PBnJ5 Adventures

Well, we made it to Wisconsin. We had two VERY long travel days and as long as we had the brain suckers playing, also known as iPads, the boys did great. It was a welcome site to pull into the farm in Chetek. But just because we are off the road does not mean our adventures in the 5th wheel have ceased. It only took about 30 minutes to create our first adventure on the farm.

I mentioned in my last post that we had full RV hookups at the farm. Well that is both true and untrue at the same time. For those of you who don’t speak RV lingo, full hookups is power, sewer, and fresh water. Now the farm has all of those except not all in the same place. The power that we have to plug into is next to the barn and only 30amps. Our RV runs on 50amps for everything to work without the fear of blowing breakers and fuses. There is water at the barn but the sewer spot is unfortunately 200 yards away next to the golf shop (more on that later). So we knew that when we got to the farm we would have 30amps ready and waiting and we would just have to do a little work for the 50amps to work down by the golf shop where we can get water and sewer and be all set. That just means using the shower and the kitchen inside Luke’s parents’ house for a little while. Yea for a big kitchen and long hot showers! We can last for a week or so before we really need to empty the tanks, we can totally do this!

Okay, so our first adventure literally takes about 30 minutes to get rolling. After driving almost 9 hours we are ready to get parked and set and be done for the day. So Luke is driving the 5th wheel up to the barn, but in order to be facing the right direction he has to turn around and back it the rest of the way. Usually no problem except our camera that shows the back of the RV broke on our drive and he is backing blind. But not the end of the world until he cuts the corner on the grass and the RV sinks into about 6 inches of thick, sticky, unforgiving Wisconsin mud. If you want a fun way to raise your blood pressure you should watch your big new truck spin its tires even in 4 wheel drive while it is trying to push your house that weights about 17,000 pounds out of the mud and absolutely go no where but deeper into the hole. Okay – here are the facts. We can’t just unhook and leave it where it is because it is supposed to start raining in less than twelve hours and we will only sink farther into the mud. Also we can’t survive without being plugged in or our tanks will freeze and we are nowhere near the power. It is also getting late and we’re loosing daylight, the temperature is starting to drop, and the wind is pretty dang cold. What are we going to do? Well for starters we have to get the wheels up out of the mud in order to go anywhere. So we put the jacks down to lift the RV enough to get 2x4s under the wheels for some traction. After several attempts at finding wood strong enough to hold the RV without crushing the wood we finally get enough support to hold the wheels. Great! Let’s put the jacks up and try again. Not so fast. Apparently the jacks think they are smarter than we are and that the angle at which the RV is leaning is to great and they refuse to retract all the way. NOOOO!! But thankfully we are on the farm and have access to way more tools than we can carry. So with the help of a hydraulic lift we can get the RV high enough to get the jacks to release their power struggle and let the jacks go back up. Thank you Jesus! Now to get out of the mud. There is no way we can do it with just the truck as it is also sitting in the soft mushy grass. So Pops and his tractor to the rescue. With a big fat chain attached to the hitch and Tucker propped up on the fender of the tractor for moral support, we are ready to give this a try. Unfortunately, with the angle the tractor has to pull and the way the truck and RV are sitting Pops and Luke can’t see each other. “Julie, we need a spotter.” Oh crap, I don’t want to be the person responsible for crushing a tractor into the back of our 5th wheel due to poor communication. I suddenly have flash backs to when I was 8 and my dad asked me to watch the strap out the back window that was between the van that he as driving and the car that he was towing with my mom inside. That story ended up with me having a small panic moment and telling dad the car was going to hit the van. So he sped up too fast which cause the strap the break. At least the car didn’t hit the van but Dad maybe wasn’t as pleased as he could have been with my awesome communication skills and knowledge of how that situation should work. In reflection of that moment, maybe he should not have asked an 8 year old to give advice! Anyway, back to the present moment. Okay, thumbs up from everyone here we go. Pops gives the tractor some gas, the tractor wheels dig in and dirt starts to fly, the black smoke comes pouring out of the exhaust, Tucker’s face gleams with delight, I close my eyes and possibly plug my ears, the RV starts to wiggle and sway, we make it a couple feet, then Luke’s waves to stop. STOP Pops! Okay reset let’s try again. We are close we can do this. I regain my composure after clarifying what I am actually supposed to be doing, (because I am pretty sure closing my eyes is not exactly what they had in mind when they asked for a spotter). Let’s go again. Thumbs up all around, more dirt flying of the tractor wheels, RV is moving, out of the mud it is coming, I am feeling confident, the truck isn’t spinning, Tucker’s face still gleaming, we are making it, DON’T STOP, all the wheels back on the drive way! We did it! And nothing got smashed, there was no damage to anything other than my blood pressure. Whew! Now please, let’s get hooked up and eat some dinner and head to bed. We are exhausted!

I would love to tell you that everything has gone perfect since then, but that would rob you of living vicariously through us. We arrived on the farm Thursday night with our mud adventure and our next adventure started on Saturday morning. So my in-laws also have been traveling since January and had just returned back to Wisconsin the previous Sunday. After being gone for 3+ months you can expect there was many things to check on and play catch up with. Well one thing that apparently got overlooked was the amount of propane in the tank that heats the house and the hot water heater. It’s empty. Turns out we have to wait until Monday to get the tank filled. So crank up the space heaters and put on some extra deodorant. We had hot water in the RV but with no way to empty the tanks, showering was not an option. So thankfully by Monday evening we were back up and fully functional in the house, even after a little scare with the hot water heater not staying lit. That was one of the best hot showers I have had in a while.

Our next adventure came in the form of the forecast. Snow and cold. Now we can handle some light snow, and we can even handle weather down in the upper 20s. But we can’t handle 9 plus inches of heavy snow and nights down in the teens with wind, and for four nights in a row. So we decided that freezing temps and heavy snow are best survived in a house not an RV. The RV is much more weather resistant when all the slides are pulled in tight. So Luke worked very hard and got the 50amp power all set up by the golf shop (still more to come on that), so that we could run all the space heaters and hopefully burn through less propane in the RV with our furnace. We can hookup to the sewer and get our tanks empty before the bitter cold. Well most of that came true. We have the power, but of course we find out at the last moment that don’t have enough hose to reach the sewer. After an attempted late night run too Walmart for another hose Luke was foiled as they closed the doors at 8:30 and of course he arrived at 8:31 the night before Easter. Closed for Easter. No empty tanks for you!

So while we did get to celebrate the empty tomb, we did it with full tanks, a very white Easter outside, a closed up RV with space heaters and tank heaters working away and a hope and prayer that our pipes don’t freeze. We got over 10 inches of wet heavy snow, and as I sit under a cozy blanket in a nice warm house it is currently heading down to a balmy 14 degrees tonight. I am sure that the mouse who decided that our RV pantry was a great place to find a snack is enjoying his peace and quiet. I also hope he fills up on the poison we left for him and chooses to die somewhere other than the RV. Yes my friends the adventure continues.

Now about that golf shop. Yes there is a golf shop on the farm. My father in-law turned a hay field into a driving range about 20 years ago. Since then he also built a 1200 sq. ft building that housed 3 indoor golf simulators. He has decided he is ready to retire from the golf business and has graciously allowed us to “make ourselves at home” in the golf shop. We are doing a little renovation project and adding a full kitchen for me and big indoor play/living space for the boys. It will be our home outside of the RV so that we can give Mimi and Pops some space so they don’t get sick of us too fast! We have decided to rename it the Lodge as a place to gather. There are not many things that Luke and I love to work on more together than remodeling and designing a kitchen. So we are loving the opportunity to use a different part of our brains that have been on hold for the past several months. I will post pictures in my next post of our progress.

I thought that maybe once we got to the farm I would not have anything to write about and would stop the blog for a while. Turns out, life on the farm is apparently never boring. Different than being on the road for sure, but not boring. The boys are anxious, as am I, for the weather to warm up again and get back to working and playing outside. We are totally unprepared for snowy weather, we are more prepped in the flip flops and swimsuit department. But those days are just around the corner too.

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love Easter Sunday service. I love the anticipation and hope that the resurrection brings. I love celebrating how awesome and amazing our God is. I love helping lead worship on Easter, it has always been one of my favorite Sundays to sing. And I love creating a delicious Easter Brunch. Easter was special in that we got to spend it with Mimi and Pops and have a delicious brunch and dinner. When you are stuck at home you might as well make two great meals. But I sure did miss gathering in a church to celebrate. So many things in life have been put on pause and changed. Our future and plans are unclear. Our next steps are as clear as the mud we were stuck in. But we are where we are supposed to be, so we will do our best to bloom where we have been planted. If God has the power to raise Christ from the dead, he surely has enough power to make a clear path for us. So for now we will create a space to allow us to have another new “normal”. We will count the blessings that have been put all around us. And we will continue to have more adventures, hopefully they involve less mice and more sunshine.

Live your Adventure,

Julie