From Easter to the Petrified Forest

As Easter approached, work on the building at Standing Stones reached a milestone.  It was time to fix up and finish a lot of small details and prepare the building for inspection of electrical, plumbing, etc.  There were also special services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.  Many of the Sowers who had been working for the previous 3 weeks were preparing to transition to their next project at another location.  On Saturday it was time for Darlene to practice organ.

What?  Practice organ?  Yup. We learned that the organist at Redeemer Lutheran where we had been worshiping had lost her daughter in a tragic house fire and would not be playing for Easter Service.  You guessed it: Darlene volunteered so that the folks at Redeemer would have great music at that special Easter service to glorify and praise God for the resurrection of Jesus. It was a God thing that we were there and she has the skills to do what was required.

We started Easter morning with a sun-rise service in the outdoor prayer garden at Standing Stones. And yes they asked the guest pastor to contribute some words, too.  It was a crisp and clear 34 degrees as we huddled with coffee in hand to witness the sun rising as we heard words about the Son rising.  Then back to the trailer to get ready for Easter service at Redeemer at 10:30.

After church we hustled back to the trailer, changed clothes, picked up a couple dishes to pass and set out for an afternoon lunch at my cousin's house.  Lori and Steve live over 80 miles from where we were camped, but still within the metro-Phoenix area.  We had a wonderful afternoon with them and two of their kids and some friends.  Great hospitality.  Super visit with family.

Monday morning after Easter it was time to start the final phase of our first winter on the road—time to intentionally head north and east back toward Indy.  Our goal was a campground near Petrified Forest National Park at Holbrook, Az.  It should have been an easy and relatively short day on the road,  BUT ...

On a beautiful, sunny day, with the wind at our backs, on our way north on I-17, at about 10:30, it was time for a proverbial pit-stop.  I pulled into a rest area and got out to stretch.  I was approached by a “man” who must have “parked” somewhere else, because I didn't see where he came from nor where he went.  He had a simple message for me. “As I followed you in here I noticed that you have a bulge on your front driver's side trailer tire.  You'd better look at it.”   I looked.  It was a BIG aneurysm about to break.  I thanked the “man” and went to tell Darlene we would not be moving on very soon.  The man was gone.  We could have been anywhere along that mountainous stretch of Interstate when that tire blew and that might have ruined the rest of that day and more.  But a “man” with a message sent by a friend, saved the day and us, too.

After air was released it shrank. Before it was as big as a baseball!

Well, we called road service because it came with our trailer.  The tire was changed and showed not 1 but 2 bulges on the inside surface where they wouldn't have been noticed on a casual inspection.  Since we had a blowout on the rear tire in that set last June, we lost faith in the entire set.  We stopped in Flagstaff and replaced 3 tires (1 replaced last June).  With confidence in the new tires we pushed on to Petrified Forest and set up camp.

Remember the wind I mentioned before, it grew and grew.  We shut all the slides and taped the vents shut.  That night the trailer rocked & rolled like our boat did on Lake Michigan.  The winds continued all the next day, peaking out at almost 50 mph.  Needless to say, we just hunkered down, read books and rested.  Make that I read books.  That kind of wind wreaks havoc with Darlene's Fibromyalgia, so she mostly just slept.











Once the wind abated, The next day after the wind abated, we enjoyed a thorough exploration of the Petrified Forest NP.  But that's the subject of my next post.  Come on back.