Road Worthy

We're getting ready to hit the road early tomorrow morning, for the first of three extended trips during this furlough. I've spent the day doing laundry, packing, cleaning the house... all the stuff that has to be done before we leave.

This trip will involve traveling to Indiana in our snazzy 1994 Caprice Classic wagon, and a jaunt down to Atlanta via airplane. Realized after we'd booked the flight that our carrier charges for checked baggage, and since we're cheap frugal, we'll be packing all we need for a week in our carry-ons. I might need to find a bigger purse though.

(the Caprice parked in front of our daughter's house)

Ivan says driving the Caprice is like driving a comfy sofa down the road. It's also plenty big enough for all our paraphernalia. In addition to luggage, a small cooler, and assorted bags of books and computer equipment, we have a large bin and big cardboard box full of display items. Whenever we visit a church we set up our display on a table, typically in the narthex.

Anyway, all that to say it's really nice to have a spacious vehicle for all our junk.

And thankfully the trip to Georgia won't involve speaking in a church, so we don't have to worry about fitting the display stuff into our carry-ons. Because I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit.

Last furlough we felt a little like those small silver balls in a pinball machine, so this time we purposed to plan our travels a little better. Hence just a few extended trips where we get as much done as possible while in a particular area, rather than bouncing around like crazy little silver balls. We'll be gone a little over three weeks this time.

With a lot of miles under our belts, we've developed a pretty good routine, with each of us assuming specific responsibilities as we travel. How about you? Who does the bulk of the driving? The packing? The navigation? Do you like to stop at the same restaurants along the way? Do you mark your travels by certain landmarks? Are you the kind of traveler that likes to take the most direct route, with the least amount of stops? Or do you prefer back roads with pretty scenery?

Stateside

Hard to believe we've been here a week already! We left Argentina last Tuesday afternoon, and arrived in Chicago the next morning where our daughter and son-in-law were waiting for us. It's been a jam-packed week!

When we left Argentina it was still nice and warm. Here's the forecast, and I have to say, we blew past the projected highs Sunday through Tuesday. It was in the low 80s, not low 70s.

And it was actually colder on Wednesday than they'd forecast, never getting out of the 40s. My friend Nancy sent me a message on facebook, chiding me on leaving just in time :)

Although they'd been experiencing a colder-than-average Spring here in the Midwest, it warmed up nicely by the time we arrived Wednesday morning. How's that for planning? Okay, okay, can't take any credit for that, but we are grateful for how it worked out!

I may or may not have mentioned my unbounding affection for IKEA before, but it is my favorite store, and when Tina asked if there was anything we'd like to do in Chicago on our first day, I asked if a stop at IKEA would be possible. She replied that it was not only possible, but welcomed! Kyle and Tina just moved the weekend before we arrived, and she had a list of things they wanted to pick up at IKEA, so that worked out really well. They even came prepared with their little trailer that was great for hauling all our luggage and their IKEA loot.

Our first few days it was fun to spend time with Kyle and Tina, with Ivan's mom, and Alan and Sharon... even if it was only a short time, it did our hearts good to have that time with our people.

Sunday morning we headed to Michigan, arriving in time for second service at our home church. I do know I've mentioned here how much we love our church family, but I have to reiterate what a great group of people they are! There was a lot of hugging and grinning going on :)

I'd like to say everything is all good, but the truth of the matter is that Ivan and I are both suffering from a touch of "traveler's tummy" -- which will hopefully pass soon. We did make the trek Monday morning to DMV to renew our licenses, and then stopped at the library on the way home for a few books we could curl up with once we got home. 'Cause home is where we stayed the rest of the day!  We're feeling better today, but still not at 100%. Thankful for a rather slow week in which to recover from the hectic pace we kept right up until leaving Argentina, and through this past weekend.

Oh, and I discovered that although things are better here, bureaucracy still reigns. *sigh* We knew we both needed to renew our driver's licenses since they expired on our birthdays, and we couldn't renew online any more. I called the DMV last year to find out how to deal with it, and was told to just come in once we got back to the states. Only it turns out they've made some new laws since my phone call, and now I have to present my birth certificate and social security card -- both of which I have, but are in Argentina :( So now I have to get a new copy of each, and go back to the DMV. Thankfully Ivan was able to get his license renewed -- the difference in our situations had to do with his birthday falling in January of this year, while mine was in December of last year.

Es lo que hay.

No internet at the place we're staying, but it's fairly easy to find spots with wifi (I'm at a favorite coffee shop in Hillsdale right now). Sadly, the cell reception and 3G on our phones don't work so well where we're staying so that was kind of disappointing. To get good reception for a phone call we have to go outside. Good thing it's summer!

I'm pretty pumped about seeing one of my blog friends and meeting another one next week. We'll be flying to the mission headquarters in the Atlanta area, so I'll get to see the lovely ladies of "Be Still And Know" and "My Hands...His Glory". Let the good times roll!

For those who are interested, I am still participating in Project 365, but on a monthly basis. That has worked out well so far and I hope to continue posting there at the end of each month. I'll have some fun photos up there in early June!

Still Laughing...

...about this video, that was posted as a sequel to "Death By Bureaucracy" (which I linked to in my last post). Obviously funny, but sadly sooooo true. Anyway, had to share it!

Some Linkage Love

Ivan took someone to the airport early this morning, so while I wait for him to get back I thought I'd share some fun links. FYI, these links are all over the map!

A wonderful post on having the right attitude about your house, that lines up nicely with the mission statement we recently developed for our home:

Our home is a haven for family and friends, a place where they feel welcome and comfortable. Our home is a light-filled, open space, clean and uncluttered, with beautiful things that have special meaning and speak of the people we love and the places we've been.

This wordless post made me smile.

Interesting concept. My initial reaction was "Cool!" Then I thought, "That's a little scary." So what you think? Good idea for foreign countries/companies to be able to have a floating "city" off our shores?

Laughed 'til I cried while reading this. Seriously. April articulates exactly how I have felt on a number of occasions. Makes me grateful that our most recent experience with immigrations was wholly positive (although I'm still waiting for my national ID). Favorite line: " I deeply desired to curse her with a plague of paper cuts and then squeeze lemon juice on her." (No, missionaries are not normally so blood-thirsty, but the paperwork most countries require often push us to.our.limits.)

And finally, if you're at all interested in architecture, you might want to see how knowledgeable you are by taking this quiz. Although I've been learning a lot over the past year as I've read a number of articles on the topic over on Houzz, I only scored a 60. Still, that's better than I would have scored a year ago! [And if I'd gone with my first instincts, I'd have scored an 80. When will I learn not to over think things?!]