When we drove across Houston from Livingston to Sweeny a week ago Saturday I remembered why I did not want to do that again. Houston traffic is difficult while driving a car. The bus makes it about 4 times worse. When you add the tent trailer, I need something to calm my nerves!
So after a great closing service with Pastor Larry Lamb and all of the Sweeny folks, we pulled out of Full Gospel Lighthouse with intentions of going about 75-80 miles to the north side of Houston. Bro. Lamb called me in a few minutes to tell me that they had heard I-45 was closed in the heart of Houston and that was exactly where I was going.
I checked on Google maps and sure enough, I-45 was closed. In a car I could have taken to a surface street and wound my way around but with the bus and trailer I chose the cautious route. We took Loop 8 on the south side and followed it all the way around the west side of Houston.
The traffic was light and the road was smooth. It added a few miles to the total trip but that was not the main problem. The main problem was the four toll gates in less than 37 miles. Each toll gate cost $8.75 for the bus and trailer and $1.75 for the Green Machine. That is $42 in tolls for less than 37 miles! I thought Oklahoma was gouging me by charging $40 for 200 miles but now Oklahoma is a Bargain!
Shortly after joining I-45 again on the north side of Houston, we stopped at Flying J for the night. We snagged the very last RV parking spot right out in the open by the gas pumps and under the light just where we like to be.
It was a nice night and we did not need the generator for heat or AC. We rested pretty good. Odie says that since she was raised sleeping in truck stop parking lots, that she sleeps better when she hears over the loud speaker every few minutes, "Shower number 5 is now ready!" She is a funny kid!
Saturday morning we emptied the holding tanks and filled up with diesel. It was $1.90 a gallon with our discount, which is 11 cents more than we paid the last fill up but about $2.50 a gallon less than we paid for years. That low price is hurting a bunch of families. I love to pay less but I would be willing to pay a little more to keep folks working.
Thankfully, we started Saturday with Houston behind us but it seemed that some of Houston traffic drove right along with us all the way to Dallas! The road was good though and in a few hours we were taking I-635 around Dallas and looking for a place to eat our Saturday meal.
Look what we found!
We ran across an open parking lot that we could actually get into without hitting the curb, scraping the belly of the bus, dragging the back of the trailer, removing a roof air with a tree branch or even making any drivers angry enough to spit!
And the open parking lot was within sight of a Golden Corral.
Is that divine direction or what?
We have eaten at Golden Corral three out of the last four Saturdays since I had my last birthday and it is obvious this Golden Corral has a computer glitch too! Can you see it?
About 90 minutes later or so we were pulling into the House of Prayer in Gainesville, Texas. I parked the trailer along the side of the parking lot and then whipped into the great RV parking spot behind the church!
Here is the BoggsMobile settled into its regular spot at the House of Prayer.
As we were working on setting up our sound Saturday evening and visiting with Pastor Dennis King and Sis. Judy, I received a text message. Bro. Bruce and Sis. Priscilla Mayhan had drove down from Pauls Valley, Oklahoma to be with us so they came to the church to visit for a while too.
It was really great to have our friends with us Saturday evening, service Sunday morning and at lunch Sunday as well. We enjoyed their fellowship very much! Thank you all for taking time to come see us again. God bless you for it!
Both Sunday services were really good and I really appreciate the response in the altar both times. God moved and helped and encouraged!
The day started with the House of Prayer radio broadcast that they have been doing for nearly 50 years. I snapped picture from the back while Pastor King was playing steel on the broadcast.
Here are a few more pictures of our day on Sunday at House of Prayer.
That pretty much wraps up our weekend. We have three more great services to go here this week so come be with us if you can. Revival will begin at 7:30 Monday through Wednesday.
Davy
