We have a few stories regarding the good and bad of Global Positioning Systems, or GPS. On our maiden voyage as a team, the Cowperthwaite and Humes families set off from Fort Worth, Texas headed for El Cajon, California. We had contacted some local churches out that way and were excited to help share the Gospel with those who have never heard and also help equip the Christians in that area in the work of evangelism.
As we set out, things looked fine. Sara was 7 months pregnant and not looking forward to the 5 day trip westward, but still we were all in good spirits. We were enjoying the fact that Justin had a GPS in his van, which assured us that we would still be able to get where we were going even if we decided to make a few stops along the way to look at scenery. We did take a diversion from our planned route
coming across Business Interstate 20, supposing that the 19 miles out of the way (on a 1300 mile trip) was not that big of an issue for the chance to see the national parks on our new route. We enjoyed the scenery of this alternate route especially as we were nearing Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The majestic peaks and valleys seemed to burst forth from the otherwise monotonously rolling hills of the region. Everything was going great, until we got low on gas for the vehicles.
coming across Business Interstate 20, supposing that the 19 miles out of the way (on a 1300 mile trip) was not that big of an issue for the chance to see the national parks on our new route. We enjoyed the scenery of this alternate route especially as we were nearing Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The majestic peaks and valleys seemed to burst forth from the otherwise monotonously rolling hills of the region. Everything was going great, until we got low on gas for the vehicles.
As we stopped along the way to discuss our need for fuel, the GPS showed that the nearest gas station was about 38 miles away. That was great, except for the directions indicated that going to that gas station would then reroute us and we would drive right back the same way 38 miles just to get back where we were at that time... only about 1 1/2 hours later. This didn't seem to be the way to go, and so we looked for more options. We found a gas station in a small town that would only divert us 24 miles off course into Dell City, Texas. For those keeping score or trying to envision this in your mind, you will want to check out the map of this location found below. I don't know what all these crop circle looking things are, but let us just say that we were not in Kansas anymore, Toto.
I didn't bother to look on this map to find where the gas station was, and it really doesn't matter because we never had to take the turn, as we found this cute little gas station just before the turn that our GPS did not know about. The sign out front read "Cactus Jelly" and "Gas" which to us was an oasis in the desert, even if it did remind us of a scene from a horror movie. Let us just say that we probably would not have stopped at night, or that I would not be surprised to see the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo pull up behind us.
This is where this story gets a little strange. I have to back up and let folks know that the Humes family is from Warren, Maine as is our family. The Humes family was pulling an old camper trailer. They had left their home in late November, 2008 and had been laboring in the Gospel ever since. Our family had a truck at the time and a 23 year old 24 1/2' 5th wheel camper.
Justin pulled up first to the lone gas pump (circa 1960?) to fill his van. We went inside to pay for the gas and talked to the man behind the counter. As this elderly man sat smoking a cigarette, he alternated between puffing from it and the oxygen machine that sat by his side. We talked for a minute or two, praying that we wouldn't get blown up. Just then the man grabbed his binoculars, which he needed in order to see what the dial type gas pump had dispensed from 100 feet away in the storefront (if one can call it that). The man got very excited as he placed the binoculars to his eyes, noting that we had put an awful lot of gas in the van, but got especially excited when he saw gas spurting out of the van onto the ground. It seems the gas pump has no automatic shutoff, and so we dumped approximately 5 gallons onto the ground. That was not great, especially since this was by far the most expensive gas we had ever purchased. It seems that when you are the only gas station on a certain highway, you can pretty much charge whatever you want.
After pulling up our vehicle and trailer to the pump, we watched a bit closer as we pumped gas into our vehicle. When the tank was filled, we pulled up out of the way as we watched a roadrunner zip by across the salt flats. Both Justin and I, along with our wives and children, had had enough of a thrill for the morning and decided to take an early lunch break. We got into the campers and the ladies prepared lunch while our family sat at the table to laugh about the events of the morning and see God's protection in our trip thus far. We thanked the Lord for the provision of food and began to eat when we saw another vehicle pull up to the gas pump.
The truck pulled up looking just as relieved as we had to find this lonely gas station, and so as I often do, I looked to see where these travelers were from. To my amazement, the truck out here in the desert of southern Texas had a Maine license plate. I had to get up and run out to talk to these fellow Maine-iacs and regale them with the tale of our gasoline needs. Just as I approached the truck, the man stepped up to the gas pump and saw me coming. Seeing the Maine tags he was checking us out also, and then he spoke, "Mark, right?" I nearly dropped to the ground when I recognized the man walking towards me. Scott was a social worker for one of our foster children a year before, and with his girlfriend and two dogs along for the ride, had left Maine within days of the Humes departure. Scott and his wife had been in Fort Worth, Texas (as had we) and were headed to San Diego, California area (as were we) when they checked their GPS for a gas station and ended up where we were. They had also counted the cost of skipping the 38 mile trip both ways for gas that would detour them, but had not found the station in Dell City.
This is where things get really funny....
As we talked about how we knew one another, and why we were in Texas, headed west, Scott shared his story. It seems that Scott's girlfriend worked at the Silver Lane Bistro in Warren. This little bistro is about 100 feet from Justin's recently vacated house, which was for sale. Before being laid off from his job, Scott had considered buying Justin's house, and to top things off we noted the license tag numbers from Justin's camper. Scott's plate was only differing by the last number of the tag, and then only the last digit varied in that it was a 9 instead of an 8. It seems to me that Justin and Scott might have been in the same building when licensing their campers back in Rockland, Maine a few months prior.
In summary, I have to mention a few more cool things about this story. When Scott got about to the full mark on his gas gauge, the pump ran dry. We had run the station plum out of gas, these 3 Mainers with their campers in tow. The man inside was not worried, as he told us, because he didn't really work there anyway. You see, he was just volunteering today as his friend had a dentist appointment "in town" and someone needed to stay at the gas station and sell the cactus jelly to all these crazy tourists from Maine.
Regarding how Scott remembered me, that is also a funny story. We had 3 siblings in foster care, and often they went to their grandmother's house on Sundays as they did not want to go to church with us. Due to a schedule conflict, one Sunday the kids all went to church with us. In what I recall to be the only Sunday morning when Eric Hall showed a video to the Christians at Grace Fellowship Bible Chapel, these 3 got to watch a movie called "The Star of Bethlehem". I had been called in to a meeting with the foster care workers involved, and was questioned and accused of forcing religion on these kids. In my defense, I simply stated that we didn't even have preaching that day, but just watched a movie. In a discussion after the meeting, Scott had asked me about the video and I gave him a copy to take home and watch. I don't know if Scott ever watched the film, and he didn't seem open to the Gospel at our desert gas station meeting, but we surely enjoy telling the tale for those who are willing to listen and laugh with us.... or at us, whichever you prefer.
Just another day in the Gospel Van for the Cowperthwaite family...
