Life on the Road

Bleaaahhh… This part stinks. Traveling out of one state, across two more, and into a fourth, crossing into two time zones, all in the space of three days… Double Bleaaahhh… Still, there is some good.

If you are ever in Amarillo, TX…wait, strike that… if you are ever within a hundred miles of Amarillo, TX stop at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. They have such good, no, great, no, amazing, no, (insert best descriptor you have ever heard here) that I can’t think of a word that even comes close to describing it, food.

If you like Ranch dressing at all, you must try theirs. I was in ecstacy! I had it with everything! I had ordered a Cheeseburger, side salad, and it came with rolls. I had it on the salad and fell in love. Mmmmmm… I put it on my burger, on the rolls, and bought a jar of it to take home. Double Mmmmmm…

My mama got prime rib and said that the only prime rib that might have ever been better was at Lawry’s in Beverly Hills. Triple Mmmmm… Papa got a steak and said it was the second best he had ever eaten. Coming from him, that was an extreme compliment. Quadruple Mmmm…

And afterwards, they have (insert same as above) fudge and a really, really, really, really, really, really, cool shooting gallery and slot machine setup. They slot machines are only for fun you don’t get money if you win, but it’s still fun.

We were parked behind them in their free lot for RV’s and trucks. It rained so hard that night I thought we would be flooded and be mired in mud. In the morning being alive and not mired we ate at their breakfast buffet. The stuff sitting in the bins wasn’t fabulous, but their fresh made omlettes and waffles were fabulous.

We are in Oklahoma and I am zzzuffering from jet lag zzo I better go to Zzzzz…

We spent yesterday afternoon cruising around Victorville putting out our Save 80% on Dental flyers.  Refreshments were $0.99 Root Beer Floats at A&W.  Wolf’s a root beer fan, and we were both pleasantly surprised by how good A&W on tap tastes.

A quick stop at Staples to buy more colored paper for printing flyers (dental on fluorescent yellow, Tupperware on pink), then back to the RV. 

We had a simple dinner of soup and sandwiches, then we all cuddled up in our bed to watch an episode of “Little House on the Prairie.”  Ah, yes…  THIS is what makes it all so worthwhile!

Nick has a new interactive / video DVD set that he’s enjoying working through for school, so that is perfect for driving. 

Grandma bought Jewel a magnetic “Doodle Pad” before we left, which a great diversion, too.  Jewel pronounces her name as “Doodle,” so it’s a fun double-reference.  She loves telling us to write words, then seeing them in print. 

Well, I was up early, got in my morning devotional and prayer time, had some breakfast, and fired up the generator to get a/c power long enough to post this and check my email, but now it’s time to get ready to get moving…

We have debated whether or not to post on Sundays, and the decision is still not set in stone, I’m afraid.

We believe strongly in keeping the Lord’s Day.  We don’t work our business on Sunday, etc.  Even on the road, we try to find fellowship and worship with other believers. 

This morning we had a wonderful time at Faith Baptist Church in West Hills, CA.  It is the place where I first came to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior and was baptized into the church, over six years ago now.  It was very emotional being back there.

Much has changed there since the time when I last attended - Pastor Tim has fully taken over as pastor, and his father, Roland, has retired.  I remember him as a distinguished, vital man, who inspired me to study the Word in its original language (ancient Greek, in the case of the New Testament). 

But the important things remain the same.  They are a Bible-teaching Church, unashamed to spell out the sinfullness of man, and offer the Good News of the Gospel. 

It seems like everything else is changing - we went to the only two Krispy Kreme locations I know of in this area, and both were shut down!  What’s a girl to do for her “Hot Now” fix?!

But I digress… 

The Sabbath.  We don’t work.  But we do read, write, play games, enjoy family time… I love to write, and I enjoy keeping this journal.  So is that “work”?  I’m feeling like it’s not, but we will probably have to sit with that decision for a couple of weeks and pray about it and see how we feel then.

We also met with Grandma and Aunt Teresa again today, to take Grandma out to dinner for her birthday.  It’s always a challenge with an early May birthday - she feels cheated if you try to combine her birthday and Mother’s Day.  We ate at “26 Beach” in Marina del Rey, where they serve the most delicious Chilean Sea Bass I have ever eaten…

Back “home” at the Dockweiler RV park, the fog has rolled in and it’s getting quite chilly.  Looks like we’ll be here at least one more night, waiting for mail to arrive.  We had some things shipped here, knowing we’d be here for a while, as well as asking Wanda to stuff all our mail in a box and forward it to us here.  Naturally, not all of it has seen fit to show up just yet…