Westward Ho!

July 1, 2007
Time: 8:45pm

Hello everyone! Welcome to our blog. First of all, I need to make an introduction. I would like you to meet Betty. Betty became part of our family in late May. You see, Donna Urso and Daphne Mooney felt that Lee should buy Betty at the annual church rummage sale. Well after two days of sale, poor Betty wasn’t purchased. At that point, Donna insisted that Betty needed to go home with Lee. Since it looked like we were going to inherit Betty no matter what, I declared that she was now our Sabbatical mascot. Betty will be accompanying us on our adventures and should appear regularly in our photos. Stay alert and see where Betty pops up.

After a very full day of church at 10am, packing up, Lee officiating the Reed/Hulquist wedding at 2pm, packing more, the reception at 5pm, and final packing; the Carlson family pulled out of the driveway at 8:45pm. I am wiped out, but Lee is excited to get on the road. He is hooked up with his new Magellan GPS (early b=day present, thanks Mom C), and his audio book on his iPod which is broadcasting over the radio speakers. Ben and Sam are in the back seat with their own book lights reading and doing puzzle books. I am typing on the laptop. Isn’t technology grand? Our truck practically glows with various LED lights.

Where are we heading tonight? We will have to see. As long as Lee feels like driving, we will keep going. He would like to get somewhere between Erie, PA and Cleveland, OH before stopping. We will do the Wal-Mart campground tonight. For those of you who don’t know, most Wal-Mart’s allow RVs and Travel Trailers to park for the night for free. Since we have a generator, we are self sufficient, so we can pull in, hook up and sleep for the night. We have water in our tank also, so we have bathroom use and short showers in the morning.

We began our trip with a family prayer. Each of us prayed for the trip and asked God to reveal something during our adventure. Requests included enriched family bonds, strengthened ties with God, renewal, REST, lots of laughter, safety, and awesome memories. We would greatly appreciate it if you would include these in your prayers also. I’m signing off now. Thanks for joining us. We look forward to hearing from you and including you in our daily activities. Take care and Good Night!

In His care,
Michele (speaking for the Carlson Crew)