Garage Doors at our NOMADS House

We got back in the saddle at our NOMADS house in Galveston.  I caught a ride with Jerry and Kit while Pam went back to the doctor for a followup.  She also got the tire repaired and did some other things before she joined us there too.

Pam found out they could not balance the tires because the tread on a front one is wearing too thin.  It is time for new tires.  ??  Really...after 16,000 miles?  We have to call our Honda dealer and check out that one.  I thought these were supposed to be good for 50,000 miles (or 30,000 at least...).

Kelly returned to Dallas with Ed(her dog).  The RV campground where we are staying at Island Community Church is about half empty.  More people left last weekend and we only have 10 people left on the project.  It closes down this week and resumes again in the fall.

My main task for the day was to get started on the garage doors.  They need to be replaced.

It was built with 1/4 inch plywood but we are replacing it with 3/4 inch.

The old doors are a bit twisted so, we are putting up cross braces inside the doors on these ones.

If the hinges hold on these HEAVY doors, they should last a while.

Inside, Jerry was fixing the bathtub fixtures and replacing an electrical outlet box while Kit and Fran were finishing off the trim around the laundry and closet doors.

Kit also finished painting the back door.  Quitting time came very quickly and we headed back to the campground after 4:00 PM.

In the evening I got caught up on emails and coordinated the final touches over the phone with our tax person at H and R Block.  That online approval and submission is pretty nifty.  We had a bit of a complicated return this year so it was great to have Mike get it done for us.  Good news ~ we get about $1700 back this year!

We are getting in the pack up and move mode.  Tonight after 'work' I will take off the tire covers and check the tire pressure, do some packing rearrange some things in the basement.

We will leave here on Friday morning for Red Bay AL to get some work done at the Tiffin factory.

Hope your week is going well and thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Tully's and a Flat Tire

After we saw Adam and Meghan, we found a Bed and Breakfast in Petrolia (Canada).  It was about the same price as a Super 8 Motel in Sarnia, 10 miles away.  Only a whole lot better!   Tully's was GREAT.

The old Victoria House was built in 1896 and served as the rectory for the Anglican Church (down the street).  It became available in 1988 when Gord and Betty Tully bought it.   It opened for business in 1992.  I has been completely restored and is a gem!

We arrived late in the afternoon and were greated by the Tully's.  Betty and Gord Tully love people and it was evident from the first moment we met them.

We got the third floor of the mansion.  Pam and I had a suite and Kelly had her own room.

We shared a small but very adequate toilet and shower.

The rooms and hallways are not real large but the house has tremendous personality and it has been restored with a lot of antique furniture, furnishings and other details.

Betty cooked a fantastic breakfast, complete with fresh fruit, homemade coffee cake,

maple bacon and scrambled eggs.

The other rooms in the house also had Victorian furniture (along with a Bose music system and speakers and a video/TV in the other room.)

We left the Tully's about 9:30 AM and went over to see Adam and Meghan.  We also spent time talking with Marg (her mom) before we had lunch.

In no time it was time to say goodbye and we headed back across the bridge to Port Huron.

The weather was nice and the sky was blue as we approached the checkpoint at the bridge into Port Huron.  From their it was a little over 60 miles to Detroit and another 15 miles to the airport.

We flew from Detroit, made a connecting flight to Houston and caught the shuttle bus out to where our car was parked.  We loaded the bags and started out of the parking lot.  Uh oh...

I had a flat tire. I pulled it over under the bright lights.  And our ace mechanic/tire changer jumped into action.

Kelly was determined to show us her prowess.  In 15 minutes we were done and on our way.  What a daughter!

We picked up Ed (her dog) at cousin Mark's and drove to Galveston to the Roadrunner.  We got into bed shortly after 12:00 AM.

Please continue to pray for Meghan and Adam and her family and ours.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  We are very glad you stopped by...

Big Day in Canada

We were at Rod and Lisa's house again and didn't have to leave until about 10:00 AM.  Adam arrived about 9:45 AM and we loaded the bags and drove to Port Huron.  We filled up with gas and crossed the border into Canada about 10:15.  We found a Starbucks in Sarnia and had a cup of coffee and went over to Meghan's parents house in Petrolia about 11:30.

We met her brother and fiance, an uncle and aunt and had a very nice lunch.  They put on a very nice spread.  It was the first time Kelly got to meet everyone and our first time to meet her brother, his fiance and uncle.  They are all wonderful people and we cherished our time with them.

Later we watched the NCAA tournament and Duke pull away from Kelly's alma mater - Baylor.  We decided to stay in Petrolia and then went across town to Tully's Bed and Breakfast.  It is a wonderful old house that has been fully restored.

We will be going back over to see Meghan and Adam and her mom for a while before we get back and fly out of Detroit Airport later this afternoon to Houston.  From there we will drive on to Galveston where we have our RV.  We will be finishing up the week with NOMADS before departing on Friday.

Thank you for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles today ~ and thanks to all of you that have been praying for Meghan and Adam and her parents and family.   They have been through a lot and there are tough days ahead...

Greektown to Ferndale (Detroit area)

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the Detroit area.  Rod and Lisa are very gracious hosts and we appreciate their friendship and hospitality.

They have a beautiful home and plenty of space out back.

Rod is active in the men's group at Bethany Baptist Church and I was able to join him for their regular Saturday morning meeting.  We had a good group and discussed the Ch 4 of the book:  Chasing Daylight - Seize the Power of Every Moment.

It was a great time of fellowship and instruction as we talked about how we can be a better influence on those around us every day.  The bagels, Tim Horton muffins and coffee were good too :)

We got back home for a great breakfast that Lisa made, then went by the Harley Davidson store and on into Detroit.  Rod is a motorcycle rider and needed to get a new tire ordered for his Buell motorcycle.

They had quite a crowd at their spring Open House.  Unfortunately, they did not have the tire he needed so he will have to do something else.

Then it was on to downtown Detroit.

We took a windshield tour first and then parked near Greektown.  I had no idea there was a large Greek population in Detroit.  I was impressed with how clean the city seemed.

We also took a ride on the city Detroit People Mover.  It was a bargain at $.50 and allowed us to see the city from a different perspective.  

By then we were pretty hungry and ended up at Piper's restaurant for lunch.  I had a bowl of cheddar soup and a black russian sandwich.

Our next task was to find a rental car so we could drive across to Canada on Sunday for the wedding.  We will find a place there to stay the night and then can drive ourselves back to the airport on Monday for a return trip to Houston.

On that way over I had to stop and take a picture of a nomads building---

According to a web site, Nomads, Inc. is Detroit's around-the-world, non-profit air travel club. (not related to the NOMADS, UMC volunteer organization for RVers.

Getting a rental car was a bit of a challenge...  I thought there would be a series rental car agencies near the baggage claim area.  Following the signs, I went upstairs from there, across a walkway over to the large airport parking garage.  There were shuttles to the rental car parking lots, but no desk or row of agents like I expected.

Instead, I found a phone where I could call the national car rental company of my choice.  I did so and got kicked into a long series of automated responses to get a rental car.  After too many attempts and a bit of frustration, I decided to retrace my steps upstairs, across the walkway, down to the baggage area and outside where everyone was waiting.

We ended up driving to one of the rental car company's off site parking areas and walking from the curb back to the shuttle drop off point and renting a Ford Focus from the lady at the counter.  Whew!!  I guess they are reducing their manpower and presence in airport terminals to save money?  But no matter-- we got a car and returned to Rod and Lisa's for the rest of the afternoon.

Adam got off work and we drove over to Ferndale to see the house where he lives.  Looks like a nice neighborhood and a good place to live.

A couple blocks over, we found Anita's Kitchen and had a great dinner of Lebanese food.

Rod and Lisa returned home and Adam drove us around for a 'Detroit by Night' windshield tour.  I was a beautiful evening.  There must have been something going on at Tiger Stadium.  We heard Taylor Swift is going to be in town but not sure that was it.

Detroit is an interesting city, glad we got to see it.

Then Adam drove us back to Rod and Lisa's.  We watched an episode of Sherlock Holmes and some of the Canadian comedy 'Green and Red'.  By then it was well past our bedtime so we turned in.  Big day tomorrow!

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!

With Friends in Detroit

First, a big hello and Welcome to a new Follower:

Lisa

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

We packed for the airport but paused for a moment and said goodbye to fellow NOMADS Mary (on the right)

and Gary (on the right again.)

It was good to meet Mary and Gary and wish them well on their travels.  Hopefully we will meet up with them again.

Saying goodbye on Friday is a regular event.  We usually gather with folks whose time is up and are ready to mover on from the NOMADS project.  Joe and France (in the center of the first picture to the right of Mary) are the leaders who have been here in Galveston since the first of February.  We will wrap up this winter/spring version of the Galveston NOMADS Disaster Relief Revolving Team Project the end of next week.

Then Pam, Kelly and I headed out to Houston Hobby International Airport.  We had a non-routine stop at Starbuck's where Kelly had an Tall Iced Black Cherry Latte.  Pam and I had coffee.  In no time we were at the airport and parked at a facility for long term parking since we will be gone for four days.

It has been a while since we've flown anywhere. The last time was in May when we flew to South Dakota to become residents right before we became RV full-timers.

Airports seemed to have changed a little.  The security lines were short and efficient and a little more friendly.  I noticed the furniture had changed in a few places to accommodate laptops, electrical devices and small children.

We flew directly to Chicago Midway Airport for a changeover.  I hadn't been through there in a while and it was a nice modern airport.  Many have McDonalds (which would make Kit and Jerry happy).

Detroit was another nice airport and we had an uneventful day.  We are staying with our friends Rod and Lisa and Rod was able to pick us up at the airport since he works nearby.

On the way to Rod and Lisa's we picked up dinner.

We tried a new variety:  vegetarian pizza with Pepperoni.  It was very good!

Lisa made some of her famous chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

We chatted some before we went upstairs to their loft and relaxed.  Their loft is a second big 'family room' with a large comfortable sofa and TV and where they have their desktop.

We watched the NCAA tournament with Tennessee and Baylor coming up winners.  We talked more and found some mutual friends on Facebook whom we hadn't seen in years.

Kelly got a big of payback by snapping my photo... She seems to tire of my many photos...  :)

...the plight of a blogger  :)

It was a great day and we are enjoying time with our good friends.  Adam is working and a ways away from us but we will see him after work tomorrow.  Then pick us up for the wedding ceremony in Canada on Sunday.

Hope you are having a great week.  And thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!

From Hanging Doors to a Talent Show

It was my turn to lead devotions and I took focused on a portion of scripture out of Nehemiah.  One of the themes of that book is how Nehemiah planned, prepared and executing the rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem.  The point of the devotion was to see how and how much Nehemiah prayed to Almighty God which has direct application to our NOMADS house rebuilding projects.

We had a rain storm Wednesday night that left the campground a little soggy.

But it cleared up and it was another beautiful day

I have mixed emotions about Thursdays.  With our NOMADS team, it is the last day of the work week.  It is also the time we say goodbye to some couples.  Russ and Nancy are leaving Friday but not before Joe, our project lead, presented Russ with a picture of his plumbing.

The plumbing requirements on some houses here in Galveston have been interesting.  Russ had one of those that probably unlike any other he will have to deal with anytime soon.

We had the same team back at Johnnie's House.

Joe helped us hang our first door to the laundry room.

It opens and closes beautifully.  I love learning how to do new things like this.

Jerry and Kit and I were then able to hang a closet door in the back bedroom.

Now all we have to do is put up trim and replace the baseboard and those two projects will be done.

Pam finished installing the drywall in the front aquarium closet.

That was a beast--hard to get to and a few non-standard cuts to fit into the space.

Pat cleaned out old drywall and prepared a space in the kitchen under the counter where the dishwasher was.

Outside, Norm was building a screen for the non-standard window.

He even built a cross piece for support.  Those rivet guns come in handy.

After we finished for the day, we got cleaned up and went over to Moody Memorial United Methodist Church.  They were have their first annual fund raiser for their after-school program.  They had a silent auction,a loaded bake potato dinner and a talent show to raise money.

We had the whole NOMADS group there at three tables.

Our own fellow NOMADS Carol Stoner did a comedy routine with a take off on Minnie Pearl.

It was all well done and successful event.

Kelly went to Houston to leave her dog Ed with cousin Mark and had an interview.  She thought it went well so we will see how it goes in a couple of weeks.  A move from Dallas to Houston could be in the works.

She is spending the night with us in Galveston, then the three of us will drive back to Houston and hop on a plane to fly to Detroit.  Adam and Meghan are getting married on Sunday in nearby Petrolia, Canada, right across the border.  We are excited for them!

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And for signing up to 'Follow'...we are very close to our goal of 100 but need a few more to get there...