Our last Sunday in Alpena was filled with tears as we said
good-bye to many who we had come to love and care for. We had a huge luncheon
in the auditorium where we were able to celebrate and remember all that we had
done over the past 12 years.
The highlight was a video that a Chinese church had sent to
welcome us. It was a way that our church family in Alpena would always be
connected to our new and future home in Oregon.
Deb had been ferociously packing up the rental house we were
living in at the time. If you have ever moved you know the feeling of those
last couple of days. You are trying to remember where everything is packed and
it always seems to happen that you need something that has been packed away in
some box somewhere. It is a picture of life in transition.
Tuesday comes and early in the morning I am down at the
Penske truck rental place. We have a problem. They don’t have a car dolly to
pull my car behind the truck. “We never received another one to give you,”
they apologetically said. I thought to myself, “And the trouble begins….”
Oh, how little faith I had.
They quickly followed up and said, “We’ll have to upgrade
you at our cost and give you a car port that you can actually load your whole
car upon.” It wasn’t trouble that was to follow us; it was God’s blessings.
We had hired a loading company to come and help us pack up
all our belongings.They too, were so gracious in giving us free boxes and
actually packing things so that they would stay safe.
We packed up all the belongings that could go and by two
o’clock that afternoon we were looking at Lake Huron and the city of Alpena for
the last time.
I was thankful that I grew up on the farm. That big old 28
foot truck and trailer reminded me of hauling all those loads of grain to the
farm or to the elevator, so I had a measure of confidence.
The diesel truck was a bit loud on the inside so I couldn’t
turn the radio on and hear Deb at the same time call me on the two-way radios
that we bought. It would make for a lengthy time of self-contemplation and
singing to myself for three and half days.
When we hit Indiana to celebrate Thanksgiving with our
children and Deb’s family the fog became so terrible that we could hardly see
the road. In fact, I actually had to pull off the highway because I knew that
their road was coming up but I literally could not see it. I had spent a good
part of my adult life in that area and for the first time I felt lost. I
eventually found the road and was never so thankful to get out of that truck as
I did that night.
We enjoyed our family that Thanksgiving, said our goodbye’s,
and looked for Interstate 80. It would be our friend all the way to Utah.
We were a bit worried about the drive across the country in
the latter part of November. We have seen some pretty horrible winter storms
that have rolled through the mountains and the prairies at this time of year.
Deb’s uncle, an over-the-road truck driver, was telling us
all kinds of horror stories about getting stuck in storms and having to pull
over for two or three days in out of the way places.
“You probably need chains to get over the mountains” he
said.
I was thinking that maybe Deb and I could just drive down to
Arizona or Texas, skip the mountains and wait for next spring. I didn’t realize
that if you want to skip the mountains you would have to drive down to somewhere
in southern Mexico and my Spanish wasn’t that good anymore.
Again my lack of faith was showing.
I didn’t have any chains for the truck and didn’t know where
to get any at that short notice so went just headed out in faith.
We had planned traveling 3 12 hour days and one 8 hour day
to get to our destination. Best Westerns became our home away from home as we
made reservations at each place for our next Best Western destination.
Things we’ve learned along the way:
Nebraska is a very, very, very long and boring state.
Diesel for Penske trucks is often hard to find so start
looking when your tank is half empty.
There is nothing in Wyoming except tumbleweeds and Cabelas
Hunting Fishing store.
And make sure that your stuff is tied down on your truck if
you’re traveling through the mountains.
We didn’t hit any snow in Wyoming but when we got up to the
top of the continental divide we hit 50-60 mile an hour winds.
My hands hurt from holding on to the steering wheel so hard
that day.
In front of us a pick-up with all kinds of camping gear went
ahead of us that day. They forgot to tie things down as we dodged sleeping
bags, clothing, and other assorted and lose things that continue to fly out of
the back of their truck that day.
I also thought that I was going to have to have Deb tow me
up some of those mountains. My foot was pushed as hard as it could go to the
floor and I was racing up at a high speed of about 30 miles an hour. Coming
down I was trying to remember how to use my brakes so that they wouldn’t burn
up. I was also trying not to miss our next stop in Rock Springs.
We were getting travel weary and wondering if we would ever
get there. And I had picked up an unwanted souvenir somewhere in the boring
state of Nebraska – a head cold. We needed some encouragement, and God provided
it in the most unique way.
Cynthia Acquino was a woman who attended our church in Alpena
but who had family in California. She had just lost her husband to cancer and
told us that she would find us and meet us on the way back to Michigan. So in Rock
Springs, Wyoming, two native Hoosiers, were having supper with a former
congregation member from Alpena, Michigan. It was as if God was saying to Deb
and me, “Stay encouraged. You’re almost
there.”
At the end of our third days drive we entered into the great
state of Oregon. I cheered in my truck cab, “We’ve made it.” “We have made it
through the mountains and are now heading toward the left coast.”
I should have looked at the map to see how far I still had
to go and what lay ahead.
The truck started to go up hill again and now I was driving
in the dark...in the mountains…which I thought I had left. There is nothing
worse than driving a big truck pulling a car up and down unfamiliar mountains
at night.
When would this day be over?
We finally made it to our destination – Baker City, Oregon. We
were both extremely tired and we were so ready to be at our new home. We ate a
late supper and said to the waitress, “We’re out of the mountains, right?”
She paused.
Not a good sign.
She said, “I…don’t think so. In fact, the worst is yet to
come.”
I didn’t sleep well that night. And…the temperature dropped
down into the twenties.
If you don’t know what the means, it means that diesel
trucks don’t like to start when its that cold unless they are plugged in over
night – which ours wasn’t.
We ate a quick breakfast and I prayed, “Please God, start
this truck.” It cranked over and groaned as if it were being punished for
something. I think it was saying, “Leave me alone and wake me up in a few more
hours.” But the second time she gave in and I kept my foot on that fuel pedal
just in case she needed a little encouragement.
Deb and I headed out for our last leg at around 7 am. We
started driving and Deb calls me on the radio. “I think our waitress lied to
us. If this is as bad as it gets we’re
good.”
She didn’t lie to us.
The ascent began. Up and up and up we went and then we hit
the sign across I-84.
“Caution: Dense Fog
alert”
“7% grade descent”
So in other words, I’m going to be going down a very, very
steep mountain and I am not going to be able to see anything in front of me. Thank
you, Lord.
We started the ascent and it wasn’t long before Deb calls me
on the radio.
“Did you just see the sign?”
I said, “You mean the one that said, “Deadman’s Pass?”
She said, “Yes, that one.”
I said, “No, I didn’t see it and I don’t want to see it.”
I was never so glad to see Pendleton in my life.
It was flat. It was Indiana corn-field flat.
Yes….we made it.
Not quite.
We hit the wind tunnel called the Gorge, and then the
traffic of I-5.
We finally turned into Forrest Grove Apartments in Tualatin.
We arrived to an apartment that we had rented on the internet. We had never
seen it before. But in all things God was good.
A year later and we can honestly look back and truly see how
God was with us in every aspect of our trip.
We didn’t have any mechanical breakdowns.
We found fuel when we needed it.
We didn’t have any snow or heavy rains the whole time we
went through the mountains.
The truck started every morning.
The apartment was perfect for meeting our needs.
We had wonderful brothers from CFBC to help us unload in
about an hour or so.
And I was able to return that truck to Home Depot and go to
bed an Oregonian.
And that was just the beginning of God’s blessings.
We have been here almost a year and there is not a day that
we don’t get up and give thanks for being here in Oregon and here at CFBC.
Every Sunday as we turn east on Sherwood-Tualatin road we
look for that clear sky and are reminded of just how big our God is as we gaze
upon Mount Hood.
It is a great reminder of His mighty hand and why we are
Thankful for his protection, provision, and His love today.
