On the Road: we leave Maine

January 15, 2013 10:24 am EST we officially begin the first leg of our road trip from Farmington, Maine USA to Siguatepeque, Comayagua, Honduras.

It felt wonderful to finally be on our way after months of waiting and preparing. As I expected, at least for me, all doubts and fears vanish the moment we get under way. I am psyched. Waving good bye to our mothers was the only sad moment (Barbara and Millie in the background of video) as we pull out of the driveway. Check out the Hella 500 driving lights I added to the van shortly before leaving! As it turns out, I'm very glad the van we bought is the 1 ton version. We are loaded down quite heavy and it shows. I did take the precaution of adding a transmission cooler. Other than the less than spectacular 11 mpg we've been averaging, the van with it's 6.0 V-8 has been handling the load very nicely.

We drove most of the first night so we could visit the Smithsonian Air and Space and Natural History Museums in Washington, D.C. the next morning. This is something Barbe has wanted to do for a long time. To see all D.C. has to offer really requires a much longer visit than just an afternoon, but it was still worthwhile.

Travel Note: If you are planning a trip to D.C., don't take your vehicle to the museum and monument areas. Parking is almost nonexistent. Better off to park elsewhere and bus in.

Driving as far as Raleigh, NC that evening we spent the night there and Thursday morning visited our good friend Mark Wogaman before continuing on to Savannah, GA.

Friday evening we arrived in Hilliard, FL. We are staying here with Pat and Tommy. This couple has, over the past two years, become like...well, I was going to say grandparents to us, but they are younger than my parents, not by much, but... anyway, they have become very dear friends to us and they love us like there own children.

Pat and Tommy

Most of Saturday was spent doing team training with the missions team NGF will be sending to Honduras this June to help us drill a well and do VBS. It will be good to have friends from our home church visit us! This morning (Sunday) I will be bringing the morning message at NGF and on Monday we will be on the road again headed for Brownsville, Texas and the Mexican border. Our plan is to get all our documentation completed on Thursday evening and cross the border Friday morning.