Last Leg Till Home

They say the last battle is the hardest.. When you feel inadequate, unequipped, and fatigued from the journey, the last thing you want to face is a rough, windy road where there is no one but God to call on. Yet this is the last leg, the final climb we had to drive before reaching our destination. We trucked on through, filling up once for gas with the hope of that tank lasting us the rest of the way. Six hours later, we approached what I like to call Death Canyon, A dead zone in a series of windy roads climbing through a canyon passageway that stretches for just about 60 miles. Usually, we take this route midday, but the Sun said goodnight long before we arrived. We discovered a flat while checking brakes and tires at the safety pullout before entering the Canyon. We pulled the tire and kept going. Praise God we were able to change the last flat we had in New Mexico. There was no turning back, we had to keep pressing on and limp it in the rest of the way. The winding turns, low speeds, and ever changing high altitudes was hard on the RV and just about half way through, the Engine light was flashing. God got us through and we can't thank Him enough! Without having to refill on gas, we safely pulled into the Coolidge Walmart parking lot at 12:00 am. Wednesday, August 11^th.

This morning, Pastor Sanders met us at Walmart and picked us up. He took us to the new church building. I cannot express the joy it was to see what God has provided for us! I could hear the hymns being sung, see the crowd of people filling up the empty seats, and watch God work another miracle at Fairhaven Baptist Church. I'm excited and can't wait to get started! I don't know where this will lead us.. Honestly can't say. But what I Do know is His Way is perfect and His will is never to be doubted!

Singing I Go!

Let's see.. Where did I leave off?? I believe we are now on day 6 in our travels and I am recording Days 4 and 5 for those who care to keep informed.
Jon took over driving Saturday evening into early Sunday morning. My job was to keep Jon awake with red bull, pretzels, singing, laughing, and reading in foreign dialect. =) Everything went splendidly til we discovered the engine light blinking at us. There was something a muck with the Turbo. It was not getting enough air? Due to the air filter? I really should get my facts straightened out before I decide to blog about it shouldn't I?? Minor details.. ;) I know the important stuff like, we got to Jeff and Laura's! =) Oh, and we had another flat on the trailer before arrival totally to three flats in 4 days. Sunday morning we rolled in around 10 am. with just enough time for me and Jon to shower and ready ourselves for church. We stayed the night and planned to leave Monday evening, but as Byerly luck would have it, we could not get a part for the RV until Tuesday morning. One more day with Jeff and Laura was not something to sulk over. =) We enjoyed our time together. Monday was spent readying the RV, organizing the trailer, and fixing the slide-out which just so happened to get stuck. Our plan was to leave Tuesday at 11 am. At 11:30 am. we set out again on the open road! As of now, we have no power and are picking up fuel filters in Santa Fe, NM.

Singing I go along life's road,

Praising the Lord! Praising the Lord!
Singing I go along life's road,
For Jesus has lifted my Load!

Happy Trials

You know, God never said that road least taken is the smoothest one. But I think the bumps and stops along the way are to be enjoyed and overcome, not lamented over or wallowed in..
Day 2 of my journey with half my family to the wild west was spent in Missouri at my dad's best friend, Dale's. I do love that lil' farm buried by the bayou of lazy Doniphan, MO. We make our rounds and it may cost us a few more days bottled up in the RV, but I wouldn't skip on of 'em for the world. c(=
Day 3 we parted ways with Dale and Leslie at 4am, Saturday morning. All the days are colliding together so I hope I am getting this all right. First, I believe it was the air that we were having problems with. The new generator has been failing us so in order to conserve the little power it produces, we had to switch the ac to the back room and thus endure 95 degree temperatures in the RV. Just about three hours or so after we left Dale's, we discovered a shredded tire on the trailer. Still unsure of what the cause was, the boys quickly changed to our spare. (Thank God we had a spare!) The next issue seemed to be the toll booths. Apparently they required EXACT CHANGE of which we had not. These people should really learn to add and subtract by now don't you think?? The next long hours were a struggle between keeping cool and well tempered. First fix this RV needs is a CD player with calming music, but not too soothing lest the driver fall asleep! We made it just in time for dinner in Oklahoma with the Wilhites. =) It was a joy to spend the evening with them and let all the cares of the day go with some much needed laughter. We parted with prayer and the "Wilhite wave". lol Missing them already.
As of now, we are heading to New Mexico to see Jeff and Laura and hopefully spend the next few days with them. I won't be in any hurry to leave them once I get to NM. I miss them an awful lot!
~ Til next round ;)

Byerly's Progress

Everyday holds its new discoveries of adventures, mountains we must climb, valleys we must cross.. And for my family? We travel via RV and our burden is a loaded down trailer that we pull. Friends and family alike are of the opinion that we should write a book. I'm sure we could make a best seller of it. =)
Today's Journey began Thursday morning promptly at 2 am. Actually, our journey began before we ever pulled out of the driveway. Monday evening my family and I had planned to venture across the wide frontier toward the great plains of the Grand Canyon State. Unfortunately as events turn out, the preparations for the journey took longer than had been expected. Monday, Day 1 - Install Generator for RV. Tuesday, Day 2- Install Generator for RV part 2. Enjoy a good meal and games with Emma, Tom, and family. Wednesday, Day 3 - Install fuel pump on Generator for RV, Oil change on RV, Load Tools in Trailer, Clean up our mess. At 9:00 pm departure was to be had... Wouldn't you know it, the new fuel pump on the new generator went kaput. These are the times when life looks bleak and all hope is lost. BUT never fear! My brilliant father and witty brother came up with an amazing idea to salvage the fuel pump off the old generator and install it in the new generator. So together, with the help of Luke Davies and some much needed coffee and red bull, c(= we managed to commence our adventure Thursday, Day 3 - 2 am. I am delighted to have the great family and friends that I do and consider myself unworthy to have ever known them. =)
Thursday a series of risky and unexpected undertaking of events arose. It all started in Ohio.. Hard to think that some people would call that land home. I call it the Byerly landmine. Seems that whenever we try to pass through unawares, that miserable place always finds us. Before driving through, I asked my dad if there was a way we could bypass it. He then gave me a route that would cost us at least 2 extra days. And so, with much dismay, we followed the evil path on through.. Everything was going splendidly, we were SO close to the Indiana state line. Seventy-five miles til we were out of the death zone when... *BAM!* Jon woke up and me and my mom ran to the back, where we saw it. In the bathroom, all the trim and flooring had popped up. A familiar sound of a dilapidated tire rang out the news. "We gotcha!" Ohio did it again. Congratulations.. Hats off to ya.. You won. Couldn't leave us without a going away present could ya? When the tire blew, it tore into the floor above it and ripped up the trim and engineer flooring in the bathroom. The remains also managed to take a few misc. things with it, such as wires, a fender, and one of the springs to the jacks. I picked up most of these items as I walked Tilly along side the highway. The total damage is still yet to be determined. Tire cost is about $150.. Repair man took 3 hours or so to finally arrive and twenty minutes to change the tire. Roadside service charged us $525. Yes, Ohio, you have definitely won this round. Tried to wipe us off the map completely didn't you? One thing she forgot to take in account though, Byerlys always bounce back. ;0)
We arrived safely in Indiana. Stopped in Indianapolis to see some well loved relatives and who would have thought that my dad would break the key off in the ignition. He then proceeds to lose the half he broke off and frantic efforts to find the missing key arise. Praise the Lord we found the key. However, we could not find it's match. In order to start the RV, my dad used nothing more than half the key and a flat head screwdriver. God never ceases to amaze me. We parked outside of my cousin Missy's to visit for a few hours before heading out once again. My great Aunt Dorothy was overjoyed to see us on her 88th birthday. =) She is one of my favorite people to visit. I could sit and talk with her for hours and never get bored. We were sad to go, but made our promises to return soon. After we said our goodbyes, our tummies reminded us how long it was since eating and as my dad always does, we stopped at the infamous White Castle. Say what you will about them, but I still enjoy them every time we're passing through.