on the road

our time in roswell was a lot of fun, even if it didn’t go according to schedule. because of a mix up with the church schedule, we ended up getting out to the ufo museum late. but what a fascinating place — as much for the people it attracts (and their reactions to what they see) as for the actual exhibits. our own family came away with a variety of theories about what really happened in roswell, though we all believe that it was more than a crashed weather balloon, and that the government is covering it up. ironically, we just missed the big ufo festival, which happens in a few days! afterwards, we did a bit of souvenir shopping, then ate lunch in the cover-up café, where we were welcomed warmly and ably served. the food was pretty good too, so if you’re ever passing through roswell…

the fun was only beginning, however. after our late start, we got on the road later than planned — in the hot part of the day (about 100f/38c). we were tooling along without a care, north on highway 285 toward interstate 40, when suddenly the van lost power entirely; i was hitting the accelerator, but the engine just seemed dead. i guided it over to the shoulder, but was slightly dismayed. we were well outside of roswell, and still 61 miles from interstate 40; i wasn’t sure how long it would take for help to arrive, and it was a bit warm to be stuck on the side of the road with no air conditioning. thankfully, friends d and c from the lighthouse had outfitted us with a cell phone, and we had reception in the spot where we broke down (not true maybe 10 minutes earlier), so i called aaa to ask for help.

while we were waiting for the tow truck, m suggested that we pray (yeah, i hadn’t really done that — duh). and afterward, she asked me to start the van. it started up, and it was clear that we would be able to drive again. so after a quick call to aaa to cancel the tow truck, we got on the road again, full of praise and thanksgiving. but 20 miles down the road, we broke down again, just outside of a little community called vaughn, which was apparently shut down for sunday. not a great option for getting help. we prayed again, and fired up the van, which started again. after a brief discussion on why God answers some prayers so quickly, while others seem to take longer, we had a longish worship time. as m prayed during that time, it’s ridiculous that it takes a broken down van to get us to seek God earnestly!

this time, the ‘repair’ seemed to hold, and we drove quite a ways without incident. while we were refueling, i found an internet connection and sent off a quick prayer request to our e-mail prayer partners to let them know what was going on. then outside of albuquerque, we ran into a huge traffic jam in the middle of the desert. seriously. to this moment, i still don’t understand why there was so much traffic. part of the problem was road work that had reduced the freeway to a single lane, and we had seen a sign earlier that there was an accident out that way earlier in the day. but i did not expect to be stuck in traffic for 90 minutes, covering a scant 16 miles. many (wiser?) drivers had pulled off the side of the road to wait it out, but we trudged onward, hoping in vain that the jam would clear up sooner rather than later. i had hoped to have us in flagstaff by about 10:30pm, given our late start, but as i type this, we are headed for a 2am arrival [note: we arrived half an hour after that, but it was actually 1:30am in arizona, which is in the mountain time zone (same as roswell), but does not observe daylight savings — an 11 hour trip that was supposed to be just over 7 1/2]. that’s a bit of a bummer, but i’m just glad that the van is running. at least it’s cooler to drive at this time of night. ☺

tomorrow, we will likely sleep in a bit (given the late arrival), then head out to the grand canyon. even after all of those years of living in california, this will be our first look at it. temperatures inside the canyon will prevent us from going down inside, but we will tour the rim and get a good look from there.

i will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

from where shall my help come?
my help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
he will not allow your foot to slip;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
behold, he who keeps israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
the LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
the sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
the lord will protect you from all evil;
he will keep your soul.
the LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forever.
psalm 121