Last year when we left Picacho in April of 2020, COVID-19 was making its presence known throughout the country...more in some places than others. Despite not knowing what changes the pandemic would bring in life we reserved our site for March 2021. We could always cancel if we weren’t able to make it.
So...COVID-19. That was a big consideration for me this
year, maybe not so much for Kim. However,
since I take all the recommended precautions at home (avoiding crowds, wearing
a mask in public, washing our hands frequently and social distancing) I figured
it would be easy to take those same precautions when traveling with a camper. Once
we decided we would be going it was a matter of figuring out when. This required some negotiation and
flexibility. If Kim had his way about it
we’d be in Arizona from January through March...I can’t wrap my head around
that amount of time yet. In fact, six
weeks is stretching it for me. Also we
had agreed to watch Hazel, Ezra and Anna’s dog, from Feb. 8th to the
15th so we knew we wouldn’t be leaving before the 16th. 
Then Mother
Nature decided to get involved...on February 13 she started brewing a weather
system that would eventually create havoc not only in the US but also Canada
and Mexico. It resulted in record low
temperatures, snow and ice in areas that don’t know how to deal with snow and
ice and loss of electrical power for millions.
Did we really want to be caught up in that? Well, the answer to that was no, so we decided
to be ready to leave on the 17th but being open to the possibility
of a later departure date.
Woke up to a cold but sunny
Wednesday (Feb. 17th) and decided to go for it. A scene from the Lion King kept running
through my mind as we put the finishing touches on our packing: Rafiki in his tree updating his painting of
Simba, cackling his old monkey laugh, then declaring ‘It is Time!’ before
setting out to find him. 😎
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Important information to note at the start of every Kim n Karen adventure:
Departure time and date: 12:02 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021...Odometer reading: 151720 miles.
And today I recorded the temperature also: 7o
when we woke up but 19o when we left.
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| My intended route |
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When we left home we were
prepared to stay in the camper in a rest area tonight but since the temperature
was hanging at a brisk 16o we decided it was prudent to
get a motel room. “Hey, there’s a Red Roof Inn just up the road...sound okay? I can see the sign up there on the left and I
can book a king room online for $47....$53 with tax.” I
started booking a room on my phone but getting to the Red Roof Inn was a puzzle
that not only put Kim’s driving skills and patience to the test but required my
help also. We found our way there before
I had the chance to complete the reservation so Kim just went in the office to
do it. “If they try to charge more than
$47 just come back out here and I’ll reserve online,” I called out before he
shut the truck door.
He came out with a room key
relaying this conversation: The clerk told him that a non-smoking room with a
king bed would be $108. To which Kim replied
that he could go out to his truck and book it online for $47. The man then said, “Forty seven? That’s what
it says? Okay, then....I’ll give it to you for $47.” My take away from that story is that
Knowledge is Power. 👍 And by the way, while it was a clean room it
was not a $108 room. Hmmm...maybe someone was
trying to give himself a really nice tip?
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When I wasn’t checking the
weather or the route today I was thinking about church names. All churches want to identify themselves to
attract congregants and the way to do that is with a name. Some names are tried and true standards within
a denomination, some have Biblical relevance and some are just trendy. But today I saw what I consider to be the
best church name I’ve seen so far. So...the
award for the Best Church Name goes to...open the envelope...the award goes to Blue
Roof Church near Benton Harbor, named so because the building has a blue roof. Isn’t that the best? Of course I googled it
to make sure I wasn’t awarding this high honor to a church preaching any
heresy. Nope, according to their website
they are Jesus loving people who want to proclaim the Gospel message and show Jesus’
love to others through their actions.
They simply worship in a building that just happens to have a blue roof.
The humility of the name appeals to me.
Then later in the day we
passed through a little town somewhere in Indiana that had a church whose sign
simply stated that it was The Christian Church.
Made me curious as to the need to put the word “The” in the name. Were the founders trying to give the
impression that other churches in the area weren’t Christian? Come to think of
it, that’s the only church I saw in that little town. And I couldn’t find anything about them on
Google so they don’t get any awards from me.
Lingering questions: 1. Does a religious
governing body (Diocese, Synod, Assembly, etc.) get input into naming a church within its
denomination? and 2. If I were given the opportunity to name a church what
would I call it?
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I’ve decided to continue with using a song title for each day’s
journal entry. A song title that
represents something I’ve thought, experienced or witnessed during the day.
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| Today's route...Feb. 17 |
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