RV'n 4 Jesus: November 2015

After leaving the wonderful state of Utah, we headed down to Flagstaff, AZ, to meet back up with our good friends, Ron and Jaymane Dunn. We planned one last Hooray with them since we didn't know when we would be back through Arizona.

We found a great townhouse and rented it for the weekend so we could play games all night and see the Grand Canyon during the day. Ron had never been to the Grand Canyon, so we were excited to get to go back with them. It had been since '87 since Jaymane had been. We had our plans and sunscreen ready to meet them on the 8th.

Since we arrived early, we decided to stay back at the military base that we had stayed once before and just relax a day or two before they arrived. We also knew it was time for our oil change in the rv and there was a Camping World right by the townhouses so we made our appointment for the morning of the 8th and were going to park it at the Pilot at the end of the road. Our plans were set, well except the part where the RV was making a weird noise. The only way I could describe it was airy.  The motor wasn't sounding big and strong like normal, it was a loud airy sound, so we were going to have that looked at too. I, of course, sent out prayer requests to my immediate prayer warriors that they were to be in prayer for an honest repairmen and that if something was wrong, that it could be fixed. So, we dropped it off and the repairman went for a ride with me to hear the noise...and yes, he agreed it was airy, but he looked at me and said it was the motor fan and it was NOT suppose to sound like that. It definitely needed to be checked out since it's not suppose to get to 4500 rpms before it shifted....so, we left the RV.

We received the call that we could go early to the townhouse, so we headed out.  The Dunn's arrived and we were all settling in and laughing of course and enjoying the fellowship together when we received "the phone call". It was the repairman! He said, "We have a very big problem, the transmission is on it's way out." Oh WOW, I soooo did NOT want to hear that, I think I was in shock a little, since after all it was a 2014 RV and we only had 26,000 miles on it...But, either way, I had to swallow and face the facts. I asked him if he thought I could make it to Florida and have it fixed there, and of course he said, "No!"  It was one of those situations where you could make it 1000 miles or it could make it 1, you just can't tell. He also told me with the low miles that it probably was still under warranty which meant that ONLY a Ford certified mechanic could work on it. OK, so we stay a little longer and get it fixed, so I thought...

I went back inside to share the news with Momma and Daddy. We were all bummed out a little but then of course reminded ourselves that God was in control, no matter what! Crazy how my first reaction was panic, worry and then Oh Yea, I don't have to worry about all this, God's got this! PERIOD! For me, I am one that completely trusts the fact and take extreme comfort in HIS sovereignty, everything that happens to me goes through His hands and that He is in Control, not me...the outcome is ALWAYS for HIS GLORY, whether I know "the rest of the story" or not. I trust Him, so I completely trust HIS plans! SO, the facts were, we needed a new transmission and we needed it ASAP. So, I called the Ford place in Flagstaff....they didn't do RV's, he refereed me to another Ford place on further down the road...their bay wasn't large enough for our RV to fit.  I called another Ford place...nope - RV was too large. He gave me a number to a Ford place an hour and a half away in the opposite direction of where we were planning on going when Jaymane and Ron said, just call Tuscon (where they live) and we could stay with them while the RV was under repair. Ok, that made sense, but Tuscon was 4 hours away, would the RV make it that far? Would we break down on the way? Albuquerque was closer, but we would have to drive straight through the desert. If we broke down that would be a nightmare waiting for who know how long for a tow truck.  So, we thought about it and it really made more sense to try to make it to Tucson because there were towns and people pretty much the whole way. If we didn't make it all the way to Tucson, we had Phoenix and they had lots of Ford places there. Now we had a plan, head to Tucson. But, do they have a Ford place?

I Googled it and yep, lots of Ford dealers in Tucson, I called one after another, getting voicemail after voicemail, I landed on Holmes-Tuttle. I called, got transferred 4 times before I finally got a guy, no excuse me, a "service specialist" named Mike. I explained my problem, he said yes it needed to be looked at, but he was short handed, yada yada. I then proceeded to explain, we are just trying to get home to Florida by the 24th and we were at his mercy. I had called several Ford places and due to the RV size, they couldn't take me. He told me to bring it on in so they could get it in line, to which I had to tell him, I couldn't be there till Monday (Thursday was the day this all happened). So, he made me an appointment to come in Monday morning. Shewwww - good, now that was all over - we can get on with having some fun with our friends....Let the games begin!!!!

The next morning we got up bright and early to go see the Grand Canyon! I loved walking up to see it and the reaction on the face of our friends. There is really NOTHING like it. The Grand Canyon is just so different, but so over the top on grasping what you are seeing. A mile deep, 200 something miles long with such color and different layers of rock. It was just as breathtaking the second time as it was the first time I saw it. This time around I didn't take quite as many pictures and just stood in God's presence and marveled at His creation and how He created it all to work. What a mighty God we serve!

We spent the whole day stopping at each pull out to view and marvel at His handiwork. Every spot was so unique, the colors, the way the sun hit the cliffs, all of it, just glorious! We stopped along the way for a picnic, there was nothing like it. It's been great to picnic in these national parks, as we sat IN nature and heard the sounds and saw the birds and listened to them sing. It was wonderful, a perfect day with some of our dearest friends, our brother and sister in Christ, family.

When we got back home, you guessed it, we pulled out the games for more laughter and fellowship, after dinner of course. Funny part was, we really did play games pretty much the whole time we were at the townhouse and eat...LOL. It was a precious weekend for sure.

Our time in Flagstaff was winding down, we were to leave the next day. We were prayed up, I sent messages to some of my wonderful prayer warriors, I knew we were covered in our journey to Tucson, I had the sweetest peace that we were ok either way. I love that peace that only He can give.

We were off to Tuscon, (actually Green Valley, right outside of Tuscon) 283 more miles we needed to go. Praise God it was mostly flat driving, only a few inclines were in our path. We decided to have Daddy follow us in the car instead of towing it, and the the Dunn's were right there with us...so our little convoy of 3 were off.

We arrived without incident after a stop at Rudy's, the absolute best bbq that I have ever eaten in my entire life. If you are ever out in Texas or Arizona, look it up, you MUST go get some extremely MOIST, cooked to perfection, fun atmosphere and super yummy food! Oh, ok where was I? Oh yeah, back to the trip, all smooth sailing, motor being held together by the hands of my heavenly Father.

Our appointment was set for Monday, we arrived bright and early since we were so eager to have it looked at. Mike (our service representative) said they wouldn't be able to look at it until later in the week, which ended up being Wednesday. We got a call bright and early and said that yes in fact it was the transmission, but we also had the motor fan burn out and PRAISE GOD it was in the ON position when it burnt out (the airy sound I heard, I knew I wasn't crazy, well you know what I mean)...not sure how all that works, but he said that had it not stayed ON the whole time it would have killed our motor....WOW - ok that is a huge PRAISE GOD right there,!!! Can I get an AMEN? SO, when he told me, "that never happens" I just smiled and told him, "that was all God!" Ok, at this point, we had the motor fan, and two parts in the transmission that were bad and needed to be replaced, and we were only half way through the tear apart...I received another call on Thursday, that all parts were ordered and there was nothing else that was needed, the parts were to be in that afternoon or Friday morning. Mike said very tentatively we might have it back Tuesday afternoon, but they were going as fast as they could since they knew we needed to get back on the road. OK, here's another PRAISE GOD, we got a call at 7:14AM on Tuesday morning that she, the RV, was ready to be picked up and hit the road....WOOOHOOO PRAISE YOU GOD, we were able to pick it up and hit the road all before lunch time on Tuesday!!!  Sure, we were set back a few days, but we were back on the road. How fast do you think we were packed up and ready to go? LOL We arrived at the service department to pick her up and the lady checked us out and said, "have a great day and enjoy your travels..." what, that's it? The entire thing was covered under warranty...yep...another PRAISE GOD and can I get an AMEN? We got the keys, repacked the rv, said our goodbyes and hit the road, all before lunchtime.

As you can see, God's provisions for us are in the big details, as to where we were going to stay and the warranty covering the repairs to the tiniest of details like me being awake at 7am to hear the phone ring that was still in my backpack so we could get on the road earlier that we expected. When you look for God everywhere, you will see Him everywhere, that's a promise you can count on. I do however want to go on record here, even if He hadn't provided smooth sailing through this whole process, His provisions are still beyond me. He provided my salvation, and in the scheme of things, that ALONE is the ONLY provision we are in need of, His Son, Jesus Christ.

Also, just want to do another shout out to our precious friends the Dunn's - THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HOSPITALITY AND LOVE!!!!

Not too many pictures in this one, but enjoy the "big ditch" pictures and ones we took along the way....

Love ya'll and keep us in your prayers!!!
  Kristi
Carol and Bob
Galatians 6:9-10

THE BIG DITCH...

AKA GRAND CANYON