Christmas Eve day

Hi everyone. The picture below shows how close we are to the interchange of 281 and expressway 83. The sound does not keep us awake and the traffic is fun to watch.




This is our Christmas tree--thanks Josh--
Yesterday we went for a ride to check out our January project--it is about 20 mile north of our present location.

Today we plan to go out for dinner then go see the "festival of lights" in Hidalgo TX. It is the biggest light display in TX. We plan to do a driving tour since CC's knee is still not good enough to do much walking. Plus it is raining and cool today 46 degrees.

Have a Merry Christmas.

nlsower

enjoying ourselves

We went to church in the park on Sunday--the pastor grew up in the Willmar area. He delivered milk around Green Lake when he was in high school and also worked for Youth for Christ in the 50's. His name is Garland Hudson. I think he said he is 86 years old--very good preacher. We met several people from Minnesota--this is a very friendly RV park. The park has a Christmas dinner next Sunday--sounds like about 80 people are attending. The owner of the park is a singer and has a place in Brandson, MO so the usual pastor is from Brandson--he will be coming down here on January 1st.

Monday night is pot luck night--lots of good food. We learned how to serve pot luck without anyone waiting in line. Each person sets the food they brought in front of their place and when it is time to eat everyone stands and moves along the table to the left until you get to the end then you go to the other end of the table and move along until you get back to your place. Everyone is served at the same time and everyone is eating at the same time. Learn something every day.

CC got to the Dr. on Monday to get some help for her knee--walking better today. It go to 80 degrees on Monday. Kind of warm for our MN blood--needed some AC on last night. Cooler today--only about 69^. Got some laundry done today--may get to WalMart for some supplies and hope to get the truck washed.

Supper is in the crock pot--potatoes, carrots, hamburger, cheese, cream soups--should be done about 5.

I will try to post some pictures of our surroundings--we are nearly under a major highway interchange--I do mean UNDER--there three level of roads and we are about 75 feet off the frontage road. Just a nice hum except when a truck driver uses his "Jake brake". We don't hear anything at night.

nlsower

Checked out other RV Parks

We spent most of the day checking out other RV parks but didn't find any that we liked better than the one we are in. So it looks like we will stay here until we go to our project on January 6th.

We were going to have lunch at the Cracker Barrel but there was at least a 30 minute wait so we went to Subway. Can't believe all the snow birds that like to go out to eat.

It has rained most of the day but it looks like maybe some sunshine by Monday--could even get up to the 80's one day next week.

We have been invited to the Christmas day dinner at this park--sounds like fun.
nlsower

Made it to the Valley

We arrived in Pharr TX about 6pm tonight--of course it was raining but we were able to find an RV park. We are parked in the driveway since it was too dark and rainy to see to park in any of the sites. There is an electrical outlet on the swimming pool building so we have electricity. We will decide tomorrow if we want to stay here for several days. We plan to check out other RV parks.

It has been very dry here. They did not have any rain from Sept 2010 until about a month ago--so they are not complaining about the rain tonight.

We had a rough highway for part of today's trip--we both feel kinda sick tonight. Hope a nights sleep will help.

Thanks to Granddaughter Maria, I can listen to Christmas songs as I work on the computer.
nlsower

Lots of fog

We have the truck fixed and are on the road. We got going about 8 am Tuesday morning. Had to wait for the fog to lift before we started. The roads were good and not much traffic. We are staying at a campgrounds in Nebraska City. It has electricity but no water--also big pull-through sites so I didn't have to unhook. We stayed here a few years ago--that time we awoke to a new coating of snow--this year it just rained most of the night (good for sleeping). Foggy this morning. I am waiting for the fog to lift before getting going plus Carole is still sleeping--8:30 am. Time for breakfast.

Hope to get on the Road

Well maybe tomorrow morning will be the day we finally get on the road. Hope the temp stays high enough so the roads are just wet and not icy. I hope I will be organized enough this year to do better at keeping my post up to date. Your comments are most welcome.

Harvest Ministries 2

Hi everyone--Thanks for the comments

We have been very busy--only one more day to work, then Saturday we will be heading to MN. Hope to get there by next Wed.

Internet service has not been dependable so haven't posted any pictures. I hope to post pictures when I ge back to MN--must get back to the RV--morning comes quickly. nlsower.

Harvest Ministries-1

Hi, everyone. We are near Carson MS at Harvest Ministries for our April project. This a rather small facility--four bunk houses, a dorm building and a lodge/chapel. There are four SOWER couples working here--three of the four were at Dothan AL last month. The ladies are cleaning the kitchen--deep deep cleaning. Two of the men are repairing plumbing (frozen pipes), fixing a roof (tree fell on it Monday night), repairing bunks (stop the wiggling). The other man and I have been working on a one-bedroom house that the ministry recently acquired--it is on property but they didn't own the house. It is to be used for missionaries or pastors or a single family. It sits right on the edge of the reservoir--the deck even extends out over the water. The house is built on piers since the water may rise 8 feet during a heavy rain. The present deck gets flooded during high water so they would like another deck up at floor level of the house. We are replacing the flooring, extending the bedroom in to the old bathroom area and adding a bathroom. We have to stop our remodel and replace part of the roof that blew off Monday night. The setting is beautiful--60-ft pine trees, plants blooming several cardinals at the bird feeder. As I write, there is a goose sitting on the dock. Saw three deer last night. I am sitting in the lodge waiting for the clothes dryer to finish. There is one washer and one dryer so we have to share with the other SOWERS. I have some pictures but we have had trouble with the Internet so I haven't gotten them posted. We think the Internet problem is solved so will get busy and post some pictures. Bye, nlsower

part of the first two weeks

Where has the time gone? We have completed two weeks at Dothan Community Church. We have had a fun time working and visiting with members of the church. The church is located in an industrial and agricultural area. They are in the process of completing a children and youth wing. They do the work in phases as the funds are available. Future plans are for a new sanctuary--today the church was full but the present project is only about one-third completed.

This is the main entrance--most of the church is off to the right and the addition is behind this original part.

BC taping in the hallway.

CC and Kathy in the kitchen after they had gone through all the cupboard--cleaned, stove, refrig and discarded out-of-date food.

There are five SOWER couples on this project--from Wisconsin, Nebraska, New Jersey and South Carolina. Of course, Minnesota.

Bye nlsower

Dothan Community Church first two weeks

One of the murals in the hallway of the completed children's addition--we did not paint this. We are working on the next phase--three class rooms, the library and hallway.
The church is having a rummage sale to raise funds. CC is marking the donations.

SOWER lady painting door frame in the new hallway.

SOWER installing suspended ceiling--like the wall color?

boat update

Hi. Rusty and I were able to get the boat motor going. We ran the motor for five seconds with diesel oil in the crankcase and transmission then drained them. We then filled them with the correct oil and ran the motor for 4 hours. The motor ran better than it did before sinking--no exhaust smoke and smooth idle. After the 4 hours and cool down, Rusty changed the oil again. The hardest part was getting the fuel pump primed. The fuel tank didn't get any water in it.

The hull of the boat needs to be coated with a new flexible epoxy. The process involves taking the boat out of the water and completely drying it out. And then coating the hull inside and outside. There is a place that does this but the cost of the material alone is $8000. Rusty's ministry doesn't have that kind of money yet.

We are relocated to Dothan Community Church where we will be finishing rooms in the children's addition. Our organizational meeting is tomorrow morning. At that time we will learn the details of what work we will be doing.

nlsower

sail boat

Hi everyone. On Monday morning I headed down to the dock to help paint the 65-foot sail boat only to find out the boat sank on Sunday night. Thankfully the bay is only about five feet deep so the water was only up to the main deck. We used three large pumps to raise the boat. The bad part--the diesel engine was completely under water. Pray that there is no serious damage to the engine. Rusty took the starter to be cleaned.

Tuesday morning I helped Rusty remove all the soaked beds etc. Then scrub the deck with dawn dish soap--works good to remove the oil.

Today we hope to paint the deck--there is a wedding planned for Thursday. Tight schedule.

CC has been beading each morning--I think she is addicted. Ha.

Tomorrow we will be moving to our March project.

Bye nlsower

Camp Baldwin and Community

Elberta/Foley/Gulf Shores is an area that has been affected by hurricane Ivan and also the oil spill. The beaches have been cleaned up but there are crews working on other beaches. The boat below was beached by Ivan. Camp Baldwin lost about 200 trees during Ivan.

Camp Baldwin is blessed with many tall pines and these live oak trees. They stay green all year but shed leaves continually.

This is the sign that greeted us on hwy 20 as we approached Camp Baldwin. This camp is a ministry of the Baldwin Baptist Association. It is both a summer camp and retreat center. The facilities are continually being updated and is well maintained. It is located on Wolf Bay about 8 miles by water from the Gulf of Mexico. The camp is developing a new outdoor program including sailing and boat building. The programs director has a dream of building a lighthouse for the classes. He lived on his sailboat for ten year sailing much of the Gulf.

This is the 65-foot sailboat that Rusty uses for his classes. He took us for a two-hour ride in the bay. As we were getting ready to set sail, a dolphin swam by our boat--about 30 yards away.

Women SOWERS February 2011

Two of the SOWER ladies cleaned motel rooms. Marilyn and CC did laundry and made beds.
They also worked in the gift store and made angels to sell in the store. They made dolls for the children in the Appalachian Mountains. The dolls are given out by missionaries to help explain the way of Salvation.

Men SOWER Feb 2011

The stairway leading from the gym floor to the room where Tom and I spent 3 weeks dividing the large room into two smaller meeting rooms.

Tom cutting studs and plates to frame in the steel beams and purlins.

I am taking a break from insulating. Note the mask on the saw horse. Itch and Itch some more.

Tom resetting some screws as we were taping. Thankfully the ceiling is suspended so no upper seams.

We got both rooms taped with the first coat and one room with the second coat then the project was done. Next month they will finish taping and maybe put in the suspended ceiling. Another project will to build a human foos ball court. That sound like fun. There will be at least five SOWER couples during March. Tom will be there in March so he will be able to let the new group know where we left off.

pictures after Jan project

A farmer doing his spring field work by Bonifay FL--plowing a cotton field. BD and BC were on a road trip to check out a tractor salvage yard--lots of "rusty iron".
Part of the old fort is St. Augustine.

BD and LD by the Alantic Ocean

BC and CC by the Alantic Ocean

The Ladies found a place to buy some beads in St Augustine/

Too busy to blog

Hi everyone. We finished teen challenge and took a trip to St Augustine for three days. We didn't take the RV's so we had to be back by Wed to pack and move out by Thursday morning (SOWER rules). B & L headed north and B & C headed to Camp Baldwin in Elberta AL.

Camp Baldwin is mainly a summer camp with some weekend retreats. When there is a retreat we help serve the meals which means we get fed. Very good food. The ladies do the laundry after the retreats and clean the rooms. They also make angels for the gift store. They also are making dolls for missionaries--the ones with closed eyes on one side and with open eyes on the other side--also a way-of-salvation neckless.

The two of the men are painting and two of the men are dividing a large room into two rooms--sound simple--the room is up in the roof structures--cables in the way, the ceiling is slanted, wind bracing to frame around, a wall AC to frame around that is setback like a fireplace--it keeps the brain active. We have lots of the framing done this week. We should be able to start sheetrocking next week.

The weather has been very cool--frost in the morning and 40's in the afternoon--maybe in the 60's next week. It has rained several times so it is good to be working indoors.

I will get my act together and post some pictures. nlsower

second week projects

Steve putting screws in the backer board. We put down about 75 three foot by five foot sheets--lots of screws--about 3200.
BD down on his knees.

My knees were too sore to kneel all of the time.

The water tank--getting ready to stand it upright. This took lots of planning--we did not want it to fall on the AC units. It went up according to plan--Praise the Lord.

During the second week we laid some backer board and tipped up a water tank.

tank project

Ropes were needed to pull the tank over the last few degrees because the backhoe couldn't quite reach to the top. There were three guys on each rope.
Lifting the tank--the blue tractor was there to keep the tank from rolling down the hill.

The tank is upright--thanks to the rope pullers in the background.

This the whole crew--after a job well done.

BD is on top of the ladder disconnecting the chain and cable. I just sit on the backhoe and watch.

We were able to slide the tank over unto the slab. This tank is for the sprinkler system in the blue building.

Thanks for the comments--they mean alot.

Finished week two

We finished demolishing the trailer house and cleaned up the sight. Steve is leveling the dirt. It was fun removing the frame with no wheels. We used a tractor on each end--the long frame bent so much the center was dragging.

The cleaned site with the burn pile in the background.

Part of the herd of cattle at teen challenge--several new calves.

This part of the country has lots of logging besides the livestock. This machine removes all the branches.

BD is look at the modern "chain saw". We see several log trucks go by the project every day. There is large saw mill about 10 miles to the east.

The ladies have finished making aprons. They do not know what their project will be for next week. One afternoon the ladies did beading for the fun of it.

We attended a local church this morning--fun to visit with the locals. They want to know how cold is it in Minnesota.

My shoulder and knee are getting better. Thanks for the prayers. nlsower

Finished first week 3

If the titles to the posts are confusing, it is because I have to enter the pictures in the reverse order. Sorry about that.

This is the snowy backyard that we left behind when we headed south.

It hasn't been very warm in North Florida. It is 23 degrees this morning. Our project host is concerned that it is too cold for us Minnesotans to be working outside--anything below 50 degrees them is too cold to work outside, but as soon as we started working we shed a couple of layers of clothing--we started out with five.

This is the sign that greeted us in Bonifay, FL. The blue building in the background in the gym and new offices/classroom/chapel--it is not occupied yet, but they are getting close. They have been working on the building for six years--all volunteer help. There is work for you.

The other sign at the enterance. The men are boys--ages 11 to 17 in a military style enviroment.

The present office, classroom, chapel and dining hall.

The staff house for the single men staff. The SOWER men are to put vinyl siding on one end of the house where the garage doors were. That is our second weeks project.

First week completed 2

This is the house that parents stay at when they come to visit and get parenting training. If the parents do not get any training, the boys are most likely to return to their distructive behavior when they finish the 15 month stay at Teen Challenge.

This was the SOWER men's first project--demolish this trailer. It was beyond repair.

The SOWER ladies are starting their project. Sewing aprons for the kitchen staff.

The stuff from the trailer home. Some will will be sold at a yard sale.

The trailer home going down--it only took a little push. Yup, that's me on the tractor. Fun, fun!

first week completed

This is a continuation from the above post. The internet is causing some problems so I have to post things separately Sorry about the mess.

The trailer is flat on the ground. It took about one second to collaspe.

A picture of the three SOWER men and two of the boys at Teen Challenge.
There are about 40 boys here now. They are from all over the country. They are from 11 to 17 years old so there is a school here for them.

What the trailer home looked like at the end of the week.

Sample aprons that the SOWER ladies made during the first week on the project. These new aprons will really be appreciated since the cooks had to share aprons before these new ones.

The message we see each time we drive out of the project.

God Bless you each day--Pray for the Boys, the Staff and the Volunteers.

nlsower