JoyUnspeakable

I have been dropped off, and my brother-in-law has picked me up. My missions trip is officially over. It was great. Everybody on the team brought different gifts and skills. It really was an amazing group of people, and I am honored to have been a part of the team. I am told that those on the trip will be sending me their pictures so I can make a slide show for our church, Marsh Creek Community Church. If there are some good pictures that I missed from the blog, I will be sure to add them. Thanks for following and supporting us on our trip. God bless.

We stopped for another gas fill, and Buck wants to keep driving. He went and bought some Five Hour Energy. I’ve never taken the stuff, and Buck hasn’t either. I guess we will see how it affects him. We are making incredible time, and according to the GPS, should be to Harrisburg by 7:45am. Looks like Joel and Buck are going to split the drive between the two of them. I’ve driven a couple of long stretches on vacations, but nothing like this. Never overnight. I’m very impressed – and thankful – for their alert driving!

Joel drove us half way home. Buck took the wheel about an hour or two ago. We are making great progress. According to the GPS, we should hit Exton at 8:30am. That’s without stops for gas or breakfast. And again, I’m being dropped off in Harrisburg, which is about an hour before Exton.
I have finished watching all of the movies I loaded up on my iPad. On the way to Joplin, I watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Source Code, and Man on a Ledge. On the way back, I watched Super 8, and the new Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed all of the movies, although The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo had me a bit disturbed for a couple of days. Honestly, I love how movies can affect me emotionally, no matter what the emotion is.
We were hoping to hit another FoodTV show location for breakfast, but the GPS has us on Route 70, which is well south of Pittsburgh, which is where we would need to be. So, I’m not sure where we will be stopping for our next meal.

We just stopped for dinner. When deciding where to eat, we decided to look for a place that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Unfortunately, there were none near us. However, Buck found a place that was featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate. The place is called the Blue Springs Diner, and oh my word, this place was amazing. The show featured their lemon meringue pie, and when you walk in, you see the pies – they are all about 8″ tall. They serve sides family style, but you choose your own entree. The sides that came out were biscuits with apple butter, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, pickled beets, and coleslaw. Everything was homemade, and out of this world. For my entree, I chose the chicken and dumplings. Others chosen were meatloaf, ham steak, popcorn shrimp, and fried walleye. Everybody’s food was amazing, and we all ended up trying each others meals. Delicious. And even though we were all full, we needed to get pie. I chose the chocolate cream. Others chose the lemon meringue, cherry, and coconut cream. Again, we all shared, and all were wonderful. I can’t remember eating so much food. All of us are stuffed beyond belief. If you ever drive though this area and don’t stop, you are making a huge mistake.
Oh, our waitress was the one who served the pie on the show. How cool!

It’s almost 2pm in whatever timezone I’m in now, and we are now on our way home. The GPS says it is going to take 17.5 hours to get there. So, without stops, and assuming the speed limit, that puts us there at 7:30am. But, we will stop for gas at least twice, and we will stop for dinner and breakfast, and we won’t be driving the speed limit. I’m guessing we would arrive in Exton around 10:30am.
It hasn’t rained all week, but it’s starting to drizzle now. It’s been hot – mid-80’s, and breezy. At home, it’s mid-50’s. Quite a difference.
I haven’t seen my family in a week. I was able to call most nights, but the kids were mostly preoccupied with more important things than me. I’m looking forward to seeing the whole family tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, while I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed, I have one (two, including my night in the van) more night away from home. I’m meeting up with my family near Harrisburg for a church retreat with my wife’s great-grandparents’ church. So, I still have another day away from home.

Ok, well, not quite a tornado, but it’s definitely the windiest it has been all week, with winds blowing 20-30mph. Makes it very difficult to get any siding work done. Not only is it scary to be on a ladder, but dust is picking up all over and the long vinyl siding pieces are very difficult to manage in the wind. Buck and I were able to do a few areas outside while Giff and Curt blasted through the last of the painting. We have decided to call it a day. Actually, I guess we can call it a week. I think we will leave this house in good shape for the next crew that comes in. The paint on the walls looks great, and it will be exciting when they put in the flooring and other things. I am a bit concerned at the poor workmanship done on the outside of the house (before we arrived, of course). Hopefully, they will be able to address any problems that may show up before any water damage or anything. I have a feeling they will need a lot of caulk.

It’s our last day working, and we are sending out four guys to finish up what we can on the house. Joel, the ladies, and the kids are going to stay back at the church to get other things done. I think all we really have left to do is finish up the painting in two rooms, and whatever siding we can get done. Then we have to return tools, get cleaned up, get lunch, and get on the road.

I was going through my pictures on my phone, and realized I forgot to post a couple of them.
This first picture is of these colorful painted stars. They are hung all around the town, and we were told they were put up by one of the volunteer groups soon after the tornado. I believe they were made to be street signs at first, but later just became colorful displays that I am sure stood out as a nice blast of color in the middle of disaster. They look nice.
The other picture is of Buck doing some important work.

Today is Sarah’s 13th birthday. We are out celebrating at Lumpy’s BBQ. It’s also our last night here in Joplin. We are still going to put in a half day tomorrow. It’s been a great week.

A landmark here in Joplin is the Praying Hands. I don’t really know the history of it, so I’ll have to Google it later. But, its a statue of huge praying hands. Really cool.