The Weekend Dispatch 5/30/22 El Mirage, Arizona

Today's Mile Maker is picture heavy. I sure hope you enjoy the them. KJo took this great one Saturday evening.

Odie let me know that our cousin and faithful Mile Marker reader, Glendon Lamb is sick this week. Will you join us in praying for him?

At the bottom of this post, I have posted a bunch of pictures from Odie's week and weekend. I think you are going to like those.

Meanwhile, out on the road...😎

This was my early morning task Friday.

This was our early morning task Saturday. KJo is washing the front of the Jeep at 5:30 AM.

We did not wash the whole BoggsMobile. We only knocked the bugs off the front and the oil and road grime off the back. It had accumulated at least 2300 miles of bugs and oil going all the way back to Elkton, Virginia.

Later Saturday morning, we took care of our soundcheck and enjoyed singing a while with Sis. Carla Martinez. Then it was on to Golden Corral for lunch.

Look who showed up Saturday night! Yep, Bro. Bruce and Sis. Priscilla from Pauls Valley, Oklahoma! It is so good to see them again! We had burritos from Humberto's waiting for them.

Sunday was the fifth Sunday of the month so we kicked off revival with service Sunday at 11:00 followed by an unbelievable dinner and fellowship! Wow!

Bro. Bruce Mayhan took these pictures for us during church.

Odie submitted some pictures from her week and weekend! It looks like she is doing well!

That wraps up our weekend. I hope you enjoyed all of the pictures. Thank you for joining us.

Davy

Our View Out The Front Window 5/29/22

Sunday Morning Sanity

The past is valuable as a guide post, but dangerous if used as a hitching post. David Noe

We are giving you quite a variety of views this week. Each night we found a place to park that suited us just fine. 

This was our view out the front window at the Petro Travel Center in Amarillo, Texas.

This was our view out the front window at the rest area near Moriarty, New Mexico.

This was our view out the front window at the Arizona Welcome Center near Lupton.

This was our view out the front window in Flagstaff, Arizona.

This is our view out the front window in El Mirage, Arizona, Of course, we can not see out the front window because it is too hot to remove the reflectors!

I hope you have a super great Sunday!

Davy

Happy Birthday 2022 Papaw Eugene

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in from Ohio! I have been having a wonderful time at home. I will share more pictures from some of my fun here later.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend. This weekend we pause to remember the United States Armed Forces members who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us. Their sacrifice allows us to enjoy our great nation and freedoms today!

We also remember all of our loved ones who have left us! I have countless family and friends that are no longer here. My mind is scrolling through the numerous people who have been part of my life. I miss every single person on that list. Those precious people will never be forgotten!

Happy Birthday Papaw 

For the Boggs Family, Memorial Day also means that it is time to celebrate a birthday. Who's birthday is today, you ask? My Papaw Eugene Boggs! 

Papaw has completed another trip around the sun. Thank God for allowing us to still have Papaw with us! Papaw, no wonder you get tired quickly. You are constantly traveling. 😊

The regular readers here will know Papaw is a vital part of our lives. We love him so much! Anybody who knows my Papaw, you also appreciate him.

He is brilliant, talented and wise. I really do not know what we would do without Papaw. He is on speed dial for our entire family! Most of our family will gather on Monday to celebrate Papaw! We look forward the showering him with love and appreciation!

Each year we are grateful that God has helped Papaw through many obstacles that life has put in his path. He is a walking miracle! Thank you, God, for all the answered prayers that have been prayed by our family and friend for Papaw!

Papaw, I love you more than Ice cream! Happy Birthday! Thank you for being incredibly awesome! You are a fantastic hero! I am proud to call you Papaw! I am glad to be home to celebrate your birthday with you.

Thanks for reading, as I honor my Papaw Eugene Boggs! See you again next Saturday.

Odie 

Amarillo, TX to El Mirage, AZ -Travelogue Part III

Odie has a great post ready for tomorrow on this topic, but I want to take a moment to wish my Dad, Eugene Boggs Happy Birthday. Happy, Happy Birthday, Papa Bear! We love you much!

Amarillo, TX to El Mirage, AZ -Travelogue Part III

This is the final travelogue of our journey from Tennessee to Arizona. You can get to the first two parts below.

Travelogue Part I

Travelogue Part II

The weather was so nice in Amarillo, that we had decided to hang out another day. We did not need heat or AC and that is perfect weather in an RV! Wow! It was beautiful.

Then KJo checked the forecast for our route Tuesday and discovered the weather guessers were calling for rain over the first 200 miles of our route. That caused us to reconsider.

Rain is not a deal breaker for driving, but driving 240 miles Monday would greatly reduce our chances of driving in the rain, so we shook up the plan. When the plan was finished shaking, we had decided to hook up the Jeep, crank up the BoggsMobile, fill up with diesel and hit the road.

We filled the tank where we had spent the night. We only took on 123 gallons, but it made sense to fill up there and be finished with it for a while.

We made the 242 mile trip to a rest area east of Moriarty, New Mexico without much trouble in four hours.

We have parked in a lot of rest areas in all these years of traveling, but something happened Monday evening that we have never experienced. We were contacted by TWO friends that drive semi-trucks for a living. Both of them driving separate trucks and going by at different times, spotted the BoggsMobile in the rest area while they were driving by.

That is amazing. We do not even remember being spotted by one friend driving by in a truck, much less two! The first was Bro. Steve Walker from Wichita and the second was Bro. Bryan Cole from Oklahoma City. Unfortunately, we did not get pictures because they spotted us!

We had the blessing of going to church with Bro. Steve for nearly four years in Wichita and we have known Bro. Bryan for more years than I remember. He is the Dad of Kaitlyn, the young lady I eventually won as a friend by a consistent flow of M&Ms. You can read some about that HERE.

Our friends spotting along the road and reaching out to us, made us smile. Of course, KJo's tacos made me smile too!

Tuesday we ran the generator for a little bit in order to run the engine block heater. Yep, it was cold enough overnight to need to warm up the engine, but we were perfectly fine inside.

We traveled against high winds again Tuesday, but we only drove 3.5 hours and 209 miles. We spent the evening and night at the Arizona Welcome Center near Lupton, AZ. The scenery there is absolutely awesome!

Wednesday morning we ran the generator for a while to warm up the engine coolant and then cranked the bus. While warming up the engine, KJo cooked another omelet. Wow!

After about 105 miles, we stopped at Flying J in Winslow, Arizona to do the work of the evangelist and then finished the 160 miles to Flagstaff. We parked at Little America Truck Stop off of exit 198.

Believe it or not, friends called us as they were passing by and we got to visit with them for a couple hours at the restaurant inside the truck stop. I did not even think to get pictures. Ugh!

I was up at 4:30 Thursday morning at the truck stop in Flagstaff. My eastern time brain says that is 7:30 and that I have slept too late. We were rolling by 8:00.

We had a little bit of construction, but other than that, the 154 miles to El Mirage passed quickly and with no trouble. The temperature was in the low 40s when I got up, 63 degrees when we left and 105 in the afternoon here in El Mirage. We knew the temperature change was coming, but it was a shock to our system.

KJo and I had a project to work on as soon as we arrived. I will tell you more about that once I have a firm opinion on whether it has worked or not. The rest of our evening was spent with friends and wonderful burritos from Humberto's!

Our travel ambitions were modest each day this week. We were not anxious to plunge into 100+ degree days in Phoenix, especially when are main ACs are not functioning. The high temps in Moriarty, NM, Lupton, AZ and Flagstaff, AZ were in the 70s and the lows were in the 30s. Much better than 100+!

Yet, we are glad to be here and look forward to having revival! Thank you for dropping in.

Davy

Russellville, Arkansas to Amarillo, Texas -Travelogue Part II

Our previous cross country travelogue installment ended in Russellville, Arkansas so that is where we will begin today.

Friday morning we were up early and pulled out of the Flying J in Russellville at 5:55 AM. I had parked in a pull through space next to the back entrance so it was easy to slip out.

It was incredibly windy all day long. Windy enough that we considered getting off the road and driving at night. The deciding factor is that I am not able to drive all night. I put both hands on the wheel and toughed it out.

That morning, we drove 250 in 3 hours and 40 minutes and stopped for a break at 9:35 AM. Not bad at all for a morning drive. I walked around the parking lot, while KJo went in to see about getting something to eat.

While walking I noticed a little coolant on the ground about mid bus. The bus has coolant hoses that go to about the middle of the bus for the bus heating system and then onto the front for dash heat. I opened the bus heat bay and it was leaking somewhere there. I could not pinpoint it, but the leak was obvious.

The bus has valves by the engine that shut off those hoses so I shut off the coolant flow to the front of the bus. Fortunately, we are not going to need bus heat for a while. 

I already suspected I had a leak somewhere because the engine coolant was a smidgen low when I checked it the evening before. I could not see a leak from the engine or radiator and the oil did not have any coolant. Glad I found it before it became a big problem.

During that morning break stop, we ate a bite for a late breakfast, rested a few minutes and then hit the road at 11:10.

The wind was even worse after our break so having fun while driving was not possible. The traffic in OKC was perfect and we breezed right through on I-40. It was kind of heavy for about 20 miles west of town, but it was not slow.

Soon we were getting close to Texas and it was time to begin looking for a place to stop for the night. Our options were mighty thin between the Texas state line and Amarillo, so we jumped off at Sayre, Oklahoma at another Flying J.

They have wide open parking for RV's in the front at Sayre Flying J. Overall it is a great place to park.

We went into Denny's for breakfast that evening and it was great. KJo ordered a breakfast skillet and I ordered an omelet. Both were excellent. We waited quite a while for the food, but that is par for the course at Denny's.

Saturday morning we hit the road with Amarillo in mind for our break. It was only 125 miles and we were hankering for a steak from The Big Texan. The wind Saturday morning was probably the strongest I have ever encountered in the BoggsMobile. Wow!

By the time we finished the 125 miles and pulled into the gravel lot behind The Big Texan, I was drained. I felt like I had driven 500 miles. Wow Again!

We pulled in right behind three busloads of people and the parking lot was already pretty much full. We rested about 90 minutes to give the restaurant time to process 150 bus people and it worked out pretty good.

By the time we had eaten, we decided we were finished driving for the day. The wind was still blowing something fierce and I was overdone!

I figured The Big Texan would probably clear their parking lot at closing time and it was too dusty to stay overnight anyway. I cranked the BoggsMobile and pulled across the interstate to the TA Truck Stop. They had plenty of room and I planned to fill up with diesel there when we left.

That wraps up our Russellville, Arkansas to Amarillo, Texas leg of our travelogue. Thank you for reading.

Davy

A Word For Wednesday - Is God In The Glitches?

It is time for A Word For Wednesday. A Few minutes ago, I posted A Word for Wednesday on our YouTube Channel. Please give it a listen and leave us a comment here or on YouTube.

Is God In The Glitches?

Please stay with me on this today. This may seem like another bus post, but it is hopefully much more. My main goal is to tell you how God is sometimes in the glitches. Press through to the end.

I am on record on Mile Markers explaining why bus glitches, car glitches, PA glitches or any other kind of glitches that suddenly go away are a mixed blessing to me. Often the bus or anything else malfunctions and I do not know the answer and can not "fix" the problem. 

All of a sudden, the issue goes away and everything is running smooth and I do not know how to respond. That leaves me lifting my hands in praise while scratching my head in befuddlement.

I am obviously thankful each time that we are no longer having a problem, but there is a nagging suspicion, based on experience, that the complication is gonna show up again when I least expect it and when I am less equipped to handle it. 😊

Twice before now, a dragging tag axle brake, the same thing that turned us around in Tennessee, has reared its ugly head only to resolve itself without us knowing exactly what caused it. The first time was December 2018 and it left us frazzled and thankful. You can read that HERE.

Two years later, nearly the same scenario played out again with the opposite tag axle. One morning it was dragging a bit, but when we stopped it was completely released and we could not get the dragging to duplicate. Again, we were thankful but perplexed and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

When we arrived back at Jeff's shop on May 17, the brakes were not releasing completely when I lifted my foot off the brake, but they did release each time I turned off the parking brake. That gave Jeff some direction and after a few repairs, as described HERE, the brakes were releasing fine.

We believe the nagging situation with the occasional glitches is now solved. Time will tell for sure, but all seems well. We feel a whole lot better about it, I know that definitely.

We intended to drive 400 miles Tuesday and 400 miles Wednesday. That would have put us well on the way to our destination. Instead, we drove a 26 mile circle and finally left Jeff Rowe's shop 18 hours after we originally departed. So by Wednesday evening, we ended up a day late and about 600 miles short of our goal. Why?

Did God do that? Did God allow that? Does He care that we have a schedule to keep, places to go and things to do for His kingdom? The answer is maybe to the first question and yes, yes, yes and yes to the next four questions.

God is certainly aware of every little thing we are dealing with. Please consider, He may have other plans. We need to be perceptive when encountering obstacles on our path.

This may not be the case every time, but sometimes glitches seem to happen so that we can discover and solve another problem OR so that we can be in the right place at the right time.

We pray daily that God puts us in the path of the right people and that He allows us to be sensitive to His work in our hearts and the hearts of people we meet along the way.

When we have difficulties we start looking for some divine opportunity along the way. He may be slowing us down and opening and door for us to minister to a person or in a place that we would have zoomed by at 65 MPH otherwise.

We definitely walked into God's will as a result of our bus glitch last week. A precious family that we had never met before, poured their broken hearts out to us within moments of speaking to them and we spent nearly two hours listening to them and offering a very few words of comfort along the way.

Mostly we listened and wept. The recent difficulties they have endured can only be described as nightmare material. It is the kind of thing you want to wake up from, but you never do. They talked and unburdened their hearts and we tried to help bear a small corner of their heavy load.

They have definitely been part of our prayers since that day and will continue to be for a long time to come. Did God orchestrate that? Maybe.

IF we had been able to drive to our desired destination Tuesday, we would have completely missed an amazing opportunity to love on people and listen to people that desperately need to experience the strength of God at this very moment.

Sometimes God may be in the glitches.

Does that make sense to you? I make sense when I say it to myself.

Are you struggling with unexpected difficulties? Stop a moment, look around and listen attentively. You may find that you are come to the kingdom of God for such a time as this.

Thank you for reading today.

Davy