No complaints here.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the weather here in Wisconsin lately. While the rest of the nation is suffering from extreme heat, we are basking in 70 degree temps. I appreciate it greatly. There is nothing quite like being out on a mail route in a car with black interior driving in the sunshine with your window down...no cool air there. I associate it with being kind of like making "sun tea".

Yesterday was one of those days that you wonder....What's the plan here God? I woke up and got everything in order for my work and Will's getting the van taken care of . Gave him a list of what he had to do during the day (I had made the appointments while he was at work just like he asked me to). I went to work and he started off on his adventure. We have been dealing with a shimmy issue and didn't know what it was, but with 3 different places looking at it yesterday, I figured someone would find out the issue.
Place one-tires rotated. No shimmy.
Place two-new brake pads...then they found the issue. It was the caliper. The only problem is that I had taken it to the mechanic, not once but twice to get them checked because that's what we thought it was in the first place.
This day was turning out to be expensive. It seems that lately we have not been in the $100 here, $100 there mode. It's been $500 here $1000 there for months....it can wear a person down. When Will called I was at the point that I was just waving money goodbye. You can either get upset, depressed or just take a deep breath and know that God is going to take care of it somehow. You might not know how, but you just have to leave it to Him. Well, I took a deep breath and let go...
Will called back. They put the caliper in. Said it was under warranty, waived the deductible and only charged us for the oil change. Thank you God!!!! We still had to pay through the nose for the brake pads (which I understand cost twice as much for the van as they do for my jeep) and the labor for putting those on, but much, much better than paying for the other.
Even better...no shimmy. New brakes and a smooth ride make Will a happy camper.
God came through. I just keep breathing deep and hanging on.

That wandering bug....

I don't know why, but lately, I have been just ready to hop in the car and go. I've always had a wandering bug and a desire to see what is around the next corner. Both of my parents have it (especially my Dad), so I guess I come by in naturally.
While I'm on the route, I listen to a lot of Bible studies, preachers, music and do a lot of praying. Not as much as I'd like to, but some days I cannot find the focus (I know, shame on me). I wish that I was much more disciplined, but some days when the sun is shining and the animals are out for me to watch, I just have to pay attention to the world. I do say thank you God many times on those days and thank Him for His works. He has done and is doing great and wondrous things.
On other days...
My mind will wander and I mean WANDER. I plan trips. I even have an atlas in my jeep to use when I need to check the geography in my head. I have trips to go almost every where in the US and another one to take in the countries that I would love to see in Europe (there are not too many of those). I have to laugh though because although most of my trips are designed around scenery, there are a couple that are designed around "food". Who designs a trip around what you will eat???? I guess I do.
For our retirement plans ( you think about this stuff when your kids start graduating), Will and I plan on selling everything, packing up what we need to keep and storing it, and then we are going to hit the road traveling in some type of RV for at least 5 years. That sounds like heaven. I figure in 5 years we can spend about 3 weeks in each state (for the most part) and never have to see snow again, unless we want to. I would love to spend at least another month on the Oregon coastline, or just plain in Oregon itself. Then there's the trip out east for the fall color. The trip down to the keys during some winter, just to see it. A trip to the Grand Canyon and of course I want to see the Hoover Dam. I don't know why I want to see the dam, but I'm thinking it could be pretty interesting. I want to see Gettysburg again (it was one of the most memorable occasions in my life when I first saw it). Go to Maine for lobster, Boston for chowder, Texas for BBQ, Memphis for BBQ and pretty much any where that has wonderful food, great scenery and new folks to meet.
My traveling bug is hitting quite hard right now. If Will said "let's go" I think I could have everything packed and taken care of in less than 1/2 hour. Kind of funny if you think about it. I drive for over 4 hours a day and I'm still ready to hit the road running and take off. Oh well, back to the real world. 100 degree heat, dirty dishes and peanut butter.....hmmm.....
Calgon...take me away!!!