2 weeks ago (the week of the 21st), I went on a confirmation retreat to the Oklahoma panhandle, to Camp Lutherhaven (pictures to come...once I get them off my camera :)). It is about 5 miles away from Knowles, OK. It is literally in the middle of NOWHERE!! I was super excited to go, as it was my first time away from home for 5 days without my siblings or mom (my dad, since he's kind of in charge of the youth, as well as the confirmands, naturally had to come along). We had a blast! We had to widen trails (which was probably the hardest work I have ever done in my life!!), so we got to stay for free. There were cabins, with bunks, and a full kitchen with a dining/living room. And the had air conditioning! It is so pretty there! When you're driving down the road, it's all desert shrubs, rocky, dusty soil...then you drive over a hill and there's a (springfed) lake and trees, and the cabins. It's really an oasis. When we were driving there, all of a sudden the van we were in just stopped. It just wouldn't go. We were able to get it to the cabin (about 2 miles away), but we knew we couldn't get it back home like that. We were scheduled to stay at the camp from Monday evening to Friday morning. We left as planned on Friday morning, and drove to Woodward, OK (about 70 miles away) to a mechanic. The car made it there without any problems. Oh, I forgot a Pastor Foote from Buffalo, OK (about 60 miles from the camp, so about 120 miles away from Woodward) came to Lutherhaven, and 'escorted' us to Woodward with a minivan, if we had broken down. We made it to Woodward by 9am. We didn't leave until 9am the next morning. The mechanics had different theories to what was wrong. At first they thought it was the alternator (mind you, this wasn't our church's van, it was Our Saviors, another LCMS church), so they replaced it. We had to wait 8 hours for them to do so, as they had to drive to another city to get it. Pastor Foote was so kind, driving us to Dairy Queen (where they gave us free sodas after they heard what happened), a state park, the pool, etc. So at 5pm Friday night we were heading out back home 10 miles away, in Mooreland, the car broke down again, doing to same thing that the mechanics were trying to make it do all day, so they could figure out what was wrong. We call the mechanics, and they drove out to the gas station where we were. Everyone was so nice there! We had tons of people come up to us, asking if they could help, and there were at least 3 or 4 people offering us their church to spend the night. The mechanics tinkered with the car 2 1/2 hours more at the gas station. By that time it was already 8pm or so, so we decided to spend the night at one of the LCMS churches in town. Since they still hadn't really located the problem, we thought it best just to stay overnight. We (the confirmands) were of course, happy! See, the thing is, that gas station was the last places of 'civilization' for 120 miles. We are so blessed that we broke down THERE! Anyway, we slept on church pews. Which is a first. But they were actually quite comfortable, with the exception of being a bit narrow. We all had bedding, as we had to bring it for the camp, so that worked out really well! We made it back safely by noon Saturday, uneventfully. But they STILL don't know what the problem was. So now I guess it's Our Savior's problem! heehee
In other updates on the house - in the master bedroom, it's painted (a really pretty red! pictures to come), carpet is pulled up, window seat is stained. We're pretty much done with that room! In the kitchen - the floor is laid (wood laminate, it is really, really pretty! We would have done wood, but it would have made the floor too high), the stove is in (we celebrating by baking a ready made pizza in it last night...it worked well!), it's painted, so all we have to do there is get the dishwasher, countertops and sink (both of which are coming next week!), and the refrigerator. The living room is primed, and getting ready to be painted today, I think. Upstairs we haven't done much...but we're starting on my room Monday. Yes!! I promise I will put up a video tour of the house (which was taken June 1st, before we had done anything to it - I promise you it looks very different now!), as well of pictures of the progress we have made. When we're moved it, I plan on taking another tour so you can see how it looks with the furniture, etc. I might make one when we're done renovating, but we don't have any furniture or anything. We'll see. AHHH this was a long post! I feel better now that I have updated. Sorry for neglecting you guys for so long!! Oh, and happy 4th of July!
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Comments make me happy.