Hanging Out With the NOMADS

We have been here three weeks and are almost getting 'hitch itch'.  After a while we get the itch to move on down the road.  We pulled out the map and have made some reservations for the next couple of weeks after we leave here.

But the last three weeks here have been good ones.  We have enjoyed our time here at Caswell Springs UMC.

This is one of those big beautiful churches in the South that catches your eye.

Inside on Wednesday nights they open the kitchen and feed about 100 people including us.  (On Mondays some ladies in the church cook a lot of food and take it to the homeless in the area.  They make enough for the rest of us on Wednesday night for a donation.)

Then after church every Sunday we all go out for lunch.  Here is the group at a catfish restaurant not far from where we are staying.

We haven't done this enough but, last Saturday night Patty got us all together for a game night.  Usually we are all pretty tired for games, but we decided to give it a try and it worked out great.

Roger and Donna are setting some of the munchies on the food table.

Linda, Lil, Chic, Kyoko and Dawn are chatting.

Don is showing Bob and Eldon pictures of the train that got weighed down with too much coal which burned up the wheels and cause it to come off the tracks.

 Lil is showing Chic and Patty her afghan while Jim, Bob, Don and Larry are in the background.

 I sat down at this table and played 'Sequence' with Jean, Larry and Eldon.  Jerry was explaining the finer details of Mexican Train to Donna, Linda, Kyoko, Patty and Chic.

It was a fun couple of hours except Pam came down with the bug.  In fact she was down with it all last week and stayed in the Roadrunner to recuperate.

We also get together to say goodbye.  Each week we have someone leaving and others coming to take their place.  Here Jean, Jane, Chic, Jim and Ricci took a quick photo as we said good bye to Jane and Ricci.

And after our dinner at the Pizza Place last week it was good bye to Patty and Bob.

The night before they left, they called for some propane to be delivered so a lot of us jumped on that and took our turn getting filled up.  We waited for the delivery and another get together broke out.

 Eldon, Don, Larry, Marley, Hank, Jim, Dawn, Chic, Patty, Jean (hidden) Pam and Nancy were there.  It was the first time Pam had been outside in four days.  She is getting a little better each day.

 Patty, Nancy, Jean, Pam, Chic, Dawn, Jim, Marley, Hank, Larry, Bob, Eldon (hidden) and Don from another angle wait for the truck.

The propane truck stayed for about thirty minutes which was enough time to fill two motor homes and three bottles.  It was very convenient and worked out great.

This week we tried a different restaurant for our Thursday 'Night on the Town'.  We went to nearby Hurley and ate at El Capesino Mexican Restaurant.

Everyone is studying their menus intently.

It was a very pleasant surprise but I really enjoyed my enchilada, chalupa, tamale, beans and rice.  Who would guess you can get excellent Mexican food in Hurley, Mississippi?

As I have said we have met a lot of folks we hope will become life long friends.  We like to work with these guys and we like to get  together with them and have had quite a few opportunities to do that while we have been here.

That's a quick look at some of the ways we get together.  Hope you all have a great week end.  And thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

We're NOMADs in Mississippi

We finished up our first week of work here in Moss Point, Mississippi.   Our rigs are parked at Caswell Springs United Methodist Church where they have 8 hookups for water and electricity and a dump station around behind the church.

We joined the team for Sunday school and church.  Here is a photo before everyone had filed into the sanctuary for church.

After church we all went out to Sassy's Restaurant in nearby Hurley.  Sunday evening we were on our own.   

We were ready for our NOMADS meeting and devotions which began at 7:30 AM on Monday.  We each sign up for a day and lead devotions.  During our daily meetings Marley talks about the work and assignments and we discuss the situation at each house where we are all working.

Right how we have a total of nine couples and are working on four homes.  The home we are working on is in Pascagoula which is about 17 miles away.  In the past five years since Katrina this home has had some work done on it but it was never completed.  Since Katrina, NOMADS and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has completed 256 homes.

Our first task at our house in Pascagoula was to replace the back door.  Don and I tackled that.

With some negotiation and cajoling, along with six long screws, we were able to put it in.  And it even swings freely, with no catches.  We also installed the deadbolt and door handle.

The major task before us in the next few weeks is to get the sheet rock up in the house.  We were glad we had a lift for the ceiling pieces.  It saved us a lot of time and allowed us to get most of the ceiling done in the converted garage in a day.

Then we spent the next three days working on the rest of the ceilings and started on the walls.

One thing we like about the schedule is that we have two 30 minute breaks and an hour lunch each day.  We look forward to 10:00 AM, noon and 2:30 PM.  Believe it or not, we get tired doing this stuff.  The breaks help a lot.

We start the clean up around 3:45 PM and head finish up by 4:00 PM.

The end of our workweek is Thursday so that is the day we all go out to dinner and have some fellowship.  

We found a pizza place not far away that works great for our get-together.  Thursday night also serves as a time when we get a group photo.

 And we say good by to those that are leaving.  Ricci and Jean were here two weeks and are going to another project in Florida after they leave here.

We are glad to be here and have a great group of folks to be working with.  The sheet rock work is good and it allows us to get better at the hanging it and making good measurements.  One of the benefits of doing this type of work is that we always learn something and we enjoy that.

This weekend we intend to recharge and to visit the surrounding areas.

Hope you have a great weekend and we appreciate you joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles, this time signing in from Moss Point, MS ~ not far from Pascagoula MS and about halfway between Mobile, AL and Gulfport MS.