It's called "Renewal", not "Retirement"

Melissa and I are about to conclude our second retirement and reenter the work force.  Melissa is now enjoying her new job as Guest Services Manager at the Highland Lake Inn in Flat Rock, NC and I just completed my second interview with UPM Raflatac, a label stock manufacturer in Mills River, NC.  Both jobs are local and offer the income and benefits we will need to survive this economy.

Retirement is a wonderful, perpetual vacation, but too costly for us to sustain.  The alternative is to live just above the poverty line and subsist on a lower standard of living.  I am not a penny pincher and love life too much to stay at home all the time.  Some will say I made bad decisions in life, but I have no regrets.  Our lives are renewed day by day and I have always believed in renewal and not retirement.

I agree the best things in life are free and I know God supplies all my needs, but I have yet to find the word "retirement" in the Bible.  God supplies our needs through opportunities which we must receive by faith.

Consider these five statistics:
•The average retirement account balance for those nearing 65 is only $12,000. (National Institute on Retirement Security)

•40% of baby boomers now plan to work until they die. (AARP)

•36% of Americans say they don’t contribute anything at all to their savings. (CNBC)

•87% of adults say they are not confident about having money for a comfortable retirement. (Lifehappens.org)

•The expected retirement age is up to 67 from age 63. (Zero Hedge)

There will always be work to do for mankind.  We are to labor by the sweat of our brow until we return to dust.  It is part of the curse for sin that began in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:19).  The blessing is to do work you enjoy and have the talents to do well. 

Every station in life, every job, every profession is a calling from God.  He gives unique talents and opportunities to each of His children and places them into an arena for Christian service.  I believe this to be true.

Looking back, some of my greatest opportunities and influence in life were not in church, but on the job.  Interaction with other people, ordained by God, so that He might touch their lives in a special way.  A man once told me it would be wrong for me to go into "full-time" ministry, leaving my job behind, because someone like him would never have met someone like me.  That was a humbling and eye-opening conversation. 

Christians don't need to hide behind the four walls of a church waiting for someone new to come in, but they are called to go out into all the world and demonstrate the good news.  Jesus made disciples by inviting them to "Come and See."   They followed Him, "hanging out" with him, talking, eating, travelling with Him.  They found something powerful and wonderful living inside of Him.  He was not a hypocrite, acting one way in church and another way at home.  He was the same all the time.

People are looking for the reality of God in a living person.  Someone who is "good news" and not "bad news."   Someone whose presence brings a breath of fresh air, filled with laughter, love and peace.  They don't want a condemning, judgemental person who hates their life and everybody in it.

Well, I guess I have gotten too "preachy" in this blog.  Something I don't want to do.  That is for better men than me.  But, take heart, the future is going to be bright.  It will be filled with the brightness of our Lord's coming.  Then the "government will be upon His shoulders" and everything will be right in this world. 

"Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus."

Mountains Majestic

We ventured east to find waterfalls and beautiful fall colors.  Our 2002 Tiffin Allegro lumbered down the highway through S. Louisiana and ended up in the French Quarter RV Resort in New Orleans, LA.   We enjoyed dinner that night with our daughter and celebrated her new job at an architectural firm.  So glad she is doing well in NOLA. 



Here is Joanna with her new boyfriend.



Just kidding Joanna







We strolled past Jackson Square, Cafe DuMonde, the Farmer's Market and ended up at Jimmy Buffet's restaurant.  I talked to Louis Armstrong on the way.

After stopping in New Orleans, we drove to Harrisburg, NC to see the Bank of America 500 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC.



The night race at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 13, 2012.

I was pulling for Jeff Gordon 24



Melissa likes Carl Edwards 99




Clint Boyer 15 won the race.  Carl Edwards came in 7th and Jeff Gordon was 18th.



While in Charlotte, we visited the Hendrick's Race Shops and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. 





#24 and #5 Shop



Wall of trophies!





#48 and #88 Shop



I also visited the museum and gift shop to add to my Jeff Gordon collection.  I saw Gordon's winning Daytona 500 car which was sponsored by my company- DuPont Dow Elastomers.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte was great.  We not only saw all the exhibits, but Melissa and I got to ride in simulator stock cars and practice qualifying and a race.  Melissa beat my qualifying time and also came in ahead of me in the race.  I took it kind of hard.



Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500.





Melissa rode in her favorite drivers' race car.



We left the Charlotte area and drove west on I-40 into the mountains.  This has to be one of the prettiest interstates in the country.  We stopped at a rest area for lunch and I took some pictures.

Everything was going great until we reached Asheville, NC.  We planned to visit the Biltmore Estate again, but our 10-year-old RV started having problems.  The Auto Parking Brake failed and engaged while we were driving down the highway.  To avoid burning up the brakes we had to immediately pull over.  We went to several places before ending up at Camping World to see if it could be repaired. 



 I went to the service department to ask if they could repair the parking brake.  They checked and said it would take up to five days to order the part and fix it.  I didn't know if this was under our current warranty since it was the second time in a year this had happened.  We also had a "check engine" light come on and off and the plumbing had leaked under the flooring while in Charlotte.  I guess the old girl had seen her better days.

Melissa had other plans.  We had been talking about getting a "newer" RV before we made this trip, but couldn't find what we wanted.  Melissa wanted another Class C RV which is smaller and easier for her to drive.  As we drove into the Camping World lot, she spotted something that took her breath away.

It was a 2013 Itasca Cambria that had just been delivered.  It had a full body paint job called "Silver Rush" and she rushed over to look at it.  By the time I found her she already had a salesman showing it to her.  I was impressed with the RV because it had all the optional equipment we wanted and more, but I didn't think we could possibly purchase it on our fixed income.

The Camping World in Katy, Texas was looking for an RV for us and calling us daily with updates.  However, they wanted to sell us a large Class A model which we didn't really want.

Well, we obtained a good price (approximately 20% off retail) and a good price for our trade-in.  Wells Fargo, our bank, decided to finance it and in just three days we were loading it with all our stuff and driving away towing our matching silver Jeep behind it.  What a miracle!


2002 Tiffin Allegro next to our 2013 Itasca Cambria.

 During the three days in Fletcher, NC we stayed at Rutledge Lake and visited one of the many wineries in NC.  The Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards is one of 114 wineries in North Carolina.  This is a booming industry for the state because the mountain altitude and the climate are idea for growing grapes.



Rutledge Lake in Flether, NC.

 

St. Paul Mountain Winery




















Melissa had to take my picture as evidence.



We needed some therapy!!!!



 

We drove to Waynesville, NC which is the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and stayed at the Pride RV park.  During our stay we drove through the mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway, hiked up to waterfalls and visited Brevard, NC.  We had a great time.

Brevard, NC was a charming little town.  DuPont had a plant there manufacturing X-ray film until five years ago.  It is now gone.  One of the rare attractions in Brevard is the population of white squirrels.  The town has a white squirrel festival and we visited a store dedicated to the little furry animal.



Brevard's famous resident


 The waterfalls were the highlight of our trip.  Psalm 42:1 says "deep calleth unto deep, at the sound of His waterfalls."  It is always a spiritual experience for me to hike up to waterfalls and hear the roar of the water long before I see the white water and the majestic mountain cliffs.  Brevard is in Transylvania County where there are over 200 waterfalls.  It called the "land of waterfalls."



Look Glass Falls



High Falls in DuPont State Park



One day we drove back to one of our favorite parks in North Georgia.  It is called Unicoi State Park.  It has a triple waterfall and we used to hike up to it when we lived in Georgia.  It was a wonderful and sad memory.  We miss the mountains so much.

The last day of our vacation, we travelled the Blue Ridge Parkway into the Great Smokie Mountain National Park.  We saw a herd of elk near the visitors center and visited an old grist mill where they ground corn meal.



Mountain Man



  

Old Farm House


 

Grist Mill

A trip to the Smokie Mountains wouldn't be complete without a trip to Cherokee to see the Indian reservation.  Plenty of tourist shops and other unusual things to see.  We got to see bears (in captivity) and feed them apples.



Half Cherokee, Half Savage



We ended a perfect day with eating at a local restaurant that always offers North Carolina Rainbow Trout.  We also had their famous blackberry cobbler for dessert.

The drive home was smooth and uneventful.  What a great RV.  We arrived home tired, but happy.  Our wonderful neighbors, the Aguilars, greeted us with hugs and told us how much they missed us.  It is good to be home again.

I hope you enjoyed the trip.  We will invite you to come along next time we venture out into the wilds of nature.  We love you all.