RVing With a Purpose

Monday, May 1, 2017

It was a rainy and windy day. We were under a wind advisory most of the day. Finally about 4:00 pm the sun came out and it was beautiful, but cool. Blue sky puffy white clouds. We sat outside and visited for a couple of hours.

Today was the start of week 2 of the Hinton project. Only 7 more work days left and so much to do.

We of course started the day with devotion. Jackie and Bryant gave another excellent devotion on how we deal with temptation. Thought provoking. Thanks, guys.

After reviewing our work list and discussing the week with Bill, we resumed the work where we left off Thursday. Steve and Sandy began construction on another wall by the steps. Several of the guys worked on hanging the dry wall. The kitchen drywall is all hung and the taping and mud have begun. Anne and Carol are working on this and it will take another couple of days. The other ladies worked on the painting and completed the second coat on the ceilings and put two coats on the walls. The hall ways were also painted. Anne also repaired the popcorn ceiling in the kitchen and master bath. A lot was done today.

One humorous thing that happened today:  With all the electrical roughed in Bill gave Dave some fireblock foam to spray around where the wires penetrated the floor. When we read the label to find out how to apply it we thought it was funny that fireblock foam was “extremely flammable”.

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Today began sunny but then threatened rain off and on during the day but the rain that we know is coming still hasn’t arrived. We took the Hinton bus and we went to First UMC in Hayesville for the 8:30 service. It is a traditional service and today the MissionAires (children K-4^th grade) presented special music. We all really enjoyed the children. The church was very welcoming and Pastor Kirk, who we remembered from previous trips to Hinton, is still the pastor. His message today was on the Workers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16 and was quite good.

After worship we returned to Hinton awaiting the arrival of some NOMADS friends that are working over at Lake Junaluska this period. We had worked with both couples previously so it was great to get to see them again. Since we missed the annual meeting in Branson in September we last saw Gene and Mary Ann when we worked with them at Sumatanga in April of 2016 and Pam and Joe when we worked with them at Midwest Mission Distribution Center in July of 2016. Most of our team had worked with Gene and Mary Anne previously as well. We went to lunch at Rib Country and this time we actually ate the ribs. Their baby back ribs are very good! We also splurged on some onion rings – so much for healthy living today – but it was worth it.

After lunch we returned to Hinton and showed Mary Ann, Gene, Joe and Pam around Hinton and just enjoyed spending the afternoon with friends. They seemed to really enjoy the beauty of this place. The views of the lake from the cabins are just so wonderful. They left to drive back to Junaluska about 3:00 so there was still time for an afternoon nap and work around the rig. We may get some rough weather tonight so will be watching carefully and have our weather radio handy.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

It was another beautiful day in Hayesville, NC although it did get a bit too warm in the early afternoon, at least if you were working outside. Thankful for these beautiful spring days we get to enjoy. We are just a little further north than in Alabama and a little higher altitude so we are getting to enjoy the spring flowers again. The rhododendrons are beautiful around camp and as you drive along the roads. Did you know that rhododendrons are mainly found in Asia and are the national flower of Nepal? Oh, and of course they are also found in the Southern Highlands of the Appalachian Mountains of North America. The roses are also in bloom in the flower garden and the dogwoods and several other flowering plants are in full blood here are well. We enjoyed walking around the campus and looking at them on this beautiful spring day.

After a very hard day yesterday, we never left camp today. We had lots of work to do around FRED, laundry and needed some rest. We walked over to the prayer labyrinth on one of your walks today. The labyrinth here at Hinton was given in memory of the Staten’s by their four daughters. The Staten’s were supporters of Hinton and Mr. Staten served on the board of directors during the early days of Hinton’s development. The camp is readying the Labyrinth for World Labyrinth Day next Saturday by improving the steps and doing some landscaping. You might want to find a labyrinth in your area and make a point to visit and spend some time in prayer or meditation some time this week. Hinton is having a group walk next Saturday at 1:00. Don’t know if we will be here for that but do like the labyrinth.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Hug your family and tell and show them how much you love them.

Friday, April 28, 2017

We left the camp at 8:00 this morning in fog. The fog cleared by the time we got out of Hayesville in route to the north side of Atlanta. We took the route recommended by google and which was a very scenic drive through the north Georgia mountains.

It was very curvy, up and then back down the mountains. There were some very strange named roads such as Trackrock Road, Lower Trackrock Road, Booger Hollow Road, Arkaqua Road, and Frogtown Road.

After we were getting into town, we stopped at a McDonald’s and were very surprised there was a live music performance by about 4-5 musicians ongoing. We have never been to a McDonald’s with live music. Strange. We went to Northside Hospital to be at Anne’s sister-in-law’s doctor appointment. It was a difficult visit and certainly not the outcome we wanted but we were glad we could be there to be support. After the visit we returned to Hinton by the same nice route. The about 70 miles through the mountains is a great drive but once you get closer to Atlanta, the traffic is the usual Atlanta traffic. Not good.

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a few things around the rig, washing clothes and sitting outside visiting with our team members. For dessert tonight Max fixed rootbeer floats. MMMMM good. Hope you all have a great weekend and stay safe.