RVing With a Purpose

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Today was a cooler but beautiful day. Nice working weather.

We all began the day back in Baker at Richard’s house. The Quickcete was mixed and poured at the end of the wheel chair ramp, completing that portion of the project. We began installing the railings on the front porch until we ran out of material. The lumber came this afternoon, but by then everyone was busy on other projects so we will complete the railings another day. The sheathing was completed. The purlins were all installed. We completed the blocking where it was needed. The house wrap was installed in spite of the wind and the sub-fascia was partially installed. After lunch Anne, Jo and Lisa returned to Francis Asbury and painted the floor in the hall at the church. There are still some doors to paint and trim to install and the floor will probably need another coat. We may save most of those projects for next week when we are expecting rain again.

 

It was another beautiful and productive day in Baton Rogue.  But we are tired so its a short blog.

Monday, March 19, 2018

This morning was again cloudy, dreary and drippy. We had a little rain around 10:00 but it was light and didn’t last long. It was just enough to make us cover up the saws and go inside for a moment and then it was over. After that quick little shower, the sun came out and it was hot and humid. Our high today was in the mid 80s, by far the warmest day so far. Our northern team members really don’t like that heat. They should be happier tomorrow when it cools off and the high is 65. We will be happier too.

Today the ramp crew completed the ramp with the exception of a little Quikrete by the metal ramp to help alleviate some of the mud problems. BTW, the purpose of the metal ramp is to prevent wood decay for the portion on the ground at our homeowners request. This afternoon our construction coordinator asked the crew to also place the same type of railing that is on the ramp on the porch as well. They will probably start on that tomorrow.

Today good progress was made on the bedroom addition. The windows and sheathing were removed from the exterior wall and the windows saved for the new exterior walls, the door was cut in from the living room to the bed room and the wall was removed from the old bath to extend the bathroom into the new addition. Also, the north wall framing was completed as was the interior wall framing. The sheathing was placed on the south and east wall. It was another productive day.

For those from other parts of the country, we have been watching our local TV channels from Birmingham tonight due to the severe storms in the area. Fortunately, at least for now, the area around our home has had no damage. Other areas of the state including Cullman, where Anne worked, have had severe damage. Very thankful that so far there have been no reports of injuries.

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Sometimes we just wish the weather forecasters would be wrong. Unfortunately, they have been right Friday through Sunday of this week. No bike riding this weekend. It was a warm night last night, requiring the air conditioner, and there was a lot of rain in a short period of time around 1:30 today. It was cloudy with dark ominous looking clouds until late this afternoon when the sun finally came our for a little while. It was 82 and humid this afternoon. Again, thankful for 50 amp power and good air conditioners.

We, of course, went to worship this morning. The team decided to stay at Francis Asbury again this week. Today Pastor David was not here put Pastor Johnson filled in for him. She brought a message from John 12:20-33, “Lift up Jesus”. She also reminded us that when we look at a cross we should remember the vertical piece reminds us we are to reach up to Jesus and the horizontal reminds us to reach out to others. “Love Jesus – Love Neighbors.” Good message and again the entire congregation was so welcoming. Good people!

After church, some of us went back to City Cafe and others went for chicken fingers. Both groups were pleased with their service and food. We had grilled cedar plank salmon which was excellent. After a quick stop at Walmart we got to swim back to the truck in a deluge of rain. We had to do some work to prepare for our 6:00 pm team meeting and then we watched a Hallmark movie and relaxed.

Since this is a disaster rebuild project we have a team meeting every Sunday night because we have team members rotate out and new ones join each week. We officially welcomed Jodi and Stel to our team tonight and celebrated Dave’s birthday with cake, ice cream and pecan pie. It was good meeting with some good discussion. Looking forward to another productive week, accomplishing whatever it is that God wants us to do. Hope you have had a good weekend and stay safe as everyone starts back to work tomorrow.

Saturday, March 17, 2018

It was another rainy, cloudy day in Baton Rogue. The high was about 82 and the humidity was way up.

It rained off and on until early afternoon. Like yesterday the amount of rain was insignificant. However, it was enough that we elected to not go bike riding this morning. Every time the sun came out and we thought we might go riding with Jo and Mark,  it would be raining again within five minutes.

The fifty college kids staying here at the church loaded the bus for the 26 hour trip back home at 5:00 this morning. They were actually pretty quiet loading out. It’s nice to see young people spending their spring break on mission projects. We appreciate their work here in Baton Rogue. Since we were up, we went back to Mary Lou’s for doughnuts. They were just as wonderful as last week. The blueberry doughnuts are probably the best blueberry cake doughnuts we have eaten.

Our new team members, Stel and Jodi arrived shortly before noon. We are so thankful they arrived safely. After helping them get parked, we headed into Baton Rogue to run errands. Since the sun was out we drove down to see the Mississippi River and walk the levee. We took the umbrella for our walk so of course there was no more rain. We were amazed at the height of the river. We saw up close and personal why the Mississippi is sometimes called the big muddy.  If not for the levees all of downtown and the LSU campus would be under water right now. The river was running very swiftly and the flooding is now causing problems for the barges. Another 6 feet and the water would top the levee. We had a very interesting walk, taking in the sights. We also discovered that parking is a problem downtown so when we get to ride the levee we will probably drive to the other end of the trail to start.

 

After getting a pretty good walk, we completed our errands and returned to the church. The team decided that we would play more games tonight. Six of us played Farkle while the others played a card game. We all had a good time and it was a time to get to know Stel and Jodi a little better.

Another good day. We will see what we can get into tomorrow.