Over a Month in an RV!

We were on our path back east toward another college visit for Elijah, when we realized that we would be passing through La Crosse , Wisconsin. That is where some friends live, who we first met when they were adopting kids from GSF. They have brought teams from their church to visit us since then, and it looked likely that we would be able to be in their town on Sunday. We were blessed to worship together with friends and then our families spent the afternoon together. Their family is even bigger than ours, so the younger kids swam at the pool while the older teenagers played Throw, Throw the Burrito and the Moms sat and talked. It was such a great day of rest, fellowship and worship! The time with their family and church was a true gift from the Lord. Here is a photo of us all together. 

After having a wonderful Sunday morning and afternoon together, we headed out to find a place to sleep that night on the way to Elijah’s next college stop. We found this great campground in southeast Wisconsin that had so many fun things to offer. The next day as David to Elijah to visit the school, the other kids an I played frisbee golf, relaxed and swam. Some of us even took naps! It great to not have to pack up and move. It had been awhile since we spent two consecutive nights in the same place. All the set up and take down of tents, beds, etc. takes some time. We are getting pretty efficient, though. 

During our time at the pool I met a woman who works with an NGO in Kenya and I enjoyed learning about their work there. Meeting a likeminded sister is so encouraging. Today we are on our way south toward Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. When we missed the cave opportunity in Nevada since I had not made advanced reservations, I went ahead and scheduled this one. I also made some progress on getting set up for Elijah’s dual enrollment courses during the day off of traveling. 

I was also able to extend our time in the US by a week. We were scheduled to arrive in Uganda 2 days after the current lockdown. It often takes a few days to sort out the new policies and procedures, so we thought it might be wise to wait a bit before returning in the midst of that. At first it looked like it was going to cost $1,050 to change our flights, but I was able to get them changed with no additional cost. I am so thankful for the helpful KLM agent who solved that problem for us! I have spent several hours of the drive today working on the changing details of our return trip, but overall, things are going well. 

We are all about ready to be in one place for a while and have a little more space to spread out. We only have three more nights on the road before we reach Georgia and stay there for a couple of weeks. For this past month we have spent most of our time all together in this RV. It has been GREAT, but I think most of us are ready for a change of pace. The Airbnb house we found in Athens, Georgia has five bedrooms, which the kids are thrilled about! Our more introverted family members are particularly ready for that! At home in Uganda all the boys share a room and the girls share another. For the past year or so that has meant 4 boys in one room and 3 girls in the other. We love one another, but it is also sometimes nice to have a little more space. And having a bedroom to yourself is a real treat! We are so thankful for this time together, but we are also thankful for the upcoming opportunity to rest in one place and have some more space. 

Thank you for your prayers for our family as we travel. David has been such an amazing driver and God has brought us safely back into the eastern time zone. We will cross back over into central time for a day or two on our trip south, but it definitely feels like we are on the final leg of this epic journey. Thanks for reading along!