Caravan 1996

Paul Haas

Brent Seusy

Barry Smith

Valerie Philips

Bob Carnahan

Karen Carnahan

Clarissia Broddle

Dave Broddle

Claudia Vickery

Cindy Rodine

They traveled 2800 miles. Providing six worship services and traveling through five states; Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

We left at 7:02am after arriving at 6am to load. The bus was loaded, good bys said and we were off. Down the road a ways we realized we had forgotten the first aid kit. We ate our sack lunches at a park. Sometime during the afternoon the sponsors started to hear, "it's coming!" It took a while to come but when we realized the yellow water cooler had been tipped over and five gallons of water were coming our way, we quickly picked up our carry on bags. The water gushed up front and out the door of the bus.

We arrived in Amarillo and stopped at a Walmart for first aid items and Valerie's snacks. We went to the Methodist Center, unloaded our bags, dressed in the turquoise shirts and headed to the church where dinner was waiting for us. They fixed BBQ beef sandwiches and we ate out front. The service went well. The bus came back for us and took us home to the Methodist Center for the night. Showers- The water at the center had been contaminated but was usable now. We had a meeting with the kids to discuss the next day's activities and then bedded down for the night under Babs' watchful eye.

Saturday Rio Rancho United Methodist Church, Rio Rancho NM, Sandia Peak cable car ride, stay in homes.

Morning brought an array of cold cereals set out on the counter. We ate, loaded the bus and were off by 7:30am. Up-slips were handed out and Forest Gump was watched. We stopped at a rest stop and were treated to a one man concert. There was much discussion among the adults about the 10 mile hike at Sandia Peak. When we got there we found two choices: 1) pay $8.50 for the Tram and walk two miles to Stone House and 2) stay on the bus, ride to Stone House and walk around the top. Most opted for the Tram ride. The adults took groups of kids and hiked back to the Stone House. Valerie and Barry went downhill instead of up and took their group on a 6-8 mile hike. The bus passed them on the way up but couldn't stop because of overheating. We all finally gathered at the top, got back on the bus and were off to Rio Rancho.

We had a hard time finding the church because they had renamed the street just a couple months ago. We unloaded our equipment and gear and joined them for their Saturday evening service of singing. They had a wonderful potluck for us. Sandy Yauk, the youth leader, had already assigned us to our homes for the night -Showers. She did a great job matching up our kids with the host families.

Sunday & Monday Trinity Heights United Methodist Church, Flagstaff, AZ, service #2 & #3

Since we stayed in homes, breakfast varied for each. We gathered at the church and performed our morning service for their congregation. We loaded up quickly and got on the road. We need to be in Flagstaff, AZ for dinner.

We stopped at McDonalds for a quick lunch. At 3pm we stopped again for a very quick potty stop. However we noticed that the clock said 2pm, we had gained an hour and now weren't in such a big hurry. We arrived, enjoyed their potluck and set up for the service. Their sanctuary doubled as their fellowship hall so tables and chairs had to be moved around for our service. The evening service was for their youth and anyone else who showed up. Afterwards while the kids were playing volley ball with their youth group; Bob, Claudia and Cindy were taken to the grocery store to purchase sack lunch supplies. We had showers. We slept in several areas; girls in one room (wall to wall), most adults in hall; boys in another room; Barry, Donnie and Claudia in another small room, joined by Katy V the second night.

This is the night when the kids started getting sick. Several didn't feel well, had fever and chills and felt like they would throw up, and a couple did.

Up in the morning for cold cereal. Each one made their own sack lunch and picked out their can of pop for the coolers. Today we are off to the Grand Canyon. The kids were assigned numbers 1-4 depending on their ability and desire to hike. The 1's, which included Karen and Claudia, walked along the rim, took lots of group pictures, stopped at gift shops along the way, walked a very short distance down the canyon and ended the trip by taking the shuttle bus back to the visitors center. The 2's hiked more and went down the canyon a little further. The 3's and 4's went down quite a ways, the 3's turned back and returned to the rim with the 4's continuing. Barry was with the 4's and got leg cramps on the way back up and was helped by Luke and Brent who gave him a leg massage. Becky got a little dehydrated but after dousing her in a cool water fountain, she was fine. All in all it was a great day and all had fun.

We got back on the bus and headed for Flagstaff. We stopped at a Pizza Hut for dinner. Ann Chartier wasn't feeling well and had the fever and chills but felt better by bedtime. Others became sick as well, Katy V. was one of them. All the girls wanted to shower so we drew numbers and limited them to four minutes only. We ran out of hot water anyway.

Tuesday Payson United Methodist Church, Payson, AZ, service, Sliding Rock Park

We got up to several girls being sick, Megan, Paige, Lisa. Claudia had the fever and chills during the night but was ok by morning. We had our cold cereal, loaded our equipment and gear back on the bus. We stopped in Sedona for shopping and lunch. T-shirts, postcards, blankets and steak dinners were bought. After lunch we moved on to Montezuma Castle National Monument. Some stayed on the bus as they didn't feel well but others walked and saw the Castle.

Next we went to Slide Rock. We could have spent more time there as the kids had a great time. They slide down the red rocks and jumped off the cliffs into the cold water. We changed, got back on the bus and arrived in Payson by suppertime. They served us a delicious spaghetti dinner. While the service was happening, Dave and Claudia went to the laundromat to wash up our Slide Rock laundry. Next Dave, Claudia and Barry went to the grocery store for sack lunch supplies. When they got back, discussions were going on and showers were available. It was a late evening for many but things got hashed out and settled. We bedded down for the night, some in the sanctuary, narthax, halls, and classrooms.

Wednesday First United Methodist Church, Mesa, AZ, service, tubing on the Salt River, talent show

We got up early, ate our cold cereal and had the bags out by 7:45am. A short gathering was called to explain our day. We loaded up and went to the Salt River for tubing. It was a relaxing couple hours on the river. After we turned in our tubes, we ate our sack lunch on the way to Mesa. Health is improving with no one currently sick. The church at Mesa was very large and in an older neighborhood. Sponsors showered first and we all had time to relax before they served us a wonderful potluck dinner. The service was the best one and many pictures were taken. We wore the turquoise shirts. Karen's video camera hit the deck and was no longer usable. We got together in a big group for rags and brags, discussions and group games. It was well run by the Senior High kids. There was a stage in the fellowship hall where we performed our service and the kids decided it was the perfect place for the talent show. Girls, boys and sponsors all planned their skits. They were performed to much laughter, hooting and hollering even though the air conditioner was off and it was getting very hot and we didn't have showers. We went to bed at 12:30am with the understanding that there would be a two hour quiet time on the bus the next morning. We all slept in one large and air conditioned room.

We got up at 5:45am, had our cold cereal and toast. Loaded up our gear again (it was raining) and were on our way again. The bus was very quiet as everyone slept for three hours. Lunch was at McDonalds again. We arrived in El Paso, unloaded the bus and had sub sandwiches with their youth group. We performed our service for their youth group and visited with them afterwards. Those who wanted showers gathered up their towels and loaded the bus for a short drive to the YMCA. Claudia stopped at Albertsons for some supplies. We settled down for the night in their sanctuary which was very cool and comfortable, our best night's sleep.

Friday Lakeridge United Methodist Church, Lubbock, TX, service, Carlsbad Cavern

Up again, but we had run out of cold cereal so it was decided to eat breakfast out the last two mornings instead of buying more. Grand Slam breakfasts at Denny's were enjoyed by all. The next wave of illness hit with Donnie getting sick. We drove along a scenic route and saw the Mexican border. Lunch today was at Wendy's for some. We arrived at Carlsbad Caverns. All but Donnie and Dave walked down from the mouth of the cave; they took the elevator down to the big room. It was a long, cool hike. Many pictures were taken and souvenirs bought. We took longer than we thought so had to move along to get to Lubbock. We got lost as the address was wrong. Babs called the church and was able to get directions while we were moving. Babs also called a pizza place on the way to the church and had some very large Texas size pizza's delivered. We arrived at the church after 11:30pm. No showers available tonight. Heather Stout was at the church and spent the night with us and had a nice visit. Since this was the last night the traditional dance was held. The kids were up until 2:30am enjoying the music.

One last time we loaded the bus. Breakfast was at Burger King, then on the road again, arriving home by 10pm.