Maiden Voyage

This past week my husband took vacation days off work to spend time with us, me and him alone and to go camping.  Our maiden voyage of the USS "G" camper.  

Monday started with excited packing of the camper while Mr. G did  tests on all of the electrical systems, camper brakes and hook ups.  After 45 minutes of working on things, he got it all hooked together, showered and finished gathering the jeans he wanted to take (I didn't know which ones were his preference, so he told me to not worry about it.)  I got the kids, dogs and everything else ready to go and in the vehicle waiting for Mr. G who wanted to clean up before we left.  

We went through Smethport, Port Allegheny, Roulette and Coudersport to our destination. We went up and down some pretty big inclines until we arrived at Potter County Family Campground.  This campground is at the Allegheny Summit at 2,424 ft above sea level.  I know it isn't the Rocky Mountains by any stretch of the imagination, but it is still absolutely beautiful!  

This was our campsite once my beloved parked the camper.  We got everything situated and ready for good times.  We got in to the vehicle to go get something, Mr. G put his foot in the brake and the pedal went all the way to the floor.  We didn't have any brakes!!!!  We got out and looked on the ground in front of the vehicle thinking it was radiator fluid (that it had a hole in it), but it wasn't.  Brake fluid had sprayed everywhere!

Here is Mr. G beginning to take everything apart to look inside where he found a bigger problem than he would have liked, but so very thankful that it decided to not burst until we backed the camper in to the space.  God is so good!  He answered our prayers for safe journeys!

Mr. Frustrated at the moment.  It was definitely NOT in his plan to work on the brakes during his mini vacation!  Whew!  

BUT!!!  

We had friends who lived close by who helped us through all this predicament.  What a blessing Lisa and Dale were to us!  We'd planned to have them over for s'mores and fun that evening, then off to their house for more fun the following day, so we just altered things a little.

The kids and I made hot dogs over the fire.

Beautiful daughter making hot dogs.

Daddy...diligently working on figuring out the problem.

(As it turns out, the brake line that went clear underneath a few things had ruptured.  The next day he ended up replacing it with regular brake hose and it worked well.  God was so gracious to us!  We didn't have cell phone service, it was raining, so Dale come up to get us, then went with Mr. G to get parts for the vehicle, work on the brakes, then came back to their house.  What a wonderful answer to prayer!  I'd prayed for them to be done before 5PM and they pulled in to the driveway around 4:10!!!)

Oldest son, DA doing what he likes to best when camping--roasting hot dogs.  

All but 2 of the kids walking/running/hiking around.

Lisa and the other missing 2 children from the picture above.

He was so excited about getting to go through this tube!  Such cuteness!

Lisa's husband, Dale and their beautiful daughter working on her crossed stitch.

Lisa's 2 oldest boys, then my youngest son JL on the right.

Another of Lisa's beautiful daughters...blurry, but that's ok.  She doesn't like getting her picture taken.

My daughter, HJ, making moose ears behind Dale.  Must be a fun thing to do, huh?!  LOL

More horsing around.  

Watching everyone play computer games while it rained.  I tried snapping this picture just a few seconds before when Lisa's youngest boy was sitting on JL's lap snuggling while they watched, but he hopped down really quick!  

The men got back, Mr. G showered and they both got something to eat.  Mr. G fell asleep in the recliner--something I'm sure he thought he'd NEVER do with 10 children playing around him!  LOL

After he woke we had Lisa's wonderful Split Pea Soup, we brought pasta salad and my daughter made No Bake Coconut Macaroon Bars that fell apart, so we sprinkled it over some ice cream.  Darn!  LOL

We walked around while the kids rode bikes and generally had a blast playing since the rain cleared up.  After returning we visited on the porch a little while until the kids returned from riding so we could go sing.

What a wonderful time we had inside having a wonderful hymn sing, praising God for His goodness toward each one of us.  

After we were done singing, we needed to head out because it was getting late.

This morning, my beloved told me that he was going to take me to a yarn shop in Coudersport.

Just so we could look at all the beautiful yarns and crafty things they had to offer.

We waited until opening time, but no one came to open the door.  *sniff*  *sniff*  I guess we'll have to go back some time?!

Yes, this is what my hair looks like after the heat and humidity rises & camping!  LOL   But, sitting next to my beloved was wonderful nonetheless.

Handsome young man.

One picture and it really shows their personalities!

We love old buildings and architecture.

We love quaint old towns!

So here we are, home at last.   Dinner has been consumed, laundry is going and we're relaxing and beginning to think of our next camping trip.  It was a lovely trip, in spite of the brake issues.  God was gracious and kind walking with us each step of the way.  

We were so blessed!