Friday April 11, 2008

 We awoke to the smell of frying bacon.

A picture of us – after breakfast with Dave and Laura

 Dave giving Cerwin advice on driving to Sioux Falls and west.

 We got to the chapel about 9:00 a.m. and met Wayne, the chaplain on duty for the day.

 Cerwin pulled the chapel out of its spot and headed to the fuel island on a rainy, windy, cold morning. 

How would you like to pay $543.65 when filling up your vehicle?  He needed 136 gallon of diesel, then asked me to do the math – it equaled 6.45 mile per gallon.

On the road again – 9:40 a.m.

We crossed the Iowa line at 10:08 a.m.

 By 11:40 we were in South Dakota, where the temperature dropped to thirty-three degrees, and the wind and rain challenged our almost empty trailer.  Cerwin kept a tight grip on the steering wheel.  

 Only sixteen more miles to our destination – the Pilot Truck Stop in Sioux Falls.

 1:30 p.m. we saw the Pilot sign and scanned the parking lot for the TFC chapel.

 We quickly spotted it as we approached the entrance that Chaplain Rallyn told us to enter.  It is always fun to see two chapels side-by-side for awhile.

While waiing for our food to arrive, Cerwin asked Rallyn about a few truck stops to the west on I-90, as a snow storm is predicted in the next few hours.

 We enjoyed a delicious lunch and fellowship with Rallyn and Carolyn Van Beek, however, we didn’t linger because of the approaching storm.  It was decided that the farther west we could travel, the better, because the storm was hitting Sioux Falls and east.

We did take time to visit the chapel and listen to a song from Carolyn, played on the organ recently donated to the chapel.

 Rallyn pointed out pictures of his good supply of volunteer chaplains.  This chapel probably has more volunteers than any other in the ministry.  (Rose Gehman, notice the box of New Testaments on the bottom right.  We delivered them safely!)

 This is where the volunteers store their on-duty name tags.

Their cozy living quarters.

 Carolyn waving goodbye and Rallyn taking a picture.  The rain changed to sleet and snow by the time we left.

We hadn’t gone many miles until the snow started, making the road a bit treacherous.

After seeing two accidents, Cerwin decided that the Pilot at Mitchell was going to be our stopping place.

 The brown spot in the field is a jack rabbit – running at full-tilt.  I must have caught him when his ears were back, because he had huge ears.

 We were glad to see the Pilot, and get a prime parking spot, right in front of the fuel island.

 It was fun to watch all the activity and listen to the drivers talking about the highway.

 Within a few hours the lot was full, and we could hear truckers asking if there were any more parking spots.

 We went inside for a light supper, then watched a hunting movie on my laptop.  Cerwin stayed in his seat, while I snuggled up in my sleeping bag in the bottom bunk, where I soon fell asleep – until 5:00 this morning.  (That’s good for me, considering that it is 6:00 back home in Pennsylvania.)

 This was the view outside my window early this  morning (Friday).  Cerwin is still sleeping, it is dark outside, and the wind is rocking the truck, but I am snug as a bug (even barefooted), drinking coffee from the thermos we filled last night.   It was dark when I took this picture, but I was able to use light from the truck stop.  I did not use a flash.

I hear Cerwin stirring, so my world will soon get much larger as we listen to the CB and the radio for road and weather reports.