I have much to be grateful for! I have had occasion to take my family to visit other places in this great land we live in! We left the week before Thanksgiving and together with B, we took those kids here with us and set out across this nation!
Divine manifestations were abundant as we prepared to depart, and followed us daily. The afternoon we had appointed to leave, B felt it would be well to put new batteries in the excursion we were about to depend on! Because of the size of the vehicle, it has two batteries, and so he set out to purchase new batteries, and install them. To his dismay, upon installation, everything completely quit working! The instrument clusters didn't even register, the heat light wouldn't go on, nothing! I understand the batteries were turning, but it would not ignite! I got a call at 4:30 that he was worried, and was pulling the car to the shop - yes pulling it! And we were leaving in that very car--- within hours!? With C's help he managed to get it to the Ford shop before they closed and had a team of great mechanics work on it for as long as they could stay, only to report that they were going to have to wait for yet another mechanic to come in to work in the morning, that they hoped could figure out what was wrong! We postponed our leaving... until they could figure it out! Prayers were said, and answered. Final details were accomplished which I had previously dreaded, knowing there was not a way to accomplish all that needed to be done, but knowing that my family was all ready to leave and I needed to not hold them up! I worked through the night that night, accomplishing more than humanly possible! I was able to wrap up so many necessary details at the office, that night that when the mechanics called by 10:00 the next morning, I felt assured that things were in order, and I could now leave! Laus Deo!
Hurrying home, we finalized packing each little person, and finally the Mom's bag made it to the car! :) It was mid afternoon Friday, but we were on our way! The mechanic did not really have the parts he needed to make the repair, but he was able to disconnect the problem parts, and determined they weren't "really necessary" if we would just use anti-gelling agent with our fuel when the weather got really cold. Ok, we purchased the anti-gelling agent by the gallon, and packed it with us in the car. We were driving two cars out - to leave one with J in Virginia. This meant we had three drivers, but two cars to drive out. We agreed to switch off driving, having one driver sleep to prepare for their shifts of driving through the night :).
It was not far from home, Richfield, Utah that we hit snow. A bit concerned and dependent on Heavenly Help, we trusted that weather would be tempered for our safety. It absolutely was!!! Laus Deo! Thank you Father! We drove all night that first night, through Denver, into Kansas and then Missouri. By sundown the next night, we found ourselves beneath the Arch Gateway in St. Louis Missiouri, touching the waters of this Mississippi. We were on our way!
That night we found a hotel someplace in Kentucky, and decided that we would get up and enjoy a night's rest without moving, a shower in the morning, to be presentable to attend a church service someplace the next morning, Sunday. With two adults and seven children getting situated and settled into the hotel required skill and patience as well as complete cooperation from all involved! We felt we were the unpaid entertainment where ever we ventured! Not to be flustered or ruffled by looks, it became an inside joke to stare down people counting us, as I tried to encourage them to be sure we were setting a good example and not being too intrusive, obnoxious, and constantly loud! hahahaha!
We were really tired that night, and we knew we were late for church as soon as we realized we had pulled the dark curtains on both rooms, and we didn't even attempt to make it to a 9:00 a.m. ward, which we didn't take the time to find the night before because we were so bushed! We came to learn that the LDS church building wasn't far away, but they only had one branch that met in that building, and their only sacrament meeting began at 9:30 a.m.. By 10:45 when we found it, hoping to catch an 11:00 ward, they were nearly done with all their meetings. We opted to push on, and find a 1:00 ward in the next larger city - Lexington Kentucky. With the miraculous aid of mobile apps on my phone, I found a church building that had a ward meeting at 1:00 p.m. and we were on our way. We arrived there a few minutes early, enjoyed a snack in the parking lot, changing babies and preparing for a block of church. When we decided to go into the building to use the restrooms, we learned that it was stake conference that day, and there would be no 1:00 meeting. On to building #3! Kind brethren in the hallway helped us locate a building some 20 minutes away, which they believed had a 1:00 ward, and we jumped back into the car! We arrived there to find they did not have a 1:00 ward, so we settled for just a final hour of the block, better than nothing!
Following that hour at the church, we had sandwiches in the parking lot in the late afternoon sun, enjoying the green rolling hills of Kentucky blue grass! We pushed on! We were well into West Virginia when we pulled off to fill up with fuel. B found a BP and pumped the gas, helping C also fill up the truck he was driving. He came back to hang up the pump and realized that he had just pumped $150 worth of regular gasoline into our diesel engine! He had grabbed the green handle at that BP and "filled her up!" Ooops! Realizing the problem before we started the engine was a HUGE blessing! As was having a second vehicle with us! Once again, the miracles of modern cell phones, we called AAA, seeking their help to which they informed us "there wasn't anything they could do to help us!" Ok.? Still not sure why. The gas attendant, informed us that "That happens all the time" but didn't have any suggestions of what to do now! Great! A kind stranger in the station, immediately tried to contact someone that could help us, calling everyone he could think of that might could help.
Realizing that it was now almost 6:00 p.m. Sunday night, I was prompted to goggle for a local hardware store. We found a Lowes 10 miles away, and I jumped in with all the kids and C drove us to the Lowes, leaving B still trying to figure out something! He was on the phone with a local mechanic who would tow it for us in the morning and work on it tomorrow. That didn't help us tonight, and we weren't in a neighborhood I would choose to stay in. I ran into the Lowes, not knowing what time they would close on a Sunday evening as I never go there that day... running we sought some kind of piping we could siphon with, and something to pump the 45 gallons of gas out into! Ugh! It was a miracle that I was guided to ask a gentleman on his way if he knew of where I should look for a siphon. He asked about why we needed it, and was so kind to personally guide us through that store, finding a lawnmower (tiny) siphon, but the only one in the store, that included a hand pump hidden in the seasonal island, a mist the Christmas decorations already dominating the shelves! Then he helped us find answers about storing all this gas we had to pump out. We settled on a couple of 5 gallon buckets with which to transfer the gas to 35 gallon garbage cans in the back of the truck (miracles that we had the truck!)!!! $150 later, we were on our way back to B at the gas station with a possible solution! Our elation with finding a way was soon dissipated as we discovered a blockage on the gas line that would not allow the siphon tube into the pump! Our own protection against those who would steal gasoline from our tank quickly became a Goliath in our path! Once again my friend Google and I had some working to do, I was reading answers others had sent in regarding the anti-siphon device while everyone listened, and B consigned to make arrangements with the tow truck for service in the morning. Ugh! Then to my glee, I heard C and S jumping up and down yelling! One of those sites, had said to cut the pipe at an angle. S had found the knife in the glove box, worked to cut it at an angle, and those two keep trying, and got that pipe in! Yea! We were there for hours into the night, hand pumping that gas out! They took turns, as their freezing arms would get tired of pumping! They had gasoline splattered all over all three of them, but they did it! Our tank holds 45 gallons of gas, and with the help of my Mom in far off Utah, we determined that according to internet sources, our diesel could run on 10% regular gas. We believe we had approximately 25% regular in the 40-45 gallons currently in the tank. We determined how much we needed to pump out, and the boys decided to be safe rather than sorry, and did several gallons extra. Finally around 10 pm that night, we re-pumped DIESEL into our tank! WE had some 36 gallons of regular in two garbage cans and two 5 gallon buckets in the back of the truck (with the wrong garbage can lids... saran wrap purchased from the BP convenience store, and plenty of duct tape!)
With that load now sitting in the back of the truck, we were concerned about it's flammability B decided to drive that car, and with prayers of gratitude we started the Diesel and moved out of the station!
Onward, to... we didn't know what next! We decided we would continue to drive for a while, until we got tired, and at that point, thought we would find a farmer to donate all that gas to, but we had no idea where or how we would get it out of the truck!
We stopped within the hour in a little town outside of Charleston, West Virginia.. Which was yet another miracle!
In the morning, now Monday, with the help of hotel computers, B made a few calls, and was guided to an angel named Kim who agreed to take our gasoline. Honestly we didn't know how much she was going to charge us to get rid of this mess, but she would take it off our hands, and we were GRATEFUL! She owned a chemical cleanup company in Charleston, and we backtracked a few miles to deliver this very flammable cargo to her! She came in early to meet us, arranging for gentlemen who worked with her to be there as well to help us, they unloaded those huge cans full, and the buckets, dumping them into drums, and handing us the containers back to us empty. She was so gracious, listened to our story, and thanked us for not just pumping it out onto the ground, into the storm drains has others had recommended. She was so kind! She deserves blessings in heaven for helping us... total strangers in need!
J kept calling each day, checking in with us, wondering if we were ever going to make it to Virginia. We finally rolled in Monday afternoon! He had ball practice and had to meet with a team for another class. We found a hotel in Lexington Virginia just outside of his little college town of Buena Vista, we went for a hike, and some of our kids went for a scooter ride, celebrating getting out of the car for a few hours!
Tuesday morning we took a tour of Stonewall Jackson's home, and worked on a service project for the home J's living in. It was good to see siblings joining together to help on someone else's property, and they were somewhat surprised that roommates didn't jump into help. It was good for them to experience frustration as they worked and had others sit idly by. That night J had a home basketball game, and we loved cheering him on to victory! He played well, and I could see that B has regrets that he isn't there every game to cheer him on! He loved it, and the light in his eyes as J played well was rewarding as a parent!
The next morning J had a few classes, but we took off out of Buena Vista area about noon, heading up to Washington D.C.. We jumped out and walked the Washington Monument and Lincoln Monuments. It was cold, and C and I ran back to get the cars that were parked clear over by the White House and picked everyone up from the Lincoln memorial.
That night we stayed in Alexandrea, Virginia, and the next morning we headed to Mt. Vernon where we spent Thanksgiving day learning about one of the greats - George Washington!
Divine manifestations were abundant as we prepared to depart, and followed us daily. The afternoon we had appointed to leave, B felt it would be well to put new batteries in the excursion we were about to depend on! Because of the size of the vehicle, it has two batteries, and so he set out to purchase new batteries, and install them. To his dismay, upon installation, everything completely quit working! The instrument clusters didn't even register, the heat light wouldn't go on, nothing! I understand the batteries were turning, but it would not ignite! I got a call at 4:30 that he was worried, and was pulling the car to the shop - yes pulling it! And we were leaving in that very car--- within hours!? With C's help he managed to get it to the Ford shop before they closed and had a team of great mechanics work on it for as long as they could stay, only to report that they were going to have to wait for yet another mechanic to come in to work in the morning, that they hoped could figure out what was wrong! We postponed our leaving... until they could figure it out! Prayers were said, and answered. Final details were accomplished which I had previously dreaded, knowing there was not a way to accomplish all that needed to be done, but knowing that my family was all ready to leave and I needed to not hold them up! I worked through the night that night, accomplishing more than humanly possible! I was able to wrap up so many necessary details at the office, that night that when the mechanics called by 10:00 the next morning, I felt assured that things were in order, and I could now leave! Laus Deo!
Hurrying home, we finalized packing each little person, and finally the Mom's bag made it to the car! :) It was mid afternoon Friday, but we were on our way! The mechanic did not really have the parts he needed to make the repair, but he was able to disconnect the problem parts, and determined they weren't "really necessary" if we would just use anti-gelling agent with our fuel when the weather got really cold. Ok, we purchased the anti-gelling agent by the gallon, and packed it with us in the car. We were driving two cars out - to leave one with J in Virginia. This meant we had three drivers, but two cars to drive out. We agreed to switch off driving, having one driver sleep to prepare for their shifts of driving through the night :).
It was not far from home, Richfield, Utah that we hit snow. A bit concerned and dependent on Heavenly Help, we trusted that weather would be tempered for our safety. It absolutely was!!! Laus Deo! Thank you Father! We drove all night that first night, through Denver, into Kansas and then Missouri. By sundown the next night, we found ourselves beneath the Arch Gateway in St. Louis Missiouri, touching the waters of this Mississippi. We were on our way!
That night we found a hotel someplace in Kentucky, and decided that we would get up and enjoy a night's rest without moving, a shower in the morning, to be presentable to attend a church service someplace the next morning, Sunday. With two adults and seven children getting situated and settled into the hotel required skill and patience as well as complete cooperation from all involved! We felt we were the unpaid entertainment where ever we ventured! Not to be flustered or ruffled by looks, it became an inside joke to stare down people counting us, as I tried to encourage them to be sure we were setting a good example and not being too intrusive, obnoxious, and constantly loud! hahahaha!
We were really tired that night, and we knew we were late for church as soon as we realized we had pulled the dark curtains on both rooms, and we didn't even attempt to make it to a 9:00 a.m. ward, which we didn't take the time to find the night before because we were so bushed! We came to learn that the LDS church building wasn't far away, but they only had one branch that met in that building, and their only sacrament meeting began at 9:30 a.m.. By 10:45 when we found it, hoping to catch an 11:00 ward, they were nearly done with all their meetings. We opted to push on, and find a 1:00 ward in the next larger city - Lexington Kentucky. With the miraculous aid of mobile apps on my phone, I found a church building that had a ward meeting at 1:00 p.m. and we were on our way. We arrived there a few minutes early, enjoyed a snack in the parking lot, changing babies and preparing for a block of church. When we decided to go into the building to use the restrooms, we learned that it was stake conference that day, and there would be no 1:00 meeting. On to building #3! Kind brethren in the hallway helped us locate a building some 20 minutes away, which they believed had a 1:00 ward, and we jumped back into the car! We arrived there to find they did not have a 1:00 ward, so we settled for just a final hour of the block, better than nothing!
Following that hour at the church, we had sandwiches in the parking lot in the late afternoon sun, enjoying the green rolling hills of Kentucky blue grass! We pushed on! We were well into West Virginia when we pulled off to fill up with fuel. B found a BP and pumped the gas, helping C also fill up the truck he was driving. He came back to hang up the pump and realized that he had just pumped $150 worth of regular gasoline into our diesel engine! He had grabbed the green handle at that BP and "filled her up!" Ooops! Realizing the problem before we started the engine was a HUGE blessing! As was having a second vehicle with us! Once again, the miracles of modern cell phones, we called AAA, seeking their help to which they informed us "there wasn't anything they could do to help us!" Ok.? Still not sure why. The gas attendant, informed us that "That happens all the time" but didn't have any suggestions of what to do now! Great! A kind stranger in the station, immediately tried to contact someone that could help us, calling everyone he could think of that might could help.
Realizing that it was now almost 6:00 p.m. Sunday night, I was prompted to goggle for a local hardware store. We found a Lowes 10 miles away, and I jumped in with all the kids and C drove us to the Lowes, leaving B still trying to figure out something! He was on the phone with a local mechanic who would tow it for us in the morning and work on it tomorrow. That didn't help us tonight, and we weren't in a neighborhood I would choose to stay in. I ran into the Lowes, not knowing what time they would close on a Sunday evening as I never go there that day... running we sought some kind of piping we could siphon with, and something to pump the 45 gallons of gas out into! Ugh! It was a miracle that I was guided to ask a gentleman on his way if he knew of where I should look for a siphon. He asked about why we needed it, and was so kind to personally guide us through that store, finding a lawnmower (tiny) siphon, but the only one in the store, that included a hand pump hidden in the seasonal island, a mist the Christmas decorations already dominating the shelves! Then he helped us find answers about storing all this gas we had to pump out. We settled on a couple of 5 gallon buckets with which to transfer the gas to 35 gallon garbage cans in the back of the truck (miracles that we had the truck!)!!! $150 later, we were on our way back to B at the gas station with a possible solution! Our elation with finding a way was soon dissipated as we discovered a blockage on the gas line that would not allow the siphon tube into the pump! Our own protection against those who would steal gasoline from our tank quickly became a Goliath in our path! Once again my friend Google and I had some working to do, I was reading answers others had sent in regarding the anti-siphon device while everyone listened, and B consigned to make arrangements with the tow truck for service in the morning. Ugh! Then to my glee, I heard C and S jumping up and down yelling! One of those sites, had said to cut the pipe at an angle. S had found the knife in the glove box, worked to cut it at an angle, and those two keep trying, and got that pipe in! Yea! We were there for hours into the night, hand pumping that gas out! They took turns, as their freezing arms would get tired of pumping! They had gasoline splattered all over all three of them, but they did it! Our tank holds 45 gallons of gas, and with the help of my Mom in far off Utah, we determined that according to internet sources, our diesel could run on 10% regular gas. We believe we had approximately 25% regular in the 40-45 gallons currently in the tank. We determined how much we needed to pump out, and the boys decided to be safe rather than sorry, and did several gallons extra. Finally around 10 pm that night, we re-pumped DIESEL into our tank! WE had some 36 gallons of regular in two garbage cans and two 5 gallon buckets in the back of the truck (with the wrong garbage can lids... saran wrap purchased from the BP convenience store, and plenty of duct tape!)
With that load now sitting in the back of the truck, we were concerned about it's flammability B decided to drive that car, and with prayers of gratitude we started the Diesel and moved out of the station!
Onward, to... we didn't know what next! We decided we would continue to drive for a while, until we got tired, and at that point, thought we would find a farmer to donate all that gas to, but we had no idea where or how we would get it out of the truck!
We stopped within the hour in a little town outside of Charleston, West Virginia.. Which was yet another miracle!
In the morning, now Monday, with the help of hotel computers, B made a few calls, and was guided to an angel named Kim who agreed to take our gasoline. Honestly we didn't know how much she was going to charge us to get rid of this mess, but she would take it off our hands, and we were GRATEFUL! She owned a chemical cleanup company in Charleston, and we backtracked a few miles to deliver this very flammable cargo to her! She came in early to meet us, arranging for gentlemen who worked with her to be there as well to help us, they unloaded those huge cans full, and the buckets, dumping them into drums, and handing us the containers back to us empty. She was so gracious, listened to our story, and thanked us for not just pumping it out onto the ground, into the storm drains has others had recommended. She was so kind! She deserves blessings in heaven for helping us... total strangers in need!
J kept calling each day, checking in with us, wondering if we were ever going to make it to Virginia. We finally rolled in Monday afternoon! He had ball practice and had to meet with a team for another class. We found a hotel in Lexington Virginia just outside of his little college town of Buena Vista, we went for a hike, and some of our kids went for a scooter ride, celebrating getting out of the car for a few hours!
Tuesday morning we took a tour of Stonewall Jackson's home, and worked on a service project for the home J's living in. It was good to see siblings joining together to help on someone else's property, and they were somewhat surprised that roommates didn't jump into help. It was good for them to experience frustration as they worked and had others sit idly by. That night J had a home basketball game, and we loved cheering him on to victory! He played well, and I could see that B has regrets that he isn't there every game to cheer him on! He loved it, and the light in his eyes as J played well was rewarding as a parent!
The next morning J had a few classes, but we took off out of Buena Vista area about noon, heading up to Washington D.C.. We jumped out and walked the Washington Monument and Lincoln Monuments. It was cold, and C and I ran back to get the cars that were parked clear over by the White House and picked everyone up from the Lincoln memorial.
That night we stayed in Alexandrea, Virginia, and the next morning we headed to Mt. Vernon where we spent Thanksgiving day learning about one of the greats - George Washington!