The spring schedule is now in full swing.  We are now firmly ensconced in our new trailer (woohoo!) and on the road for the next several months.  We are rejoicing in the blessing of our new trailer and the relative ease of living in it after being in such close quarters for most of last year. While we were extremely grateful for the “little trailer” as we affectionately called it, having six people in a 29’ camper for the better part of nine months was a little taxing at times.  Especially when several of those people are not the neatest roommates.  However, we all survived and were practically dancing with joy when our new trailer finally made it into our driveway last December.  We all have a little space to ourselves, now, and best of all, we are back to a 12-gallon water heater once again (the little trailer had a 6-gallon tank, and I took WAY too many cold showers last year)!  We are all happy campers about that particular feature.

This week, we began our first extended time in the new trailer.  Heading out of Mississippi, we stopped in Jackson, the state capital, where we met a pastor and stayed overnight in his church parking lot.  He took us on a small tour of Jackson, which was saddening to say the least.  The city’s infrastructure is collapsing, and the people who live there have very little means of supporting themselves.  Hence, many turn to a life of crime.  I don’t remember the last time I have seen so many buildings with fences, windows with bars, and parking lots surrounded by razor wire.  It was a teensy bit scary, to be honest.  Jackson is the fourth most violent city in America, ranking fourth in the number of murders per capita in the country.  It is a dark place in need of the light of the Gospel. Pray that God would send laborers into this very needy field!

As we pulled out of Jackson this morning, we headed west.  it wasn’t long before we needed to fuel the truck.  Paul pulled off on an exit that advertised fuel, and began driving in search of the promised gas station.  It was nowhere to be found.  You must understand that pulling a fifth wheel through an unknown area, looking for fuel has to be one of the most stressful situations.  The streets wind and curve, the lanes narrow, and the chances that you will get stuck in a small parking lot trying to turn around increase the further you go.  After we decided that the fuel sign was just a cruel hoax, doubtless an attempt to lure unsuspecting motorists into the labyrinthine innards of the city, where they can be mugged, we spotted a large (this is good) parking lot in which we could easily turn around.  Things were looking up, in spite of the Great Fuel Hoax.  We turned around and pulled onto the street, heading back toward the interstate.  The truck seemed to be struggling up the hill, and with dread in his voice, Paul pulled to the side of the road and asked me to get out and see if the trailer brakes were locked up.  Sure enough, they were. 

I must insert a small bit of trailer trivia here.  Fifth wheels are designed with an emergency cable that runs from the trailer hitch to the hitch pin in the back of the truck.  The purpose of this cord is, in the event that your trailer becomes disconnected from your truck (very bad luck), the trailer brakes immediately lock, which keeps the trailer from careening into anything at a high rate of speed.  Apparently careening into objects at a low rate of speed is far superior, in the minds of the trailer manufacturers, provided one is not rear-ended by a tractor and trailer speeding up from behind.
In a strange and weird twist of trailer luck (this is usually bad luck, for the record), the emergency trailer brake cord had gotten pinched in the hitch and pulled the emergency pin out of the trailer.  To make things worse, we could not get it out!  We were finally able to get the brakes unlocked by plugging in the pin, but we could not make any turns without pulling the pin out again.  Paul pulled along the road until we could get partially in a parking lot, and we had to detach the trailer in order to release the pressure on the hitch enough to get the cord out from between the hitch and the base.  No one stopped to help, but perhaps they were a little nervous when they saw two people on the side of the road, one with a roll of duct tape in his hand, and his companion wielding a small crowbar. Thank the Lord we were able to remedy the situation with very little loss of time.  And, yes, duct tape, once again, really did save the day.

After this little incident, we had another one that actually did some damage to the trailer.  Thanks to a clueless motorist, who instead of allowing us to merge onto the highway lane (I say lane because there was only one due to alleged construction), sped up and blocked our entrance, forcing us to run over a very substantial construction cone/tower.  This striped ziggurat flew under the truck and hit the front panel of the trailer right next to the landing gear, crunching the fiberglass and crumpling the metal trim.  There was nothing to be done, so we drove onward, ruing the day that Cracker Jacks started issuing driver’s licenses. 

All told, it was a fairly good day, in spite of all the difficulties. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s services.  Pray for the family.  We are dealing with sore throats, sniffles, and general malaise due to not feeling well this week.