Finne's Follies: July 2020

"...For your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!"

Matthew 6:8

And what we needed was air conditioning! God knew, way back in June, about the heat wave that was coming. It was a cool spring, so we weren't even thinking about dealing with 100 degree weather with a barely operational air conditioner. Still, we made the long tiresome trip all the way back from where we started (more or less) to get our air conditioner fixed and a roof unit installed. And we are so thankful we did. It has been scorching hot everywhere since July, but we are blessed and comfortable with two fully operational air conditioners. It wasn't an especially expensive fix. That fan motor could have died in the middle of the heat wave, leaving us stranded potentially for weeks in extreme heat, but it konked out at the start--a blessing cloaked in a problem. And the second blessing was that, even in the midst of product shortages due to shut down businesses, we were able to get a roof air conditioning unit in time for Ronnie to install it while we were there getting our basement air fixed.

Prep work

The ceiling will never be the same!

Temporary skylight

Putting the unit on the roof

We have air!

I'll get to the third blessing in a bit.

After we left Choudrant, Louisiana, we backtracked a few miles to see the Hoffmans' new house in Shreveport. They deserve a special "Thank You" for allowing us to intrude while they were still in the midst of moving in. The house they bought is equipped with a nice parking pad and 50 amp electric hook-up which we tried out for them. It was a tight squeeze getting in and out through the narrow gate, but once in, there was plenty of room to put out our slides and be comfortable. We had a bit of a surprise when we got ready to plug our coach into their 50 amp plug, however. It was an old-style receptacle, not compatible with our plug. Mark attempted to install the correct receptacle, but ran into problems that he suspected were solvable only by a knowledgeable electrician. So, we ran an extension cord back to their covered port in the back yard that had a 30 amp plug. It was enough to keep us comfortable even in the extreme heat. With 30 amp, we don't have our full cooling power, but it manages to keep the internal temperature around ten or fifteen degrees cooler than the outside temp. We had a nice weekend saying hello and getting a peek at their beautiful new home.

We had about six inches of clearance on each side going through the gate.

Parked at the Hoffmans

After Shreveport, we drove east again and stopped a couple nights in Lake, Mississippi, where my sister lives. We are always grateful for the use of their church's parking lot when we're there. It's dry-camping, but the generator allows us to run the air and our other "glamping" appliances. Since they're out in the country, we could run the generator all night if we needed to-- and we did, at least once.

Now for the third blessing...

When we left the South on our way to Minnesota the first time, we had intended to visit an attraction we had wanted to see since we first heard about it a couple years ago-- Noah's Ark, a.k.a. The Ark Encounter. Unfortunately, the COVID response shut it down and we had to forego. But it has since reopened and we made a point to go see it.

The Ark Encounter is a full-size replica of Noah's Ark as described in the Bible. It was designed using research about ship-building and measurements from what is known about that general era of time. The inside is divided into three stories, and laid out to show potential storage solutions for the animals and supplies that would have been required. It's a fascinating look back at history as told in Scripture. There are many displays that discuss the kinds of animals that would have been present in the Ark, and how it would have easily held the animal "kinds" required to speciate into the many varieties we have today. It even discusses the dinosaurs and dragon legends, and has several window box displays that illustrate what the evil behavior of the time might have looked like ("...every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Genesis 6:5). As you walk through the Ark, it is set up in a sort of time line that takes one from creation to the corruption of mankind and the flood, and from there to the Tower of Babel, which discusses the differentiating of the human race (not races). It is an awesome place and worth visiting if you're ever in the area.

Noah's Ark, God's Design

The bow

The blueprints

(More pictures at the end...)

We also decided to visit the Creation Museum, which is connected to the Ark Encounter, but situated at a different location. Much of the message overlaps, but the Creation Museum's primary focus is Creation vs. Evolution. The goal of this museum is to show that the same information that is used to support the evolution theory actually fits better with the teaching of Creation. If you're conflicted as to which is closer to truth, you'll want to take time to check this place out. It will provide answers to questions that people often struggle with, particularly with regard to our origins and our purpose.

Creation Museum, back patio

Creation Museum beautiful gardens and landscaping

Creation Museum front door

Adam naming the animals

Of course, the overarching goal of both sites is to point people to Christ-- our Creator, Redeemer, and Coming King.

One more thing ticked off the "bucket list."

Now we're on our way back to Minnesota for a few more weeks. We'll be arriving to the home of our nephew and niece (Joel & Beth) in Anoka on Monday, where we'll stay for two weeks. Today we're camped out in a Thousand Trails park-- Yukon Trails in Lyndon Station, Wisconsin. It's more of a rest stop than a destination stop. Our site is 30 amp and has no water or sewer, but we're only here two days, so the full hookups don't really matter.