It's good to be home, but I miss the great outdoors already! This is a reminder that camping anytime (I can get time) is a possibility if we make it happen and we are often better of from doing it.

A Change in Plans

Things sometimes do not go as planned: Our trip was to Arkansas which is about 860 miles from home. We didn't go to Arkansas.

We got in the bus and drove about an hour and a half away to a special campground that our friends own and manage. It's not open yet, but he invited about 23 families in for a week-long Sukkot gathering.

This is the same family that has been helping with bus repairs and wanted to send us off and check on a few things. They sent us off and all seemed well!

We continued our journey for about 2.5 hours further (it's a 13 hour drive in total) and something strange happened: we heard some popping noises, like stones hitting the bottom of the bus. We lost power steering, brake power and the temperature gauge was going up rapidly. I got off on the side of the road and slowly stopped the bus. I saw steam coming up from the engine.

The serpentine belt snapped. Oh no!

We were south of Fort Wayne Indiana, 200 miles from home, in the middle of nowhere, cars and trucks zooming by us, shaking the bus.

We spent about 2 1/2 hours by the side of the freeway, making calls trying to find a service that could tow us off the road to safety and confirm what we suspected had happened and get a new belt for the bus.

We contacted AAA and they contacted a local repair shop called Voglemans Repair shop, only 14 minutes away.

We got their number and called and called... until finally we got through. They said they were not available (!!!) and to contact a different local towing company called "A+" towing. We got through right away and explained the situation. He said "Call Voglemans", and I laughed and said "They told me to call you!" Then I explained our situation and where we were. He asked "How many are with you" and I said "Two adults and six children" I couldn't see him but it sounded like he almost fell out of his chair! I said "Well, we're a bus-full of people". He said to hold on and he would make arragements to get us off the road to safety, but he wanted police there to direct traffic and to STAY IN THE VEHICLE.

Within a half-hour, he was there with a tow and his buddy with another car to transport the rest of the crew.

He attached the bus to the back of his truck and towed it to the next exit at a gas station. I rode with my little daughter (she said she wanted to stay with daddy) and mom and the others rode in the other car.

Looking out of the back of the Tow Truck, it seemed like this bus was tailing us!

When we arrived at the gas station, the two men immediately began looking at the engine and sure enough, it was the serpentine belt that shredded.

The belt didn't just break, it was shredded into strands!

We were very grateful to be off the road and having the bus looked at.

But this wasn't the end of our adventure. We didn't have a functioning vehicle and we were still many hundreds of miles from our destination.

What should we do? What can we do? What makes the most sense?

To be continued...

Bless the Most High!

Teach Your Children Liberty from Sin

We encourage parents to teach their children principles of Godliness, beginning with the Word and an understanding who God is and what His Son has done to form a relationship with us.

No one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 1 Corinthians 3:11-13

Teach Your children Liberty from Tyranny

Second to this is the principle of self-determination and freedom, lest we loose the ability to teach our children the first principle in future generations.

Our children read the Tuttle Twin books, specifically to learn libertarian principles, which most people learn later in life. These books are useful for our family, and yours, to teach children concepts that seem complicated, but are made simple in these books. I am an affiliate for Libertas Publishing, your purchase will help our family grow financially.

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"Politicians like problems because they can claim to have solutions... but their solutions often create even more problems."