This week we were still in Muskogee, OK, with a team of 12 people continuing to work on the same trailer as last week. There have been times when it was somewhat crowded and very noisy in the double-wide mobile home, but we accomplished a lot. The weather improved with no more 90 degree days or heavy rain. We were even wearing jackets in the early mornings. By Thursday afternoon the front deck was completed, all the sub-flooring had been repaired or replaced, most of the luxury vinyl plank flooring had been installed in the entire trailer, most of the drywall had been installed, the master bath was almost complete and work on the central bath was begun. The back deck was completed, the upper cabinets in the kitchen were repaired, the lower cabinets were stained and ready to install. There is still drywall to be finished. It was a dedicated, hardworking crew. We were all pretty tired by Thursday night but another dinner together at one of Muskogee’s good bar-b-que restaurants made everything better.
Steve and Chris hanging cabinets
Michele and Ken working on back deck
Laura and Voni installing drywall
Laurie, Dean, Chris and Steve installing kitchen subfloor
Wow! It’s only been two weeks since our last post. We are improving. When we last posted, we were in Blount County doing all the things like absentee voting, paying taxes and the like. We were able to visit with friends, go to our church and visit our dentist. After a good report from our long-time dentist and friend, we prepared Fred for another long trip. Early Friday morning, October 9th, we pulled out of Camp Sumatanga headed west toward Muskogee, OK. A trip of about 600 miles. This was our second trip to Muskogee and probably our 4th or 5thNOMADS trip to Oklahoma. It is also our second trip where NOMADS are working with Recovering Oklahomans After Disaster (R.O.A.D).
The more miles we drove, the warmer it got and by the time we stopped for the night in the rest area it was hot again. Thankful for our generator, we were able to keep Fred cool and we had no problems with our overnight stay. We were back on the road at first light and after a stop at Love’s for fuel we arrived at Hatbox Event Park, Muskogee, OK, our home for the next 3 weeks.
Welcome to Oklahoma
Our team leaders, Debbie and Monte were there to greet us and showed us where to park. We also met our other team members, Sherry, Janice, Ken, Michele, Dean, and Laurie. Saturday night we all enjoyed an amazing fireworks display in the park, put on by several local fireworks companies. The shows began about 7pm and continued until after 10pm. Longest and best fireworks we have ever seen – and all for free. Great way to begin our visit to Muskogee.
Saturday nigh fireworks competition.
The show ended with a combination fireworks and drone show.
Sunday afternoon we had our first team meeting and began preparing for the work week. As is customary for NOMADS, on Monday morning we had devotion and then headed to our job site about 20 minutes from the park. We are working on an older double-wide trailer that needs lots of work. A flooding rain damaged the trailer in 2022 and things seemed to have gone downhill since then. We are repairing floor joists, sub-flooring, flooring, drywall, front and back porches as well as replacing insulation. We had a team of 10 this week and accomplished a lot, but there is still much to do. We also had to deal with torrential rain on Wednesday and Thursday. We couldn’t work Thursday because we couldn’t get in on the dirt roads but worked Friday instead.
Janice and Sherry removing drywall
Laurie and Janice reinforcing floor joists in the back bedroom
Laurie insulating kitchen floor
Debbie and Anne flooring master bedroom
Michele and Anne flooring living room
Dean and Ken building the new front porch
Dean and Ken making concrete pad at the base of the steps
The master bedroom when we arrived
The master bedroom at end of week 2
The kitchen when we arrived
The kitchen floor at end of week 2
The front bedroom when we arrived
The front bedroom at end of week 2
The back bedroom when we arrived
The back bedroom at end of week 2
The front porch when we arrived
The front porch at end of week 2
The most unusual of the dozen cats living at the house
Wednesday rain
During the heavy rain on Thursday we got a little concerned when we saw crawfish seeking higher ground.
Week 2 team picture
The annual Jeep Jam has been going on this weekend. The park is full of all types of Jeeps and lots of families enjoying the festivities.
The jeep course
We watched several jeeps attempt the mud pit …
… and this one didn’t make it.
The Jeep Jam ended with kids racing though the mud pit.
My, my. How time flies! Looks like our last blog post was made July 2nd. We had completed our Constructors for Christ project in Bowling Green and had arrived at Cypress Landing RV Park in Dozier, Alabama. One of the friends we made while there said we came out of the RV about 15 minutes after we arrived and started working and didn’t stop for ten weeks. That’s a pretty accurate description of our summer at Cypress Landing. Two of our good friends purchased Cypress Landing at Gantt Lake about 2 weeks before and asked us to come help in getting the park cleaned up and set up and running. So, we did. We helped with all sorts of work while there. In addition to regular cleaning, we helped tear out a bathroom and converted it into a laundry room, helped remodel the General Store and helped change a laundry room into a gathering place for our Switch Crew friends and family. Anne learned how to work at the front desk in the store and take reservation requests. Max worked on all kinds of projects, and we both made some wonderful new friends and were able to work with a lot of Switch Crew friends we have made over the past six years. The park is looking better every day, and we would encourage everyone to stop by for a visit.
The old bathroom that became a laundry
The new laundry when we left
General Store before
General Store after
Helping square a pavilion that was built very crooked
We installed a new AED that was donated to the RV park.
A friend working on sites
Another of our projects was improving the connection pedestals …
… by raising the power connections to keep surge protectors out of the mud.
Of course there was also a lot of fun, such as testing the new Go Boats.
When we decided it was time to take a break, we headed back to South Carolina to visit with Randy and Debra and change out RV’s. We loaded BB up with supplies and headed to Talona Ridge RV park in Elijay GA, another great place we like to visit. There was a Switch it Up Huddle that we enjoyed for a few days, and especially enjoyed the “give back” project at Convoy Of Hope, before we needed to go to the NOMADS annual meeting in Elkhart, IN.
The Huddles are always a time for gathering with friends.
Our Convoy of Hope project consisted of sorting and inventorying thousands of donated shoes.
While in Elhart, we took BB back to the mother ship (Coachmen Class B Factory Service Center) for some work and she is now doing better than when she was brand new. The folks in Middlebury are always so great to work with us and keep BB in great shape. We are anxious to take her on another trip.
The NOMADS annual meeting was probably the best we have had since COVID. It was a great group and lots of new people in attendance. There were several service opportunities on various days, along with time set aside to visit the surrounding area. With only about 150 attendees our charity auction (funds used to support our mission projects) raised over $66,000.00. Extravagant Generosity! Next year the meeting will be in Mineola, TX and plans are already being made.
The NOMADS Memorial Service we made sure to attend to honor friends we lost this year
Worship is always a major part of our meetings
We always enjoy helping with the charity auction.
One of our educational sessions
We had several service projects this year. One was sewing bags for Midwest Mission, …
… and one was building beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
We returned to South Carolina and changed back into Fred, visited with Randy and Debra, headed to Atlanta to visit Anne’s brother Jim for a few days and we are currently back in Blount County (home), for a few days. It’s time to pay taxes, vote, purchase a new tag for Fred, visit with friends and then we will be on the road to Oklahoma. We will be working a three week disaster rebuild in Muscogee. We will try to keep the blog updated a little more often.
One of many beautiful sunrises we have seen on the road
We departed Capitol Reef National Park in Utah on Thursday, June 4th, knowing that a lot of our remaining time would be driving. Of course, we did not get an early start with the cinnamon rolls, hiking and getting BB ready for some back-to-back travel days. The night of June 4th was a Boondockers Welcome stop in Grand Junction, CO – about 200 miles for the day. Not great mileage but we stopped to make phone calls and handle some business that took longer than expected along the way. As usual, our hosts for the night were welcoming and we had a nice visit before turning in.
Eastern Utah sure looks a lot different from the western side.
We were up early on Friday, June 5th driving I-70 easterly across Colorado and into Kansas. We stopped for the night at Ellis Lakeside Campground, in Ellis, Kansas. This small campground is a city owned campground that was a whopping $25/night with full hookups and lake front site. It was a quiet, peaceful place to sleep after a long 568 mile day. We don’t do those long days very often anymore but it was all interstate and we were trying to get away from some of the heat.
Vista at the rest area near Vail
Welcome to Kansas
Shortly after entering Kansas we stopped and logged the oldest active geocache in the world
Our site at Ellis Lakeside Park
Near the city RV park in Ellis is a Railroad museum.
Saturday morning after a visit to the local bakery, we headed to Archie, MO. We stopped at the I-49 RV park to visit some friends, Connie and David. Connie and David are in our Bible Study group and we see them most weeks online but it sure was more fun to spend time with them in person! Thanks Connie and David for your gracious hospitality.
Visiting with Connie and Dave
Monday morning, June 8th, we left our dear friends and started driving again. Destination for Monday was Craighead Forest Park, Jonesboro , AR. – 345 miles. On the way, when it was time for a 2 hour driver change and leg stretch, we saw a sign for Mammoth Spring State Park and pulled in. Wow, what a find! It was right off US 63, and sort of served like a welcome center just after we entered Arkansas. We took advantage of their really nice walking trail and a nice display of the old generating plant on the spring river. It just so happened that this is the same Spring River that we took the Explorers canoeing many, many years ago – probably 40 years ago.
Mammoth Spring was flowing 8.59 million gallons of water each hour when we were there.
Mammoth Spring Dam
The old generator at Mammoth Spring provided power to area from 1925 to 1972.
Back on the road refreshed, we drove on to Jonesboro and another very nice public park on another lake that was only $15/night with hookups. Another great place to hike and another quiet night.
Our site at Craighead Forest Park in Jonesboro, AR
We enjoyed the lakeside trail at Craighead forest park.
On Tuesday, June 9th, we made our way back to Alabama and the River Ridge Retreat in Guntersville. This is the park where we had the Huddle back in April. We have rested a few days here, and tomorrow will move on to Camp Sumatanga, our church on Sunday and then back to our starting point in South Carolina. After getting BB cleaned out and Fred ready to hit the road to our next mission project, we will give you all the statistics on this trip.
Back at River Ridge Retreat
When we left River Ridge in April the ospreys were sitting on eggs. Now one of the nests has two chicks …
