Day 7: Get it fixed on Route 66

Tuesday April 29th

Monday night was a very cold night’s sleep. We had smelt some propane on Monday night, and then the propane detector went off right around the time we were putting the kids in bed. So, we phoned Cruise America. They offered to put us up in a hotel that night, but by that time it would have been pretty disruptive to relocate the children, so decided to wrap up warm and survive a night with no heat. Providentially the temperature only dropped to the low 40's that night. It had been in the 20's the night we'd arrived in Williams.

We all survived and grabbed breakfast at the Route 66 diner in Williams. Josh was delighted to be in real Radiator Springs territory.

Most of the rest of the day was spent further down Old route 66 in Flagstaff, AZ where the very helpful staff at the Flagstaff RV center discovered and we trust fixed 3 propane leaks. Praise God that nothing worse happened than a cold night!

The boys took the opportunity to get well needed haircuts (well, Mike and Josh had haircuts - Mike is yet to persuade Hannah that Dan's curls need to go!) and the girls a much desired shopping spree.

We parked up at Meteor Crater RV park just as it was getting dark and windy.

Day 5 & 6: The Grand Canyon

Sunday May 27th

We had the privilege of joining the First Baptist Church of Williams, AZ for their morning service. We received a warm welcome and sung some of Josh’s favorite songs from CHBC Sunday School, including “I will enter his gates with thanksgiving” and “King of kings and Lord of lords”. The gospel was clearly presented at the end of the service. It was very interesting to see what perhaps a typical small town Southern Baptist Church is like. I was struck by the huge amount of time that must have been put into the multimedia presentations that were in the service.

After church and lunch we drove up Route 64 to the Grand Canyon. It is impossible to visit the Canyon without being stuck by one’s smallness. What is man that the Lord who carved out that canyon is mindful of him? So, the afternoon was spent with a mixture of awe, and a total terror that one might gaze at the view for too long and lose sight of one of the children! Dan in particular is very keen to walk everywhere at the moment. And when I say everywhere, I mean particularly the places which are least safe!We drove out to the East rim for sunset before driving back to Williams.

Monday May 28th

The next day we went back to the Canyon, but this time on the train. Abi, who had thought at the beginning of the day that trains are boring and only boys are really interested in them, by the end of the day had decided that she was going to work on a train when she grows up. She was particularly keen to get the job that three guys had at the end of the ride back, when they rode up on their horses and held up the train. Apparently they have been doing it every day for decades!Josh was a little scared of the hold-up, but was delighted to meet the cowboy who eventually apprehended the scoundrels.Dan just liked walking up and down the aisle introducing himself to all the other passengers (and putting his hand on the knees of all the ladies as he walked by!) At the rim we had a great walk along the rim and a view of a couple of Condors. Mike and Josh also met a group of bikers from Bridgewater who were over for a bikers’ convention. You could spot them a mile off because of their Union Jack bandannas. When Mike told them that he knew the new vicar in Bridgewater and that they should make a point of introducing themselves to him when they got home, they didn’t seem terribly impressed

Day 4:a big Drive through the Wild West

Day 4 was a day of the long drive and the incredible views. We started off into the mountains up to Natural Bridges National Monument. The shortest route back down to route 163 was to take Route 261 down to Mexican Hat. On the map the road looked pretty straight, so I was surprised to see a sign warning that no oversize vehicles should enter that route due to switchbacks. Anyway, 20 miles later we saw why. in 3 miles we basically descended an 1100ft cliff. Absolutely incredible view, but a little frightening in a 30ft RV.
Here's someone else's picture of the road.

Eventually we reached the bottom, and pressed on towards Mexican hat (named after the rock pictured below) and then onto the stunning Monument valley.

By the time we had entered Arizona we the afternoon was pressing on, and we were still planning to make it as far as Williams, AZ that evening.

We'd just thought that we'd got it sorted as to what the time was when we were thrown and confused by the idiosyncratic timezone of Arizona.

Anyway, a long day mainly driving, but with some of the most incredible views we'd ever seen.

Day 3: Canyonlands

By Day 3 Mike was getting a little tired of driving, so we thought we'd let Dan have a turn. He really enjoyed it, as you can see!

Leaving Moab, we drove down into Canyonlands, where Hannah & Abi had a long walk while the boys sat and enjoyed each other's company (Josh was a little under the weather). The drive down was almost as impressive as the park itself, passing by the vast rocks, known as the six-shooters (pictured below with Josh, Abi & Dan trying to escape to get back behind the wheel again!)
We camped that night (or should I say "parked up") in Blanding, UT

Day 2: Arches

April 24th

After a rainy first night in the RV we woke up cold, as we hadn't managed to figure out the heating, very uncertain as to what the time was as we hadn't managed to figure out the time zones, but needless to say we were grateful to have more than a couple of hours sleep.

Eventually we figured out how to operate the full bathroom facilities of the RV, and so it was time for Mike to attempt his first "black water" empty. If any of you have seen the movie RV with Robin Williams, the hose for emptying was equally short, which worried Mike that he would have a similarly smelly and messy experience. Fortunately after some nifty reversing the emptying went rather more straightforwardly than many of you might have hoped!

We pulled out and headed up Route 6 across central Utah. Here's some pics...

About 3 hours later we arrived at
Arches National Park.
We entered into the RV spirit and had a great drive and a couple of shortish walks.

The pictures hardly do it justice. You had to be there really :)

Day One: Inching out of Salt Lake City.

April 23rd

Driving an RV feels pretty much like driving a minibus. That is why people so often crash, as they forget that there is an extra 15 feet sticking out the back. About 12 feet of it is beyond the rear axle as well, so it really swings out quickly when you turn.

Driving it out of the Cruise America Depot in SLC I was therefore very nervous and took a right turn (I certainly wasn't going to turn left!) and drove in entirely the wrong direction for about 3 miles before having the courage to turn left into a service station (petrol station for any British readers) and fill up with gas (I mean petrol). Being a Brit, I didn't mind paying $3.50 per U.S. gallon (Yes, the pint & gallon are about the only thing that is smaller in this country than in the UK), but I was still a little shocked that $150 didn't fill the thing up.

Being a little tired, Hannah and I decided to stay only an hour or so south of SLC, and try out our first RV park just of Route 15 in Springville, at the foot of the Wasach mountains.

It really was a beautiful drive down, following the snow capped mountains all the way.

Though, Abi & Josh were rather more excited about the fact that there was a bed over the cab than they were about the view.



Many of you have requested seeing MGS driving the beast, so here it is :)

Bye Bye Washington

The last week in Washington was particularly busy.

Mike was away at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville Monday-Thursday while Hannah packed umpteen boxes.

It was a great last Sunday at CHBC, with John Fulmar and Thabiti Anyabwile (the two previous Assistant Pastors to Mike) both visiting.

Monday morning the our container arrived to ship all our stuff over to the UK. Thanks to countless people helping pack and load, we eventually managed to shut the doors on the thing pretty late on Tuesday night. The amazing love and generosity that we have known at Capitol Hill Baptist Church was exemplified by the number of people who gave up so much time (and military expertise in the form of Josh Wallick!) to help us, and come and wish us well. I (Mike) am also particularly helpful to those (I think it was Ben Wright and Shane Barker) who caught me when I fell from a perch near the top of the container!

After finishing clearing up and packing for our trip, we eventually got to sleep around 2:30. The alarm went off 2 hours later, and Ross Shannon kindly took us to the airport. 2 flights and an over sized cab later, we were picking up the RV in Salt lake Ciy, UT.

HT: Mary Yuhaniak for the photo