Bye - Bye Farmington Conference Center and Thank You!!!

WOW – Summer in Maine is already over – that sure flew by! 

As I sit in the Chapel/living room for the last time I find myself thinking over the summer.  Thinking about all the fun things we did, all the hard times we had, all the stretching God did, the things I was taught and all the amazing places we saw.  To be a part of the opening up the camp to get ready for the summer campers, to the closing down and winterizing the lower camp, it has been such a great experience.  Again – WOW!  This has been one of the best summers of my life! 

Two of the precious young women that I met from Girls Camp, Kayla and Christa, came by to visit and say good-bye this week.  Kayla asked what has been my favorite part of Maine, I chimed in pretty quickly saying the amazing coastline, the cliffs with the water and being able to see the mountains at the same time, in the same place, blows me away!  I love it!  So by far, the Maine coastline has been my favorite to see and experience, just so different from Florida. 

After they left, I really thought about that question on a deeper level, What has been my favorite thing about Maine?  After chewing on that for a while, I thought to myself, it is so much more than the coastline. 

God showed me that my time here in Maine has stretched me spiritually, mentally and physically.  When we pulled into Farmington, I was seriously homesick.  I was feeling like a helium balloon just blowing from town to town.  I was missing my Bible study ladies from home, our connection with doing our lives together.  I didn’t realize it at that time, but I was just missing that sence of community.  God’s perfect timing and perfect plan, He knew what I needed way before I did and already had it set in motion by having us in Farmington for the summer.  He gave me that sence of community and that sense of family that comes from fellow believers without even knowing I needed it.  What an awesome God we serve.  “Thank you God for being so intimately involved in our lives and providing exactly what we need when we need it.”  He showed me again, that HE IS ALL I NEED and used His Holy Spirit in fellow believers to be that connection/community!  The physical stretching part, well, go back and read Tumbledown Mountain post if you missed it, that will explain all my physical stretching from Maine.  J

Our last trip to Gifford's
Best Ice Cream EVER!!!

Daddy has loved the summer with being able to piddle around in the barn, work in the yard and play with the dogs, as well as teasing with everyone that came into his presence.  Momma has loved the time here as well with getting to know everyone, cooking for our “family” dinners, all of the flowers and just loving on everyone here.  She amazes me how she thrives on loving on people!  One last thing...I can't forget Gifford's, YEP the homemade yummy amazing any and every flavor, ice cream shop!  We went on our first night as well as our last!  Again, what a blessing Farmington has been to each of us. 

We truly are going to miss Maine and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that we have met here.

But a very special THANK YOU and LOVE goes out to Ann, the camp director here at the Farmington Conference Center.  We are so grateful for her hospitality that she has shown us, thank you for your friendship, your kindness and all that you did for us while we were here.  And Thank you to her husband Keith for our yummy steaks and fresh salmon at our cookout.  You both have been such a blessing to us and are so thankful to be a part of what you do here in Maine at the Farmington Baptist Conference Center.  I can't thank Ann without also thanking Nicole.   You have been such a blessing to me and I thank you, always there to help, always there to share a laugh and to chat it up.  Thank you my dear friend and sister for a wonderful summer and lots of laughs.

During our time here in Maine we also had time and space to do some projects that I found on Pinterest that would help on our trip.  So, we got daddy busy on our portable clothes line for the back of the rv, made new levelers (remind me to share the leveling experiences thus far with you one day….AHHHHHHH….so this is why we found a new way to level the rv) newly reorganized living space areas, shade cloths for the awning, 3 new apps downloaded and last but not least, new recipes.  OH I love Pinterest!!!   Being able to find DIY helps that make rv life easier, is so much fun! 

Thanks for following along with us, thank you for all the cards and care packages from home.  As the realization that we will be leaving in less than 24 hours, it makes it all so real, that our time in Maine is coming to an end, but ultimately, our summer is over and we are moving on.  Back into the unknown and untraveled, waiting to see what lies before us and what God has in store for the next leg of our trip.

Just a heads up….We will be without amenities for the next week, so we are not sure about the internet connection – so if you don’t hear from us next week, you will know why J  We are making our way towards Niagara Falls, taking a week to get there.  With stops in New Hampshire, Vermont and two places in New York before arriving at Niagara Monday week.  So please be in prayer for me with the driving as well as travel mercies for the three of us.

I leave you with this scripture that touched my heart this past week –
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy & peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!” Romans 15:13

 

Trusting in Him ~

Kristi
Bob & Carol
RV’n 4 Jesus
Galatians 6:9-10

 I wish I had pictures of each one of you that have meant so much to us during out time here - Please know you will never be forgotten!!!

Luke - Summer missionary

Sara - My awesome co-cabin leader at girls camp

Saddie - Luke's dog

Dalana & Dick - summer missionaries

Thank you so much for all the fresh
veggies and wonderful friendship!



Family!

Ann's precious Kodiak



Our farewellcookout
Thank you Keith

Can't have a cookout without
playing in the fire - Huh Nicole

Zeek - Nicoles dog

Bye Nicole!  Heading back to New York

Washing and getting ready for the departure

Daddy finishing last project
Scrapping the floors

Yummy cucumber salsa

Our portable clothes line - attaches
to the back ladder.

Yummy protein bars

Mom made our awesome
shade cloths that
attach to the awning

The beginning of our
new levelers for the rv

The finished product - RV levelers - that
will last a lifetime!

Organization projects

More organization projects

Mom made our little flag
says - RV'n 4 Jesus
Bob~ Carol ~ Kristi

 

 

 

 

 

 BYE - BYE MAINE

IT'S BEEN REAL!

Thank y'all for making our summer wonderful!

See you here - there - or in the air!

 

Summer days winding down....

    Hi, from the state that has had the most beautiful summer days ever!  I ALMOST feel guilty for enjoying their coolness when I hear you talking about the heat in Florida.

    With the camp season ending for the year, our days have been a little less scheduled but definitely not non-productive.  I must say we have enjoyed sleeping a little later and enjoying a longer lunch time.  We have been painting, making shelves, cleaning, packing up the lower camp and shutting it down for the season and other jobs around the area. I took a couple of days to make cushion covers for the dining table seats in the RV. We have reorganized the camper and Kristi moved to the “up-stairs bedroom” to give us more room for a storage/pantry area.   She is rearranging and getting settled in.

    Ann has taken us on day trips to show off “her Maine” and some of her favorite spots.  One was Clearwater Lake, a beautiful little place not far from here. There was a closed restaurant, “the Ugly Moose”, right on the lake. Kristi and Nicole teased about buying it and opening it up and of course, Bob and I would join them.  Another ride was to a large farm house and barn she loved.  The view was amaaaazzzing.    We also took an evening ride to Moosehead Lake, about two hours up in the mountains. The sunset was so beautiful.  Then we went to a spot where moose are often spotted.  We waited….and waited ….and waited.  No Moose!!!  But the trip wasn’t wasted, seeing the countryside was worth it.

    Tubing down the Sandy River was such a fun experience. There were six of us who took to the water.  Bob elected to stay at the camp because the water was so cold.  It was a wise decision….he would have froze. We went over two areas of rapids.  I have been over larger rapids but was in a raft with a guide being in control.  It was a little scary with me in control but I did it! The river wasn’t deep, most places we could stand on the very rocky bottom. I have to admit, I tipped over twice, one time losing my glasses….PANIC.  It was a miracle that Kristi found them. It was such a peaceful afternoon.  We saw no one and no houses the whole trip. I loved the quite drift down the river.

   Our original plan was to leave here around the 15^th. We have pushed it back to leaving on the 31^st.  So we had time to drive to the coast to an area we haven’t visited…. Camden Bay.  Oh, how beautiful. We stayed at Camden Hills State Park.  The view from Mt. Butte looking over the bay was beyond description. You will see it in the pictures. Camden was the typical little tourist town on the coast, only better. A section of it was built over the river and waterfall. I loved the bay. A four-masted schooner was in port, loading for a trip back out. Sure wish I could have been going with them.   We loved visiting Pemaquid Point Light house.  Thanks, Barb, for suggesting it! The rock formations were so unique.  We climbed all over them and took about 5,000 pictures…well, maybe not quite that many.  Check out some of them at the bottom.  We enjoyed driving along the coast, ooo-ing and aww-ing over the beauty in God's creation.  The quiet beauty of the shore line trail was a relaxing walk before we headed back to Farmington and our last week in Maine. We have a few jobs yet to complete. 

    I’m closing on this blog now.  So many more thoughts to write but will continue in next weeks post`.

    Enjoy the pictures and thank you again for praying for us.

Carol, Bob and Kristi

RV'n 4 Jesus
Galataions 6: 9&10

ENJOY!!!!

 

TOURING AND TUBING...

  

Always enjoying his desserts!

CAMDEN HILLS STATE PARK







PEMAQUID LIGHTHOUSE

View pulling in the parking lot!

28lb lobster...
Approx 75-80 years old!

 

View looking back from the water

  

DOWNTOWN CAMDEN

WE LOVE YOU ALL - KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS

AS WE WILL DO THE SAME!

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