RVICS Project Completed

It is finished... that is, the Sandy Cove Ministries project with Roving Volunteers in Christ's Service (RVICS). On Thursday, September 21 we all worked our last day of the assignment. My last official task was to complete the team's newsletter for RVICS headquarters. The newsletter highlighted our project's mission and is used to inform the other members of the RVICS family what was accomplished during our time at the conference center. Since I've been writing our blog, I already had much of the needed content available to cut and paste into the newsletter, so I volunteered to create it. The organization also uses the newsletters from the various projects to document the charitable history of the organization for their non-profit status. We truly enjoyed our time working this project with our team leaders, Frank and Melissa Varaso. They set the leadership bar high for the next couple! They're leaving for Talladega, Alabama on Saturday for their next RVICS project in October. God bless and safe travels to our two new friends!

We used our free Thursday afternoon to visit Karen's cousins outside of Baltimore. Susan, Marjie and Lynne are 2nd cousins of Karen's father. Their grandmother is Karen's Dad's Aunt Frances who was a sister to Karen's grandfather Gebo. She has spent time together with them only a handful of times during her lifetime, but because we have kept in touch via email and through other relatives, there is a sweet cousin connection. "I'm always amazed and blessed how family connections can transcend time" said Karen. These 3 sisters are like the Golden Girls....fun and funny! We had the best time catching up on each other's lives. They served us a wonderful meal and we shared a delicious bottle of California Cabernet Sauvignon. We both so appreciate the bond that cousins generate even when we don't spend much time together through the years. God is so good to knit our hearts together!

The weather forecast for the Chesapeake Bay area was predicted to deteriorate due to the approach of Tropical Storm Ophelia, so we packed up the rig on Friday afternoon after having breakfast with Frank and Melissa. Our planned destination was Martinak State Park in Denton, Maryland about two hours south of the Sandy Cove conference center. It was an uneventful journey to the campground. After spending 21 days in one place I was mildly concerned about the drive, but it was like getting back on a bicycle again. We arrived just in time to see rain drops starting on the windshield of the truck.

Our site #33 is a large, flat and deep gravel pad on Acorn Loop with trees all around which is a little disconcerting given the potential for some strong, gale force winds associated with the incoming storm. The campground has made the open ball field available for those that don't want to stay in the trees. We monitored the situation, and it was noisy at times, but no damage to the truck or the trailer.

On Sunday morning I surveyed the loop and did find some large tree limb debris that had fallen during the heaviest rain and wind event. I thank God for His protection and grace. We had hoped to visit Washington, D.C. either Saturday or Sunday, however the weather prevented us from traveling too far from the campground. We made the best of the situation reading and napping. Sunday the weather improved so we visited the Denton Christian Church service at 10:30 AM then returned back to the campsite to relax around a campfire I made with all the wood the storm provided.

Monday, September 25 we will head to back to Sandy Cove to pick up a "special" package and then Tuesday it's on to the Urban Oasis, Greenbelt Park, Maryland. We will be camping ten miles from the Washington Monument!

Greenbelt Park is located in suburban Greenbelt, Maryland just ten miles from the Washington D.C. attractions. $10 for two nights with our Senior NP Pass allows us to enjoy affordable camping, peaceful surroundings in an urban forest with National Park Service hospitality. Greenbelt Park has a 172 site campground, nine miles of trails and three picnic areas.