On the Road and It Feels So Good

It seems I'm alway apologizing for not writing in a while. It's been eight months or so. But here we are... on the road for a bit.

TRAVEL INTERRUPTED

COVID-19 interrupted most of our travel plans. Adventure could be found - but that adventure had to be close to home for the most part, and was complicated by virus-avoidance protocols. All of that seems to be nearing an end and I'm sure you join us in being ready to put the corona virus ordeal behind us.

I posted a too-long-for-Facebook update late Friday night. It was just too late to log in and format a post and upload images. If you missed that Facebook update, here it is. If you read it on Facebook, scroll to the next section.

FROM FACEBOOK

We’re on the road again - and it feels so good! During COVID we’ve mostly enjoyed weekend excursions. Today we headed north toward beautiful East Tennessee. We served the great First Baptist Church of Morristown from 1996-2001. God blessed us with great friendships there and we can’t wait to worship in Morristown this weekend! Usually I post about our journeys at jonandannette.blogspot.com - and I will later - but it’s late and we have a long drive tomorrow, so this will do. That blog is titled The Road Less traveled. We found ourselves on ones of those “roads” tonight. Here’s how it went down:

We were supposed to leave on Saturday. Wanting to shorten the drive a bit, we decided to leave after work on Friday and drive just north of Jacksonville to Pecan Park RV Resort. After the obligatory stop at Buc-ee's in Daytona, we enjoyed a great drive. Until we turned 750 feet too soon into a flea market. You can’t back up when towing another vehicle - so in we went. Through a gate into a storage lot for RVs and other things. A u-turn in a dusty field got us headed back in the right direction. Thinking we were almost home free, and bearded motorcycle-rider-looking guy waved us down to inform us we couldn’t get out to the main road the way we were going. So 31,000 pounds of us went off road to turn around. Because we can’t back up. So we experienced a new kind of a road less traveled. Made it, though. We’re parked, ready to rest. And then we’ll drive.

OUR SATURDAY DRIVE

So that post took us to late Friday night. Saturday was a new day.

First, I wanted Annette to be able to sleep in. She works hard and she's had very few sleep in days in recent months. Our only goal was to get to Gatlinburg before dark while enjoying time together. We had "no cook" breakfast food on board and a new Keurig to get her morning started. I added some water to the fresh water tank, unhooked the 50-amp electrical service, and we were on our way. Here are some observations from the day:

(1) Saturday was a five-state day. We started in Florida, of course, then made our way through parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.

(2) It's a holiday weekend. I expected to see speed traps everywhere. It doesn't matter, as we drive 62 or 63 miles an hour - but I thought it was interesting that law enforcement was not supervising holiday drivers more closely.

(3) Annette and I both grew up in south Louisiana. We learned to drive on poor quality roads. I've ridden a motorcycle in all 48 contiguous states and a lot of Canada (and I'm proud of that). I thought Louisiana owned the worst roads of all. After the roads we encountered in South Carolina and North Carolina, I'm not sure. Man, oh man! The right-lane road surfaces were awful in places.

(4) We drove past exits to places that made me think of a number of people who are dear to us. I thought of Jeremy Davis and The Fabulous Equinox Orchestra. I remembered our connection with Jeremy. And I prayed for him. When we saw exits for Columbia, South Carolina I thought of Dino Senesi and gave thanks for the profound impact he has had on our lives and ministry. We drove past an exit to Greer, South Carolina and I thought of and prayed for our friends Cliff and Sherry Marshall. We continued past Hendersonville and I prayed for Joan Peterson, a member of our ministry team for a season. And then I said, "Hey - Shelby, North Carolina" and prayed for Pastor Doug Hankins, who has begun a new ministry assignment there. So many seasons of life and ministry... so many relationships... so much to be thankful for.

(5) We found ourselves on roads that would have been so much fun on our Harley-Davidson (sold) or our Corvette (safe at home in the garage). Traversing these roads in our coach towing a truck was not as much fun. The last few miles on Highway 321 between the interstate and our campground was particularly interesting. But we made it!

(6) We paid the most we've ever paid for fuel on this trip. I'll not engage in politics here - but our last fuel stop would have cost $222.22 if we were not a part of a discounted fuel program with TSD Logistics. Yikes!

GATLINBURG EAST / SMOKY MOUNTAIN KOA

We like our little campground. It's small. This is good. There are mature trees all around, so we feel like we're in the forest. (Actually, I guess we are.) We were able to snag a pull through site, which makes our arrival easy. We don't have to unhook the truck until we're ready. There are a lot of families around, a lot of campfires, and it feels like, well, we're camping. We like this.

We're 30 minutes from the heart of Gatlinburg, so we're out of the craziness and congestion when it's time to rest. The drive into Gatlinburg is really nice. Yes, we like it here.

CHURCH TODAY

We loved our time of worship at First Baptist Church Morristown! The church is 50 minutes away from our campground - so there was no sleeping in today. The choir sings at the 8:30 service, so that the service we wanted to attend. We developed so many close friendships during our time of ministry in Morristown, and many of those friends are in the choir and orchestra. We got to sit with some of our best friends and my former assistant, Mitzi Asher, provided an unexpected blessing as she sang a solo. Lunch at Aubrey's in Morristown with Gerald, Donna, Casey, Avery and Sydney Wolfe was another highlight of the day. We love those folks and are so thankful for their friendship!

Worship at First Baptist Morristown.
So great to see friends leading in worship!

So much fun to get to visit with Pastor Dean
Haun and the Wolfe family,

Wonderful lunch with the Wolfes at
Aubreys in Morristown.

DINNER AT THE PEDDLAR

Living an hour away from Gatlinburg while serving in Morristown, we visited often. The Peddlar was always one of our favorite places to dine, so we'd take a trip down memory lane there Sunday evening. Dinner did not disappoint. We scored a table next to the river or creek or whatever it is - and the time together for us was priceless.

This dinner was kind of nostalgic for me. We used to visit The Peddlar with my parents. My dad loved this place. He loved the salad bar. He loved the peddler coming by to allow patrons to select their cut of beef and he loved choosing the size of his steak while watching the Peddlar trim the beef. I miss him a lot.

END OF THE DAY

We're relaxing in the coach tonight. Annette was reading while I watched NASCAR - but I'm pretty sure she's snoozing. Surprise Great Smoky Mountain bears occupy the front seats as we wait for Lorelai and Daisy (with Lindsey and Bryan, of course) to arrive. Tomorrow we shall play. And make memories. Together.