Another vehicle down. I mean GONE.

Today the last of our two van Gently Used Books FLEET of vehicles has been sold, and with it our GUB era passes into history.

The Pontiac Montana sold several weeks ago and today the Chrysler Town and Country followed it to our friend Pete Dady, local car dealer and leader at St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Amityville.

Both of these trustworthy vehicles hauled about 1,500 lbs of books a piece from homes and estates being closed or to Goodwill Industries to be recycled yet again. Each of them were personal vehicles as well, serving me or Ramona for church, vacation, or store trips.  The last trip of the Chrysler, fittingly, was to a church bible study group last night.

Now we are down to being a one car, and one coach couple. Mona says I may claim driving rights to the Alpine, but she claims them, when she wants them, to the CRV.

May our two newest vehicles last long and well!

-Ken

Coach Prep

Quo is in her third of four weeks of preparation at Tom Schaeffer's RV in Pottsville, Pa now.  We went up to look over the progress on Thursday this week.

Aaron, a grandson of business founder Tom Schaeffer, is one well bred service focused family business person!  He has stepped us through our sometimes unique process at every turn and has kept us fully informed via email or phone of any new ideas or changes in plans.

The techs and other service and sales persons we've met have been just as helpful.  In fact, I learned from Aaron that this third generation family business knows a bit about the fourth generation business I grew up in, Stauffer's of Kissel Hill. It seems family businesses that successfully plan generational success have one thing definitely in common; they treat their customers welfare as the main reason they are in business, and they treat their employees and each other with the utmost respect.

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A bit of news about our sold house at 100 Holly Drive:  It hasn't.  The buyer discovered they could not get the planned loan so we are back to showings and open houses.

It's good there's a Dunkin' Donuts with a comfortable couch to read on just 3 blocks from the house for all those times we are not to be home when guests arrive.

Back to the coach.

Quo won't be getting the planned solar panel array we spoke of earlier.  The cost is much higher than we'd hoped and the return, even in usefulness on the high desert, is minimal, unless we literally cover the roof with panels that are manually adjustable to the angle of the sun. And that cost?  'Fugat' about it!' as Tony Soprano might say.

Also, the bed won't be receiving the auto-lifters we were hoping for to get it to rise for easier access to the engine and storage compartments.  It seems the quality of the mattress and frame is just too great!  in other words, it's way too heavy in solid construction and insulation.  Any lifter system on the market is too lightweight to handle it. So we'll just have to rely on strong mechanics at shops we visit, and my arm will have to fully heal to get to the under-bed storage myself.

The LED bulbs are arriving as I type and we decided to replace all exterior bulbs as well.  Much brighter, loads of saved battery power, and tens of thousands of hours of use and an upgrade to coach value to boot.

Mechanically and visually Quo's former family, the Hickson's of Mobile, Alabama, get HIGH marks from the techs at Schaeffer's for the way the 8 year old coach has been maintained.  They say they always love to work on older RV's that are in great shape, and in the case of this one, especially the WRV brand.  It's rare that they get one in since so few were made in the companies 30 year existence and they noted some great features not always found on similarly priced coaches of the pre-RV-crash era (before 2008).

The quality of basement door locks which provide added security, multi-level protective computerized devices connecting all power sources through one Xantrex system, and especially the wood work craftsmanship throughout the interior are just three such examples.

The CRV tire pressure system was connected wirelessly without a flaw to the coach while we were driven up to the nearby Cabella's Superstore to browse, read and have lunch while the work was being done.  Major thanks to John and Kim McGrath for getting those sensors mounted on each CRV wheel beforehand. And now the coach charges the car battery as we tow so the Patriot auxiliary braking system doesn't such the car battery dry as it protects the car on fast stops.

Finally, the most important addition to the coach of all.  The NAME PLATE was installed on the front of the coach!  Now we are almost THERE!

A house that was home to a church

It was September, 1997 when we arrived at 100 holly Drive from Graystone Road in Lancaster County. We had no idea how long we would be living here. We'd been told by our United Methodist leadership to not even move because if Hope Church could not become viable as a financially independent church soon it would be closed. We thought about that, and then moved anyway.

Our home was always ours, never a church parsonage, but Hope Church dedicated it that fall as Hope's church office, Pastor's office,  and small group meeting space while we worshiped temporarily at Pine Forge seventh Day Adventist Church. For six years.

Mike Sobel was a part of Hope LONG before he was a member of Hope.  he has always had a heart for keeping church IT up and running.

Here the Reigles, Gail and Fran Loughead fold bulletins for our Sunday service.

Teams and small groups  met in the lower floor office and basement meeting rooms to study Scripture, pay bills, plan plans and pray.

 Lots of praying went on at 100 holly Drive.  It still does.

Nan Horn and Gail Grady work away helping Pam Lloyd manage the office.

 Hope had been around since it's inception in 1990 by the remaining congregation of Searles UMC in Pottstown. But many firsts took place in our home over the years I was appointed as pastor here.

The celebration Team began under Pam Rader's (now Frame's) leadership soon after I arrived and still plans our services throughout the year at Hope.
Here Bob Simcox, Judy Reinert and Judy Bonetz and I work together on some regular Monday evening.

 And who would EVER dare leave out our Hope Heavenbound Youth Group. Here are just a couple of the kids who did some of their growing up in the basement group room at our home / Hope's office. Simcoxes, Hegeman's, Lucas's, Weaver's, and more.

 Then, almost suddenly, in 2003, everything changed.  We built and dedicated our first church building and the church moved out of 100 Holly.  All except the pastor's office, that is. And that Christmas we moved our tree down to the new family room.  Which became Mona's library and the room where gently Used Books got it's start as a warehouse and book sorting center.


Hard at play this Christmas is the Shoemaker DeWalt family playing with our train set (now Khalif's) under the tree and on the futon given to us for our new room by the Grell's.

Now, 11 years later, we prepare to depart 100 Holly, it's fireplace, and Mona's reading room, for new digs.  well, as you know, actually NO digs at all since it's a rolling house from now on.

A fall 2013 image of the moon over our front porch reminds us that where we will be heading there should be little to no snow.  The old country song 'Heading for Sunny and 75' speaks to us now every time we hear it.

Today we're packing up the few things we feel we might want to use down the road if we, or when we, come off the road for good.  And we're choosing carefully the things we want, or will need, to have with us in our 400 square feet above the basement in the coach.

If there's one thing we've learned about life in the last 20 years it's this.  Beyond our loving God, there is nothing so permanent as... CHANGE.

-Ken