Day 70

   Hi Folks! The sun shined all day today. Got a late start...I know...I know...IMAGINE THAT!!! Couldn't be helped though I tell ya. It was all about the food! Joyce bought the horses 5 bales of hay, and us lunch. Joyce is about the kindess soul you will ever meet. A more generous and loving friend you will never find. Thanks so much for everything Joyce. May our Lord smile upon you. She fed us and chaffeured  us everywhere, while we sat out the rain. She saved us at least 4 days of travel.
   So we did probably 16-17 miles today. We are South of Plainville on Hwy 57. Which is what we wanted to do today. It got up to around 40 degrees today...good temp for the horses. Slight wind so we broke into our carharts and stayed cozy. Supposed to be down in the twenty's tonight...but in the mid 40's again tomorrow. So IF we get out & about early...we might do 20 miles.
   Lots of turns today on 57. I mean one after another. Only one good hill, but man oh man the turns just kept comin'. We backed traffic up a couple of times...but we do our best to pull over when we can (when it's safe for our horses). Of course that's not good enuff for some folks. So some important citizen (that's what we refer to the people who fly past us into head on traffic and about cut the horses front legs off...important people...they must be because they are in such a hurry they can endanger any number of lives necessary to keep flyin') called the police on us. Said we were slow & backing up traffic. We had just pulled off the road and an officer pulled up. He talked to Deb...said if 7 vehicles are behind us we need to pull over and let them pass. Deb told them we do...as soon as it is safe. He was very profesional & respectful to my wife...and I am grateful to him for that. We'll just keep doin' the best we can...the officer asked (Off. J.R.Crew) that we pray for Ms. Mattingly, Doug Scudder, and 10 year old Memphis Reiker...they all have cancer. Let's pray for miracle healings, strength, and that they feel no pain.
   Please also pray for the following folks;

• Joe & Gennie Matthews they offered us some water...and asked that we pray for "everything"
• Bobbie Flynn and Joe Pershing...Joe has a sister with alzheimers and asks that we pray for a healing
• John Higgins...for continued good health
• Joan found us again (God bless her!). This time she bought pizza (yes!) and brought her sister Mary. She asks that we pray for her for good health
• Joans other sister Rita ...she has a doctors appointment on next Monday for her hip...she has no idea what's wrong. So lets ask God to help with the diagnosis and a quick healing.
• We also met Joan's niece Maci
• We also met Doug & his son Sid, they would like us to pray for the Mom, Mindi, and her children Mason & Chloe...for unity of the family.
• And now we have a request...one of our fellow horse travelers...Cowboy Bob and his family (he is also from Michigan and we call each other once in a while) had his wagon roll over today. Everyone is safe...and they have rebuild parts comin'. Horses and all ok...no serious injuries reported. But if we could ask the Lord to hold them up and get them back on the road soon, we would be deeply indebted to all of you.
• We would also like to pray for our follower, Rachel's, friend.  She has some health issues and her husband is in training to be deployed in January and can't be there with her.  Rachel, our son is army, we surely understand the deployment thing!  No bueno!!  We'll pray for them for that, as well.

Yikes...it is an adventure out here! Good night and God bless each of you. Thanks for tunin' in...thanks for praying with us...& thanks for takin' time to say hi along the road. We'll talk with ya'll tomorrow.
I keep forgetting to add that when we were at Graber steel, we also met Nick's son, Marvin.  Very nice family and we enjoyed meeting them!  Thanks Bob for the hook-up!

Day 3 (69) of rain & snow whew!

Good evening to everyone! Yup it snowed today...but the roads are to warm for it too stick. Thank you Lord. Got our harnesses back today. And we hope that ditching the nylon and goin' to the bio material will stop the harshness of the rubbin' and Casey will start some new hair growth. It sure wasn't cheap but if it works it was worth it. If it doesn't...we have a good start on another set of harnesses to go 3-up next year and head west...if we feel like the Lord would like us to.
   The carharts come out of the bag tomorrow! It is supposed to be cool and 10-15 mile an hour winds. That sittin' still in the drivers seat gets cold. Staying dry is the biggest part of that battle though. The sun is supposed to shine ...and I am ready to travel. This is the longest we have ever sat. And I gotta admit...I am ready to get on with the Lords work. I am ready to move. Everybody seems well rested. I am probably more ready than the horses. Wink!
   Bob was shiverin' this mornin' so we put their blankets on. Warmed him up quick. Prbably take us days to dry them back out again. saw all the Amish drivin' horses with them on too. None of the belgians did...but none of them were in a small pen...and lots more fat on them than Bob. Problem is Casey keeps trying to drag it off of him! The girl just ain't right. She see's anything new and she's gotta have her lips on it.
   Feed store-hay-harness shop-shoes-and the water tank insulated (in the AM) we are ready to rock. Should have 5 goods days in front of us. And we need to be sitting on the Southern border of Indiana at the end of it. Close to it anyhow. We are now 6 weeks later than we wanted to be. Oh well...the Lord has cared for us thus far...He WILL continue. That's the kinda God He is. And Punkin & I have lived most of our lives in Wisconsin & Michigan...we know how to weather the storms. We feel like we are well stocked & ready to travel & minister along the way...spreading the news that God is good and He worthy of our praise. If you see us along the way...stop with your prayer requests...and we'll publish them. If you can't meet us...just send them to us through the comments section.
   I have to say...to our followers. We are so proud to have you folks with us praying. When we hear the praise reports and answers to prayers...that you folks prayin' on the prayers you read on this blog. God hears you and loves that you trust in Him enough to pray with faith. You are all an inspiration to us...thanks for praying with us. May the Lord smile upon each and every one of you!
   Good night and God bless each of you. See you on the road or talk to you in our blog tomorrow. And God's speed, safety, and warmth to all our fellow horse travelers. Sure enjoy talking with ya'll.
Hi, Deb here!!  I would just like to say that whoever sent the inappropriate url to our comments, go ahead and keep those to yourself.  Thanks, glad it didn't come through properly so we didn't have to see it.
Comments:
Anon...It IS cold!!  We are warm.  Thank you.
Rachel...Thanks, and yes, we got the snow :(
Jaime...Thanks so much!  Love you too!!
Terri...Awesome, huh?
Thanks all!  See ya tomorrow :D

Day 68

Hi everyone!
We're still here in Newberry!  Rain, rain, and MORE rain!!  It's STILL raining!  And going to rain more tomorrow!  We got up this morning with a plan to head out.  That didn't happen.  We, instead, got some good shopping done!  Joyce took us into Odon and all the Amish places we needed to go.  We went to Vernon Graber's feed & grain store, where we bought some necessities and left with a gift of 4 bags of feed! Next, Nick Graber's steel shop, which is where Bob the wagon teamster sent us.  We told him that Bob sent us from MI and we got the full tour of his steel and fabricating shop!  Very awesome!  BTW, Bob, Nick says HEY! He'll call you soon. Then off to Ora Knepp's harness shop!  Bought a blanket and left our gear for repairs.  Well, not so much repairs as modifications.  Switching out the nylon tugs for bio, new front clips, and reinforcement of  the hames strap!  We had lunch at Odon Essen Restaurant (also Amish and a  BUFFET!!!!)  mmmmmmmmmmm, and hit a hardware store!  We had to go to the hardware store because Mark accidentally broke a piece of the shower when he was showering!  Had to INSIST on buying the piece.  Joyce is very giving and was going to buy that herself too!  So, that's all fixed and works fine.  I tried it out myself to make sure ;)
  The plan is to use the things tomorrow that we bought today for all the fixes we needed.  Another rain day!  Not even going to try to move.  PLUS...snow???? I'm just rebuking THAT nonsense!
 Anyway, todays trip saved three or four days of traveling to and around Odon.  Good trade!  Two days of shopping and work in exchange for 3 - 4 days of travel plus the time to do the repairs when we got it all bought!  And better still, the horses get to rest and eat!!Weather says Wed, Thurs, Fri, & Sat are all clear!  We'll be back at it then!
Sooooooo...this prayer thing...We communicate with a couple of other wagon travelers.  Last night, one was down!  His best friend/his horse couldn't hardly pull up small hills and, just something was wrong!  So we all put our contacts and heads together to find someone in OK. (thats where he is).  We prayed for J & M and their safety and help for them. We knew of a wagon heading there and were able to contact him.  He was sure they could pull something together to help.  Well, thank you CB!  Before he could...Someone sent a vet that found an infection and fixed that horse up really good for free!!  He will also be in a new wagon (with brakes) next week!  Helllllllloooooo...is that one awesome God or what?!?!  See, if we just trust Him, everything will work out fine and every single need will be met!  We love to give praise reports!!
That's about it for tonight!  We had a great and blessed day!  Looking forward to more of the same tomorrow!  Til then...God bless and remember to say your prayers!  God's got all of our backs!
Faith
Comments:
Rachel...we're watching the weather closely. We may have changed our route to come straight through Evansville!  We'll be on 57 for a bit!
Crickette...Thats awesome!

Day 67

Well...here we sit!  Rain.  Not all bad though!!  We got to go to church today!!!!  YAAAAY!!!  Great service, great people.  We sure do thank Joyce for the opportunity.  And thank you Pastor Steve Dunkel for a great, encouraging service. Pastor refered to our ministry as encouragement and prayer.  That sums it up pretty good, we would say.  Just trying to spread some hope and blessings.  Hope we have and will continue to all for the Glory of God!  We're just the servants trying to be obedient.

We talked with our "scout" today. We asked for some information on how far we are from our starting point and this was his report:

you are:
369 miles South, South West of Perry to (Odon)  Approx. 7 hours driving time if driving on interstate highways

 Louisville Ky is 92 miles ( 2 hours ) south east of you if driving on interstate
o
Cancun mexico is  2975 miles south of you but you must  go south west then south then east toward the Grand cayman islands. when in can cun you will be about 800 miles ( over water ) south west of Havana Cuba. you will travel  around the east edge of gulf of Mexico by road  57 driving hours to cancun many of the roads will not be interstate highways but they will be lke bad versions of our US secondary county roads.

 Mount McKinley  /  Anchorage  Alaska,  is north, north west of Odon by 3833 miles /  69 hours,  approx. 600 miles south of the arctic circle.  All  driving distances and hours are based on approx. 60 miles per hour,  US Highways so you may need to apply some MINOR conversions.
 average temp is approx DIRT COLD'

So... now you know.  Thanks Bob!  Good info :)

We moved the horses so as not to completely ruin this spot in the yard and, of course, with that comes the shoveling of the piles!! 

We finally swapped out the kitchen sink pump!  The old one still worked when it felt like it.  Loose connections that we can fix easily enough for later use as a shower! 

I went to Odon with Joyce to see where we were going, thanks for lunch Joyce, and while I was gone, a follower came to visit!  Sorry I missed you Joan!  Mark enjoyed visiting with you!  And we and the puppies thank you!  I'll wear the scarf for sure!  Also glad you got to meet Bob & Casey.  Mark says the ponies are still talking about the carrots!  I'm surprised they ate them!  They won't even touch an apple!

Rachel...you never know where we'll decide to cross that darn river!  Looked at bigger maps today and we actually may end up closer to you than I thought originally! 

That's about it for this day.  Football!!!  No Packers tho, they already won their game for the week  

(  ;) Don! ) But vegging to it just the same.

Keep praying and keep believing.  We just thank the Lord for all of you that we know, have met, and are going to meet!  God bless and good night!

Faith

Day 66

This morning we headed out from Lyons, IN.  We had been staying with Jim & Jane Elliott.  Jim really needs some serious prayer for his health.  He needs a healing for his heart and kidneys!  God's will for him.
We had good travel with light traffic and just a few sprinkles most of the time.  A little harder rain down the road a piece.  We were going to go to Marsan's moms house just east of Newberry but didn't make it there.  Bob really does alot better on the small hwys.  Seems the traffic keeps him focused better.  If that makes any sense?  Anyway, it will add a few miles if that is our final decision.
We landed at Joyce Hasler's house just south of town (Newberry) on 57.  Her pastor and his daughter came out to see us and we had a great chat.
Before we even left the Elliotts' their neighbor, Dixie Collins, came over to check out the wagon.  She said her dad (93 yrs old) would love it!  She also asked for prayer for her husband, for him to give up smoking.
Theresa and her grandson Bryar also stopped to check us out.  We saw them again in town taking pictures!
Before we got to town, we met Jason Jeffers.  We had a nice talk with him.  His request for prayer was for direction and discernment in his employment.  He has a very unique job and is thinking that he could maybe do better, ethics wise, for himself and his 5 yr old daughter.
As we got closer to Newberry, we met Aaron Berg.  We can all pray for that family with their brand new baby girl!  They are so happy and excited!  Congratulations and enjoy her!
We pulled over in town and met ALOT of folks.  We talked to the Henry's with one Pickett along.  Ms. Pickett asked for prayers for her grandpa. He is 91 and has some health problems.
John, Sam, Stacee, and Kayla just came to see the horses and wagon.  If they had a request, it would be for peace of mind.
Joyce Hasler (host) just prays for our safe journey. 
Joyce also has friends from church, Steve & Sue Warren, they are requesting prayer for their ministry with children.  They take in foster children and I know that THAT in itself is VERY hard!  Our prayers are with you and the children.
So that was our day.  The minute we pulled in, we got rained on!  But only for about 10 minutes.  Watching the weather for tonight and tomorrow.  They say it's going to turn bad!  We'll see.
Comments:
Jeanne Smith...Thank you so much!
Rachel...Not so sure about the Evansville thing!  But thank you!
Joan...We should be going there tomorrow, weather permitting.  Bad rain...no travel. 
So, I thank you, again, for sticking with us!  God bless and we"ll talk again tomorrow!
Faith

Day 65

Good evening!  Well, we didn't move today.  Instead, we made it yesterday to where Marsan has her stocks and today she came and did both horses!  First time we had the opportunity to get them done without holding their feet up.  So, just so you don't think that it was a boring day (it never is with these two) here is their story...
Bob went first.  He did pretty darn good!  Walked right up in there!  We tied Casey right in front of him so they would be calm, since we all know...they ALWAYS have to be able to see each other!!!!
Mark stayed with them and actually got to learn some things from Marsan. I, on the other hand, went to the wagon.  I made some shortbread cookies, some biscuits, and got a little computer work done.  Not before I found the irony in the fact that I could walk over there and either kick or bite him (Bob) if I felt like it!  So I made it a point to tell him that.  How's that for dominating the situation?
Casey stood really well for the time that Bob was getting his pedicure.  Bob was pretty good.  Only rattled the front off the stocks!  He's all boy!!!  Took some time to finish as they are both still getting fixed up from walking their hooves down so far.  But that's OK too.  Hank told us that the next farrier would see what he did and know what needed to be done for correction, and she (Marsan) did. But!!  Bob's feet are in great shape!  Yay!!
Casey's turn!  Oh that girl.  She fussed so much that she actually moved the stocks about a foot.  She was NOT a happy camper!  Was good to get her feet up though.  She'll need more time than Bob before she's in great shape.  In all her fussing around, she managed to cut her nose!  I went out to see her and I felt so bad for her.  Poor baby.......We also learned that Casey has a permanent scar IN her hoof from a previous, obviously deep, wound.  Guess we"ll never learn how that happened.
That was about it.  They both survived and were happy to see the oat buckets come out when they returned to their pen.  They look good.  Look sharp.  Marsan did an awesome job with them.  Anybody in this area would do well to call her the next time your horse needs a trim or shoe!
Marsan took me all the way to her mom's house to show me the way.  That should be our next stop, then on to Odon!!  Spare shoes and a harness shop!  SERIOUS HILLS tho!!!  Have to check it again when we get that far.  But, closer to Odon.
After Odon, we are back to no destination.  Just wherever the Lord sends us.  We read and pray each morning when we're heading out.  Not looking at very good weather for tomorrow either!  Bottom line...we'll be fine.  He wouldn't stick us out here and not take care of us!
That's all for today.  Thanks to all for reading along, we're having a great time meeting you all!
Comments:
Jenelle...You never know where the Lord might lead us!  And thank you.  Good Word!
Rick...Thanks
Rachel...Thank you!
Goodnight and God bless every one of you!
Faith

Day 62-64

   We finally got a minute...and gotta signal. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERY ONE!!!!!!! Hope that each of you is surrounded by those that you love on this day....and plenty of good vittles. We traveled today and did about 13 or 14 miles. Lots of hills so good day. We moved only because we had no cell phone, or on-line, or football...I mean TV signal. Now we have a little of all. I missed my Green Bay Packers....but they won. So all is well in hooville. Sorry to all the Lions fans back home. snicker-snicker.
   But we are getting ahead of ourselves...day 62 was a rain day. We got like 2 inches...and we were SOOOOOOOOO happy not to be on the road. Didn't hurt the horses a bit to stand around and put on the feed bag an extra day either. Plus we had noticed the day before that Casey had a loose rear shoe. Mike & Jeanette (our hosts) gave us the number of their farrier but he was headed to northern Indiana when I called him. So we contacted one of our Followers. Marsan Brewer. She is not only a farrier...but she is an excellent farrier. She attended a specialty school in Florida for farriers. Where she learned how to rebuild hooves after decease and infections. She has saved horses who's only other alternative was death. She has straightened out pigeon toed horses. Just all kinds of miracle stuff. The pictures which she was good enough to share with us were hideous (before treatment) and beautiful after. She asks that we pray for her daughter, Regan, who isn't feeling well and Regan's Grandparents who have some health issues. UPDATE...Mrs. Elliot says Regan is all better!
   So Casey's loose shoe was worn down to paper (even with the driltec). So we are going to have to load up on shoes in Odon. We traveled on day 63. But before we left we met Randy Dyer. Randy is a cancer survivor and has served over 14,000 people out of his chuck wagon. Mike says he is a great cook too! Left Deb & I with a poem he wrote, which is great.One of these days when I don't have much to write I'll type it up for you folks. Randy runs the Rockin' R' Chuckwagon out of Clay City, IN. Anyone who would like to hire his services, I'm sure he would do you right.
   Randy also brought us some gifts from the local dairy farm. They make and market their own cheese and sausage. THE SWISS CONNECTION, also out of Clay city. Thanks folks! ( swissconnectioncheese.com) and eggs and local honey!
   So we finally got on our way..late. And wandered into Clay City ...the Mayberry of  the midwest. Nice folks...'cept the A&W was closed for the season and Deb had her heart set on cheese curds.
   Headed out of town and met lots of folks. Ted Hunner would like us to pray for his Dad who is on life support. Will do Ted.
April would like us to pray for her family. We met Nancy who says she has so many friends with Cancer. The Lord knows who they are...we just pray for healing & comfort in all those cases.
Aletha Mace stopped to talk...she would like us to pray for her childeren.
Got in just before dark. Had to hussle to get camp set & chores done. It was pitch black by the time we were done. It had been cloudy and cold all day. Temp in the 40's. We stayed at Joel & Trisha Oliver. And their childeren Samantha, Jeffery & Breana. Nice folks. They invited us to their Wednesday bible study and we made peanut butter sandwhiches and jumped in the car. Glad we did too. Thanks for the invite and the hospitality folks. May the Lord bless you in all that you do.
   Thankgiving and day 64 another travel day. We stayed on the back roads. Lone Tree Rd. Cut off quite a few miles for us. Lots of hills. we did maybe 14 miles. But we ended up at the farm where Marsan keeps her stocks. She is goin' to reshoe Bob & Casey in the AM tomorrow for us (& them). I gotta tell you folks this is VERY kind of her...this is her week off & she has helped us twice. How many of us would give up 2 days of a single week off to help strangers?
   We are stayin' with the Elliotts. We met Mrs. tonight but not Mr.. They were nice enough to get us settled in prior to leaving for their Thanksgiving. We need to pray for Mr.Elliot. Mrs. is taking him to the hospital tomorrow. His kidneys are not functioning right and she is concerned about conjestive heart failure. Let's please pray up a miracle for this man...& let God get the glory.
  Today we met Shannon Morrison  who would like us to pray for the salvation of his unsaved family and friends...and the world leaders.
   Martha Jackman...was kind enough to offer us a place to stay tonight. And her prayer request is for everyone to have a safe holiday, safe New Year, and SAVE our country.
   Then we had an entire family (annonymous) ask for prayers for our country.
   That's it for Turkey day. We thank the Lord for all that we have and know that all things come from Him. May God bless and hold all of you. thanks for following. Good night!
Comments:
Due to having so many undocumented days, there were LOTS of comments.  So, I'm going to cheat and just thank you all for your kind wishes and support!  Sometimes you help to keep us going.  We love when you talk to us so we don't lose track of anyone!  Thanks again, and again, Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S.  We had ham steak, broccoli rice au gratin, corn, sweet potatoes, and REAL mashed potatoes for our dinner.  Not bad for a covered wagon meal, huh?  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. But Mark still says we accept leftovers! We will be on 57S south of Lyons ;)  LOL
God bless!
Faith

Day 61

So day 61 brings us more of the same weather as day 60!  Drizzly, misty, blah!  But, still knowing that Tuesday is supposed to be the worst of it, on we go! 
Today we passed under I-70. Whew!  Finally got rid of some of the traffic! Still some hills, but manageable.  The horses did very well at the HUGE interchange!  Four truck stops, lights, overpass, and trucks coming out of every drive available!  They are getting so grown up!!  Very proud of them.  Not perfect, mind you, but alot better than the early days! 
Officers EVERYWHERE!!  BTW...don't pass fancy black new Dodge Chargers!!!!!  It just might be that you got yourself a ticket!!!  I only know this because when we were resting the guys, he was the officer that was kind enough to stop and make sure everything was ok.
We met Kenny Crandell.  He was just stopping to check us out!
Then down the road a piece, Pastor Olin Strader stopped for pictures and a chat!  He would like prayer for a revival in Brazil!  In his church and everywhere!  He is concerned about where this country is going!
At a house away from where we stopped for the night we met Doug and his daughter Callie Ream.  Callie was taking lots of pictures.  The rest of the family is Annette and Jenna.  Their prayer request is for Jenna to get to feeling better.
Then we came to the driveway of Mike & Jeanette Ledgerwood.  They were in their truck by the road.  Mike called out that the horses lookes thirsty!  When I said they were, they invited us in.  And here we are!  We met Mikes mom and 2 of his sons, Levi and Jeremiah.  Nice family.  Went in for pizza and showers and some good conversation!  Great people!  Once again, going to get a little redirection.  Staying a safe distance from the worst of the hills.
While putting the horses up, we all noticed that Casey has a loose shoe so that will be a farrier call tomorrow.  Looks like we only need a tightening so it should be a quick fix.
We are in Center Point, IN. And ready for some good sleep!
So, good night and God bless to all of you!  Thanks for reading :)
Comments:
Don...Detroit Shemoit,  No worries!  Great to hear from you.  We sure miss all you guys!
Nita...Thanks again for the dinner!  It was an honor to meet you as well. and the gang!
Marion...Thanks for sticking with us!  We sure miss everyone!  Stay in touch!
Good night!
Faith

Day 60!

Well, spitting rain again this morning.  Not too bad though.  Knowing that we have to travel Hwy 40 and into Brazil, we decided to go on a Sunday and get through it.  Glad we did, too!  Serious traffic in that town!!!  But...very few trucks.  Just what we were hoping for.  40 is pretty hilly but graded very well so we made it without any trouble.  One water stop half way through. 
So, we're plodding along on 40 and a car stops, not a new sight, then everybody from the car bails out with cameras.  This is Nita Larson, Teri, Josh, & Delilah.  Mom, Irma waited in the car.  Nita is one of our followers!  She said she saw us and said...I KNOW THEM!!  Very awesome!  Of course Teri thought we were Amish, but Nita knew better :)
They all had a prayer request for us!
Nita Larsen is laid off and needs to support her family!  So, lots of prayers for a call back or different, even better job!  We know how devastating that can be.
Teri needs lots of prayer for some serious family issues.
Delilah asked for a good outcome on her moms mammogram!  We can pray for that!
Josh is moving all the way to Texas to attend college.  We can all pray for him, his move, his studies, and just a great future for this young man!
And Irma is having some back issues that we could pray for healing on!
They were on their way to a Thanksgiving dinner!  Yummmmmmmmmy
So, we got to the church stop, for water, and Linda Thomas pulled up at the same time.  They were having some youth come to practice for a Thanksgiving event.  Linda got us into the church to refill the water jugs that I just emptied!  Water is so important to us!  For the horses!  Just in case we land somewhere we can't get fresh.  Gotta take care of the babies!!!!
Linda's prayer request is for us and herself to see what God wants for us to do and then follow through.
So, on we go back down the road and here comes a familiar car...IT'S NITA AND THE GANG AGAIN!!  Before they got out Mark said to me, they brought us food. Bet me!  Sure enough!  Everyone had a plate in their hand!  And the host from their dinner was with them this time!  Aaron Slora.  His prayer request is for our safe journey and for all the homeless people!
So, we all prayed together right away before we drove on!  We love praying with people.
A man named Hank stopped to talk and take our pictures.  He is already blessed.
Well, we made it through the stressful town and came out on 59S.  Randy & Denise Stutler and their sons Dawson & Nick have given us a place to stay the night.  Thank you so much, it was getting dark and still spitting rain on us!
We got settled in and warmed up that dinner!  And Randy brought out mexican corn bread!  What a feast!  Those covered plates had ham, turkey, rolls, sweet pots, corn, green beans, deviled eggs, dressing, and desserts.  Plus the cornbread!  You folks know how to throw down!  We'll be napping until next Sunday in case anyone is wondering where we are!  Only kidding!!!!!
That's about it for our day.  The Lord's day!  Reading in Romans 8 this morning.  Boy, that's just good stuff.
Comments:
Ray Ray...Thanks so much!  I will.
Crickette...Thank you!
That's it, except for the fact that the Green Bay Packers are still undefeated and Mark is a cheesehead!  He's so excited!!  He loves that team!
God bless and good night to you!
Faith

Day 58 & 59

   Hi all!! Sorry no blog last night.  We have limited (at best) signal. 
It's Deb here and I just wanted to clear something up about the T.V. interview.  Don't get me wrong...it was a great little spot, but I seem to have chosen my words in a way that didn't come out quite right.  Anyway, we are NOT victims!  We ARE victims of the automotive industry.  Not victims in our lives.  Everything is really different than it used to be, but rest assured that we made this choice (the journey) in obedience, not in desperation!  I actually cringed when I heard that part of our story and I should have made myself more clear.  We are doing what the Lord asked us to do.  Simple as that!  And with that...I, again, want to thank you all for so much encouragement!  America is still out here!  YAY!  Loving and kind and generous!  That's all.  I just felt that I needed to tell you all that.  Thanks.  Now, on with the story!!
   Leaving Ty's place was the circus I was fearing it would be. Talked with Ty about the chimp. And not only does not really care for horses, it's just as much, if not more, that he is an instigator. And he made sure he riled the team right up. We usually get hitched up, walk the team out to the edge of the drive or where ever we reenter the road, and stop and read a bit of the word & pray. I tried but nobody was standin' still for all that. Bob wasn't just chompin' at the bit he was frothing and snarlin' to be shed of that strange varment. So I figured we'd take a few steps down the road and let um walk it off. They wanted to do nothin' but RUN but I held them to a fast trot and made sure their feet weren't slippin' tryin' to go. Figured they would settle in a couple of minutes...that turned into a couple of miles!
   I gotta share with you guys...Ty is a good man and easy to talk with. He's just one of them guys ya could chew the fat with all day. He has lived his dreams and did what he always wanted to do in his life. He has made a livin' at it and put all of it right back into the business. You can just tell that he loves it. And his place shows it. There was a couple planning a wedding there Saturday. I'm glad Mark & Rob recommended we stop. He is a man worth meeting in our life. Also met his Dad and brother and had another minute with Ethan Woods. Ty gave us 4 bales for the kids and Ethan delivered. Thanks fellows. Enjoyed the whole bunch from Dad on down. Please folks keep Ty and his struggle with cancer, in your prayers. It would be a shame if the world lost this man so young. He is a fighter....just please help by keeping him prayed up. You folks that're local might let him know he's in your prayers...it's encouragin' to hear. Ethan thanks for firin' up your toy... please hold Ethan up in prayer...he starts his new job on Monday. This is what he went to school for & what he really wants to do. Good luck Ethan...you'll do great.
   So back to leavin...did the 5 miles to town fairly quick considerin'. There was lot's of hairpin turns so we spent some time lettin' traffic get around us when it backed up. Of course when Bob & Casey got to town they attracted their usual ohhhhsss & ahhhhsss. They are such hams. It has gotten to the point where when they see someone pulled over in front of us they just slow down & walk in behind them. It is tooooo stinkin' funny.
   But they weren't the only stars in town...seems President Clinton was chattin' at the college. I'm only assumin' but I bet if they knew Bob & Casey were comin' they woulda slid Bill off to a Monday or somethin'.  Other wise town was good folks and stop at the mini mart. We jumped off Hwy 231 in town and went down Manhattan Rd., and we are 1 mile from Hwy 40 where we will go west for a while. The locals tell us that 231 will turn into nothing but hills when it turns to forest in about 20 miles. Hwy 40 is a 4 lane (which I am not crazy about because the trucks just will NOTslow down to pass you) and the interstate is under construction and there are apparantly those who think Hwy 40 is there 70 mile an hour alternative. But we will not be on it for too long, so we are goin' to pray up and hit it...like we know what we are doing'!
   We pulled off the road at a big green barn owned by Robin, at Ty's recommendation for our next over night. Ty said if she wasn't around to hang out she would be soon. So we saw a hydrant out front and helped Bob & Casey to some water. A car pulled in just after we finished and said they thought Robin had been gone for a few days and might not be back tonight. And immeadiately offered us up a place to stay with electric & water! YES! So we went about 5 miles further and a couple of good hills and arrived at John & Judy Cloe's place. Rounded our day off to a good day and still plenty of light to get the horses cared for and fence up. Thanks so much folks. I watched a beautiful sunset and took a couple of breathes. Ahhhh. Doin' town is always stressful. Glad it's done.  
 Prayers requested by those we met... Let's lift them up to our Lord....please.

• A big thanks to Jerry Lewis for a bag of oats he bought and his heart felt request for prayer for his Mother-in-law who is struggling. Our Lord knows exactly what she needs, we just lift her up to you Lord.
• Dale Sillery asks that we pray for the people in nursing homes, that the Lord be with each of them.
• Hubert & Amilia Crodian ask that we pray for Hubert who is going into surgery for a replacement heart pacemaker.
• we met Bill Hutchison who asks that we pray for both of his sons Hunter & Bo. Hunter is healing from mouth surgery.
• Later in town we met Linda Tyler, she has two prayer requests. First for a 7month old child who just had major surgery on their skull. A second 2yr old boy, whose Mom's boyfriend fractured his neck and other injuries.
• Our current hosts John & Judy Cloe ask we pray for a church member of theirs who has colon cancer and it has spread to the lungs. Let's pray in some miracles for all these prayers.
• Deb and I would like to add two more. For John Cloe (our host) who just came back from the ER and has pnuemonia and our friend Bob Anderson who is going into surgery on Tuesday on his lung. Thanks folks. Thanks much.

That's it for me. Deb will respond to a few of the comments. We love when you comment & give us some feedback. We're all in this together and God's pullin' for us, what more do we need? Talk to ya all tomorrow,God bless.
Before I do comments, I want to thank Judy for taking me to the laundromat and pharmacy today.  Both badly needed!  Thanks so much!
OK...comments:
Sheila Daraitis / Casting Keepsakes...Thank you so much!
Rachel Boyer...have to wait for better signal
Timothy & Christie Leininger...thank you. And thanks for the thought! Hmmmmm.....
Terri...LOL! And thanks...again!
Darknezz...Thanks, you are too!
Jolie...Thank you...VERY encouraging!
Andi...switching to 40. Then 59 south for a bit
Rick...Thanks so much!
Bob S...I'll email when we have a better signal!  But, yes, you're right on all accounts.
Thanks so much for hanging with us.  We appreciate every one of you!
God bless and good night!
Faith

Day 57 with link

http://www.fox59.com/videogallery/66143591/News/Couple-starts-life-over-in-horse-drawn-carriage

   Evening Folks. The above link was our interview with fox news. The fellows did a nice job, and we're thankful for it. We picked up some followers and got some great encouragement. Deb will answer all comments later.
   Hitched up this morning after a good nights sleep. I got up about 7:30 but couldn't seem to drag my fat self outta the nice warm bed until 8:00. There was plenty of ice to break on the buckets this AM! Punkin was playing' footsie with Casey this morning. Who do you think won that one? Yup A bigger foot and almost one ton on top of it, will win every time. Deb was walking Casey up to get hitched this morning, walking backwards facing the horse...and Casey stepped on the toes of her foot. What scared me was that Deb fell straight backwards and hollered my name. When I looked over My Punkin was on her butt and Casey standing over the top of her. But she never let go of the lead rope so I grabbed it and backed her up a step. Punkin's toes have survived. Thank God for soft ground.
   So lots of very cool stuff down 231 today as we neared Greencastle. It was strange animal day. First was the elk farm. Very cool place...unfortunately it is for sale and was pretty deserted. At least what we could see from the road. There was one grand elk standing in a pen. Bob didn't seem to care...trucks were keepin' him busy. Then we passed a buffalo farm. Sure was cool to see the big shaggy's out in a pasture. I can only imagine seein' thousands of them grazin'...what a sight that musta been! They didn't come to the fence which surprised me because I hear they are very curiois animals. Maybe he had him fenced off from the road...I was drivin' in traffic so I couldn't pay that much attention.
   Then we got to tonights resting spot. We are at THE LITTLE DUDE RANCH.They have miniature horses they sell and trade. And all kinds of exotic animals. They also run an aution house I believe. We haven't had the opportunity to meet the owner, Ty Southerlin, yet (we will in the morning). Anyway more on this ranch tomorrow. The other animal Bob & Casey met today was a 17year old chimpanzee....who doesn't like horses! We drive around the edge of barn and hear all kinds of cage rattlin' and screamin'...Bob goes into instant panic. Lucky he had 10 plus miles on him cuz he was all I could handle. Thank God for two reigns and 2 brakes. I don't know how I got them away from there without losin' a horse or have a run away wagon. I held the wagon still waiting for him to calm...wasn't happenin'! Nor was this full grown HUGE (Deb told me it was a gorrilla) chimp calming. He stands all of 5ft plus. So we eased away as slow as I could with 2 frantic horses. UNbelievable!!!Of all the things for us to run into!!!! There is just no dull moment on this trip! Of course as soon as I had the horses fed and watered (which was easy thanks to Ethan Woods) I hadda go visit this Chimpanzee. He took to me better than he took to Bob & Casey and was fun to talk with. I watched Ethan give him his dinner. He had a couple of burritos and some fried potatoes (with ketchup of course) and some fruit. Couple of glasses of water. He eats whatever everyone in the family eats. Seems Ty has had him since he was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. Very cool stuff.!
Well enough of the adventure and onto our important stuff...prayers and people in need...Punkins' turn to write my fingers are no longer listening to my brain...or visa-versa...snicker-snicker!! Good night folks...thanks for all....Here's Deb...
Today we met Crystal, very briefly in aLOT of traffic, She lost her dad last may is still have a very hard time.  I think we should pray for peace in her heart and acceptance.
Then we met Danny & Gwen Sapp.  Gwen asks for prayer to bring her family back to church.
Merlin Masterberger prays for someone with intelligence and a Godly heart to get in Washington...amen.
Barbara Roosevelt has a sick friend, Peggy, that needs a healing and her health.  And for peace.
We are also asking for prayer for Ty Southelin for a total healing from cancer.  Surgery is Dec. 16th.
So, our little T.V. appearance brought us lots of new pray-ers and friends.  Thanks to God!  When I told our friend Tammy that we were interviewed she said, God will use that.  And He did!
Comments:
Anon farrier...Thanks so much. I'll look at the old map and see where you are from us.
Anon horse farm...thank you for the wonderful offer.
Anon...Thank you
Anon...You're welcome.  Glory to God!
Anon...Thank you and ditto on the high five!
Diane Kennington...we will pray for you and your family and thank you.
Erin...then...yup
Renee...you're welcome and thank you
Lisa...Thank you sooooo much, but, the mission isn't over until God says it is. And bless your heart!
Cathy Delacruz...Thank you
Faith Green...Thank you
Chris & Lisa Allen...Awesome offer! I'll check my map.  Thanks so much!
Great Grandpa 13...Thank you
Candace Brandt...Thanks so much
Rick Hodgin...we will be on 231 south.  That is one vivid vision!  We aren't there yet but perhaps we can help to prepare the way!!
Jeramiah Cummings...You're welcome and God bless
Bob Skelding...Got it! Thanks
Kari...Thanks. The outcome was overwhelming.  So much encouragement!
Mirage Gal...I'll check my map, thanks so much!
OK.  I think I read them all and I hope I didn't miss any one of you because you have so much encouraged us so that we can continue on.  We love to hear from everybody!  We just hope that we can be a blessing as we go along.  And let God get the glory!!  We are just His servants.
Thanks so much to all.  Keep praying!  Keep believing!
God bless and good night!

Day 56

Ok so here is the real deal with the DAY 55 blog. I started it before dinner...then when it was time to eat I set the laptop on the bed....Sugar Ray laid her head on it and ripped off 90 pages of X's that didn't show up on the page I was working from. (NO REALLY!!!) It's not a "The dog ate my homework" thing....this really happened. So when we opened it up tonight to start a new post all we saw was xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in yesterday's. We finally got them edited out and sorry for any inconvienence to any of you folks. Ya know I'm just not real "tech savvy".
   Day 56 still rollin' and still journalin'! Somethin' to be said for that I reckon. We traveled our 2 miles back to 231 after gettin' some assistance from Rob Jeffers to drag the wagon back up out of his back pasture where we camped last night. His 4 wheel drive truck did it a lot smoother than Bob & Casey would have. Steep hill and banked some. Thanks to Rob & Zachery (who hauled water for us last night...on his birthday!!!). And a big thanks to Mark New who found us on the road and hooked us up with his friends. If we could lift up Rob's employment situation to the Lord I surely would appreciate it. They are turning loose all the senior guys as they put in new automation and need fewer operators. Rob has 33 years in...so he is not feeling real comfotable. Thanks for your hospitality folks. May God bless. And happy birthday Zachery...love the trucks.
   Rob & Mark are involved in a club that takes handicapped folks huntin'. I listened to some stories around the camp fire last night. What an outstanding org. (sorry can't remember the name). But they give these folks a chance to do what they only dreamed of doin' in their lives. The recipients have all different physical challenges and it would be impossible without their help. The recipients get dropped at a hotel for the weekend and everything is paid for and prearranged for them. All they have to do is show up and shoot. They even have a taxidermist who mounts what they shoot...no charge. Great job fellows.
   Well today seemed to be casey's off day. She was stubborn all day. Just playing the fool. Wouldn't pull...dancin' around....spooked at every candybar wrapper on the road. Reminds me of some of the fellows I worked with in the past at the auto plants. Felt it was their right to show up to work...get paid...& not have to do a thing! chuckle-chuckle!! But she's my girl and she can have a bad day if she wants....once in a while!
   Other wise traffic was steady all day & lots of trucks. Bob startled on me a couple of times. But he had a good day. The lanes are wider on this HWY and they have a good shoulder to boot. Just that extra breathing room makes all the difference in the world to Bob. That's why we headed back east some to get this road. We had been on it earlier in the State and I liked it. Plus our friend Bob Skelding (the real wagonmaster) has traveled this hwy with his team in the past... and recommends it. And that goes a long ways with Deb & I. He has been a great mentor to us, and we are thankful for him.
   While traveling down 231 tonight looking and praying in a place to get off the road for the night...a Fox news car pulls up ahead and a couple of guys bail out and set up shop on the corner of a cross road. Oh boy!!! Those of you who know us know we never like that kinda attention. We like to just let God get the glory. But there we were. It's not like we could turn around...or out run them...and being saying "no" to an interview is pretty rude when the fellows chased up & down a hwy to find us. And being rude and doin' the Lords work are not really synonomous. So we plunged ahead...and met Ed & Jake. Ed was a reporter and Jake was his camera man. They were great. They are with Fox News out of Indianapolis. Jake was great entertainment chasing us down, running behind us, running alongside, hanging out his window while they were driving in front of us. It was good fun. I hope all comes out well after editing. The reporter Ed asks that we pray for his grand mother's health...and that the Lord keeps her strong. Jake asks that we pray for his Grandmother...she has trouble with her knees. Lets pray that God restores her knees and she has no pain in them!
   We met Howard and Bonnie Abston...they ask that we pray for their daughter who has walking pneumonia. And to please pray for their son-in-law who lost his Mom.
   Well that's it for tonight. it's late and I feel like an ol' coon dog looks. BEAT! Oh-oh-wait...Would you please pray for a new friend of ours Joel & Melinda...they are traveling with a wagon & team in Oklahama and are having big trouble with their mare, Ginger.
Thanks so much to all. May God' face smile upon you all & good night!

Day 55

Good start this morning on our 10 mile venture to Walmart, It was high time to re-up.Talk about drawing a crowd.Lots of hills today on Hwy 32. By the time we got to Wally-world the horses were plenty sweated up. But they actually got a good lunch today. Plenty of water, hay and some oats. We pulled their bridles and left their gear on and tied them off on the side of the wagon.
   It was 4:00 o'clock when we headed back out onto Hwy 231. Very-very busy. Lots of trucks...but Bob did well. We have been heading back east a little to catch this hyway because of the hills getting nasty in the Southern Indiana forests. I know we will still be on the roller coaster but they she be a lot less steeper grades than the county hwy's. Hopefully when we get some miles away from Crawfordsville the traffic will diminish some.
   Speakin' of Crawfordsville 4 lane hwy threw the city...lots of lights and busy intersections...horses did great. All in all good day. walmart cut our miles but that's an OK thing. Gotta do-what ya gotta do. It is goin' to cool off some tonight. So dry & cool is what our horses love. Especially in the hills. God's speed in this pray.
   Now to the important stuff...prayers!
Heather you are very welcome. I was out pleasure and always will be. Just let us know.
Sandy Ford ...health

Dorothy Livengood...her friend Herbie has leukemia please pray for a miracle for Gods' hands. and Dorothy for her back

Frank and Linda Phillips. We had a nice conversation with Frank at Walmart. Linda has breast cancer and we are asking for a miracle healing. Because is in the miracle business. Yesterday-today & tomorrow.

Jeremiah Cummings. His Dad (Larry) just had a heart attack on Sunday. Lets pray his Dad is restored like new. I had the opportunity to Pray with Jeremiah for a minute... let's pray strength & courage for this young man.

We met Linda Harwood she would like us to pray for her Mom, Nancey Miller) who recently had a stroke and she would like us to pray she gets her strength back.

We talked with Kerri Simpson...they are having serious budget cuts in the local South Montgomery schools and they are facing loosing their schools. Pray they can stay open. And please pray for their church as they search for a new Minister.
Terri & Becky would like us to pray that their new grand daughter to be born soon, be whole -complete & healthy.
   That's it for tonight Folks. More tomorrow...I'm to whipped to pop anymore.

Day 54

Good afternoon!  No travel today.  Bad weather reports include tornadoes south of us. Looks good thru Friday after this though. This evening a tornado did touch down in the county we're in!
Before I start, I have to add a request that was added from a couple of days ago.  Heather would like prayer for her step mom's sister that lost her husband. For the whole family we will pray for comfort and peace.  You are in our prayers.
Kathy came out early this morning to give us the weather and we decided right away to stay.  We moved the horses to the back and made enough space in the barn so they can go in if they need to, but, they probably won't cause they just don't like it inside.
We DID take our hosts offer to fish in their back pond today!  I (Deb) caught a 17 1/2 inch large mouth bass on 1 lb. test line!!!  Awesome! and fun!  Funniest thing were the dogs!  Anyone who knows Sugar Ray, knows that she is pretty darn flighty.  So they (the dogs) went down to the pond with us.  They've never been fishing with us. After the 1st fish, first Sugar, then later Bear, watched us cast and that little dog sat right down on high alert!  She GLARED at my bobber until I started to reel it in. If there was anything on that hook, whether fish, grass or seaweed, they were on it!!  All nose! Sugar even pulled the stringer in!  Funny!  They were great!
We had dinner with Hector and Shirley. Shirley has Parkinsons disease. We can all pray for her about that.  She tells of when she didn't have it and that she was such a strong woman.  She has a machine that helps her with some of it but she's sad to leave her old life. Lots of prayer there.  So sweet.
Well, that's it.  Travel day tomorrow.  With Gods help we'll find our way through the hills.
God bless and good night!
P.S. Mark is now eating bass.  He is one happy camper!
Comments:
Pastor Jaime...it surely is!!
Faith

Day 53

The wagon was rockin' last night & not in a good sense. We had high winds all night. Actually managed to disturb us two tired campers. Worst winds we have encountered yet. Man it was blowing. But everything stayed in place including the fence (thank you Lord). We have a few splices in and a lot of times they'll let go in high wind. But we all stayed intact. A big thanks to our hosts for their hospitality and the hay. Bob and Casey loved it and would recommend it to any horse.
   So I went to hitchin' despite the wind. If we got ten miles today we would be happy. They hitched up & stood good in spite of the gusting wind. So we set out with a nasty cross wind. Some times it was face first. It was brutal...but warm. High of about 60 degrees. But I still had on 2 sweatshirts and my long johns. Never did get too warm. Gusts up over 50mph. The horses did great!
It was the Lords day & He took good care of us! So other than the prayer requests, all we really would like to say today is, Thank you all for allowing and helping us to be obedient and faithful!
Thank God for all of you!  All Glory to Him!!
First we met Dave Weiner.  Dave is a 2 time cancer survivor and is lovin' every minute of it!  His prayer is for continued health.
We met Doc Thompson and his wife Pat.  Pat is having some sight issues.  Every now and then, she can't see the top of things.  Also, Doc has been driving truck for a looooooonnnng time.  Hip issues for him!
Josh and Amanda Stultz ask for prayer for help for their little boys. Cuties!
Gina prays for good health.
Janet just lost her husband and misses him so.  We (and a couple of others) prayed for her at the roadside but could we all pray for the Lord to comfort her heart and give her some peace? Thanks
Comments:
Bob...You are the best!
Terri...Thanks for staying with us! And for the encouragement!
With that, we'll say good night!  Again, thank you all so much!
God bless!
Faith
P.S.  We are staying at Hector's just west of Crawfordsville on Hwy 32.  Don't pray for rain tomorrow, but if, by chance it does...we have been invited to bass fish in his private pond by his daughter, Kathy ;)

Day 52

Well there was escapin' it...we were ready to hitch up and pull out ...and here comes Ann & Bill with breakfast and a lunch. We hadda great stay. The sunshined for us all day today...but man-o-man is the wind blowin'! I think it was supposed to get up around 60 degrees...but ya couldn't tell ridin' the wagon seat. I think I shoulda left the seat belt staps on for days like this. Lucky I'm a fat man or Deb woulda been ridin' the driverless carraige.
   But we prabably did 14 miles today. I spent some time this morning adjusting the breeches, took um up some. Thanks for the tips guys. We went 341 south to 55 Se to 25 south. Passed threw a couple of small towns and met some great folks. We are now just south of Wingate. They have this HUGE forest in Southern Indiana that we are goin' to have to negociate around. They have these huge ravines in them and slopes. There isn't a straight line in them. So we will pick our way around them a bit. We should be on Hwy 25 heading south for a couple of days if anyone is lookin' for us!
   The horses pulled great today. Even Casey pitched in to help....amazing. She was prabably bored not being able to hear anything in the wind. All the pieces stayed together on the wagon...so no repairs today. And that my friends is a great day. They put an article in todays paper in Lafayette. Nice article with a picture off our blog. That always seems to help on the road. I
   First off a thanks to our new hosts Craig & Donna Wilson. Casey & Bob have a nioce piece of grass and we have water & electric. Life is good! Thanks so much to them both. They have a child serving serving in the marines and would ask we pray for all of our military. We also met her daughter Holly Yarger who brought the kids down to see the horses and outfit. They seemed more interested in the covered wagon than anything. Deb had to give them each a tour. Good stuff.
   On the road we met Teresa Ligget would like prayer for her sister Amy who ios battlin' cancer & thyroid problems. Allison (her daughter) asks that we pray for safe travels for her and her friends as they travel to cheerleading.
   Some of Amy's friends were Emily...she would like prayer for Katie Sheaf & family. Allison Fay would like us to pray for her family. We also met Krista Keeling.
Donna Brittain stopped to visit with us. She offered us a couple of bales of hay, which we sure could have used...but we would have had to tear the entire trailer apart to store it. And that didn't seem like the best idea hitched along side the road. So we had to let it go. She did ask that we pray for her 89year old Mom who is sick in the hospital. She asks that we pray for God's will in her Mom life and that she be comfotable.
   We jawed a bit with Alic and Dollie along side the road. They ask that we pray that God stays in their lives.
   We stopped at a gas station for a moment to relieve them of some of their goods and ran into Denver Slone and his two fine youngsters spending the day with him. They ask that we pray for them to stay safe cuttin' wood.
   We also ran into one of Charlie & Tedi's friend and Sue who asks that we pray for her family.
   That's our day! The wind is still blowing the wagon around somethin' fierse. Hope the fence holds and we're not chasing horses in the AM. Good night and God bless to all. Thanks for travelin' with us. Talk at ya'll tomorrow.

Day 51

   Well we didn't make miles today. We got an invitation we couldn't refuse... breakfast with Bill & Ann Lawson. And not just breakfast...by the time we left she was preparing us a lunch that could feed a small army). God bless that woman!Lucky we are only spending a few days in this county cuz I would be 300 lbs before we left. Folks're sure gracious and givin' these parts And one conversation led to another & another.   
   Then while we were packing the wagon Tedi & Charlie Stafford came by... next thing you know I am leaning on something and spewin' mass quantities of words out of my face! AGAIN! If I didn't love talkin' with folks so much...Bob & Casey could get a better start time. (I glanced over the fence a couple of times and saw Casey hoofin' impatiently, giving me the look! chuckle-chuckle) So by the time I was done cleaning the horses up it was 1:30. Just great people. I love America!
   So we took the remainder of the day light and tried on the horses blankets. They are a little small...gonna require bungie cords. Did I tell you that there was over an inch of ice on the water buckets this morning? I knew it was goin' to be cold over night so I emptied the hoses and wrapped them up before they froze and I couldn't roll the hoses. ( Probably wouldn't be healthy to trail 2-100ft lengths of froze straight hose behind us!) It was so cold last night allowed the dogs on the bed. AndSugar Ray repaid that act of kindness by chewing up the bottom of the door while we were at breakfast. So we tried our best to repair that today too. If this dog doesn't learn to act right she are goin' to be served at dinner (she'll be my pork chops! ...just kiddin' no hate comments please!) Though I have been callin' her pork chop all day...with a Jack Nicolson gleam in my eye! snicker-snicker!!
   I'm glad we stayed we picked up some VERY worthy prayer requests. Even had a Marine come visit us in full dress uniform. Sure made Veterans day  special for us. And if ya would be so kind...I would like to take a minute to thank all our veterans who have served our country and kept our freedom for us all these years. Thanks so much to all & may our Lord bless you richly. The 11-11-11 seemed to make everybody's day today...and that's cool I reckon. But our vets made made Deb & I's day. A special thanks to our Son Chuck who has done 2 tours. You are in our thoughts and prayers boy.
So, those prayers...
Travis Dill, Marine by the way, would like prayer for his 9 year old son, Shaun, that is autistic. They would also like prayer to find a good home church that will work for the whole family, including Shaun.  You all already know what I think of church shopping...It's the worst!!!
Heather Sullivan has a friend that could really use lots of prayer.
Angel Leal asks that we pray for her aunt Lois move to Texas.  lois is 83 years old.
Dale Campbell would like prayer for his brothers autistic child, Elizabeth in Kentucky.  She is 19 years old and walks and talks now but recently lost her mom.
Once again, we thank you Bob wagonteamster. You are a blessing.
Good night and God bless you all.
P.S. Two interviews today.  Not our favorite thing.

Days 48 & 49 & 50

Needless to say, we sat still for a couple of days.  Tuesday was ishy and rainy and yesterday was too windy to go.  Thank God we had wonderful hosts that allowed us to stay and fellowship with them. They loved the horses and us!!  Bob and Tammy donated some horse blankets, military issue parka's and this morning, through the phone calls they made, we were blessed with 10 HUGE bales of hay! We were right where God wanted us to be. 
So, today we set off.  One snow while we were packing and hitching.  Second snow was pretty good!  Actually stuck!  And, of course there had to be a third! Needless to say...we landed cold and wet.  But thank the Lord we landed!  Had to  unhitch in the dark, but got a spot with a barn light so that helped.
We had a stressful pass through a small city today.  Over the Wabash River, across the RR tracks and then a little further through the city.  TRUCKS, TRUCKS, and more TRUCKS!!  The horses did GREAT!  Stayed calm through it all.  I was more stressed than them.  When I get like that I usually think that I need to help Mark drive.  A backseat driver even in a wagon!  Oh well, must be my job.  He does a wonderful job of ignoring me for the most part so it always works out. ;)
While in town, we met Mike Ross.  Mike works with Brian Perry!  Remember the Perry stay?  Huge pasture, great folks, and that darn pig! Mike would like us to pray for the leadership of our country.  Good prayer!  One we could all benefit from for sure!
We talked with Jim Manley (fellow wagon traveler) the other night and got some good tips.  You all mention tight straps and to be honest, when we hitch them up, everything is just hanging!  However, since you are all seeing the same thing and we are new at this, we will make adjustments tomorrow am when we hitch.  Thanks for the good looking out.  We didn't have any sores but we surely don't want to get any. Gotta raise their butt straps for sure!
That's about it for today.  Thankful that the Lord watches and keeps us as we go!
Comments:
SMS...Thanks so much we'll do our best!
Bob...Thanks for more great tips
Cowboy Bob...Thank you
Terri...gonna check it out, thanks
God bless to all!
Keep up the great prayers!  Good night!
Faith

Day 47

Rain day!
We got some good things done though!  Got to a feed mill and replaced all the sweet feed with oats so nobody will get over heated or over sugared anymore!  That will help keeping them calmed down more consistantly.  Always good!
We are still with Tammy & Bob.  Great folks.  Bob took Mark to a harness shop and we got a new front clip (bent in the pig incident) some pads sewn in Caseys strap that rubbed her hair off (cause she's chubby) and some good salve recommended by Bob the wagon Teamster.  Thanks Bob!
So, about being where God wants you.  Did I tell you that Bob and Mark have some mutual acquaintances?  Same old man lives.  Same life interests... how does the Lord put this all together like that?  Amazing!
Tammy has expressed that they needed us to show up right when we did.  Good conversation, just loving God.
By evening, Bob was down with his back.  Bad!  And silly us, chatting and visiting, never thought to just put our hands on that brother and pray!!!  Man!!!  The most obvious thing and it eluded us.  So if everyone can pray for this brother and Tammy's health issues, it surely wouldn't hurt!
That's about it for the day!  Made some oatmeal raisin cookies!  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
OH, and by the way...I just noticed that all those cards I handed out don't have Perry, MI zip code on them.  It's 48872...sorry, how's that for not paying attention?  Yikes.
So, God bless and we'll be back after day 48 is complete!
Faith

Indiana pics!

These are from Janet.  Thanks!!

MORE PICS!

These pictures were taken by Sherry back in the 1st weeks.  Hmmmmmm...huge wardrobe change!!!  Just like that!

PICS!!

These are more pictures from our stay with Lisa & Bo!  Some greats of their "family".

Day 46

Good start to the day.  Tammy & Bob brought water for the horses and breakfast!  We got directions to their house which happened to be just over 15 miles away!  Perfect!  They drove the roads and made a map with mileage because we were on hwy 26.  BAAAAAAAAAD road for horse n wagon.  Narrow, windy, and no shoulder.  So, Bob got us off that as fast as he could.  So off we went.
Had about 5 miles to do on 26.  As always, cars came n went.  Some slowed and of course, some did not.  We came to a small flat spot where the horses could blow off a hill and some cars could get around.  The oncoming traffic wasn't bad.  Little clusters here and there.  A car stopped and asked if we were ok and we said yup, but you have cars coming so he drove away.  The 4 or 5 cars behind him slowed to look but nobody else stopped.  The last car in line was a pick up that obviously needed to go faster than the rest, funny since he was last, when we heard it.  BAM!  He sure did!  He rear ended the car in front of him.  Now.  I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and think that we never know what is on another persons mind...could be family trouble, job trouble, who knows...we all drift once and a while.  Anyway, we moved on since that was their business and we could see they were ok and safely off the road.  Welllllllllll...we didn't get far and here came the local deputy.  Thank goodness he showed up right where we were turning off and flagged us that way.  The first thing he said was, oh wait!  the 1st thing he DID was get out his camera and say...no one is going to believe me!  THEN he said...did someone just about grease you back there?  We told him that it wasn't us he just about hit, but he didn't slow and did hit the car in front of him.  His radio chattered and he said to it, that's the same thing I'm hearing here.  Hmmmmm...wonder what the original caller said???
So after sharing some info in case he needed to talk to us again, and realizing how long it would take us to get out of his county we parted friends.
Hilly backroads around here.  Hwys not much better, but...what are ya gonna do?  Move along.
We met Cecil and Robin Ray along with 2 grandchildren, Jasmine and Colton.  Their prayer request was for health and a life without problems.  Well, don't we know, that last part isn't God's way, gotta know the valleys to recognize the mountains! but that was Cecil's prayer.
Down the road a little way, we met Dina Brunton.  She took lots of pictures and asked lots of questions and told us she had taken the song "One Fine Day" and changed the words a bit.  There she was in the middle of the road and sang her version for us. All about the Lord!  JUST AWESOME!!  You know, sometimes you hear people sing and say...thanks for that?  Not her!  WOW!!  What a beautiful voice!  Thank you VERY much for that, Dina! Very uplifting! *Terri, I should bring her with us for the calming song* So before we said good bye, we asked if she had any prayers to share.  She told us that her niece, Miranda, has been married for just over a year and just had a baby.  Well, the night before they had found Miranda's husband dead.  Unknown why.  He had epilepsy and maybe from that but for now, we don't know the cause.  So, we all need to pray for Miranda.  How lost she must feel right now.   Scared, alone... Hopefully she knows Jesus.  We forgot to ask.  He will help her through.
Dina also has a bad back injury from a horseback accident and asked for prayer for that healing.  She knows the great physician. Amen
Pretty soon we rounded a corner and here came Bob!  He called to us that we were almost there!  Yaaaaay!!!
And we were.  It didn't take long and we saw him waiting at the bottom of his drive waiting for us.  So we called him aboard and up we came.  Got the horses all watered and fenced and Tammy had showers and dinner waiting for us.  Bob and Tammy are new Christians and the fellowship was wonderful.  They could sure use a local church to plug into.  Kind of shopping right now but have found ways to serve just the same.  With horse camp, actually! Anybody reading that has ever had to go through that "shopping" experience will know that it is tedious at best!  Sometimes, downright discouraging!!  So let's all pray in the perfect place for them to land and flousish.  They just love the Lord!  Tammy's sister told her that instead of trying so hard to love Him, just love Him and then let Him love her!!  Awesome advice!
So, the weather says we might be here a bit.  That's ok.  It's not about the miles...it's the people.
We were contacted by yet anothe wagon man!  Welcome Jim.  He said he is sitting in his wagon in the rain today.  Sounds familiar!  My guess is that every horse and wagon rig in the midwest is having the same day today!  Why did we all leave so late?!?!?!!?
So, once again, we find ourselves far more blessed than blessing.  That God!  What a guy!  You can never outgive Him!!
So, God bless to all!!
Faith

Day 45

Bacon & eggs for breakfast. Doesn't get any better than that! Thanks to the Roeders! Thanks for helping to get hay and for taking such good care of us. May the Lord bless you richly. You know Gary you have a great testimony and sure would like to share it as an inspiration to others. So if you would like to email it to me and you feel this is the proper venue for it, I will put it on our blog. We met Don's Mom & Dad this morning nice folks. We ask that you hold Gary's mom up in prayer...she had to sell her home before she lost it.

So we headed down US 231 today. Great hwy. Two lanes...nice wide lanes, Saturday traffic was light. Bob handled the trucks very well. I think because he had a little more space. Plus we switched to nothing but a grass hay and just oats. No more sweet feed or alfalpha. Seems to agree with his disposition much better. But 231 heads straight into Lafayette so we are skirtting that and West Lafayette. So once we are south of them I think we will pick it back up again.

I gotta tell ya a story we have seen over & over in this area of Indiana. We had a gentleman stop in front of us and ask if had a minute to talk. We said "sure-that's why we are out here". We talked for a long time. His name is John Haan, and he is the 7th generation in his family farming this land. He said they are farming 7,000 acres. (yikes). Every generation they added more kids & land to the business. We thought we were surrounded by corporate farms. But that's not the case. They just got bigger...but they are still family farms. (7th generation...how cool is that?) John had his 93 year old Dad with him. He said his Dad drives them (him and his brother) out a cold drink everyday to the field...just to make sure they're doing things right. He smiled and laughed the whole time we spoke. You could just tell he was happy & enjoyed life. And we have met lots of folks just like him. And a lot of familys all living within 2 miles of each other. Just good American stuff in the heartland of America. It is still here....no matter what they tell you on the news. John did not have a specific prayer request... he said he just so thankfull that his family is healthy.

We met John and Janet along the rode today. They were driving around looking for some cool opportunities for pictures. They found it today! They had good fun. Janet asks that we pray for her parents and brother to become believers. (my favorite prayers...so unselfish on her part...but requested with such courage and love). It was our pleasure meeting you Janet.

Gabe asks that we pray for his cousin Katie's husband Rick, he under going Chemo in Iowa.

Diane asks that we pray for her...but nothing specific...so let's just hold her up to the Lord. He knows what she needs.And Tammy Stoltz just asks for prayers for us to be safe.
That's it for tonight folks. We are on battery power so I need to shut it down. God's grace & love be upon each of you. Remember to celebrate the Lords day tomorrow. And turn your clocks back if that applies!!
Tammy also helped us get settled for the night.  Thanks so much!  She brought water and some food and will be back in the morning.  So, it's not too big of a surprise that she heard about us from her friend Gina!  The same Gina Culver that we met up by Chalmers!  Again... small world.  Cool.
I forgot to mention something  from the Perry family stay!  Haley (Boots) asked her dad if it would be okay to make us a snack bag.  He told her sure and we surely were enjoying that today!!!  Thanks so much Haley!  Bless you for thinking of us!
Ok.  That should be it for the night!
God bless to all!  Sometimes I can't help but think about the great things that the Lord will do for all these people that bless us and the ones that add prayer requests.  We can do an aweful lot of good by praying for the same people the same requests!  We just keep knocking!  AND THERE ARE SURE MORE THAN TWO OF US PRAYING!  Great stuff!!
ok... good night!
Faith

Days 43 & 44

Here we are!  Going west to get around West Lafayette.  Had a day of rest yesterday at the Perry's.  The horses had a great time in their HUGE pasture!  We got ourselves a little organized, cleaned and good rest!
Brian's mom & dad came over and gave me a lift to the store in Brookston. Thanks so much!!  They left us with a prayer request for Theresa Perry.  She never spent a day in the hospital until she had a stroke, and she's had everything since! She just had surgery so we are praying for health and healing for her.
We also met Art Anderson.
We would like to thank the Perry's again for taking such good care of us and lending us their pasture for an extra day!  God will bless you folks greatly!
And more thanks to Lori Call for bringing us dinner and checking in on us from time to time.  Bless you as well.
So, today the sun is shining and it's time to head out.  Ha!  Easier said than done.  We went down to the pasture and the horses came right up and were ready to go!  That was pretty awesome given Bob's attitude lately, I was afraid we were going to have to chase or trick them into coming along.  Perhaps the old oat bucket trick????  No need.  They were so good!
We lead them up the drive to gear them up when, suddenly, Bob saw the pig!  Bob never told us he didn't like pigs!  That horse turned around and RAN back down that driveway before Mark knew what was coming!  Of course he stopped because Casey was still standing there with me and they can't go anywhere without each other! So, he lead right back up but obviously rattled.  We quick put them on the other side of the wagon, but Bob had a bead on the pig door.  He was on high alert and GLARING at that darn pig!!  We tried to hitch them and NO!!!!!  almost done when Bob swung that big butt around and Casey decided it was time to dance along.  We got the pole all unhooked and reins off and lead them back up to the wagon but with Bob in the blind spot of the barn.  Time to just grab some coffee and let them settle.  We looked around to see if there was a way to get the business end of the wagon out of  pig sight but no way.  So very patiently, we waited.  Mark talked to Bob constantly to calm him down and little by little, he got better.  Time to try again.  Much better.  Got them hitched in record time and headed down the drive.  When we got to the bottom, we got in the word and prayed, prayed, prayed. I had also texted my daughter and she was praying as well.  Thanks, Jaime!  THEN... off we went.  Great day.  Bob is still shying from trucks.  Sometimes bad!  So we are getting off the highway for a while and stay with county roads.  Better safe and calm than ruining a good horse.
In the middle of all of this, we met Mark and Ann Provo.  Marks prayer was that God be with His people for what's about to come to this earth.  Amen
Befrore we crossed 43, we met Nathan.  His only prayer was for our safety on our trip.  Downn the road a little way, we saw Nathan again.  He was taking pictures of us and had his brother Nick with him.  We chatted for a minute and then got more prayer requests.  Nathans wife has 2 steel rods in her back and could use some prayer for that.  Also, a family member has been diagnosed with MS.  Never good!  We pray for a complete healing from this!
We stayed on 600 for a long time today.  Along the way we met 3 gentlemen tiling a field.  They wereTony Cain, who asked for prayer for his son Dillon.  Dillon could use prayer for wisdom & discernment while deciding his path in life while choosing his major in college.
Sean would also like help with life direction as he is taking a year off college.
And Don Anderson.  Don doesn't say much ;)
Then we found that 600 didn't go where the map said it did. We ended up on 231 and THEN crossing 65. . But there was a small gas station there & we pyulled across the street and rested the ponies in an empty lot while Deb grabbed us a couple of things at the gas station. I stayed with the ponies of course. That's where we met Re'Ana German...her boss asked her come out and take some pictures.  She asked that we pray for her Grandma who has lung cancer. We also met Tim Courtney whose Sister & Dad both have cancer. (ouch!) please pray for his family also.
So off we went onto the hwy. And 231 wasn't to bad considering it was 5:00pm  Which kinda took us by surprise (the 5 o'clock thing)  so we started praying in a place for the night. We went about two miles and yup a car passed us and then pulled over ahead of us and Pam Roeder asked if we had a place to stay for the night. We told her no but we were praying one in. She said she had a spare pasture for Bob & Casey (Deb loves to hear that part because she does the fence).
We found the house with no trouble, and then we met the Roeder's.Pam's husband Gary brought pizza home (ummmmmm pizza!!!) and along with girls Morgan, Alexis, and Olivia we all got aquinted. Their cousin Hanna was there too. When Hanna's Mom came to pick her up (Pam's Sister) Mindy, she said my husband met you earlier today. Turns out her husband was Don Anderson who was one of the three guys we met tiling the field. Small world when you move 3 miles an hour! Gary and Don helped us get some hay for the kids. Thanks so much both you fellows.
The girls had some prayers...Alexis has unexplained migraines. Please pray for them to disappear just the way they came. Olivia says there is a 1 year old at her church she would like us to pray for. Alexis asks that we pray for her sister ( Morgan's) health. Alexis also asks for pryer for Ron Wheeling for a knee surgery and just lots prayer for his health.
With that we conclude day 44. We don't know how many miles we did tosday...but we started in the windmills and finished in them. They are awesome. Good night & God bless  you & yours. Thanks for following.

Day 42

Hi all!  We had a good day!  Made a few miles and met lots of great folks!
Last night, Dorothy took me for a ride down a couple of roads to show me how to miss the biiig hill.  Looked pretty simple.  Beautiful little windy road to start then across a bridge that is a little longer than the ones we crossed before, but simple enough. 
So we started out by having doughnuts and coffee with Dorothy and Ralph and Linda.  Great folks! Their prayer is with Ralph's sister Ruth.  She had a tumor that ended up being cancer.  So if we could all lift that family up in prayer.
Dorothy says she is just thankful for everything she has in life.  Her grandson, Brandon, will be going to Guatemala soon to work.  We pray for his safe travels!
Afterward we went out to pack up and get hitched.  Across the field comes a whole gaggle of little ones!  How cute are they!  All walking in a group like a field trip.  They all got their pictures taken with Casey (Bob was busy ignoring everyone) and then I got a group picture!  They were great!  And so patient waiting to see the horses hitched!  Good fun.
So, after we got down the road, and crossed the big bridge, the not so simple set in.  Darn it!  I missed our turn!  I knew it too.  But we met a few folks in the tiny town and figured we'd hit a county road if we just kept going west.
We met Dan LaBay.  He would like prayer for his mom's job and health for the family.
Then Sandy Sermon.  Her husband just got over pneumonia and is trying to quit smoking.  One week so far!  So her request was for health for her family esp. her husband.  She also had her grand daughter Morgan Carter with her for a picture.
Ron Helsen says that prayer for his grandchildren is always good! (Don't we know it!)(Gotta love those babies!)
Then we got called over into a parking lot by Paula Cosgray.  She thought we might need a break.  She didn't have a prayer request but did tell us we better turn around because there was a HUGE hill right in front of us!!!  I KNEW I missed that darn turn!  Thank the Lord for sending her right there though.  We were able to cut right back out of that parking lot and get back on track.  Whew!  THEN all the sights were familiar again!
We met Jim Melton.  He blessed us and gave us some good feed advice that matched what Dale (friend from home) told Mark just yesterday.  Even told us where to go to get it.
A car pulled up next to us and asked if we were ok (horse watering stop). We said yup and she asked where we were going to go next that there was a good place to eat in Chalmer.  Of course we never know that (where we might be next).  She said that she is very blessed and drove on.  It wasn't long and here she came back with lunch for us from the diner in town!  How awesome is that?!  She said her day started out so bad that she just wanted to do something REALLY nice for somebody today and there we were!  She wanted to know what else she could do for us so we asked for directions to the feed mill.  She said it was down the road we thought but we wouldn't make it before it closed.  So we gave her some $ and she went to the next little town and got us 100 lbs of oats and delivered them back to us roadside!  I don't know which of us felt more blessed but Gina Culver...Thank you so much!  Gina also has a brother that is a single dad and doesn't have a job, so we pray for employment and wisdom for him.
We turned onto Chalmer Rd next.  That's when we met Lori Ringer.  We told her that it was time for us to get off the road for the day.  She said we could come to her house.  When we told her how much room we needed she was still in but we thought...nah...we don't want to tear up your yard!!  She made phone calls and we saw her again a little later...no luck so far.  Another young lady pulled up next to us and said that she heard we were looking for a place to stay and gave us directions to her house.Then we got to Gina's house.  With her was Brian and Christi Perry. Christi was the one that just gave us directions! Brian came out and talked with us and gave us directions and showed us from where we were, their house.  So, that's where we landed!  At Brian, Christi, Shelbi, and Haley's (a.k.a. Boots) house.  The horses are out in the pasture and loving the space.  When we took them out and let them off their leads they ran the other way!  I'm pretty sure they think they are free right now and actually ran away!  Funny guys!  They came back up for the oats tho!!!
Right before we got here, we met Robert and Mary Haderle.  They actually rode the Mormon Trail in '96 and '97.  There was a memorial placed to commemorate and their names are on it.  Nice!  They are 84 & 85!  They will pray for us and we will pray for their good health!
Well, that was our day!  We would like to thank Lori Ringer for helping put us someplace for the night and coming back to visit and bring us banana bread mmmmmmmmmmm!  And her husbands name is Dale.  He is out of town this week.  But 2 great kids, Grace and Aiden were with her.  Grace had surgery on her mouth on Monday so let's also pray for a really fast healing there! And Aiden took some pics before they left!
Brian admitted that when Lori called him about us, he was hesitant.  Who wouldn't be? We are strangers and in this day and age that NEVER sounds like a good thing!  That is why I want all of you that have allowed us to squat, to know how really thankful we are.  Thank you just doesn't cover it.  But thank you! From the bottom of our hearts!
God bless from Chalmer, IN!  See you tomorrow!
Faith