Travel Day - Tuxtla to Dayton

Scroll down or look at the sidebar on the left for lots of pictures posted early this morning. 

Up at 2:30 AM and to the airport in Tuxtla Gutierrez by 4:30. 

On the plane before 6:30. 

This is the one small terminal in Tuxtla. It is a very nice airport. 

The city of Tuxtla Gutierrez. 

Mexico City

Landing in Houston. 

We had a very slim time margin in Houston but everything fell into place and we are now at the gate. Customs, baggage and security all went smoothly. Walking about 6 miles through it all was the only problem. 

We separated from Bro. Larry and Sis. Rosemary in customs since we were in a hurry to get through. We are so thankful they invited us to go with them and preach the tent revival. It was an honor and privilege for our family. 

If all goes well we should be in Cleveland this evening for a three hour layover before flying on to Dayton. 

Thanks for praying for us. 

Davy

We Made It To Mexico

Hooray for WiFi! We have some Internet at the hotel so lets see if this thing will post. I wrote most of this at the airport in Mexico City. Pictures are at the end of the post. 

Thursday Evening In Mexico City

This has been an exciting travel day. I supposed that is what we have come to expect.  The only thing predictable about our life  lately is that it is totally unpredictable. 

It is 7:25 PM central Thursday as I begin typing this. We were supposed to be in Tuxtla an hour ago.  Bro. Larry called about 35 minutes ago to let me know they arrived safe and to check on us. We should be there about 11:40 and they will be waiting on us. 

We left Dayton on time and we were sitting on the plane in Cleveland about to leave on time when the pilots noticed an anomaly on one of the hydraulic systems. They sent for a mechanic and he discovered a leak that could not be repaired quickly. 

By the time we changed planes we were considerably over an hour late. Even though the flight from Houston to Mexico City was also late leaving we could not make it in time. They always take Odie off the plane last plus everybody was rushing to try to make a connection. 

They booked us on a later flight to Mexico City and a later flight to Tuxtla Gutierrez. They would not allow Bro. Larry and Sis. Rosemary to change flights to fly with us without huge change fees. 

Since they had to go on without us we were left to navigate through customs, immigration, baggage claim, rechecking bags, changing terminals, getting new boarding passes and going through security in a foreign airport all by our lonesome. 

It was not too bad considering lots of preachers endured months of travel to reach foreign fields only to be attacked and sometimes killed moments after stepping on shore. They expected strange fevers, all kinds of diseases and opposition from every side. 

Those that survived often suffered unbelievable hardships and labored years with little results. Most buried their wives and children on the mission field. I believe it was George Greenfield that said the graves of his wife and children were like signposts that marked his progress up the Congo River preaching the Gospel as he went. 

Nope, a few late flights and a language barrier in a nice airport where I can buy hot food and cold water is really not that big of a deal. A little perspective helps a bunch. 

If all goes well we should be united with Bro. and Sis. Landress and Bro. Jorge shortly after midnight central. I think Bro. Larry said it is about 2 1/2 hours drive from Tuxtla Gutierrez to where the tent revival is being held. 

Thus will wrap up a long day by God's grace. 

11:15 Thursday night in the air between Mexico City and Tuxtla. 

Our flight left an hour or so late from Mexico City so we are just now getting started. This day may never end.  Didn't I say unpredictable? 

4:15 AM Friday Morning. 

Even though we were late Bro. Larry and Sis. Rosemary were waiting for us at the airport. We were the last ones out and they pretty much locked the doors behind us. 

Bro. Jorge and his wife were waiting in the Suburban. It sure was great to see everybody. Now we are at the hotel. We arrived at 4:00. Time for bed. 

Davy

I forgot to tell you about the de-icing process this. I do not remember being on a plane as the de-icing fluid was being applied. Odie and I both snapped a picture. 

On the small plane in Dayton the driver climbed out of the truck after the plane was coated and rubbed his gloved hand along the edge of the wing. I guess it was a little quality control to make sure the ice was gone.  It was a pretty neat process. 

Travel Day - Mexico

Rewind 

Thursday started nice and early. I would say bright and early but it wasn't bright for several hours after the day started.

We were delayed in Cleveland and missed our connecting flight in Houston. That means we also missed our connections with the Landress family. They will wait for us in Tuxtla. 

We are now waiting for our new flight in Houston. This may be my last post for a few days unless I run into Wifi. 

The tent is already up in Mexico. Please pray that God will touch hearts in this meeting. 

I am anxious to get started. 

Davy

Rewind and Start Over

Today has been another whirlwind day and we have one more whirlwind day to go. Hopefully after that it slows down for four days while in Mexico and we get to enjoy revival and time with our friends the Landress family. It should be warmer next few days too. Hallelujah! Have I mentioned that it is very cold here in Ohio?

Kelly Jo started the day by finishing packing and then she worked hard to clean the bus so it's not a wreck when we get back home. I started with a bunch of paperwork, sermon preparation and bus work.

As I have mentioned a couple of times the forecast for tomorrow morning is very, very cold. It was actually colder than they thought it would be this morning, but we made it without anything in the BoggsMobile freezing.

I have been looking for an inside storage place so I can move the bus inside while we're gone in this frigid weather. I finally found a facility in northern Cincinnati and went down and looked at it yesterday. It is a very nice facility. It is heated, has electronic security and surveillance and strictly controlled access. They have several classic cars and nice big boats stored in one giant room.

I made plans have the BoggsMobile there about 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon. That put us to rushing Tuesday evening and all day today trying to get everything in place. I also made a park sleep and fly reservation near the date airport for us Thursday night since we would not have the bus.

I turned the diesel heat on about noon and warmed up the engine coolant. I also turned the generator on so my batteries would stay completely charged on the drive down to Cincinnati. I would only have access to 20 amps in the storage facility so I needed my batteries already fully charged. Since the facility is heated to 55° I would not have to run any heat so there would be no demand for much electricity at all. I could relax while in Mexico know the BoggsMobile was cozy warm and safe. Everything seemed perfect.

You know there is another shoe about to drop don't you? Well, here it is.

We pulled into the storage facility a little after 3:00 PM. My brother Steve was guiding me as I backed in. I noticed in my backup camera and mirrors that it the 14' tall 12' wide door looked mighty low. In fact it looked so low that I thought to myself, "That door looks only 12 feet tall." The owner assured me yesterday and again today that the doors were 14 feet tall. I did not even look closely until I was backing up.

I got out of the bus and stood in the building and had Kelly back to the entrance. Yep, sure enough, it was only 12 feet tall.

The owner of the facility was standing right there to direct me where to park. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized his 14' tall door was only 12' tall. It looked like he was going to have a cow. He felt like a lowdown, good for nothing hound. One more animal and it would've been a three dog night.

He felt so bad that I had driven all the way there, that he reached in his wallet and offered me $100 for my trouble. Of course by the time you figure the diesel I burned and the cost of the motel I bought for Thursday night, that mistake cost me quite a bit more than $100. However I hated to take his money. It was an absolutely honest mistake on his part. When I refused the money what he told me was very refreshing.

He said something like this, sir I'm a businessman and as a businessman I just totally disappointed and let down my customer. I cannot stay in business by treating customers that way. This $100 is the very least I can do besides I would like to help the work you do anyway.

We discussed it some more but he was adamant. I was very disappointed not to get to park the bus inside and hated that we had went all the effort, but I really felt bad for him. He advertised what he thought was true and made and honest mistake yet he was willing to take the blame and make it right as far as possible.If I can use any of his business services in the future you can guarantee I will. He really went the extra mile for the customer. God bless him.

So we drove back to Dodds, parked the bus and hooked up to electricity. The BoggsMobile will have to endure the cold like it was created to do. Please ask God to help our bus not to freeze in any form or fashion and ask him to calm my nerves. I am a wimp.

I have mentioned before we have been looking for some kind of property here in Ohio with the purpose of building a bus barn eventually. This winter really pushes us in that direction. I am very tempted to cancel every meeting I have in the north in the wintertime and head south. Pray that God will give us wisdom and guidance.

Tomorrow starts for us in a few hours so I am off to bed. Thanks for reading.

Davy

Home Sweet Home!

Yesterday's Post from London, Kentucky

Yes, friends, we are home sweet home! And about to freeze my little toes off too! Wow! I am ready to fly south for the winter.

We rolled out and cranked up early this morning. I started heating the engine coolant with the Aquahot diesel heater at 5:50 AM. By 7:00 the engine was toasty warm and cranked up like it was 70 degrees outside. We pulled into Visone RV where the trailer was worked on last week about 8:00. After hooking up the trailer and loading the car, we finally hit the road about 8:40. I love it when a plan comes together.

We only stopped twice in the 200 miles. We stopped once at the northern Kentucky Flying J to top off the fuel tank. We stopped the second time in Lebanon, Ohio to have the VIN inspected on the tent trailer. We have to do that when we buy an out of state vehicle and it is finally time to title the tent trailer here in Ohio.

My Dad was waiting for us when we pulled into Dodds Church. We dropped the trailer, parked the BoggsMobile, hooked up the electric, unloaded the Green Machine and headed for Acapulco to drink some salsa. I was so busy downing salsa that I only snapped one picture.

It was great to see my parents and my older brother Steve and to share a meal with them at my favorite little Mexican place. We relaxed a few minutes and savored some family time before the RUSH of home sets in. That was good.

Now the RUSH is fully on. I came back to the bus to work and Kelly Jo and Odie. It is almost 6:00 and they are just getting back to the bus. We have a long list of things to do that MUST be done before we leave for tent revival in Mexico early Thursday and a longer list of things we would like to do before then. I guess I better get off here and get started.

God bless you all.

Davy

Short Travel Day and Revival In Hazard, Kentucky

We were up with the sun Sunday morning. I rested fitfully a few hours Saturday night but mostly waited for the sun to come up. I usually sleep pretty good at truck stops but I had the events from the previous day on my mind. I should sleep real good tonight.

I had not planned on fueling the BoggsMobile until next week when we take it home. But after running the generator 12 hours I was down to just above a half a tank so I filled up before I left the Pilot station Sunday morning. That makes three travel days in a row that I have filled up and that is not cool at all. I will probably top it off before I get to Ohio next week and then I should be OK until January.

When the weather is cold I usually put in Howes Lubricator to keep the diesel from freezing and turning to gel. The Ultra Low Sulfur diesel will freeze pretty easily without a little help. 

I use a half a bottle with each fill up in winter. I was using the second half of a bottle today but I could not get it all in without a funnel. I twisted that bottle every way I could and still had a little that would not come out.

See it?

I finally decided to pour it in my mouth and then transfer it from my mouth to the filler tube on the bus. I realized that would not work because I did not want to get saliva in the diesel tank. Plus I would get diesel on my lips if I touched the filler tube. I ended up throwing the last few drops away.

We made it to Bond, Kentucky and parked and set up by about 12:45. The wheel that gave us trouble on the trailer was warmer that the others when I stopped to check on the way. It was not extremely hot but warmer. I guess it needs some more attention so some more attention it shall receive.

We are preaching for Pastor Duane Allen in Hazard this week but every level place in Hazard big enough for the bus has a building on it. So we are parking at Bond and driving back and forth. We left at 4:00 so we would have time to visit and set up our sound equipment.

It was great to see everybody again. We had a wonderful start to revival. It seems like there is a lot of excitement about revival and we are very thankful for that. We are looking forward to seeing what the Lord will do in folks lives this week.

We also had some special friends from a far that were visiting as well. I will tell you more about them later when I get some pictures.

I hope you had a great Sunday.

Davy

Crazy Travel Day With a Few Bumps In the Road

It has been a crazy day.

We left Hokes Bluff, Alabama this morning and pointed the BoggsMobile toward Bond, Kentucky. Our first planned stop was the Flying J on the west side of Knoxville. We planned to shake and howdy with the Benji Burris clan as they were driving from Virginia to California.

Less than an hour south of Flying J my voltage light started flickering sporadically. That warning light is directly tied to the alternator but my gauge said it was producing a steady 26 volts.

While I was trying to figure out what to do my cousin Anthony Abner called me. He had just passed me and recognized the BoggsMobile. He was two cars ahead of me. He and his wife and daughter and son in law had been to Georgia. 

You ready for the good part? Anthony has driven a truck for years and I suspected he might be able to help me diagnose the problem.  So we pulled off the road and confirmed with the voltage meter that the alternator was fine. 

We concluded the light was giving a false reading but did not know why. Anthony reached in one more time to make sure the large wire was not broken and when he grabbed it a small wire came loose. 

That wire was for the light and had broken at the connection. I decided to drive on and fix it in the Flying J parking lot. 

We visited a few minutes and then posed for a family picture next to the road. Imagine the chances of somebody I know being in the right place at the right time with the right knowledge and experience. Reckon who orchestrated that?

As I was finishing the repair on the alternator Bro. Benji, Sis. Laura and their four beautiful children pulled into Flying J.  We had a great visit with them at Denny's. 

These are super folks and it was great to see them again. When Benji text me Saturday morning wondering if our paths might cross in Knoxville I was thrilled to try to make it happen. I am so glad they thought of us as they were traveling.  May God bless our friends. 

About 1/2 mile after getting back on the interstate I saw smoke around the trailer wheels on the drivers side. I thought it was a tire blow out. I rushed back there after I pulled over but the tire was fine. 

The grease cap on the back wheel came off and the grease was every where but where it should be. The front bearings on the back wheel were completely gone. 

I took the tire off and drove 15 mph about 4 more miles to the Pilot truck stop. Benji turned around and followed me into the Pilot and stayed with us until we knew that help was coming. 

I told them to go on but they insisted on seeing us off the side of the interstate safely. Benji also made some phone calls and helped me with information so I could make a decision what to do. 

Like I said, May God bless our friends!

Good Sam sent a mobile mechanic and he took off the hub and inspected everything. He thought the spindle and back bearings were fine.

He took the hub to a place that was open on Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend and they had the front bearings. The hub is scored some but they did not have a replacement. The old one is usable but I will probably need to change it in the future. When he returned he put it all back together twice to get it right. 

It seems OK now but by the time he was finished it was after 10:00 so we decided to wait until morning to finish the drive to Kentucky. Pastor Duane Allen was very understanding and is allowing us to start revival Sunday night rather than Sunday morning as scheduled.

It was an expensive and nerve wracking evening but I was able to witness to the mechanic and his wife and also gave them a Christmas CD and asked them to listen to the Gospel sermon. Who knows what God will do with all of that.

Yep, it has been a crazy day but we are safe, warm and saved. AND, at least I am not pastoring a church!

Davy