Hey! Look here!

Yeah, keeping up two blogs that say the same thing is a bit crazy, so until further notice, LOOK HERE:

http://www.rubiconcrew.com/Rubicon_Crew/Blog/Blog.html

If we have a disaster there, you can always check back here. See you there!

Here we are...In a gravel parking lot... surrounded by big trucks, and graders, and cement trucks...in the middle of an industrial area, kilometres from food, and entertainment.

With the right tag wheel off, and the wheel bearing taken apart, we were able to pull it out of the shop, into their yard. They did let us plug in to power, which is great.

Caleb, Ethan and Cameron walked from the bus to the “nearby” Walmart, 3km away last night to get provisions in the pouring rain. By the time they were done shopping, they took a cab back to the bus, with food for the next couple days. Since then, we have been reading books, watching movies, and playing games to pass the time here in the rain.

Cameron barbecued some burgers in the rain for supper tonight, and we realized that we need to eat up our fruits and veggies before crossing the border tomorrow, after the repairs are done. It will be exciting to have a wheel that rolls again!

We thank God for our many blessings, such as a comfy warm (if immobile) bus to sleep, eat, and play in, that the tire coming apart didn’t end in disaster, just a little inconvenience, and that we have each other to be with and pass the time.

Lovely Lethbridge

Wheel Bearing it, bearly!

Well, here we are... on the road... or is it beside the road?

Made it as far as Lethbridge. Heading down into the valley the right tag axle wheel that we had been nursing along since Nanton, totally locked up, sending out smoke behind us.

A call to AMA, and a huge tow truck later, we were at the repair shop, to find out two hours later, that the problem we thought was a brake problem was actually the wheel bearing, toasted. It took quite a bit of work to get it apart.

So we are camped here in the industrial area of north Lethbridge, until Monday when the parts (hopefully) will arrive, so we can pay our bill, and be on the road again. Caleb Ethan and I walked to the Walmart Supercentre that is about 3km away, and then took a cab back with enough groceries to wait out the weekend. It's going to be quite peaceful here, since we have no way of traveling around, so we'll sit, in the rain, and hang out.

That's all the news for now, but I'll add more to the blog tomorrow.

Wooo Hooo!

Happy birthday Caleb! Swizzy 17!

It’s been eventful since we last spoke. Caleb and Ethan and I went with My niece Morgan (who won the tickets!) to the Arrogant Worms concert in Airdrie. It was a blast!
The kids have played with cousins, and been in the mud, the snow, and all manner of dirt. We have been trying to stay out of Grammies way, but not succeeding very well since we have been living in her house. But we do have some news.

Well, it finally happened.

February 26, according to the stamp on the import papers, I brought the bus across the Sweetgrass/Coutts border crossing.
April 25, nearly two months later, I took the inspection report to AMA registries, and the Rubicon was assigned Alberta plate ZTZ 138.
It has been declared fit, and ready for the road (Praise God!!), albeit at 180% of the estimated repair price.

Just a few items to attend to before it’s ready to go south:
1- Webasto (the diesel heater for our heat and hot water) is malfunctioning. It will run fine for a while, and then quit working and drip diesel out the exhaust pipe. It was in to be fixed on thursday, but they seem to have missed something. The service manager at Nortrux seems to have diagnosed the problem, and is looking for parts. We’ll know more on Monday.
2 - Interconnect between the coach (the bus) and the House (the inside house of the bus) batteries doesn’t work, so the batteries for the house only charge off the generator, or if you are plugged in, but not when we drive, rather annoying to have to run the generator when you have loads of excess power from a 270amp alternator doing nothing.
3 - Bunks - we have the mattresses, and the frames, so we need to install our extra two bunks in the bus, so everyone has a place to sleep.
4 - Trailer needs to be cleaned, and have the flooring laid in it so we can list it for sale.
5 - We need to get everything we need into the bus, and everything in its place.

We’ll keep you posted (hopefully a bit more frequently than we have been;-)

In the meantime, here's a short clip of our work towards our first podcast:

Easter Break

Bus Update!

The bus is done it’s welding stint, and has moved on to the mechanical repairs needed.

While it waited to get in to the shop, I installed the water system, so now we have RO drinking water, wherever we go, which is nice, since you never know what flavour of water you’ll wind up with on the road.

It was a fun weekend, with a huge easter egg hunt with all the cousins. A great time was had by all, and many candies were harmed during the production (but no bunnies).

Ethan went and took his learners test this week, and cleaned house, so now I have two chauffeurs to take me from place to place. I can just relax and watch the scenery. Except neither of them wants to drive the bus. That’s all up to me.

Hopefully we’ll hear from the repair shop soon, so we’ll know when the bus will be ready to go, then we can say, “What’s next?”

Welding

I bet you’re soooo happy to be reading another post about our preparation. NOT! Most people are looking forward to reading some posts about where we have traveled, and what we have done, and how our large family has left it’s mark on the geography where we were.

Well, I’m sure we’re leaving a mark, but it’s mostly welded in the psyche of Grammie (Tanya’s Mom) and the other family members that are having to put up with us in close quarters.

And speaking of welding, the Rubicon is in at Keith’s work, being welded on (he put in the first day of work on it today) to get it up to standards for Alberta registration. He has a few more days of work to do by his estimate. Then it’s back to Akitt Mechanical for the rest of the inspection corrections (tag tires, left front suspension air bag, clearance lights, backup lights, more in depth brake lining/drum checks, left tag wheel bearing, and other items) before we can pick it up. Then we do the aforementioned bunk installation and water system installation, and after that we will be more or less ready to go. We were beginning to settle in to the bus a bit, so now that it’s in the shop, and we’re back at Grammie's house again it feels like somewhat of a step backwards. The kids are doing remarkably well throughout all of this, and are adapting to homelessness.

Liam was saying he misses the house last night. When I asked him what he missed, he said “The table”. He liked having the kitchen and dining room tables to eat at, and draw and write at. We may have to find another solution to the cheesy particle board table that is in the bus now.

Tanya seems to be doing better with her tooth/jaw. The dentist had to do some grinding to make the teeth meet properly, so that should take care of the discomfort in a couple days.

All in God’s time. Talk to you soon!

Cameron

Off we go to the dentist again today (poor Tanya)

She's been having pain in the jaw, TMJ, and headaches that started a few days after her root canal, and have been escalating since. We were hopeful it would subside after a few days, but three weeks later, it's still pretty ouchy. So back to Calgary today, to see what is going on with her poor tooth.

The bus is in being inspected, and they found a lot of items that need attending yesterday. They were going to take a day or so to work up a quote for the repairs which include:
Front drivers air bag (suspension)
Tag axle frame
tag axle bearings
back up lights
valve cover gaskets
clearance lights
tag axle tires
We'll know more when they call today what we're looking at for $$

Keep you posted.

Readying Steadying...

Yep, it always seems to take substantially longer than you expect. We have the bus, but the earliest I could schedule the inspection is Monday, so we wait.

I have no idea what the inspection will show, or even what they are looking for. But after the inspection, we will have to make whatever changes are required before we can head out. My fine brother in law Keith made the frames for the bunks, and they are ready to be installed, and my fine brother in law Kurt has arranged for a Reverse Osmosis water system that we will get next week, and install. That will leave geeking out the bus (with computers, and a network, and perhaps a TV and sound system to make it all work together).

The three girls had their hair cut and styled, and we have been on the quest for foamies to add to the top bunks. I’ll post some pictures of the process when I can, and more pictures of the bus for those who want to see it.

See you soon!

Cameron

Ready, Set....

It's here! The Rubicon!

After hours of driving, and much trial and tribulation, the Rubicon is here. Now all we need to do is finish outfitting it, get it inspected and registered in Alberta, and we're off to the races.

Get ready for the start of the Rubicon podcast, coming soon to Mevio! We'll be posting the link here, and everywhere else. If enough people watch it, maybe Mevio will pay us for our Diesel bill (or not)

Thanks to everyone who prayed, and worked, and loaned vehicles, and prayed, and lifted, and cleaned, and prayed, and helped us to get out of our house, and onto the road. More stuff to come soon.... Hang tight!

Tooth and Nail

It's always entertaining when you have a large family, and doubly so when you have small children in the large family.

Abram was following Mom up the stairs as she carried a load of laundry, and fell down the stairs. His brothers rescued him from the bottom of the stairs, and brought him up crying, and bleeding from a large split on his bottom lip.

We stemmed the tide of blood with a cold washcloth, and the little dude calmed down, and ate some stew for lunch. A few minutes after he was finished eating, I looked at him, and thought he looked different somehow.

Then it hit me. "Buddy, where's your tooth?!". A quick search down the stairs found the tooth, root and all, sitting on the step. We placed a quick call to the dentist, and found that he has just advanced himself about 4 years, when the new adult tooth will grow in. So for the next 4 years, he'll be missing his right top front tooth.


It looked pretty strange for a while, since I was used to seeing him with a full set of chicklets, but it's starting to grow on me now.

That was two weeks ago... This past week, we headed south to Calgary for Tanya's cousins funeral, a sad time to be sure. The next day, Liam's birthday, we headed back up to Edson... almost.

As we rounded the curve on the south end of Drayton Valley, with a water truck in the outside lane, and a pickup truck behind us, we met with Mrs. Deer. She was the fourth one across the road, and impacted squarely in the left front of the Suburban. As I watched pieces fly off to the left, I momentarily wondered if it was pieces of meat... but it was pieces of Suburban naturally.

After getting pulled over to the side of the road, I inspected the damage.
-Left front headlight - gone
-Left front signal light - gone
-Grille - smashed to bits
-Bumper- cracked and twisted
-Radiator - pushed back and leaking
-Automatic transmission fluid cooler - crushed and leaking-
-Hood - Bent back at the front
-Left fender- bent and dented
_who knows what else - broken to bits

Well, I guess we're done driving this rig tonight... After calling AMA, and getting the ball rolling on having it towed the 145km back to Edson, I visited with the nice police officer who stopped to make sure everything was all right and to start the accident report. What to do next.

-10C, with a truck that won't run. Could be getting cold soon. We called a cab, to take us in to Drayton Valley. 20 bucks later and two trips (they could only take 6 of us at a time) we were safely nestled in at A&W. Nobody even noticed that Dagmar had chickenpox. We ordered some food for the kids, and I called Pastor Steve to come with his minivan to pick us up.

Problems solved. Whew. Almost.

A few minutes later, a smell began to waft about the table, coming from the vicinity of Abram (2 years old). Poopy. Diapers and wipies were left in the Suburban... great. Kennedy, liam, Dagmar and I headed out to Walmart, just a couple cold snowy blocks away. The sidewalk wasn't bad, but cutting through the deep snow to get to the Walmart parking lot, was a bit refreshing, and Dagmar's shoes weren't going to cut it, so she rode on my shoulders. After getting the smallest bag of diapers they had (still huge by the way) and wipies, I decided that there was no way we were going to get them back to A&W without a backpack of some sort.

So armed with the new backpack, diapers, wipies, and with Dagmar on my shoulders we trekked back to the A&W, changed the bum, and only had a moment or two before Pastor Steve arrived to take us back to Edson.

Now we wait... for I'm not sure how long, before we have wheels again. It's an interesting walk to the the grocery store, and you do have to plan what you're going to buy. But we have many friends and neighbours who are helping us out, and taking care of us, so this too shall pass with much less pain that one would anticipate.

We are so blessed, that Abram wasn't more badly hurt when he fell, that the suburban bore all the damage (well the suburban and the deer, poor thing), and that we are home safely.

You can actually feel God's love through this whole incident, and through his people.

In the words of tiny Tim,

God bless us, everyone.

Morning in New England

What a beautiful Morning!

The sun is shining here on the shore of lake Winnipesaukee, and the fall colours are amazing. It was a warm evening, and we didn't even have to use the furnace in the Rubicon.

Once we pack up camp here at lake shore park, we have decided to head a bit further south, toward Boston. Since the autumnal equinox has come and gone, we realized we've never been to Boston in the fall....

Whoop! Sorry, for a minute there I was daydreaming about how things would be if the house had sold according to MY schedule, and the plan had gone according to MY plan.

We are here in Edson. Trying to keep the house as clean as we can, and waiting for the inevitable offer that will be forthcoming soon.

The German Measles seem to have run the ranks of the kids, (and the Dad) and we seem to be pretty much on the mend. Only Tanya and Caleb have managed to dodge the fever, chills, and spots.

It has been good to be here in Alberta this summer. It has been a beautiful summer, and as a family we have been blessed with a trip out to Kola MB and back through Rouleau and Moose Jaw. We had some great "Beach time" in Cold Lake, Moose Lake, and Pyramid Lake. Tanya and Abram and Elowyn and I had the opportunity to drive the going to the sun road twice (there to Kalispell, and back again).

We were so blessed to be nearby during Jedediah's birth, to meet him, and keep the families spines in tune. To help with pouring concrete in the basement. To be here in Edson for the patients and friends who needed me so much they just had to come see me at home.

So many reasons that we were blessed by God not following MY plan. It has been a season of waiting, and watching God's wonders around us. Wherever we are.

We will enjoy this season, as we look forward to the next one.

Happy Birthday JO!

Sicker 'n a poisoned pup...

Yipes.

First Dagmar and Elowyn, then Abram, Liam, Palmer, Kennedy. The two girls seemed to follow the pattern of German Measles (Rubella), with the fever, and then spots a couple days later. Just a few spots though, on the face and arms for Dagmar, face and diaper area for Elowyn.

Certainly takes the wind out of the ol' sails. Today even I feel sort of tired, and achey all over, and cold. Sheesh. It's quite a roller coaster, but since it's up to God, I'm going to relax and let Him handle it.

Since the last blog, the bus went away again with another offer, and then came back with the offer being withdrawn.

We had a second showing on the house, but no offers yet... soon.

We have to renew our listing too, I can't believe it's been 3 months of waiting.

Ethan, Palmer and I attended a creation home schooling conference. Very interesting stuff. There sure is a lot that they don't tell you in school, and a lot that evolutionists don't want us to look at or study about the fossil record. Fascinating. It was fun and entertaining to have a look at all the evidence for creation, and a worldwide flood.

Well, that's all for now, back to the trenches! Talk to you sooner next time!

A day late and a present short (and slightly off key)

Happy Birthday Diana!

We miss you and Love you! Even Abram sang!

If you read down below, you'll find out why we didn't get to you yesterday. It was an 8 hour trip home from your house to our house.

Tired, and ReTired, and Tired of Tires.

Remember the tire blowout by Eckville?

So we still have the trashed tire on the trailer, hanging where the spare used to be. As we were heading back to Edson, it seemed logical to go to Rocky Mountain House to get a new tire, so off we went. When I stopped to dump the tanks in Rocky, I noticed the left front trailer tire was looking a bit low. We went to Sobey's to get some food for our hungry tummies and after eating, I looked and the tire was now completely flat. ugh.

I unhooked the trailer there in the parking lot, and drove over to Kal-Tire to get an airtank to put some air in it so we could go over and get it patched. After hooking up again, and getting everyone in and buckled up, I wrestled with the tire and air tank, and managed to get about 40 pounds in it. Enough to make it across town.

We drove over to Kal-Tire, and they had a look. The factory tires were pretty much shot. The right rear was in shards over the highway, the right front was replaced in June in Lloydminster, the left front was half bald and flat, and the left rear was bald and cupped but not flat.

The tire guy said it would be wisest to buy three new tires to match the new radial we had on the one wheel. Sounded like the best bet to me, since I had two tires go in the last 100km. They pulled all three tires off, put my spare on the wheel that was somewhat bent from the blowout, and went looking for 3 new radials.

They didn't find any. The tire size I needed were on backorder.

We called ahead to Drayton Valley, and they had 5 tires in stock, so we put 3 of them on hold. They patched the leaking tire, and sold me a used radial that was not the right size but would "work" to get me to Drayton. 2 hours and 50 bucks, and we were back on the road, off to Drayton.

When we pulled in to Kal-Tire in Rocky they had the order in the computer, and I pulled around back to get the tires put on. 40 minutes later, while I was in the front of the building, a young tire guy came up to Tanya with one of the caps from the wheels. He told her they forgot to put it on, but it would take half an hour to put it on... so (I guess he figured she'd just say okay, well forget it then) She said he should talk to me. He came to me in the tire "showroom" and told me they forgot to put a cap on, "Do you want it?"....

Duh. Of course not. Cuz nothing looks nicer than a trailer with 3 matching wheels and one ugly one. Kinda like wearing different coloured socks on each foot - a fashion statement. Actually, I said "that would be nice"... They even had Caleb saying, well Dad and I could put it on when we get home.

Nothing like paying 300 bucks for some new tires, and then having to jack up the trailer, and pull a wheel to put it back together when you get home.

They fixed it. It didn't even take half a hour.

It was quite the trek home, but we make it, and now we have 4 radials with tread and everything on the trailer. We're Stylin'!

Once home, we bathed Palmer, Liam, Dagmar and Elowyn (two separate tubs of water, that was missisipi muddy by the time they got out.) Nothing like a week at the farm to create dirty bath water.

We're home for a couple days, to do wash, and celebrate Mom's birthday on the 13th, and then back to central alberta. We still have Ethan and Kennedy at Whitesides that we'll have to get back some time.

Life in the fast lane... who needs it! It's too hard on the tires!

Baby, Batteries, Tires, and more terrific fun!

More showings on the house this week, and we're off in Spruce View again. The biggest news, is the new baby, Jedidiah James Branson, born on September 8! There are some pictures on our pictures page.

On the trip down, as we neared Eckville, there seemed to be a point where the road got very rough, so rough in fact, that I thought I should pull over and check the trailer. The right rear tire had shredded itself. Ethan, Palmer, Caleb and I got right to work changing it. As I was undoing the lug nuts, it seemed that the hub did not turn at all. I was worried that the bearings had been damaged, until we had the wheel off. The tread from the tire had gone in and wrapped itself around the hub, melting itself into place. It took all three of us pulling, and tugging, and yanking, but we managed to set the tread free, to see that the hub turned freely again. YAY! We put the spare on, got everything put away, and washed up (nice to have a trailer in tow).

I was amazed at how dark it had gotten in the time we changed the tire, and was glad to be climbing back in to the driver's seat to finish our journey. Then I tried to start the truck. Somehow it wound up turned off, but with the lights on, and the DVD player on, and the trailer lights on, and the hazards on, and ... so there was not enough juice to start it. I called Keith, and after a short 20 minute wait, we were boosted, and on our way.

It's been an eventful visit, and I managed to help Keith prep his basement for cement, and helped pour it too. Oh, and there was a baby born too. Jedidiah James is quite the handsome little fellow. Mom (Merryl) and baby are doing fine.

We had to get boosted in the parking lot at Costco. It seems the battery hasn't had enough time to recharge, and after playing the radio in the parking lot while I shopped with some of the kids, it wouldn't start. It was about a 40 minute wait for AMA to get there, but we're back on the road again.

We had some feedback on the home showings, and it seems we are in the top two homes, with two separate buyers, so we should be getting an offer pretty soon (please oh please)

God is sooo amazing. He has kept us safe and sound with blown tires, and dead batteries, and He is healing Palmer. Selling a house is a piece of cake for Him.....

Don't forget to see our new pictures.

Importing your chickens after they've been counted

It's Baaaaaaack.

First the bus was gone, and we began the search for a new bus. An entertaining one to be sure. One fellow, in response to my request for more information, responded with:

"What do you know about bus conversions and what are you looking for? This is a 102" MCI do you know what that is? I'm not trying to make you feel bad, a lot of people ask me about our conversion that don't know anything about them. Then they compare ours to a junk conversion and I'm not interested in getting into that.

I'm sorry if you don't like my attitude and I don't really mean to have one. I converted our MCI with subs working on it and I know what we have but that may not mean a thing to you? I have thousands in this conversion and if you did the conversion through a conversion company it would cost you around $150,000 today. If you did all the labor yourself besides taking years to complete it it would still cost you around $100,000.00.

So if you are still interested in seeing more pictures and more information, let me know. On the other hand if you think I'm arrogant or have an attitude then maybe I'm the wrong person for you to deal with?

So please tell me more about your being interested in a conversion?"

Obviously a very charismatic salesman.

Entertaining to say the least.

Anyway, this morning I received an email from Ms. Nash in Kalispell that the sale of her bus fell through, and it is now for sale again. The people who were buying it were supposed to put 3500 down, and included in the price was an inspection and oil change. They pulled out before

putting the money down, while the bus is in for the inspection and oil change, so she was left holding the bag for the bill and still has a bus. A pretty bad deal for her, but the kids were excited to hear that we may still be getting the "Jungle Bus".

As for me, I believe this is an answer to prayer, since after giving it to God, and relaxing about the bus not being available anymore, He brought it right back into view. Now he just has to sell our house. Perhaps the next post will be all about that!

Still riding the emotional roller coaster, I remain, yours incredibly amazingly,

Cameron (and troupe)

Counting your chickens before they are imported.

Next!

We recieved word yesterday that the jungle bus we had visited, and examined, and pondered over, is now sold. Argh!

You are not supposed to count your chickens before your house sells and you can afford to buy them,... er, that's not it... well anyway, we had plans for this bus. Now we will have to make plans to find a new bus.

Caleb said that God didn't want us to get that bus because it was not the right one for us, so now that it's sold, our house can sell and God can get us the right bus. He's a wise old man sometimes that dude.

The house was shown again yesterday, and another showing is scheduled for tomorrow evening. The offer is coming soon.

In other news, the iMac is up and running again, following some very adept surgery performed by yours truly to replace the internal hard drive. So you can expect our website to be off and rolling again soon, and hopefully some podcasts from myself and the dudes as we prepare for the launch of the Rubicon...

And Palmer tried to open up his cranium on a tree last night, but only put a 1cm split in his scalp. The blood was quite impressive though. Caleb said he looked like John McClean from Die Hard. Rather blood covered.

Well, it's my birthday, so I'm getting out of here, and on to other things!

Dinosaurs and Screaming....

Talk about an ear piercing scream.

Parked at Kure's house and Elowyn came in to the trailer screaming, and covering her knee. She wouldn't let us see it, but said "a bee stinged meeeee" She fell asleep shortly thereafter, and an inspection of her right knee revealed a large swollen bite, and two other bites that were not as swollen.

She was playing out at the front of the house, and when we checked it out we found a steady stream of bald faced hornets going in and out of a crack in the steps down to the basement.

Ah we manage to find excitement at the Kure's even when they are not there.

Over the course of the past week Caleb and I made the trip back to Edson for his last driving lesson (he passed the practical portion of his lessons - YAY!) and we have visited the Big Valley Creation Museum - a must see for everyone. Very educational. We also performed the annual Team Drumheller Tyrell visit. (check out the photos) Because of everyones busy schedule, it was Cameron and Taigen who drove the convoy down to Drum.

Grammie packed us some buns, and chicken, and veggies, so we stopped at WalMart in Drumheller, and bought some cups, ice and juice to drink, and had a little picnic in the parking lot. Then off to the Museum, where we find out that it's only from September to June that homeschool kids get in for free. We then decided we were a family, with 15 kids, and managed to get a 30 dollar deal for all of us to get in.

The kids all had a blast, running around, and checking things out. Everyone had a buddy or 2, and we still stopped about 4 times for a headcount. Afterwards it was off to get some gas for the Sienna, since Taigen was running low, and then back to WalMart for some ice cream sandwiches, etc, and then back to Kure's house (Where the Trailer was parked)

We visited with the Branson's and helped a bit with furniture moving as they prepare to get back into their home.

The only family we haven't seen much of is the Kreil's, so we'll have to make a trip over to visit with them a bit more soon. We did see Katelyn yesterday, as we headed out for home. We stopped for some Ice cream (methinks she gave me the deal of the century) and a little visit with KK before we began the trek home with the trailer. After stopping in Rocky for fuel, dumping the tanks, and picking up sandwich stuff, we headed north.

I thought it would be fun to stop and have a little picnic at the Pembina Provincial park by Evansburg. BAD IDEA. It seems that Saturday is a bit crazy there, and by the time we wound our truck and trailer through all the people and cars, and busses, and trucks and trailers in the parking lot, we were glad to be out of there. We headed into Evansburg and stopped at the abandoned and closed for the season visitor information centre.

Once everyone had their sandwich, I thought I'd go for a bit of a walkabout the place while I ate mine. As I was headed back to the trailer, I looked up and saw Abram grinning at me through the screen door. As he grinned, he pushed the door and it opened, and he tumbled headfirst down the steps to the parking lot. I dropped my sandwich. A few seconds later I had covered the remaining ground to the trailer and scooped him up. No major harm done, just a little shaking up, bumps, and a bruise on the forehead. He was even smiling again after about 5 minutes.

Today we are at the Edson House, doing laundry, cleaning the trailer, and preparing to get out of here again, so that we don't totally trash the house we're trying to sell... still no forward progress on that front.

Well, we know that God is Semper Fidelis!