Unbelievably, our first season full-time RVing is almost done. Our time in Minnesota has ended. We check the map and set the course for our scheduled rendezvous to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity in Silver City, New Mexico. What has taken us three months of northerly movement, we plan to unravel within the next four days.
We pass through North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas in our return to New Mexico. Jude jumped in and drove the coach for the first time. She did a great job controlling the coach in a strong headwind that plagued our journey south.
We rested in Albuquerque for three days before making the dash to Silver City for our build. On the way, we misread a sign and took the wrong highway.
A Rookie mistake
It was a back-road highway that was full of hairpin curves, steep hills and blistering accents complimented with narrow bridges, overhanging trees and rocky barrow pits. In other words, a highway where no RV should ever venture forth! You should have seen the look from passing motorists as they glazed in bewilderment at the sight of our coach navigating this narrow winding pathway!
If we wondered about the engine power of our coach, this wrong turn expelled any doubt. The Banks Power System we had installed at the start of our nomadic travels proved its hype. Not only did the engine have the power to climb those long steep inclines but the stamina to slow our descents. I was ecstatic at how easily this engine upgrade handled that highway challenge. I was grateful for the insight to have the Banks Power System installed at the beginnings of our travels!
Nonetheless, we eventually arrived in Silver City ready for a completely different personal challenge. We were joining other more experienced Habitat for Humanity Care-A-Vanners for the next two weeks to build a three-bedroom high efficiency home for a qualified Silver City family.
The lead team had built 25 Habitat homes, and we join three other couples plus a single RVer from Alaska to build this home. I have operated many power tools but that experience was never focused on the total construction of a home. Jude and I just hope to find supporting roles for these experienced builders.
Over the next two weeks, we find our experience very satisfying. Even with our limited experience, we find ways to contribute. For the first week, I focused on chores that others did not quickly volunteer for. I loved to use the compressed air nail driver but as the demand for it increased, I relished that chore for more hand-it-up, to hold it and a few toss-ups and lifts in between.
Because of all our efforts, we put the construction nearly a month ahead of schedule. After two weeks, the home’s outside walls and roof were in place. It is amazing to see all the pieces and processes that literally must be in place before you can proceed with the next part of the construction.
The agency supervising the construction was ecstatic with the process as it is their very first time they have used Habitat for Humanity for a low-income housing build. And while that is special that they see that level of teamwork and tell us, but the really special part for Jude and I was getting to know the family who would move into this home and to watch the children lay claim to their bedrooms.
We leave Silver City and along with us is a new appreciation of the commitment of these teams of Habitat for Humanity Care-A-Vanners. They come from all parts of our country, with all levels of backgrounds and construction expertise and focus on a project that means so much to people that would never have the financial resources to purchase a home. It is helps you see the bigger picture. It is so humbling.
Tomorrow we return to Arizona. We have come full circle in our first summer of nomad travels. We have seen such wonders. We have learned so much about the nuances of travel. We will now return to old friends, settle down for a winter, and start planning our next adventure.