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 Church Consulting is on the road again in 2005.
The Plan: In the latter part of January, we will travel to the Diocese of Arizona. We will be staying at Butterfield RV Park in Benson, AZ, for February and much of March.
In March, we hope to travel to the Diocese of Rio Grande (New Mexico), to do Presentations to interest that diocese in having a FirstClass Communication System.
Plans after that are still up in the air --- one scenario has us travelling across the US and up the Eastern Seaboard to Nova Scotia to install a FirstClass System, stopping off at the Diocese of Southern Virginia for more Training Workshops. Another has us travelling to the Diocese of Caledonia or the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior to install a FirstClass System for them. Only the Lord knows --- we will enjoy whatever it is.
Diary of our Trip in 2005
January 18th - How come we are still in Vancouver? We should be leaving for Arizona by now, right? Wrong. Sickness managed to keep us home this week. Ron managed to celebrate and preach at Holy Cross Japanese Church on Sunday 16th, then came home and crawled into bed --- and stayed there until Thursday when he got some pills from the doctor. Bev became sick about that time, and the two of us have kept each other company. What a sad case we are.
"But tomorrow is another day." And Monday Jan 24th, Ron picked up the Titanium trailer from Travelhome in Langley, and parked it in front of the house here for loading. Then we leave on Tuesday for the south. Since Tuesday is the Feast of the Conversion of St.Paul, we pray that they Lord will not "surround us with a light brighter than the sun" as we slide down I-5 at 100 kph. And our prayers were answered --- a little sun with some blue sky was nice, thank you Lord --- and no bright lights, thanks. <grin>
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January 25th - We left at 11am, and went through US Customs like a dream. No dog food, no meat, no eggs, no fruit --- and that seemed to be the ticket. "Have a good time" was the word from the Customs Officer. And we will certainly try to fulfil that command.
Down I-5 to Los Angeles, and then onto I-10, through Phoenix, and down to Benson, Arizona, and into our reserved site (112) at Butterfield RV Park. Took us 6 days of hard driving, mostly in the rain, finding RV Parks as we needed them before darkness found us. Ron's cold still hung on, but it is now getting better. However, Sean has been throwing up recently, several times a day. We think he decided to eat his stuffed toy, a duck, and the cotton batting disagreed with him. But so much from so little a dog?
January 31st - our first full day at Butterfield RV Park, in Benson AZ. Did the washing, hooked up the laptop to a full time internet connection, frigged around for a long time with the Satellite Disk until -bingo- it worked, and we have Bell ExpressVu working again, just like at home. Now out to the Safeway to fill up the larder, and to Ace Hardware to pick up a new water hose (our old one is 6 inches too short), a new water filter, and a passage set to replace the one on our bedroom door --- one that had a habit of locking itself a dozen or so times each day, and dared us to open it. We hardly need a locking passage set, so will find one that will fit without the locking mechanism. The original one was made in China, and I can imagine some little chinese worker giggling over a passage set that he knew was going to lock itself,
just for the fun of it.
The weather is sunny and hot --- NOT! We had frost this morning, and though sunny in the morning, it clouds over in the afternoon, with 55F the best the temp can reach during the day. I'll bet it was warmer this morning in Coquitlam! Oh well, it should get better.
The Diocese of Quincy just sent me a note saying that they have decided against having a FirstClass System --- so that is a disappointment, after working with them for so many years. Damn.
Oh well, the washing is done, and the shopping is calling.
February 2nd - The TV news calls today Groundhog Day, but you and I know that it is really the Feast of the Purification of the BVM --- so there. And as usual we said the Office together, with a nod to the Purification. Today is sunny, but each day begins with heavy frost, so you can guess the temp outside. Today, if the sun continues, will be trailer washing day. We did take a course yesterday in the workings of the new 16" reflector Telescope that is an addition to the RV Park. By thursday or friday, we will get a chance to look at Saturn or some of the other planets. There is also a course on Ham Radio, and I intend to take that one as well.
Getting things squared away now. And the cough is subsiding a bit. Bev's trip to the Dentist solved whatever problem she was having, and she is feeling better. Sean has just spotted a pussy cat, and he is raring to go. Don't know that he would know what to do if he ever caught one.
February 3rd - Today, we headed off on a Ghost Town Tour, stopping at Tombstone, then [I to the Snake Ranch, and then Courtland. The latter used to be home for several thousand people, working on a copper mine. Today, there are only a few stone foundations, and the occasional adobe wall. And a concrete sidewalk and jail. The land was dry, filled with cactus, mesquite and dry mountains, reached by driving in 4 wheel drive
over sandy primitive roads. Sean was excited by a small herd of stampeding steers --- just wanted to get out of the truck and play with them. Not for him the gazing at old weatherbeaten buildings and people --- the steers were the highlight of his tour. The weather was sunny and cool (about 9C). We left the tour after 4 hours so we could drive back to the RV park to take in a course on Ham Radio. Quite interesting. The course continues for 8 weeks, ending about Easter. Now, if we can only get the air to warm up.
 February 6th - Last Sunday before Lent, and we are headed this morning to St.Rafael in the Valley Episcopal Church just 3 blocks away. Fr.Bill Johnson is the priest, and being a worker priest, he drives from Tucson to Benson to say mass at 10am every Sunday. He tells us that the Ash Wednesday service is at 5:30 PM on Ash Wednesday coming up. I will prepare a flyer to pin up on the Bulletin Board at the Office to encourage some people from the RV Park to come. It rained all last nice, and looks like it will do so today, though the sun pokes through the clouds now and then. Is this really AZ weather? I wrote to the Bishop of Rio Grande yesterday to see if I can get something restarted there, and have prepared a note for the new Bishop-Elect of the Diocese of the Virgin Islands. It would be nice to help them to get their FirstClass System
running again. There is a 50th Wedding Anniversary after the 10am service today, to which we are invited. And after that? Perhaps we will sit in the hot-tub in the rain. Hmmmm.
February 11th - Our laptop has been in the computer hospital in Tucson for a few days, so we have been offline --- but we are back on again. The rain continues, and is due tomorrow as well. Imagine watching the desert become green. We drove to Tucson on Wed and today because of the laptop problems. The friends we have been making (from other parts of Canada) have now left, so we will look for others. When the weather clears and warms, we can get around to do some more explorations. No msgs from any other dioceses. Most discouraging. However, we did attend the Ash Wednesday Service at St.Raphael's. It was good --- well as "good" as an Ash Wed Service can be. Enough for now.
February 15th - Well Valentine's Day has come and gone. It was a nice day, with sunshine and some warmth, both outside and inside the trailer! The RV Park had a lovely Valentine's Dinner and Dance, which we attended. Very crowded, and quite nice. I took a large bottle of white wine, "Blue Nun", and it was well received -- nice religious wine for a table hat included a pentecostal minister and 2 other pentecostal couples, plus Bev and I. Almost everyone sampled the wine, and pronounced it pleasant. Yesterday, I was pleased to discover that I have been Licenced by Bishop Kirk Smith as a onetime assistant priest for St.Raphael's, to help out when the rector is away. I am pleased at the courtesy. Today we are driving to Tucson and visiting the Desert Museum again --- which we enjoy. It's a cloudy day, and rain is promised by Wed and
Thursday, so we will make the most of today.
February 21st - It has been a pleasant week, though the rain and clouds have continued most days. We visited the Desert Museum again, and enjoyed exploring the Aviary which we had not seen before. Nice lunch there too. And a lovely visit on Thursday to Chiricahua Mountains, with a 5.5 K hike around Echo Valley. Fascinating hike through the towering rocks. Sunday was sunny, just perfect for the visit of Fr.Jack and Joan Tench. They are staying for the month in RinConWest RV Park (as they did last year) and drove down to Benson to attend St.Raphael's with us in the morning. Lunch followed at San Pedro Golf Club restaurant --- it was a good time for sharing and fellowship.
Last week, the Diocese of the Virgin Islands invited us to come to them and restore their FirstClass System, one which we installed 3 years ago, and has not been running for the past year. We are due to arrive there on March 7th, and leave on March 14th, so we are feeling very excited about our visit. That means we will not be staying for 2 months at Butterfield RV Park, but will be leaving on Monday Feb 28th and heading to Atlanta, where we will put the trailer into storage for the week, and put Sean into a doggy kennel as well, before we fly out on Monday the 7th.
Feb 26th - The news from the Diocese of Nova Scotia is discouraging --- though many in the diocese supported the FirstClass System, their Diocesan Council turned it down this week. I suspect that much of the Anglican Church has so little imagination that it believes the church should best communicate with semaphone or tom-toms. I can't personally understand why I continue to believe in and support the Church in improving its communication. I live in hope, when so much of the evidence proves me wrong. We leave here on Feb 28th, heading for Atlanta South RV Park, where we will put the RV into storage, the dog into a Kennel, and on March 7th take Delta Airlines to the Diocese of the Virgin Islands.
March 16th - It has been a while since we brought you all up to date. So let's do it now. On March 7th, we did fly to the Diocese of the Virgin Islands, a beautiful, sunny, blue sky paradise, with green hills, and turquoise waters. The Diocese is spread over at least 5 islands, 2 of which are in the British Virgin Islands and 3 in the US Virgin Islands. Everyone drives on the left, but uses US currency. The people are wonderful, mostly black, and very relaxed. Temps high of 80F to a low of 70F at night. Hard to take?
We were asked to come and bring their FirstClass System up to date (version 8) and then do Training Workshops. Imagine my horror when I found that some idiot (sorry, misguided person) had deleted the whole of their FirstClass software --- and I had to start from the very beginning, installing FC version 8, getting it running on the Internet, inserting over 100 Conferences complete with Permissions, and input about 90 people into the User List. This normally takes a week --- I had to do it in 3 days, working about 11 hours per day. No swimming in warm turquoise waters for us (though we did get into the pool at our Hotel). Then I needed to start them building websites for the Diocese (www.episcovi.org), the Cathedral (www.episcovi.org/~cathedral), and St.Mary's parish, as examples to others. That work is ongoing, for they are not yet
completed. Then we started individual Tuition for the Diocesan Secretary, the Interim Bishop, the Treasurer, the Dean and his Secretary. This was followed by a noon ferry ride to Tortola (BVI) going through Customs, and then doing a Workshop at St.George's Tortola --- followed by a 4:30pm ferry ride to Virgin Corda, and a Workshop at St.Mary's Virgin Gorda. (Yes, these are some of the most beautiful islands in the world, and you might have heard of the Baths at Virgin Gorda --- world famous, we had no time to take a dip, unfortunately.) We ended our Workshop at 9pm, setup the beginnings of a website for his parish (www.episcovi.org/~stmary), and went for supper with a wonderful priest, Fr.Michael Clarke. He trained in the Barbados, did his doctoral work at Trinity College Toronto, and has founded a School beside his Church. Energetic, modest, and very able --- he is also interested in learning FirstClass Administration, and is setting up a parish website. (Though there are only 13
priests in the Diocese, they are mostly capable and energetic. The new Bishop-Elect is Fr.Ambrose Gumbs, will be consecrated on June 11th, St.Barnabas Day; and I spend Monday morning Training him.) The hospitality of the priests and others was wonderful. Both Bev and I were treated with great kindness at all times. I just love that Diocese.
We spent the night on Virgin Gorda, and took an early ferry back to St.Thomas, USVI, where we prepared for an afternoon Workshop at All Saints Cathedral School, in their computer lab.
Sunday, I preached 3 times at All Saints Cathedral, at 6:30am mass (200 people), at 9am mass (250 people), and 11am mass (29 people). Smells, bells, the works. Every parish is like St.James Vancouver, and the teaching is great. People are pretty enthusiastic, and at least 3 parishes have Schools attached.
Whether their FirstClass System will be used and continue to grow is anyone's guess --- but we have done our best to recreate it. I believe it will not be deleted again, since a number of parishes will have their websites on it, and will get pretty angry if the same misguided person tries to harm it.
We flew home to Atlanta on Monday afternoon arriving back at our Trailer (that was in dead storage) about 10pm. Only to find that the frig had gone off ruining most everything --- because the battery was dead, and there was no light. By hitching up the trailer to the truck, and running the engine for an hour, we could run the furnace to heat the Trailer, and have enough light to get unpacked and into bed.
On Tuesday, after moving the Trailer back into a site, and plugging into electricity and water, we headed off to replace our food, and pick up Sean from the kennel. He was glad to see us, but since then has not warmed to us. He spends a lot of time in his kennel in the Trailer, a bit afraid that we will abandon him again. The weather is rainy and cold, with a high of 47F in the day, and a low of about 40F at night. Drizzle all day and night. What a come down after the warmth, sun and 75F of the Virgin Islands.
Today, Wednesday, amidst the rain and gloom, I had a phone all from the Diocese of Southern Virginia, inviting us to come and do upgrading and Training Workshops, over Holy Week and Easter Week. It will be a relaxed and happy time. You will hear from us next, from, Norfolk, VA. Have a Blessed Holy Week.
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Well, we have been in the Diocese of Southern Virginia for 2 weeks now, and been very busy rebuilding their FirstClass System, doing Training Workshops, and installing a new Website for SoVaNet (check out: www.sovanet.org ) We got Sean to a Vet when we arrived, for "Kennel Cough", and he put him on Antibiotics and little green pills. All is well, now that the treatment is over, and he is back to his old self --- though his bark is now a little windy.
We attended Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday in Church of the Advent, Good Friday Stations of the Cross at Church of the Ascension, Easter Day at Christ & St.Luke's Church, and the Sunday after Easter at Grace Church, Norfolk. Quite a variety! The weather has been cool and wet. Yesterday it stormed, and our trailer was left sitting in a great puddle of water and mud. Today is cool but sunny and very windy.
We will be leaving Southern Virginia on Wed April 6th, heading to Mississippi, then if possible to Denver, CO, then turning west through Wyoming, to Oregon, and north through Washington to BC and home. At least those are the plans. Before we leave, we want to visit historic Jamestown Settlement, where the English first landed and set up the Colony of Virginia. We visited Williamsburg 3 years ago when we were here last.
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April 8th - We left the Diocese of Southern Virginia on Wed morning, heading west on I-64. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the drive. We changed to I-81, and headed southwest, for Memphis, Tennessee, and the rains began. We drove through hard driving rain during Thursday, and listened through Thursday night and early Friday morning to the rain pounding on the roof of our trailer. Mud and puddles were the name of the game in the RV Park. On Friday, April 8th, as we rolled into Memphis, the sun broke out again. Turning south about a dozen miles south of Memphis, we were into Mississippi, and the home of Gord and Bea Holland, friends of Bev. There we parked our trailer (on their driveway) and enjoyed a visit with them.
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April 12th - The rain has been terrific. The other night, it rained hard, and continued all the next day. Had no idea it rained that hard and that long in Mississippi. We plan on leaving Wednesday, April 13th, heading for St.Louis Missouri, then turning west through Missouri, Kansas, and into Colorado, for a visit in Denver with Bob and Sharon Reed. At least those are the plans. We will drive through Cheyenne Wyoming, and then either go North to Montana, then turn west through Washington, or turn west through Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Hope to be home in early May.
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April 15th - We arrived late this afternoon in Denver, and set up at the Denver Meadows RV Park. Don't let the name fool you --- no meadows --- the RV Park is completely blacktopped, old, not well cared for, in the midst of cheap houses and industrial land, and definitely overpriced. However, it does have free Wireless Internet (which I am using at the moment) which works now and then. This makes it worthwhile. No cable TV, so tomorrow I will set up our Satellite disk to see if I can pick up Canadian TV. Once darkness has fallen, all RV Parks look the same. The drive here was long and tiring, (400 miles of Kansas can get terrible boring, followed by another 200 miles of the same boring drive, only in Colorado) and we will be in bed by 10am, if not before. Tomorrow we will drive over (truck only) to visit Sharon and Bob Reed,
then do grocery shopping. And on Sunday we will find some Episcopal Church. At the moment, Bev is going nuts chasing ants that are running around inside the trailer. She is tired, but the ants become terribly serious the more tired she gets. A spray of Raid would take care of it all, but my suggestions bare no fruit at this time of the evening.
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April 17th - This morning we attended the 10am mass at St.Stephen's Episcopal Church in Aurora Colorado (part of Denver), reasonably close to our RV Park. It was a good celebration, pretty fair sermon, fair liturgy, delightful hand bell choir and music, and very friendly priest (Fr. Rod Moore) and people. Nice to be there. Yesterday afternoon we visited Bob and Sharon Reed, and this afternoon we will visit Terry Passley and his family. Tomorrow I will phoned the Diocesan Office here to see if I can get a time for a Presentation, and then phone the Diocese of Wyoming for the same reason. No point being here if we cannot do a Presentation. Weather is warm but cloudy. I set up the satellite dish yesterday so we are again watching Canadian TV. That is good. Getting closer to home.
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April 24th - We left Denver last Tuesday morning, heading for the Diocese of Wyoming, to do a Presentation on the FirstClass System. Did it, but no contract. Really nice system, Maybe next September; you know what the Church is like. We gathered up our equipment and headed on to and RV Park in Rawlins WY, for the night. Next day, on to Utah and an RV Park in Brigham City for the night. Diesel is creeping up in price. We paid $2.15 per gallon in Cheyenne WY, then $2.41 in Utah. Then $2.63 in Oregon, and $2.89 in Washington. The greed of the Service Stations is increasing as we go west. Diesel in BC turned out to be 93.9 cents per litre in Canadian dollars. Less than gas, which is opposite to the US, where diesel always has a higher profit margin for Station owners.
On Friday evening, we pulled into a wonderful little RV Park called Icycle River RV Park, Leavenworth WA. Buried in the mountains, it was green grass, trees, nice concrete sites, a chortylling river scampering by, free coffee, WiFi, and lovely managers. One of the best (though on the high side dollarwise). Left there on the Saturday morning, and headed for the border with Canada.
We crossed the border into Canada in early afternoon on Saturday, and headed to Westbank BC, where we settled into a fine place, West Bay RV & Beach Resort. On Sunday, we attended St.Andrew's Church, Kelowna, with Heather and the kids; and then returned to their home for dinner and a happy afternoon. We had coffee with Fr.Jim and Lee Kiddell on Monday morning at our trailer, and listened to their travels around the world. Good time to catch up. Then we arranged to stay longer at West Bay RV Resort so we that we could look for houses, for a possible move to the Kelowna area. Actually found a really nice one, but it was bigger and more expensive than we want. No place for the Trailer either. Oh well, the view of the Lake was great. And the indoor hot tub was lovely. Inlaw suite et al.
Home on Wednesday afternoon, and the end of our Spring Travel 2005. Just over 3 months on the road, January 25th to April 27th. We travelled 15756 kilometres (9848 miles), used 3341 litres of diesel (880 gallons) at a cost of $2442 Canadian, for an average of 11.2 miles per gallon (not as good as I had hoped), over a period of 92 days. We watched diesel rise from $1.94 (US) per gallon to $2.89 (US) per gallon. In Canadian terms, when we left, diesel was 85 cents per litre, and when we returned it was 96 cents per litre. And now you have it all.
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