Next steps

Well, our time at Camp Ithiel is coming to an end.  It's been a great experience.  We've gotten to know some wonderful people, learned more about the Brethern church and did a bit of work.  I'd highly recommend anyone considering doing some service to consider coming here.
We're going to Universal Studios tomorrow for a day of touristing.  I'm expecting it to be good, if not somewhat painful in the budget.  We did have the opportunity to go to Animal Kingdom and Epcot for a quarter of the price because of the generosity of some of the other volunteers here.  One couple works for Disney as needed and they had three comp tickets which they gave to us.  It was a good day.
We're going to head down to the Everglades National Park on Tuesday and plan on spending three days or so there.  I've no idea if we'll have internet access there or not.  We were planning on spending some time in the Keys, but are having trouble finding affordable RV sites, so we just may do some day trips instead.  After that we'll start heading north and west.  Our next service site is yet to be determined.  We'll see what Arloa comes up with.

Camp Ithiel

We landed at Camp on Sunday evening, after a leisurely drive.  On the drive we stopped in at a couple of springs along the Suwannee river.  Apparently Manatee enter these springs in winter to enjoy the consistent 72 degree temperatures.  The springs are low this year due to drought conditions this fall, so they are not as populated with manatee as usual.  We think we may had spotted a few snouts poke out of the water, but that's it.  There's a possibility we may join in with a homeschooling fieldtrip to swim with some manatees next week. 

Camp Ithiel is a Church of the Brethren camp.  It has a summer camp program that runs May-July.  In the winter it hosts many different rental groups.  When we arrived there were 120 college students on the Cornell University rowing team staying in dorms.  We provided two meals for them.  The volunteers do the majority of the cooking and cleaning in the winter season as there is only one full time staff person.  There is one other part time cook (as near as I can figure out the dynamics).  The rowers left on Wednesday, so we've spent a good portion of Wednesday and today cleaning the dorms.  Doug has also done a few other fix-it projects.  There are 7 other couples here, all older.  The family of the cook lives on the campus and they have 3 kids, ages 13, 11, and 8.  They've connected with our kids and are having a blast playing together.

Homeschooling is going ok.  We're still trying to figure out a good routine and determine what amount of work is reasonable.  I'm looking in to some different writing resources to complement what we're doing with the resources sent by the school. 

The weather has been lovely.  Mid to low 70's during the day, 50's at night.  There's been little need for heating in the trailer since we've arrived.  It looks like the weekend will be a busy one at the camp, and then some downtime during the week.  We're looking into going to Disney (good grief the tickets are expensive!) as well as some other day trips. 

A few pictures

On the way out

 The bent bicycle rim, after the loose end of the ratchet strap was wrapped around the drive shaft.

 At a park, on the way to New Orleans.  Bright, and sunny, but a balmy 40 degrees and windy.

 On the white sand beach at Destin Florida.  Note the toque, sweatshirt and barelegs/feet!

 Same beach, running on the sand bar.  Andrea decided fairly quickly that she really didn't want to swim after all.  Water temp was 51 degrees, air temp about 45, plus wind.

 Sunset on the beach

 For lunch we had grilled shrimp and salad.  For supper we had grilled red snapper.  Yummy

We'll be arriving at our first service assignment tomorrow.  Not sure if we'll have wifi at the campsite or not.  It'll be interesting to see what work they have for us.

Weird cousins in the wilderness

One of my goals during this trip is to do a daily devotional with the family.  This is something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but have never taken the time to create the time to do it.  Now there's no excuse.  The devotional today was talking about John, Jesus' weird cousin, living in the wilderness.  The devotional talks about leaving the safety of our known existence and leaving them for the unknown of the wilderness.  It feels like we've done just that... left our known existence for the unknown one of this one  We don't know what it's going to bring, what we're going to have to learn about ourselves or others.  We figured that we're the weird cousins heading off to the wilderness to see where we end up.  May God use us in however (s)he sees fit, scary as that thought may be.

Ok enough of the Deep Thoughts...here's how the last couple of days have gone.  We made it to Grand Prairie, Tx (burb of Dallas) on Saturday evening.  We had a moment of excitement on the drive when there was a sudden loud smack against the back window of the cab.  When we looked we noticed that Doug's rear back tire was completely dented.   We realized the the loose end of the ratchet strap around the bikes worked its way between the cab and the bed of the truck, got caught in the drive shaft and yanked the strap rapidly into the tire, then tore it off.  We were grateful the tire was there to take the brunt of the force, otherwise it may have shattered the back window and possible Andrea's head! 

Upon arrival in Grand Prairie we called some friends who live in the area and they came over with the smore supplies we didn't have.  It was quite cool, with wintery weather moving in.  We opted not to hook up the water as we didn't want to freeze the water pipes.  We joined our friends after breakfast for Mass at St. Josephs Catholic Church on Sunday morning.  This was a new experience for our girls.  I became somewhat emotional as I sat in the sanctuary, realizing that this trip was actually happening.  After church we went ice skating, lunch, shopping, then back to the trailer for fondue supper, provided by our friends.  While not directly related our girls refer to their kids as their cousins and they had a great time together.  We left this morning after a leisurely breakfast and traveled to Sulpher, La where we're parked for the night.  We'll figure out where we're going to go tomorrow.

I was going to add some pictures but the wifi here is too slow.  Maybe next time.

Packed, Mostly

Well, I think we're ready to go.  There are a few last minute things to do tomorrow morning, like washing the sheets we're sleeping on tonight, loading the bicycles after the trailer is hitched and adding a few odds and ends.  I'm pleasantly surprised that there are still a few empty spaces in the trailer.  Maybe I'll end up throwing in my Bosch mixer.  The girls have had a bit of an emotional day.  I think it's finally hitting them that this trip is for real.  They really are going to be away from the house, school and friends for half a year.  There have been a few tears and some strong emotions, but that's okay.  I'm ready to get going.  I'll post a picture in the morning of our departure.

Until then, here's something just for fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob6TTU1knUM