Day 37 - The Journey Ends

We arrived home late Friday, October 5, 2011.  As mentioned before, we decided to head home when we learned that our daughter-in-law Shannon had been admitted to the hospital with contractions much too early for delivery, as Elliana's due date was Thanksgiving. Our plan was to regroup, repack and hit the road to North Carolina by the beginning of the week.  We had to wait until Monday anyway, as the registration sticker on our truck had expired while we were on the road,  and we needed to go to the courthouse and get the new sticker before we headed out.  On Friday evening, Elliana began to show signs of distress, and the decision was made to go ahead and do the c-section and deliver her.  She died shortly after delivery, and our hearts were devastated that we were not able to be with Jason and Shannnon through this difficult time. Jason and Shannon did have some precious time with Elliana, and for that we are so grateful. Even though we knew that Elliana would not be with us for a long time after birth due to her diagnosed prognosis, it was, and is, difficult for us to comprehend that she is no longer with us.  She is with Jesus now, and we are comforted knowing that she is no longer in distress and her medical issues have been healed.

 We planned to go ahead and head for North Carolina to help Jason and Shannon get through this difficult time of funeral arrangements, etc., however, on Sunday Jim was not feeling well, and to make a long story short, he ended up in the ER and was admitted to the hospital for three days for treatment of a severe kidney infection.  So perhaps in His own way, God planned for us to head home early, to have the delay in getting on the road, and for everything to fall into place so that Jim was not ill once we were on the road and miles from home. The old cliche that "things happen for a reason", certainly held true for us during this time.  Jim is now home from the hospital, taking his meds and resting. We did go to church this morning and that was a much needed spiritual lift for us both.  Next week is full of doctor appointments as part of the follow-up to Jim's hospital stay.  Jason and Shannon and the family are doing better, taking each day at a time and the healing process has begun, although I know it will take time.......a lot of time............for all of us....

So Part II of The Journey has come to a close.  We had a wonderful time once again searching for lighthouses, visiting with family and friends, and of course, sharing the road with one another and the "girls" (dogs), who have become seasoned travelers and now have the routine down pat!  (I giggle when I read that back - I think they have us trained, and we have the routine down pat!)  We drove several roads less traveled in our search for lighthouses, and as a result, we got to see parts of America we would have otherwise missed had we stayed on the highways..  Visiting Niagara Falls, the Erie Canal and my home town of Cornwall-on-Hudson were probably the highlights of the trip for me.  It had been a long time since I had visited, and long overdue!  Getting to share that with Jim was special..........

Of course, visiting with Jason, Shannon, Elijah, Levi, Seth, Missy and Elliana in North Carolina at the start of the journey was a treat!  What fun it was just to watch the children - they are such blessings to us, and each one of them have their own personality which make them all the more unique and precious! 

We also had a wonderful time visiting with Jim's family in New Jersey and getting to spend time with our nephew Billy and his wife Karen.  They are a very inspiring young couple who have worked hard to get where they are in their life today not so much for themselves, but others, and making a difference!  Billy and Karen, along with Karen's mother Barbara, are wonderful caregivers of many stray and homeless cats!  They rescue cats, spay and neuter them and do their best to find them new homes........even if it is their own house or back yard! And it goes without saying that seeing Jim's brother Rob (and his wife Rita) and sister Penny, was once again another enjoyable trip down memory lane....just wish we weren't so far away from one another.  But they have WINTER in New Jersey!

As always, it isn't so much the journey, but the people you meet along the way.  Our experiences and conversations with people we never knew before we began the journey, have renewed our faith in our fellow man.........everyone has a story, a joke, an experience and a journey of their own to share, and it was fun hearing them and sharing our adventures with them as well.

Of course,  visiting one of the Great Lakes is always an inspiring part of the journey.  I cannot begin to tell you the magnitude of beauty that surrounds the lakes and the small towns that are situated along their shores.  Add a trip to one of the Great Lakes to your Bucket List - you won't be disappointed!

On Part II of the journey, we were gone 37 days, drove 7,692.7 miles, used 510.6 gallons of gasoline and averaged 15.0 to the gallon pulling the RV.   We visited, or saw from a distance,  34 lighthouses.  Add these numbers to Part I of The Journey which we traveled last spring, and we have been gone 88 days, traveled 15,948.7 miles, and used 1,100.11 gallons of gasoline.  We have also now visited, or have seen from a distance, 158 lighthouses.

A special THANK YOU to my sister and brother-in-law, (June and Phil) for taking care of our house, our cat, our mail, and our yard while we traveled!  It was nice not to have to worry about those things while we were on the road!

Part III of The Journey will begin in late January, when we will travel to Key West, Florida.  There are still lighthouses on both coasts of Florida that we have not seen, as well as in the Keys.  We will probably post again beginning in early January 2013............

Thanks to all our family, friends and blog followers for traveling with us on our Journey!  See you again down the road.................God Bless................

Jim and Joan
Lacy and Penny
"Speedy"

 

 

 

Home..........

 

Texas Welcome Center

 

Houston Ship Channel

 

Final numbers are in.........

 

Sunset on Part II of The Journey........

(Lake Erie Sunset )