us up this morning. The first day in three weeks. Of course, as usual with moving days, we really didn’t sleep very late. We were up about 6:30 and walking about 7:45 instead of 6:00. No sunrise viewing this morning. However, we somehow found our sunrise picture from yesterday. It was a glorious sunrise so we had to share it with you today.

We took our time getting ready to leave Camp Lake Stephens. We cooked breakfast, washed the last load of clothes, and cleaned the house. We always like to have all the housekeeping done before departure if possible so that when we arrive at our destination it takes just a short time to be setup and enjoying our new location. Today we also did one last walk around Camp Lake Stephens to take a few last pictures. We really like the new windows at the dining hall. The next NOMADS group may be giving the front of the building a new coat of paint after annual meeting. Some of the staff are suppose to get it pressure washed next week.

Shannon and Mariel were first to leave and had the longest drive but only to Starkville, MS. Next to leave were John and Kitti, who had the shortest drive today, Sardis, MS. Then we departed for Hernando Point COE campground located a few miles from Hernando, MS. Dave and Carol were just a few minutes behind us and are also here at Hernando Point. Hernando is about 62 miles from Oxford and on about 25 miles from Memphis, TN, our next destination. Don’t have all the information together about the park and lake tonight but will share more later. The lake is lovely and the campground wooded and quiet. After getting set up, Dave and Carol joined us for a trip into town for pizza and groceries. We then returned to camp, put away the groceries, and took a walk around the campground. Always enjoy seeing everyone’s RV’s when we walk. There is a beautiful Terry Classic a few sites from us. We are settled in and will use the next few days to rest, finish our preparations for our presentation for annual meeting and just have a little fun. Hope you all have a fun weekend.

 

Thursday, September 13, 2018

We were up early again this morning so we would have time to get a full walk in before devotion. We had plans for this evening and knew we wouldn’t get to walk tonight. While walking we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise. We thought we had a picture but don’t know what happened to it. Several of our team members who also saw it said it was the prettiest sunrise they had ever seen. Then this evening we had a beautiful sunset. What a wonderful way to end our time at Camp Lake Stephens.

Carol shared our devotion this morning using Mark 16:2-3. The ladies went to Jesus’ tomb but didn’t know how they were going to move the stone. A huge immovable object between the ladies and Jesus whom they loved. The stone had been moved when they arrived. Jesus moves the stones in our lives giving us access to himself. After devotion Dave read us a funny story on “How the Internet was Started (Biblical Version)” You should read it. After morning meeting, our camp director, Rich, took us to the gift shop and allowed us all to pick a Camp Lake Stephens T-shirt as a thank you gift. Thanks so much

We did get to work today. The garden crew – Anne, Max, Carol, Mariel and Kitti finished up the garden today. It was hot, tiring work but they pushed through. We repaired the sliding barn doors on the shed. We emptied the shed of all sorts of gardening equipment, seeds, fertilizer, weed killer, and all sorts of other things and returned them to the main camp. There was also a tiller and wood chipper. The shed will now be used for game and athletic equipment.

The remainder of the team, Dave, Del, Peggy, Shannon, and John continued working on the barn. It is looking really good.

This has been a really hard working team that accomplished a lot for the camp. It’s been a fun three weeks and we have made some wonderful new friends. Tonight we all had our final dinner together at a local Italian restaurant. All but Del and Peggy will be heading on down the road in the morning. Del and Peggy are working another week and then will be going to Memphis for annual meeting. Actually our entire team is going to annual meeting so we will see them all again in about 10 days. Looking forward to it.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

We awoke to some light rain on our roof this morning. Sounded so good we slept in a little. To bad it was a work day. It was a little warmer this morning but still a cool 65 degrees. We waited until 7:30 when it was no longer raining and got a quick 20 minute walk.

Mariel and Shannon shared devotion with us. Shannon shared “The Happiest People Are Those Who Realized That God Is Enough” and Mariel a reading on joy. There was good sharing and conversation. Of course our prayer time included a lot of concern for everyone in the path of Florence. We are scheduled to be working a disaster rebuild project working on home damaged by Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina this fall. Wondering if those plans will have to change due to Florence. It sure looks like there may be a lot of damage. We have family in North and South Carolina and have been thinking about them a lot the past few days. Everyone stay safe!

After devotion we were all off to work. Max, Anne, Mariel, Carol, Peggy and Kitti headed back to the garden. We thought we had completed that project today. YEA! We have sorted about 100 tomato cages and saved 40 for the new garden. We have removed all the fencing and rolled it up for disposal. We removed the landscape materiel, pulled up the boards making the raised beds, safed the nails and stacked the lumber. We also pulled up all the posts for the fencing. By the way, the sun was out and it was HOT and HUMID!

 

 

 

As the temperature was getting hotter, Peggy went to the barn to work with John, Shannon, Dave and Del. Kitti joined her after lunch. After we completed the tasks in the garden, before we headed back up Heart Attack Hill, Max gave Mariel a lesson on driving the tractor. She was thrilled. She looks great sitting on that Kubota seat. Late this afternoon, we were asked to return to the lower garden tomorrow to clean out a shed by the garden and repair the door. We will work on that tomorrow.

The barn project is also looking good. It won’t be completed when we close down our time here tomorrow but there is another team coming in after annual meeting so they will get to finish that project.

 

 

 

The window people finally arrived about 3:30 today to work on the dining room windows. Today they got all the wood we installed wrapped in metal and the windows are to be installed tomorrow. Hope they get that done before we leave Friday. We have really enjoyed our time here at Camp Lake Stephens.

After work today, Dave and Carol treated us to root beer floats.  Wow!  Those really hit the spot on this hot day.  We all enjoyed some extra time together visiting and enjoying our floats. Thanks Dave and Carol.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

We had another wonderfully cool morning today. Our morning walks are so much nicer at the cooler temperatures. The high was only 74 so it was another great day to be working outside. We know that summer isn’t over yet but we sure are enjoying this taste of fall.

Kitty and John led our devotion times this morning. They led us in the Lord’s Prayer and as each line was said, God answered. It was really good and funny at times. Kitty also read a Camper’s Prayer, which those of us who travel in RVs, find really cute.

We again changed plans today based on the needs of the camp. The men returned to the barn for a while in the morning while the ladies all started the day at the dining hall taking out the two large front windows. We started by removing the glass as we really didn’t want broken glass in the flower beds. The windows looked to be about late 50’s early 60’s vintage and were next to impossible to remove due to glazing and caulking that had been applied through the years to try to stop leaks. We used our oscillating tools to make the process move a little faster but it still took till noon to get the glass out. Then we started cutting the metal frames. After our first break some of the guys joined us and after lunch we were all working on the windows. We got both large windows removed, all the rotten lumber around the windows removed and the windows framed back up and covered with tarps for the night. The contractor is supposed to be here in the morning to install the new windows. Hopefully he will arrive as planned. I’m sure there are more youth groups scheduled for the weekend and the dining hall will need to be back in service. Plus we have rain predicted. Can’t wait to see the new windows. It should really help the appearance of the dining hall.

We all worked really hard today with a lot of time on the ladders. Going to bed early tonight. We only have two more work days here at Camp Lake Stephens and have lots more we would like to accomplish.