< ![CDATA[  I laughed out loud when we pulled into the Super Wal-mart at ten o'clock this evening to find a whole fleet of RVs all set up for the night at the far end of the parking lot, ours is by far the oldest and we're bringing down the neighborhood. Who knew there were so many transients drawn like moths to the lights of the mother-ship. Here we sit, all buttoned up for the night, waiting for our neighbors to bring over a plate of brownies and welcome us to the community. We're just two half day drives from being "home." We're holding our breath that the camper will make it. Apart from one incident involving all of the head lights shutting off in the dark of night at sixty miles an hour in the mountains this evening, the old girl appears to be running better. Tony has learned to gently feather the gas and has proclaimed our Winnie anorexic... "She seems to run better the less you feed her." If the God who inspired duct tape can just see fit to hold her together for a few more days she'll be parked for long term storage and we'll breathe a collective sigh of relief. The highlight of this week was certainly our overnight with the Tracy family in Ohio. Long time friends, with four kids roughly the ages of ours, our time together always includes lively adventures, much laughter and at least one mishap. This year it involved eight kids and a tiny row boat. They overturned the boat in the middle of their fish pond and had the first swim of the year... April 21, in 70F air... no telling how cold the water was. Before long they were whooping and hollering and blowing up the floaties in the barn to celebrate spring and the lack of ice on the pond in a serious way. They were blue lipped and happy when we finally got them into warm showers. As I was washing the pond scum out of Hannah's hair she observed: "Mom, is this why we never spend long with the Tracys? Because we just have too much fun?!" Well, not exactly... more likely it's due to the thousand miles between our homes and the number of relatives that are on the list before them... but she's right about one thing, we do have too much fun. The daddies smoked foreign cigars on the deck as the frogs serenaded in the twilight. The mommies hiked the whole twenty acres and had the hems of their skirts chewed by Rupert, the goat. Fun was had by all. We parted with sadness on the ninth birthday of Jesse Tracy: the little boy who spent his first nine days in the NICU. I spent the first four of those days with him, tapping formula through a tube while his mommy recovered from his birth, willing him to take every breath in his oxygen tent, praying for a miracle and his survival. It was with great joy that I sang him "Happy Birthday" and participated in the ceremonial "Birthday Spanking." He giggled and laughed and ran and howled while his mom and I told the stories of his first frightening days and how we got each other through it. God is, truly, good. So here we sit. Listening to the road noise from I-81. Setting the clock for plenty early tomorrow so we can meet Lois and Dianne on time tomorrow and swap out the kids for Dianne in preparation for our last Home School Convention before we fly. We're at the end of our month on tour and it occurs to us that one week from this moment we'll be suspended above the Atlantic, winging our way toward life on two wheels. If you think of it, pray for us!]]>