The Shake Down Cruise..6 more days!

Howdy All!!

The tent is Awesome! This past weekend was full of adventures. Marissa, Chelsea, Elise and I went to Shreveport, LA on Friday night to celebrate Marissa & Elise's Birthday. It was fun but no money was won. 

On Saturday: Mack and I did a shake down cruise, took the dogs and all the gear to Broken Bow, OK and stayed in Beavers Bend State Park!! It was beautiful!! Swimming, hiking, fishing and testing out our gear was a blast to make sure we have everything for the West Coast..BIG Overland Adventure!! The potty/changing/shower tent worked great, we have our own little sink for morning & night and the tent was super comfy!! Mack brought all the right "bright lights" for me to see in the dark and really made camping for us "In Style!" 

The tent takes about 10 minutes to set up. After everything is unzipped it folds open, we hook on the ladder, I climb up and fold out the bedding, hook up the fan, take down the bungee cords and Mack puts the metal rods in the side to make the "window shades." Then "Finito!" It's Finished!! I am so glad Mack found this CVT "Cascadia Vehicle Tent" out of Oregon!! I cannot believe we ever slept in Mack's camper shell after getting this rooftop tent! I'm spoiled now!! 

So it's almost here!! 6 More Days until Mack and I embark on our great Overland Adventure!! Thank you for all who are praying and staying connected as we are about to FINALLY LEAVE!! Stay tuned for more as we finish packing and say "So long for now.."

McGowens On The "6 more days" Move

-Mack and Lauren

Mt. Shasta

Howdy all!!

Guess What?!! The rooftop tent is here!! What an experience JUST the delivery of the tent has been. I can't wait to see what our actual trip will be like!! 

July 14th is quickly approaching!! We are getting the travel stops in order and all the gear in place!! The tent is SO NEAT!!! It folds down and out in less than 5 minutes! All we have to do is unzip and prop up the windows!! 19 More Days until we're On The Move!!! 

   Setting up the Mt. Shasta rooftop tent

      More pictures & videos to come!!!

Thanks for all the prayers and helpful travel tips!!

-Mack & Lauren McGowen 

19 More Days!!! 

God's changes and blessings!

Howdy Followers! 

God has really blessed us with some changes in our lives recently that we want to share with y'all!! As you all know I have been blessed to work at The Stand and it has been a great opportunity!! I have made some amazing friends that have become family and it has been a blessing to have been able to serve them!! So thank you to my boss, Stephan Du Toit and to all who have made this experience a fabulous one but sad to leave! 

But, recently I got the opportunity to become an Assistant Wedding Coordinator at Villa Di Felicita in Tyler, TX!! It was truly something that God has placed in my lap and was all in God's timing!! I have ALWAYS wanted to do this and so blessed for every different job that has prepared me for this moment and it's still so exciting how much more I get to learn!! So with that being said...Mack and I ARE STILL being blessed and able to take our trip it will just be Postponed until July 14th!! Whoop!!

So July 14th is the final date of our trip ;) We still have not been graced with our rooftop tent..so timing has really been on our side even though all of this was not planned. 

Mack has also been very busy in his job, TopDrive Communications and has been going to West Virginia and around Texas lately! It is so exciting to see how far he has come since he first started this business in 2011 and how much it has grown to today! Mack is so smart and I'm lucky to have an adventurous and hard working husband like him!! 

Stay tuned in for next week...when our rooftop tent DOES hopefully arrive and the exciting videos and pictures of our set up come ALIVE! 

Thanks for all the continued prayers and support,

Mack and Lauren McGowen

McGowens on The "July 14th" Move

Delayed...

Hey Followers!

So our expected departure date of the 15th will be delayed a week 1/2 or so. Our amazing rooftop tent just got to Oregon so hopefully we will be gone by the 25th!

But Mack is all mapped out and I of course still need to get all of our stops organized in a folder with dates, open/close times, food stops, etc.

But thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and suggestions! It is going to be an exciting trip!! Stay tuned for route info, pictures and more!!

An estimated 10 more days until departure!!

McGowens On The almost Move,

Mack and Lauren

Eager Beavers

The time is ALMOST here!! Mack and I are planning to leave for Canada a bit earlier than planned but only to make it to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff, Arizona! We leave May 15th!!

http://www.overlandexpo.com

So the route is about finished, back roads and highways, but we NEED YOUR HELP! Where are some Neat & Interesting places to visit, eat, etc. in the Western States?!?

36 MORE DAYS UNTIL WE EMBARK on OUR ADVENTURE!! God has TRULY BLESSED US! 

***Across America for Africa!!***

*UPDATE*

We have changed our donations organization! Our friend's The Ripley's family have an organization called Lighthouse for Christ! They are in Kenya and doing wonders through God's Guidance and Grace! 

ANY DONATION is GREAT!! You can go on their website BELOW to DONATE!

The needs are so great, but you can make a difference in Kenya and the East coast of Africa .Lighthouse provides world-class eye care to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. Over 80% of our the patients cannot afford eye care.Help restore sight to a blind man, woman or child today, both physically and spiritually. Give them back a quality of life that we take for granted.Giving has never been easier!

Fellowship of ChurchesThe "Church on the Roof" took this verse literally! The church work of the Lighthouse now consist of nearly 70 Bible-believing, growing churches which originally sprang from a small Sunday School started in 1969 by Dr. Bill Ghrist in his residence. In 1977 the Church on the Roof was built and since then a large fellowship of churches has developed.The fellowship is directed and led by local national pastors. Each year new churches are being started. The mission's main help now is with newly-started churches and the training of pastors. Our role is not to tell pastors what to do. It is to help them accomplish what they feel God wants done. Annually, we hold Pastor's and Pastor's Wives Conferences. Recently, we have extended these training seminars to all area pastors in Mombasa and the East Coast Province. We also help them with equipment and sponsoring of individual church events.

http://www.lighthouseforchrist.org/

CLOSING REMARKS

If you would also like to "Buy Mack and Lauren gasoline and a sandwich" we are accepting donations. We LOVE Visa cards (Early Birthday or Christmas present lol) 

THANKS & GIG 'EM!!

If you have any suggestions, questions or comments please let us know!! As we get ready for this journey, please pray for safe travels, guidance and the Lighthouse for Christ organization and everything they are doing!!

Onward Bound-

The McGowens

Across America for Africa

WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY?

Well it's official! Mack and I are taking a trip across the western part of the United States. 2000+ miles of back roads through Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, up to Vancouver, Canada, down CR 101 along the coast of California, through Nevada, Arizona and then 40 days later BACK IN TEXAS. We have been talking about this trip ever since my husband bought his new Nissan Titan and transformed it into an office/home on wheels. He is the smarted man I know, prepared for everything and is always looking for the next, cool new camping gadget out there. 

We have our rig set up with a pop up shower, bathroom, changing room, covered awning to eat and hang out in and a camper shell where in every bin are the necessary items to live out of our truck for 40 days. The idea came about during our first year of dating during our trip to Big Bend for Spring Break. We took "Stella", Mack's Toyota Tundra on back roads and one major, Old Ore Road in Big Bend National Park where the adventures began! From there Mack explores every night on ExpeditionPortal.com where the wheels start turning.

WE HAVE DECIDED along our route we are going to stop at different charity organizations and volunteer in different cities to meet new people and give back on this trip that God has blessed us and allow us to take together.

WHERE DID OUR ADVENTURE NAME "ACROSS AMERICA FOR AFRICA" COME FROM?
There is an organization called "The Rafiki Foundation" which Mack has heard from in the past through BSF "Bible Study Fellowship" that we love and would like to support. Rafiki established ten Rafiki Training Villages within the African countries of Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. These Villages provide living, educational, and medical facilities through Rafiki’s four programs: Childcare, Education, Training, and Widows. The Rafiki Foundation sends out qualified professionals to work with African nationals to promote the physical, spiritual, educational, and social well-being of children and widows through its programs.

ON OUR PAGE:
We will have a link you can donate to The Rafiki Foundation. OR we will also have a Mile Donation, where you can donate any amount per mile to also give to The Rafiki Foundation. There will also be a link to the foundation's store if you would like to purchase any of their products.

The Rafiki Exchange is located at the Home Office in Florida and is the retail outlet for items produced by the Widows Program—a program designed to give African widows and impoverished women of the church a means of employment and artistic expression through the making of handcrafts. The Exchange displays products fashioned by the widows from both West and East Africa.

WE WOULD LOVE YOUR SUPPORT!!

PLEASE FOLLOW US NOW and THIS SUMMER ON OUR BLOG "McGowens on The Move" to see what God has in store!

Across America For Africa,
Mack and Lauren

http://www.rafikifoundation.org/

Christmas Family Fun

Well folks another Christmas came and went. What joy it was to spend so much time with family and friends this CHRISTmas season! This year we had 5 Christmas'. 1 with my family, 2 with my dad's side, 1 with my mom's side and 1 with Mack's side of the family. Tyler to Wills Point, to Tyler to Frisco to Bullard to HOME! We were busy bees. It was so much fun!! This season it did not snow that 2 years ago in Frisco but we had fun and so did the dogs.

Mack and I had a fun time putting up our Christmas tree and making our tree skirt (Thank you Pinterest!) we still have our decorations up lol!

Our dog Gerdie That morning Mack and I did our Christmas together. He opened a knife set, candy, movies, a fishing pole & paddle lamp, a jacket and other fun goodies. I got an awesome pair of black UGG boots that I had wanted, an awesome camera holder with arms so I can take pictures from anywhere and other fun goodies! Thanks hubby!

Mack and his Nerf gun!

This picture was at our work Christmas party!! It was all a SURPRISE! So fun! We went to TJC and watched the "Story of the Christmas Star" then went to Showguns and went back to open our presents, these awesome BGCET Ski jackets in the picture!!

We then headed to Wills Point for the Burnett family Christmas! Good food, visiting with family (Caleb & Ari are getting so big!) and opened presents. Before that PAPA (Yes, My grandpa!) came out in a hula skirt & coconut bra from their trip to Hawaii!! It was SOOO Funny! Justin also brought a NEW ADDITION to the family, a SUPER CUTE aussie named BOSKO! He is so cute and Cheyanne had a BLAST playing with him! They ran around at Papa and Gigi's house all morning, got dirty in the mud and chased the horses! It was a fun sight to see!

Mack's family does a White elephant Christmas, Christmas day and it was exciting! The 20 or so family members all picked a number and the games began! One steal after the other, trying to be nice but really we all wanted to steal each others presents lol Mack ended up with a SWEET flashlight that Uncle Hank had brought (thanks to Cousin Jenny!) and I ended up with 2 Mackenzie Childs black and white dog bowls (Stolen from Aunt Mary-sorry Collin) also thanks to Cousin Lizzie! We had fun eating and spending time with each other that Christmas afternoon.

Since then we have been working, playing with the dogs and getting a new one!! She is so cute and tiny! Black, about 4 lbs and a daucshund. We also went to a wedding in Longview for our good friends Courtney & Ben De La Rosa now!! it was so beautiful and fun seeing great friends we hadn't seen in a while!

My Best Friend, Marissa also got married to Jody Lopez! The wedding was at Event 1013 where Marissa works. It was beautiful!! Great to see her family that I haven't seen in a while and good to catch up with them and friends from church in McKinney! We had breakfast that morning, got our make-up done in Frisco at MAC then our hair done back in the Bridal Suite, hung out, got dressed in our beautiful black dresses and Marissa finished getting ready in her Beautiful bridal gown! We took pictures and danced the night away! It was a fun filled night when we sent them away in a white limo to lights from the many sparklers! So thankful Mack got to come and experience this with me also! What a BLAST!!