Rest Day 2 - Margaret!

Your comments indicate that some of you would like to hear from Margaret about this journey. I know you think she sits at a truck stop, drinking coffee, reading a book, and waiting for us to ride in so she can take off, ride up the road a few more miles, sit at a truck stop, drinking coffee, reading a book, and wait for us . . . That's really not how it happens although some of it is close to reality. So, because you've asked for it, I'll let you hear it all from her. I'd like to present to you, The Queen! I can't wait to read this myself . . . It's gonna be good.

Actually, I've done my best not to spend any time at a truck stop!  When we left Anacortes, WA, I found it easy to find a place to pull over and wait a while and just enjoy the scenery.  In fact, the scenery was almost more than I could take in.  I would ask the Lord to etch all that I was seeing into my brain so I could recall it in the future.  It was so quiet and peaceful and since I was the only person in the car I could talk to the Lord all I wanted.  As we've come across the country the scenery may not be as spectacular as it was in western Washington but I do find that each area has a beauty of its own, you just have to look for it.

You have asked: "What does Margaret do all day?"  After I pack the car in the mornings and check out of the hotel I begin driving the route that Barry and Jonathan are riding. Sometimes I get to them in 30 minutes, sometimes it might be 3 hours.  It all depends on what I need to do before hitting the road.  If they don't need anything then I go on ahead and find a place about 10 miles down the road to sit and wait.  I've been able to find really nice rest stops and I get out my Kindle (electronic reader) and begin reading.  I've read 9 books since they began riding.  Some were fiction but I also read "A Pearl in the Storm" (the story of Tori McClure, the first woman to row alone across the Atlantic Ocean).  In addition, I've read "The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Deception" (the story of Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, his son, and his son's friend, who disappeared in the middle of the Amazon in 1925 while searching for the Lost City of Z).  Really interesting!  I did not bring one book with me - just my Kindle - because I also have my Bible downloaded on it.  In case you think it's not like having the real thing - I can underline, highlight, and take notes on my Kindle.  After I finish what I'm currently reading, I am going to begin "The Champion Buffalo Hunter: The Frontier Memoir of Yellowstone Vic Smith."

There were things I worried about before we left on this trip.  I know Philippians 4:6 as well as anybody but as we were preparing for this trip I began thinking (worrying) about things until I knew I had to get a grip before fear gripped me!  I worried that I would miss Sarah and Carey and their families.  I do miss them but I talk to them sometimes several times a day so what's so bad about that?  I thought I would be "scared" being alone out in the boonies by myself.  That hasn't even entered my mind.  I'm loving it!  I thought I would miss cooking and keeping our home - until sanity prevailed and I realized how blessed I am to have the opportunity to turn my back on an unmade bed, leave a hotel room, and search out the next restaurant.

I have had a few "concerns" on the trip.  When Barry and Jonathan were riding over Washington Pass and it was 31 degrees and snowing I thought (worried) about hypothermia.  It took me about 3 seconds to convince them to get in the car and restore some warmth to their bodies.  Another day I stopped at a little convenience store in the middle of Montana to get a soft drink and as I was getting in the car a middle aged Native American man asked me for money.  I could tell he was drunk (in the middle of the day) and I know what he would have done with any money I would have given him so I refused.  He broke my heart.  I wondered about his life.  Was his life just going to consist of begging for money to buy that next drink?  A few nights ago I took Jonathan to his campsite while Barry began working on his blog.  Between the two of us we forgot to shut the car top carrier.  I was going down the road about 45 mph and someone came up next to me and honked and pointed to the top of our car and I knew immediately what was wrong.  I pulled over but it was on a steep incline and there was no way I could get the step stool out of the back of the car and try to climb up and shut the carrier.  Even the keys were dangling out.  I called Barry for any suggestions and about a minute later a policeman pulled up behind me.  He took care of my problem and I was back on the road with the only thing lost being my patience.  And that wasn't even one of the things I had "worried" about when we were doing all our planning!

You know my absolutely favorite part of the trip?  Every time I see that florescent green jacket coming down the road.  Fortunately it's on the body of my best friend and husband of 42 years.  Seeing that never fails to make me smile and I say what I've said every single time I've seen it - "Thank You, Lord".

And thank you for your prayers, encouragements, expressions of concern, support and love.  You have helped make this trip all that I dreamed it would be (without the worries!).

Margaret