"On the Road...Finally" 6.2.09

I am sitting in a Flying J truck stop in Limon, Colorado. The Pike Family is now 1100 miles from Berea. It has been quite a journey already. Here is what has happened in the last few days.

I have been planning this trip for some time and I expected to have trouble sleeping the night before our departure. I had no idea. Monday evening, a little after midnight Elizabeth began to get sick. She threw up several times during the night. I stayed up with her and eventually decided to get up at 4:30 am and start working on my punch list for the trip. Elizabeth stayed home from her last day of school and rested. Our plan was to leave at 4 pm, but if Elizabeth didn't feel better, we would have to wait another day. She stayed in bed all day and finally her stomach started to settle down. She was still weak but would be able to rest in the RV on the way. After a send off by Derek Cain and Joanna Malcom, we were on our way.

For those of you who don't know, my father has graciously let me borrow his RV for five weeks. The 36.5 ft. Georgie Boy Cruise Master, along with my Dad's Chevy Blazer in tow, puts us over 50 ft. It is little unnerving at first but after awhile I was beginning to settle down. We traveled until 11:30 pm and ended up at a Flying J in St. Louis. Why a Flying J you may ask? Flying J's are truck stops that a RV friendly. They have several spaces for RV parking and it's free. Yeah! After a long 20 hr day, I got some shut-eye.

Next day brought rain but a much better Elizabeth. Our destination that morning was the Gateway Arch. I first visited the Arch when I was a teenager and have always been fascinated by the engineering of the 630 ft. structure. We got there early and the place was virtually empty. We crammed into one of the little round elevators and headed to the top. Noah was not thrilled with this idea. Ethan on the other hand, thought this might be cool. After a five minute elevator ride we were at the top overlooking the Mississippi River and St. Louis. In the picture above you can see the RV at the top right in the middle. All but Noah enjoyed the view.

After the Arch we were on our way. We needed to be well into Kansas that day before we could rest. The drive across Missouri was beautiful. The weather was perfect and the scenery was delightful. We drove to a little campground 30 miles south of Topeka, Kansas, set up the RV and relaxed.

Next morning, after a nice walk and a little RV repair, we were on the road again. I spend much my time driving, listening to Bill O'Reilly's book "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity" and "Velvet Elvis: Repainting a Christian Faith" by Rob Bell. Both have been very enjoyable.

So, after a day's worth of driving here I sit in Colorado. The Lord has kept us safe and Elizabeth's skillful planning has kept us fed. They are all asleep now and I'm heading that way. We have big plans for Denver tomorrow. I will tell you about them later.

Alan