We arrived at our first stop in Chattanooga, TN yesterday afternoon. We experienced Atlanta traffic, a semi truck blowing it's tire in front of us, a gas station fill-up with tight turns, and being swarmed by a dozen highway road racing individuals who desperately needed Jesus and to have been disciplined as children (in my personal opinion). And yet we made it! Pulled into camp, leveled, and connected. It was our first official time after weeks of YouTube training and it went smoothly....until the furnace wouldn't kick on. At all.
It was 38 degrees and the temperature was falling. Josh went over everything he knew to check, one of the guys who works at the campground went over everything he could think of, still no heat.
It was now 33 degrees and time to put the kids to bed. We could've chosen to lose our peace, fret or worry, or get angry with each other (for no good reason other than that's what people tend to do sometimes). But this time, by God's grace and His patient discipline over the years, we both kept our calm, smiled and said, "it's all part of the adventure!"
The kids had enjoyed a fun evening with cousins as my brother and his family arrived shortly after we did. He and my sister-in-law were amazing at entertaining their five plus our three while we attempted to troubleshoot the furnace. After realizing it wasn't going to be fixed that night we picked up the kids from my brother's RV parked next to us, brought them back to our refrigerated box truck/travel trailer and explained the situation - we were going to have an adventure!
We unhooked from water and drained the lines to prevent them from freezing overnight as we wouldn't have the furnace to heat the underbelly and it was to get down to 26 degrees Fahrenheit. Everyone got on their thermals, grabbed their pillows, and climbed into our big bed. We turned on the space heater (praise God we made that purchase!), layered on them blankets, and snuggled up, including the dog.
Was it a deep, restorative sleep? Not at all. Was it a precious time all snuggled together and a fun memory of our first night in the camper? 100%.
We woke up this morning, put on more layers, heated up some oatmeal with blueberries and enjoyed the start to a beautiful day in the mountains.
First on the adventure agenda: Ruby Falls.
We climbed to the top of Lookout Tower.
And even learned about a fascinating plant called frostweed that secretes water from it's stems in such a way that it creates frost flowers.
Fantastic mobile RV techs were able to come out and get the furnace fixed. The issue was one loose wire. We then spent the rest of the day at the campground enjoying time with family.
It's our first full day... and it has been a good one.
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