Meandering Moments by Elsi

I’ve never had much trouble on my RV trips–I guess you could say that makes me extremely lucky! Oh, I had a flat tire once, and a broken emissions system that let me run out of gas … that’s about it. This trip though … well, you don’t see God’s mercy unless things are going badly. I’m focused on His mercy, to the max!

Let’s see … I lost two days to illness, once in South Dakota, when I had killer vertigo due to a medication side effect, and again in Breckenridge when I stayed home (=in the RV) and slept all day. Saw a doctor for the first, and just lay in bed and whimpered, comforted by my loving beagle, through the second. Neither, by God’s grace, caused any major schedule changes.

I lost another day, between Red Lodge and Billings, Montana, when Lady became ill. She and I were up most of the night in the Red Lodge KOA, which is run by Christians who prayed for me and Lady. I phoned my vet at home in the morning. He referred me to a vet in Billings, who diagnosed cystitis and gave us antibiotics. That ate a full day, but it was a short driving week, so no big deal (other than my concern for my furry friend, of course).

Then, last week, my CPAP machine broke. I have central sleep apnea and use the machine to blow enough air into me at night to allow me to sleep deeply. Well, the machine had been making some nasty, grinding noises, and finally stopped completely. I asked my friend Bill Clark, in Columbia, Missouri, to look at it. He sprayed some WD-40 into the motor, which promptly settled back down again. Of course, when I put on the mask that night, my lungs were filled with eau of WD-40, but that’s a small price to pay! That was Sunday, July 22.

Thursday, July 26, it died again, with a gush of acrid smoke. Many phone calls later, a sweet person at Apria arranged for me to rent a machine for a month, so I could continue with my trip. So I picked up the rental, praising the Lord and thanking Apria. I lost just a few hours on that one.

And then there was my major catastrophe … which could have been so much worse! Watch God’s hand of protection through this one, okay? I veered off my planned itinerary to visit Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska. An exact replica of Stonehenge built from junked cars buried in the dirt, it’s definitely, um, interesting. Someone had far too much time on his hands, is my evaluation!

I camped in a motel cum RV park in Alliance that evening, Monday, July 23. Dropped by historic Fort Robinson (northwest corner of Nebraska) in the morning, then just kept driving. Picked up the I-25 in Wyoming, aiming to join I-90 again and cruise through Montana and Idaho on my way to Whidbey Island, just off the Seattle, Washington coast.

On I drove until, mid-afternoon, I noticed I was almost out of gas. Not good planning! I pulled into a gas station in Buffalo, Wyoming … and discovered my credit cards were missing. Not just one, but the leather card case in its entirety. I searched, first quickly, then more thoroughly, moving from logical places to ANY places. No credit cards.

Would the gas station take my personal check? Not on your life! Would they let me use the phone to call my bank? Not without a credit card or a lot of cash for the long distance call. NOW what to do?

Not two blocks down the street was a KOA. Now, KOAs offer a standard of cleanliness and friendliness that I appreciate. And often they are run by Christians; the Buffalo KOA is one of the best. When I explained my dilemma, they took my check and let me use the phone. I discovered, many phone calls down the line, that {a} the motel/campground in Nebraska did not have my cards, {b} no illicit charges had been made on any of the cards, {c} the banks could overnight express replacement cards to me, however {d} that would take two days, since it was after 5 p.m. in New York.

So I moved into the Buffalo KOA, sleeping, reading, writing, resting … and canceling my book signing appointment on Whidbey Island. My replacement cards arrived Friday afternoon, and I drove to Portland, Oregon for the Oregon Christian Writers Conference, which started Monday the 30th.

What a nuisance! What a whole list of nuisances! What a bunch of lousy luck!

Maybe. But … I only missed one appointment; I received love and support along the way from a variety of total strangers; no one was hurt; the dog and I are both okay. God protected me and cared for me through the entire set of problems.

I’ll tell you about the trip to Portland and the writers conference later …