After announcing my retirement from full time pastoral ministry, I realized that I needed a whole new persona. I would no longer be pastor of Grace Church in Lititz, Pennsylvania. The role I practiced for 33 years in one locale would soon be in the hands of another. For his sake, I reasoned, I needed to reduce my presence.
After thinking and praying and talking with my wife, I found the answer. A recreational vehicle was our perfect “down-size-get-out-of-town-quick” plan. So we bought a truck. A big one. Then we bought a “fifth wheel” trailer. Also a big one. We are on the road. Full time.
Loreen was the first to announce that we are now “trailer trash.” The name stuck. Every two months or so, I write the trailer trash journal for those who care to know where we are and how we are getting on. I suppose some people don’t care but get it anyway. If you want it, or don’t want it, just let me know. Electronic mail is cheap. My skin is tough.
Since last July, we have driven our trailer in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. Whenever possible, we invite pastors and their wives out for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We especially enjoy opportunities to visit churches in out-of-the-way places, like McAllen, Texas and Beaver City, Nebraska.
We have learned lots of lessons. Most of them are in the “what not to do” category, such as “don’t park your truck in a motel parking lot and fly off to another state for two weeks.” Not unless you want it stolen. Again, “never back a trailer into a parking space without looking up.” Not unless you want to replace the roof. This traveling business can be expensive.
Along the way, we also fly to destinations upon request. We have taken that option to Washington and California, Texas and Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania. I have been the guest speaker in four district ministerial meetings and six churches. I speak only by invitation. I don’t ask. In this regard, the sovereign hand of God behind the scenes is very apparent.
We parked our trailer near Florence, Arizona in January. For those who care to know, Florence is located southeast of Phoenix. It was a wet winter, by Arizona standards, and the desert was absolutely stunning by spring. Forty miles to the south, our new home was under construction. We drove down each week to check its progress, signed the papers in March and moved in April.
We lived in our new home one month before packing up and heading east. It was great to be back with our family and friends. We attended worship services at Grace Church for the first time in a year. We visited pastors and churches in Ohio and Indiana. We spent a week at Equip05 in Winona Lake, Indiana. The best news, however, is that we sold our Pennsylvania home on August 17. Two days later, we left for the west. Leaving our kids and grandkids was hard. Leaving hot, muggy weather along the east coast was easy.
At the moment, we are parked along Interstate 40 on the East side of Albuquerque. Our original plan was to visit the Northwest before turning south and traveling through the whole of California. However, we are expected back in Arizona by the first week of September. There just wasn’t enough time. So we skedaddled for Tucson.
After all, the southwest is now our home. Well, sort of.
After thinking and praying and talking with my wife, I found the answer. A recreational vehicle was our perfect “down-size-get-out-of-town-quick” plan. So we bought a truck. A big one. Then we bought a “fifth wheel” trailer. Also a big one. We are on the road. Full time.
Loreen was the first to announce that we are now “trailer trash.” The name stuck. Every two months or so, I write the trailer trash journal for those who care to know where we are and how we are getting on. I suppose some people don’t care but get it anyway. If you want it, or don’t want it, just let me know. Electronic mail is cheap. My skin is tough.
Since last July, we have driven our trailer in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. Whenever possible, we invite pastors and their wives out for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We especially enjoy opportunities to visit churches in out-of-the-way places, like McAllen, Texas and Beaver City, Nebraska.
We have learned lots of lessons. Most of them are in the “what not to do” category, such as “don’t park your truck in a motel parking lot and fly off to another state for two weeks.” Not unless you want it stolen. Again, “never back a trailer into a parking space without looking up.” Not unless you want to replace the roof. This traveling business can be expensive.
Along the way, we also fly to destinations upon request. We have taken that option to Washington and California, Texas and Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania. I have been the guest speaker in four district ministerial meetings and six churches. I speak only by invitation. I don’t ask. In this regard, the sovereign hand of God behind the scenes is very apparent.
We parked our trailer near Florence, Arizona in January. For those who care to know, Florence is located southeast of Phoenix. It was a wet winter, by Arizona standards, and the desert was absolutely stunning by spring. Forty miles to the south, our new home was under construction. We drove down each week to check its progress, signed the papers in March and moved in April.
We lived in our new home one month before packing up and heading east. It was great to be back with our family and friends. We attended worship services at Grace Church for the first time in a year. We visited pastors and churches in Ohio and Indiana. We spent a week at Equip05 in Winona Lake, Indiana. The best news, however, is that we sold our Pennsylvania home on August 17. Two days later, we left for the west. Leaving our kids and grandkids was hard. Leaving hot, muggy weather along the east coast was easy.
At the moment, we are parked along Interstate 40 on the East side of Albuquerque. Our original plan was to visit the Northwest before turning south and traveling through the whole of California. However, we are expected back in Arizona by the first week of September. There just wasn’t enough time. So we skedaddled for Tucson.
After all, the southwest is now our home. Well, sort of.
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