The Adventure Begins
I left Jackson on July 19 in a truck that was way too big for what I needed. The people at Budget had no available 10 foot trucks and offered me a free upgrade to a 15 foot truck at no extra cost. Great! Even the 10 footer would have been too big, but the next smaller size van would have probably been too small. In any event, with the help of several friends, we loaded up my stuff into the truck and I was on my way.
Leaving Jackson was a strange feeling. After three years of hard work and study and the development of strong friendships, I was both anxious to leave and reluctant at the same time. Heading home to help plant a church in Queens was an exciting prospect, but part of the nature of church planting is a degree of ambiguity which can be quite frightening. Nevertheless, I knew that several churches and individuals were supporting me both financially and prayerfully, so off I went.
My first stop was at the home of David Dobbs and his wife Helen. David was my roommate at RTS my first year and is now serving as a Youth Pastor at Graceview Presbyterian Church in Southaven, MS, just outside of Memphis. Helen prepared a nice dinner for us and the conversation ensued between me and David (both of us are quite chatty).
I did break it up with a visit to the home of J.K. Baddley, a godly railroad worker who also lives in Southaven and had heard me preach a few times at First Presbyterian Church in Water Valley, MS, a church to which he has close ties and has "adopted" me as one of its own. It was good to fill him in on my plans. We prayed together and he promised to keep me in his prayers as I traveled and settled in to my new life in Queens.
Helen packed me a great lunch the next morning and I ventured to my next destination of Oak Ridge, TN. This trip took me clear across the state, but it was a pleasant and scenic drive. By late afternoon I arrived at the apartment of Jason Gregory. Jason had been my more recent roommate at seminary and had moved a week earlier to Oak Ridge where he is now working as a Ministerial Intern at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Because it was now Wednesday, the church had a fellowship meal and hymn sing scheduled. This saved Jason the trouble of cooking for me (we generally don't eat the same kinds of foods anyway... Jason eats healthy stuff; I eat whatever is available). It was nice to fellowship with Jason and meet the people in his church as well.
The strangest thing about this part of the trip was the furniture issue. You see, Jason owned most of the furniture in out apartment in Jackson and had taken it all with him when he moved out a week earlier. While this made my last week in Jackson a tad strange, it was equally strange to see the couches on which I had been sitting for the last few years in a new context. In some sense, I felt like I was back in Jackson. In another sense, because of the layout of Jason's place, it was clear that I was not. Well, enough about that.
After my stay with Jason, it was off to New Cumberland, PA. Bob and Dottie Wickliffe, long time family friends of mine, had moved there a few years ago, and in God's providence, they were on my way to New York. Their daughter Bonnie and her husband Dave and their children live across the yard from them, so this stop would enable me to visit several old friends at one stop. Getting there, however, became an adventure by its own right.
My plans were to arrive at their house in time for dinner. I left Oak Ridge early enough to do just that. Interstate 81 travels Northeast along the western border of Virginia. A direct route to PA, several hours of the trip are spent in Virginia (It may be helpful for you to get a hold of a road atlas at this point. I'll wait while you find it. Okay). On the map, you'll notice that after traveling several hundred miles in Virginia, the road goes through two gooseneck sections of West Virginia and Maryland. The total time spent in these states (if traveling the speed limit) should be less than an hour. Well that's not what happened.
Apparently an oil truck had spilled its payload all over the highway in Martinsburg, WV (Do you see Martinsburg on the map? Good). As a result, the highway was completely shut down while the cleanup took place. The problem for me was that where I had stopped was between exits and the traffic had come to a complete standstill. I was trapped on a closed highway with no options.
I called the Wickliffes on my cell phone to inform them that I was stuck in traffic in West Virginia so they wouldn't worry about me.
Making a long story, short, the highway finally opened up two and a half hours later. By the time I started rolling, I was supposed to be at the Wickliffe's home enjoying dinner. They were nice enough to save me food, and a microwave oven came in quite handy so I wouldn't have to eat cold food.
It was nice to visit with them, though my time was somewhat abbreviated due to the traffic. Now I would be off to my final destination, New Hyde Park, NY.
That's right, I said New Hyde Park. You see, I had made arrangements with a former co-worker to stay with him at his house in a Long Island suburb, just east of Queens. Though NYC was only about 200 miles from New Cumberland, I now had to calculate metropolitan New York traffic into my travel plans.
This time I figured my travel time with great precision. The challenge began once I crossed into New Jersey as traffic increases there dramatically. Tolls on the Outerbridge Crossing to Staten Island added time to the trip as did traffic approaching the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Long Island Expressway each presented traffic typical of what I remembered from growing up here.
Arriving at the home of Peter (my former co-worker) and his wife Joan around five o'clock, I was able to unpack the contents of the truck into his garage and enjoy a pleasant dinner with them.
Now came the challenge of navigating the New York City real estate waters. This was the next stage of the adventure which, because my hands are tired from typing, will be the subject of my next entry.
Leaving Jackson was a strange feeling. After three years of hard work and study and the development of strong friendships, I was both anxious to leave and reluctant at the same time. Heading home to help plant a church in Queens was an exciting prospect, but part of the nature of church planting is a degree of ambiguity which can be quite frightening. Nevertheless, I knew that several churches and individuals were supporting me both financially and prayerfully, so off I went.
My first stop was at the home of David Dobbs and his wife Helen. David was my roommate at RTS my first year and is now serving as a Youth Pastor at Graceview Presbyterian Church in Southaven, MS, just outside of Memphis. Helen prepared a nice dinner for us and the conversation ensued between me and David (both of us are quite chatty).
I did break it up with a visit to the home of J.K. Baddley, a godly railroad worker who also lives in Southaven and had heard me preach a few times at First Presbyterian Church in Water Valley, MS, a church to which he has close ties and has "adopted" me as one of its own. It was good to fill him in on my plans. We prayed together and he promised to keep me in his prayers as I traveled and settled in to my new life in Queens.
Helen packed me a great lunch the next morning and I ventured to my next destination of Oak Ridge, TN. This trip took me clear across the state, but it was a pleasant and scenic drive. By late afternoon I arrived at the apartment of Jason Gregory. Jason had been my more recent roommate at seminary and had moved a week earlier to Oak Ridge where he is now working as a Ministerial Intern at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Because it was now Wednesday, the church had a fellowship meal and hymn sing scheduled. This saved Jason the trouble of cooking for me (we generally don't eat the same kinds of foods anyway... Jason eats healthy stuff; I eat whatever is available). It was nice to fellowship with Jason and meet the people in his church as well.
The strangest thing about this part of the trip was the furniture issue. You see, Jason owned most of the furniture in out apartment in Jackson and had taken it all with him when he moved out a week earlier. While this made my last week in Jackson a tad strange, it was equally strange to see the couches on which I had been sitting for the last few years in a new context. In some sense, I felt like I was back in Jackson. In another sense, because of the layout of Jason's place, it was clear that I was not. Well, enough about that.
After my stay with Jason, it was off to New Cumberland, PA. Bob and Dottie Wickliffe, long time family friends of mine, had moved there a few years ago, and in God's providence, they were on my way to New York. Their daughter Bonnie and her husband Dave and their children live across the yard from them, so this stop would enable me to visit several old friends at one stop. Getting there, however, became an adventure by its own right.
My plans were to arrive at their house in time for dinner. I left Oak Ridge early enough to do just that. Interstate 81 travels Northeast along the western border of Virginia. A direct route to PA, several hours of the trip are spent in Virginia (It may be helpful for you to get a hold of a road atlas at this point. I'll wait while you find it. Okay). On the map, you'll notice that after traveling several hundred miles in Virginia, the road goes through two gooseneck sections of West Virginia and Maryland. The total time spent in these states (if traveling the speed limit) should be less than an hour. Well that's not what happened.
Apparently an oil truck had spilled its payload all over the highway in Martinsburg, WV (Do you see Martinsburg on the map? Good). As a result, the highway was completely shut down while the cleanup took place. The problem for me was that where I had stopped was between exits and the traffic had come to a complete standstill. I was trapped on a closed highway with no options.
I called the Wickliffes on my cell phone to inform them that I was stuck in traffic in West Virginia so they wouldn't worry about me.
Making a long story, short, the highway finally opened up two and a half hours later. By the time I started rolling, I was supposed to be at the Wickliffe's home enjoying dinner. They were nice enough to save me food, and a microwave oven came in quite handy so I wouldn't have to eat cold food.
It was nice to visit with them, though my time was somewhat abbreviated due to the traffic. Now I would be off to my final destination, New Hyde Park, NY.
That's right, I said New Hyde Park. You see, I had made arrangements with a former co-worker to stay with him at his house in a Long Island suburb, just east of Queens. Though NYC was only about 200 miles from New Cumberland, I now had to calculate metropolitan New York traffic into my travel plans.
This time I figured my travel time with great precision. The challenge began once I crossed into New Jersey as traffic increases there dramatically. Tolls on the Outerbridge Crossing to Staten Island added time to the trip as did traffic approaching the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Long Island Expressway each presented traffic typical of what I remembered from growing up here.
Arriving at the home of Peter (my former co-worker) and his wife Joan around five o'clock, I was able to unpack the contents of the truck into his garage and enjoy a pleasant dinner with them.
Now came the challenge of navigating the New York City real estate waters. This was the next stage of the adventure which, because my hands are tired from typing, will be the subject of my next entry.
posted by Jack at 4:02 PM
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