The Lord Is My Strength!

It began with a Pastor asking us to preach both services on a Sunday near home. Awesome we can do that.

Then another Pastor in the next town up asked for the following Monday-Friday. That would make it Sunday-Friday at two churches not that far apart. Yep, we can do that.

Then the first Pastor called back and asked to change from two services on Sunday to Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning. I said yes without even thinking about the implications of now preaching Friday-Friday. Duh!

On Thursday, our Pastor asked us to preach that night. I did not hesitate to say, "Yes" because he is my Pastor. Now, we were scheduled for Thursday plus eight more days.

At some point in the mix, another church as us to preach the following Sunday night and I said yes without even thinking about it. Duh Again!

After preaching Thursday night at home church and then Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning, we did not get home in time to go to home church Sunday night. So we slipped into a church four miles from home and the Pastor asked me to preach that night.

Are you keeping track? Evidently, I was not keeping good track either.😍

At that point, we still had five nights of revival ahead of us and then rest Saturday and preach Sunday night. Except it did not work that way. Sunday morning, our Pastor asked me to preach again so you have to add in the second Sunday morning.

This is how it ended up. 

Eleven days

Twelve services

Twelve sermons

A bunch of singing

Five cities

Five churches 

And one day of not preaching.

That was absolutely normal for us in times past, but way out of reach in my current physical condition. But, by God's grace, we made it and we were able to finish strong. We enjoyed wonderful services and watched God touch His people in amazing ways.

Am I tired? Yes, tired right down in my bones. Yet, I am rejoicing that we were able to do it. KJo worked so hard and Odie sang like an angel and God stood near us at each service. Praise God!!

Thank the Lord for His help, His strength and His power! Hallelujah! We are climbing and gaining and will prevail by His touch! Please keep praying for us.

Thank you for spending a few moments with us. We always appreciate that.

Davy

An Altitude Problem

There have been more than a few times in my life that I have had an attitude problem. My parents have adjusted my attitude, My friends and family have adjusted my attitude, My Pastor has adjusted my attitude. AND KJo has adjusted my attitude.

Thank God for people who will take a risk and pour truth into my life when I need to adjust my outlook!

I have not been suffering from attitude problems much lately, but I have been suffering from an altitude problem.

July 5th we left California and headed toward Colorado. That first night we parked in a rest area near 6000' elevation. I was huffing and puffing by the next morning as we were trying to get on the road. 

Most of the second day was spent driving up and down mountains and we spent that night at 5300'. KJo and I walked by the Colorado River in the evening and I could hardly make it.

5300' was our low point for the next day and over the course of the day we were over 10000' and then 12000' and later in the day over 12000' again.

On the fourth day, we drove to Colorado Springs which sits at about 6000'. We stayed there parts of four days and the second day went to the top of Pike's Peak above 14000'.

I had not felt good all week, but it did not dawn on me until several day into the high altitude that the very high elevations might be taking a toll on my oxygen saturation.

I took an oximeter with us to Pike's Peak and nearly fainted when I saw the number. Actually, I was about to faint no matter what! I will not tell you how low my O2 level was. Some of you will think I am lying and some of you will think I am dying.

KJo had thought to take my portable oxygen machine and I am happy that she did. 

I had not used it since December, but I used it while on the mountain and all the way back to the bus. I did not get my levels anywhere near normal until we got down to about 6500'.

Thursday while at 12000' I had a feeling like I had never had before. Two days later on Pike's Peak over 14000' I felt it again. I never want to feel that way again. I may move to sea level!

Evidently, my lungs or heart or something is still distressed by the long term effects of Covid. Altitude has never treated me bad like that. 

Two nights ago we finally slept at 1800' and I woke up feeling great AND my oxygen level was back in the 90s. Much, much better!

I am praising God that I am better than I used to be and I am asking God to complete the work!

Thank you for stopping by.

Davy

Another Wonderful Visit to Pike's Peak With Dear Friends

In July of 1999, we visited Pike's Peak for the first time. We had been through Colorado in 1992, but most of our stops that trip were highway overlooks, which we enjoyed very much.

The visit in 99 was also a short trip, but we intended to see a few things. Spending time with friends that were also visiting and knew the area well was a great way to do it. One of the things we did was ride to the top of Pike's Peak with Bro. Larry and Sis. Rosemary Landress and their two daughters and a son in law.

We rode up in their 1 ton dually pickup. Riding down slowly in the bed of the truck and taking in the view was amazing. Walking part of the way down the mountain with their son in law was even more amazing. It was not the smartest thing I have ever done, but it was memorable.😍

The last time we were in revival at Souls Harbor in Colorado Springs, we drove the Green Machine up to the top and captured the trip for prosperity.

December 2020

We had not planned to go to Pike's Peak this trip, but returning the favor by driving Bro. Larry and Sis. Rosemary up seemed like the right thing to do and it was!

We have been to the top at least three times in the summer and once in the winter. This was by far the clearest day and prettiest weather! Wow!

The City of Colorado Springs was in the process of building a new visitors center at the top of Pike's Peak the last time we visited in December 2020. It is now complete and it is beautiful! 

They left one wall of the old building standing.

Sis. Rose sent us these pictures.

Wow Again! What a wonderful excursion with wonderful friends! It was a super great evening.

Thank you for stopping by.

Davy

California Diesel Drama

California Diesel

We do our best to buy as little diesel as we can in California. They are mighty proud of diesel and gasoline in the Golden State. We have seen prices above $7 a gallon during our recent visit. 

It has always been more expensive there so we try to fill up right before entering the state and as soon as we leave. There have been a few times it seemed like we exited the state on diesel fumes and prayer!

There is really no sense in taking chances like that. This time I stopped in California and added $300 of diesel to make sure I had enough to get out of the state. For $300, I only pumped 43.5 gallons. Ouch!

This is officially the highest price we have ever paid for a gallon of diesel, $6.88! Wow!

Glad we did not have to buy more, but we needed every drop we bought in California. When I filled up in Nevada, I pumped in 149.7 gallons. IF I had not added fuel in California, the bus would have needed 193 gallons!

The tank is rated to hold 208 gallons, but I have been told it would be difficult to get more than 198 gallons in it with high-speed diesel pumps. If we needed 193 gallons, we would have been on fumes for sure. I shiver to think about it.

In 14 years of owning the BoggsMobile, we have never been so low on fuel that we had to add more than 165 gallons to bring the gauge to full. I would like to keep it that way.

Thank you for stopping in today.

Davy

Do-Overs

Are there things in life that I wish I had done differently?

Absolutely!

However, I must say that I have pretty much lived life with no Egrets.

And I continue with no Egrets today.

Thank you for stopping in.

Davy

A Long But Cool Story!

This post is longish, but ends well.😍

Two of our most faithful readers fall asleep the moment I post about working on the BoggsMobile. (You know who you are😜) They have both admitted as much to me and I understand. 

However, it may shock them and you, but I have some readers that ONLY come here for bus stuff. 

1995 Prevost XL Vantare

Plus, it is amazing how often I search Mile Markers for an answer on when I did this or that or what it was exactly what the solution to the problem was. Mile Markers serves as a journal of sorts to us and is a tremendous memory aid!

I say that as an introduction to another very important BoggsMobile post. This one has been a long time coming and we are happy to report good news!

A Long But Cool Story!

Cool in the summer, warm in the winter. Those are two of the main goals when living in an RV.

We are reminded every summer of how quickly temperatures inside of a parked car can reach deadly levels. Each year families are destroyed by the accidental death of a child left inside a hot automobile. It is tragic and can happen so quickly.

Living inside an RV is similar, especially an RV with two big windows in the front and lots of windows down both sides. Wow, it gets hot quickly. That is why air conditioning is so important to the BoggsMobile inhabitants.

Our bus was originally equipped with three Cruise Airs when converted to a motorhome in 1995. Cruise Airs were designed and first used in yachts and are similar to small central AC on a house. They have an "outside" component and an inside component. 

The BoggsMobile had two "outside" units behind the front bumper and the third one in a small compartment near the engine in the back. The A coils and fans are inside, one in front, the second about midway and the third in the back.

By the time we purchased the bus in 2008, the Cruise Airs were on their last legs. Plus, they drew their fresh air from underneath which was usually hot pavement about 8-10 inches below them. They never did keep us cool.

The one in the back failed in May of 2009 while we were in Phoenix. I had it looked at by an expert and the compressor was toast. The cost of the compressor was about equal to the cost of one roof AC so that started my thinking process.

After checking around several directions and after a few false starts, I was pointed toward Robert's Brothers Coach in the Nashville area. They quoted me an amazing price to install four roof ACs and in November 2009, we jumped on it.

They cut four holes in the roof, ran all of the 12 volt and 110 volt wires and installed four 13.5 Penguin low profile units by Dometic and two thermostats. We had enough cool air to keep us happy for many years. It was a wise decision and a job well done.

I had heat strips installed in all four units as well so that we could use them for heat too. The two front units operate from one thermostat in front and the two rear units operate from a second thermostat in the back. But each unit can be set individually to whatever settings and temperatures you like.

Even though we have four roof ACs, we never use all four at the same time. We have on a few occasions of high temps, high humidity and full sun with no shade used three ACs at a time, but only briefly. It is nice to have the added flexibility of four inits, but we use AC #2 and AC #3 the most by far.

Nearly five years after installation, in July 2014, we had a little trouble with AC #2. I had to remove the fan motor and have a broken bracket welded and I had to replace one of the fans on the motor. The fan had been dragging and rubbing because of the broken bracket. The weld and the fan held up well. You can read about that and see pictures HERE and HERE.

In the summer of 2018, AC #3 started locking up after it was in use for about 30 minutes. The fan worked, the heat worked, but the compressor was locking up. It was nearly nine years old and had been used thousands of hours without any problems, so it had earned its right to croak!

I believe we had Jeff Rowe replace AC #3 in November of 2018 while we were in Nigeria. It performed well until mid summer of 2021 when the fan motor began to show signs of going bad. Ugh! The worst part was there were no fans to be found. It seems they all had Covid or something.

At about the same time, AC #2 started locking up showing signs it was about to kick the bucket. We spent last summer without our two main air conditioners because we could not get the right units or parts.

We hoped to have them going by May of this year, before we headed to Arizona, but still no parts available.

We could not keep cool with what we had in 100+ degrees. As soon as we arrived in Phoenix, we purchased a Toshiba portable air conditioner. I think it saved our lives!

I vented it out the driver's window.

Since Phoenix is RV mecca for the southwest, I also started searching for a place that might be able to get parts. I was soon directed to State Trailer RV and Outdoor Supply. Talking to their parts wizard, he was sure he could get the right AC for replacing our AC #2 and he was sure he could get the correct fan motor for AC #3.

I was dubious to be sure, but he was confident. Plus, he was not charging me up front so I went to service to see if they could get the bus in and do the work. 

The service department was scheduling work for the end of July, but with a little begging on my part and the hand of the Lord, they squeezed us in! Yay!

Very early one morning, we unhooked the BoggsMobile and drove it about nine miles to the service center.

About 10:15, they pulled the BoggsMobile into the bay.

In an hour or so the service technician came to talk to me. It turns out the AC that was ordered was not the correct one. Surprise, Surprise! After much back and forth between the parts guy and the service guy and questions for me, they came up with a plan. Here is the plan.

I would have to buy a new control box for the brand new AC. I would have to buy a new control box for the existing AC #1. And I would have to buy a new thermostat for the front two ACs, #1 and #2.

Clear as mud? The problem is that the new air conditioners do Not communicate with the original thermostat. They are the same brand, but not backward compatible.

It cost about a few hundred more in parts and a few hundred extra in labor, but after several days of running the new AC in 100+ degree heat, it is worth every penny. We now have cool air in the bus!

They also replaced the fan motor in AC #3 and had to replace the fan start capacitor too. I am happy to report that it is running and blowing cold too! 

It cost way more than I wanted to pay, but it was worth every penny. We are so glad to have working ACs! Hallelujah!

AJ, the service guy at State Trailer RV was the brains behind the repair and he and his helper Justin did the work. I am thankful for both of them.

Here I am pulling back in before 4 that day.

I had them put the old AC #2 in the bay of the bus, so that I could save the shroud, the fan motor with fans and the circuit board before scrapping the unit. AC #1 and AC #4 have the same size fan motors and AC #4 still has the same type of circuit board. I will store them in the bus barn in case they are needed in the future. 

I know I will need the shroud!

Sorry for the long story! Thank you for reading.

Davy