The following event took place in 2018.
“Where are you going this time?” Ed seemed to think my Precious and I should stay put for a while. “And how long will you be gone?”
“We’re going to The Ridges Resort in Young Harris, Georgia. It’s time for the annual reunion of the USS Yorktown (CV-5) Survivor’s Club, and we’re meeting in northern Georgia this year. The reunion will run from May 2-6. I’m the chaplain for the group”
“Oh yeah. Your dad was on the Yorktown at the Battle of Midway, wasn’t he? When was that battle?”
“June 3-6, 1942, and the ship sunk on June 7. I replaced Dad as chaplain of the survivor’s club when Dad died. We’re wrapping a trip around the reunion.”
“Young Harris? Funny name for a town.”
“It’s a real town – a small one – about six miles south of the Tennessee border and about 110 miles by road south of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.”
I told Ed we bought a travel trailer, and that it’ll be our home on the road for a month. I also mentioned that we would visit the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., the Gettysburg Battlefield, Niagara Falls, and maybe Noah’s Ark in Williamstown, Kentucky again before coming home.
“The trip sure sounds interesting. But I know you: you wouldn’t buy a trailer for only a one-month trip, and I know you have to be home for your writer’s conference in June. So, why the trailer?”
“Okay, Ed; I’ll give you a hint. Starting in late July or early August, we’ll be on the road for about a year.”
“A year! Are you serious?”
“Yes, we’ll be gone for about a year, and the trailer will, indeed, be our home on the road. We’ll need a renter for the house. If you know of a family who needs a home for a year, let me know. But regarding the trip, I’m going to conduct an informal survey of churches across America while we travel the country. And, yes, we’ll do a lot of sight-seeing as we go.”
Shaking his head, “More like a spot-check survey. I think you ought to stay home. You going to keep writing for the paper?”
“Oh yes. For some reason Graham Thomas puts up with me, so you’ll see me every Wednesday in the Herald-Leader. And I’ll send Graham Tales From the Road periodically.”
Ed said he would pummel me with more questions later; but he had errands to run.
We never had a trailer before, so we made a preliminary week-end excursion to the Dallas area in March to learn about pulling one. We’ve named the car Traveler and the trailer Casita. In US Navy terms, the Dallas trip was the trial-run; the month-long Yorktown Reunion trip will be the shake-down cruise; and the year-long excursion will be the maiden voyage. (The month-long stretched into a 7-week trip.)
I chuckle as I think about Ed’s and my conversation. It’s true that Carol and I travel a bit, and I’m thinking of a trip back in June of 1970. Renting a U-Haul truck, we were moving from Everett, Washington to Los Alamos, New Mexico. Carol and our two kids flew by United Airlines, and a friend, Oscar Moe, drove the truck with me. Stopping in Pinehurst, Idaho for gas, Oscar struck up a conversation with the gas-station attendant.
“How long have you lived here in Pinehurst?” Oscar asked.
“All my life.”
“Have you traveled much throughout the Great Northwest?”
“Never been outa Pinehurst.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but you said you are 38-years-old, and you’ve never been out of town?”
“Yup. Don’t need to go nowhere. Family’s here, dog’s here. Ma and Pa’s buried here.”
That amazed me! I was almost 24-years-old, married almost 4 years, and had traveled coast-to-coast with my Navy parents. Meeting someone who had never been out of town? That was almost beyond my comprehension.
Well, back to the 2018 trip.
Ed didn’t think we were really serious about this trip in a small trailer, and when he saw it, he burst out, “You’ve got to be kidding!”
I agreed with him that this will be living in close quarters for a while, and the weekend trip to Dallas would introduce us to living with each other in a portable house that is about half the size of the living room in our house. Will there be tension or misunderstandings? We are human, so the answer was yes. The inside space of a 20-foot trailer has only about 120 useable square feet, and that’s a lot less personal space than a 1750-square-foot house!
But our dedication to Jesus Christ was foundational and our love for and devotion to each other is a close second. We understand human nature. but no matter what happens on this ball we call earth, I’d rather be with Carol than with anyone else in the world. Therefore, overcoming problems is a given, and we will grow through them.
That was five years ago, and Carol & I have slowed down a little. But don’t be surprised if you hear that we took off on another trip. After all, the Casita is still on our driveway in front of the house. Tires are good, and — come to think of it, we are going to Texas in 2 weeks. Hmmmm………
Gene Linzey 