Happy New Year

To everyone who has been following the blog, thank you!  I appreciate your support and want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and blessings for the New Year.

The long vacation was nice, but it is now time to get back in the swing of life.  The Christmas season is filled with joy and also with business and stress.  Each year we try to remove more of the latter and remember the gift of Christmas.

For the last seven years we have been blessed to be a part of the White Pine Community Church and each year we have a Christmas performance.  The children bring Christmas to life a little bit differently each time. If you think there is only one way to see the Manger, think again.

This year the drama was "A Manger In Town."  Can you imagine anyone being so bent on ending Christmas traditions that they would sue the town for erecting a manger at the town square?  Well, even though it was just a play, in truth it is happening all over the world.  It is time to take a stand.  We need to be less politically correct and more Biblically correct.  And most important, it is time to teach our children how valuable and important it is to place God first in their lives.  Our Christmas and Easter programs offer just a short role-play for the kids to experience the true meaning of each season.  I am grateful to be a part of bringing Jesus to life for the children and all who attend.

Following the program we gathered with friends and family at our home to celebrate.  Jay, Katie and David joined us and it was wonderful to watch David open his gifts! This year we had to wake Karsten Christmas morning for the very first time:(

For the last three years we have spent Christmas day at the potluck dinner for the White Pine Community.  It is a great time for fellowship and the celebration of life.

We now head toward 2011.  Many make resolutions, most of which end up broken.  I too, hope to do better in my everyday living, including exercise and diet!  But most importantly, I hope to grow even closer to God each day and spend some time throughout the year sharing my thoughts through this blog.

Please feel free to leave your comments or email me!

Blessings always!

One Journey Ends...Another Begins

I know this is very late.  But, I wanted to at least wrap up our trip for all who followed.  In the last post, we were at Julie's in Illinois after two very long days of driving.  After a wonderful holiday weekend, we headed to Fort Wayne, Indiana.  The drive was uneventful.  We spent four days visiting with Rick's Dad, our Kate, and our friends.  It is always great to go "home".
 

A big thank you to the Huffman's who once again provided a great meal and great fellowship.  We always enjoy our visits!

It was also great to see the Sherwood family, even if the visit was short.

A special thanks to Suzie for rearanging her work schedule to spend the day shopping with me!  And the gift wrapping class was fun too!  Sure miss our regular outings.  But I always look forward to the time we share when I can make it to the Fort.

It was also wonderful to see our daughter Kate, happy and healthy. 

So, our beginning to the holiday season was terrific!

On December 3 we began the trek back to Michigan.  North of Lansing the weather took a turn.  Snow, sleet, ice, rain...we just passed the sign that read "Bridge may be icy" and a small sedan tried to pass a car in front of us.  Tried being the operative word.  As he fish-tailed back and forth and then went into full spin, Rick (with help from above) maintained control of our vehicle and managed to avoid a collision.  The other car?  He ended up driving backwards along the guardrail.  But, thankfully no one was injured.

We were able to cross the bridge and the weather was good.  Just about Munising the storm reappeared.  But driving in the UP is a whole lot different than driving anywhere else!  And you just can't beat the beauty of our snow!  We drove to Marquette and hunkered in for the night. 

Saturday we attended the big craft show at the Superior Dome and then made our way home.

The end would be blissful if not for the fact that our water heater had sprung a leak and the sump pump was pumping fresh water right outside!  No hot showers tonight.

With all crisis avoided and replacement parts on the way we are home safe and sound.  The total trip was about 8,700 miles and we had a great time!  We met some great people, saw some amazing sights and visited with family and friends.  Who could ask for more.

I thought I would end this blog here.  But, I have found that I enjoy the process.  So, I think as 2011 rolls in I will continue to add bits and pieces as life carries on.

Hope everyone enjoyed a very Merry Christmas and wishing everyone a great 2011!

Day 31 - Thanksgiving Day Day 32 & 33

Thanksgiving day we got a very early start and Rick drove straight through...all 800 miles or so...so we could reach Julie and Charlie's by Thanksgiving evening. 

One of their "specialties" is Appetizer Night.  A smorgasbord of fun foods.  And it was the perfect ending to a long day.

Black Friday was the guys day to shop!  I think this has now become a tradition.  No great deals or even anything anyone "needed".  But the experience is something the guys enjoy doing together.

We celebrated the holiday with the traditional feast that included; honey-baked ham, turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, pot of gold, Hawaiian salad, cranberries, cornbread pudding, rolls, Carmel apple and pumpkin pies!  We had a nice early dinner and then headed to the show and saw Tangled in 3D.  It was a really cute movie.  Then ice cream of the day, Twix Mix, at Culver's.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Day 30

We got a later start today.  We beat the blizzard and are now letting it get on ahead and hopefully over before we head out.  Lots of gusting wind, but so far, just a dusting of snow.

So after a good breakfast we left Moab.  If you have not visit Moab, you should.  It is beautiful and looks like we could spend quite of bit of time exploring the canyons.  It will be a place we visit again.  The skies are blue, the sun is shining and we hope it continues.  We decided on the scenic drive along 128 through the canyon en route to I-70. 

It meanders along the Colorado river with the striking canyon walls on either side.  Wild Mustangs, free-range cattle and long horn sheep all call this area home.

We reached Colorado at 12 noon MST.  Heading toward Vail Pass and hoping the road is not closed.

Not closed, just icy.  Trucks required chains but all other vehicles could go.  There is another blizzard warning in effect for later in the afternoon.  Looks like God has been watching over us...perfect timing between storms.

Once we made it through the mountains, all was clear and the roads are straight so we drove until 9:00 pm EST.  We are now in Ogallala, Nebraska, just 12 hours from Julie's.  We have been in three States today!

Looks like we will make Julie's by Thanksgiving after all!

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!  We will be heading home soon!

As I write this blog, I am watching The Weather Channel and getting glimpse of the Nation's weather.  If anyone saw the video of the bus that slid down the hill in Seattle...we were just there!  The proprietor of the Glassblowing shop told us they never get snow...maybe 2 inches all winter.  Ah, but the Varecha's were there this year.  Then they showed the snow in Coos Bay, Oregon on the beach.  Yes, we were there just days ago!  That only happens about every 4 years or so.  Then TWC showed the back ups for both east and west bound I-80 traffic.  Yep, we are on I-80 now, but all has been clear.  God is good!

Day 29

Another Race Day...Today we are trying to stay ahead of the impending blizzard!  Does this sky look like snow?  We hope the weather is wrong!

I realized one of the missed opportunities on this trip was to photograph murals.  Everywhere we have gone we have seen really interesting murals.  That can be the focus of a future trip.

Utah is beautiful country.  As we drive through the cities and towns it seems no matter where you look there is a steeple.  There must be a church in every neighborhood. 

We drove through Canyonland National Park...What a sight!  Everywhere you look the rugged terrain goes on forever.  The vast expanse is beyond words. 

On to Arches National Park...OH MY!  Definitely Utah makes the list for a revisit.  The rock formations send one's imagination to a whole new world.  Maybe God's playdoh?

Do you see the Dragon head? 

We begin our trek through the Rockies tomorrow, weather permitting.  As of this writing there are blizzard warnings in effect for tomorrow, so we will see. 

Please keep us in your prayers.  We hope to be to Julie's by Saturday.

Day 28

Sunrise Again!  It's a race to Salt Lake City today...trying to stay ahead of the approaching storm that is threatening snow, ice and gusting high winds.  Since our elevation remains at about 5,000 feet the weather remains unpredictable.

The start was good.  However, we ran into icy roads and extremely high winds.  Gusts attempting to blow our, very adequately weighed down car, from the road.  We even saw some "snow tornadoes?"

The gusts seem to have subsided and we are now only 290 miles from Salt Lake City.  There are winter storm advisories in effect...maybe we will win the race?

4:28 pm EST we entered Utah!  There are gorgeous rock formations and no snow...yet

 Even through the ever changing weather there is always a gift.  The beautiful rays of the sun rained down through a hole in the sky.

Heading to Moab in the morning.

Day 26 & 27

What an adventure!  God was truly watching over us today.  We spent the weekend visiting and catching up with old friends and are grateful for their hospitality!  Thank you Rick and Presteen! 

They live in a beautiful part of the Sierra Valley.  It was a much needed respite from our traveling. 

The sunrise (yes, RISE) was glorious! 

We began our journey East to Nevada anticipating a route along Hwy. 36.  However, just miles in on 36 traffic warning lights flashed with info regarding the need for chains on the tires!  What?  All we could see were deep blue skies and sunshine.  But rather than go to far and be turned back, we backtracked a bit and selected a new route adding about 20 minutes to our estimated time, Hwy 70 to Hwy 20.  This went well until we reached the city of Grass Valley. 

McDonald's was being used by all those who had lost power in an unseasonably early, wet, and heavy snowfall.  A bit further East we were turned back as the road had been closed.  A slight detour on Hwy 174 through Colfax led to Interstate 80.  We thought we had made it!  Then the traffic came to a standstill.  It seems that in the West when it snows in the mountains everyone stops to put chains on the tires.  There are many vehicles along the side of the road offering this service for $30/tire to put them on and $15/tire to take them off a few miles down the road!  Thankfully with our vehicle and 4-wheel drive we did not need the chains.  The speed limit was only 30 mph and the snow was still falling. 

The snow laden trees are gorgeous and some appear to have waterfalls flowing from them as the snow abandons the branches. 

Once we went through Donner Pass, and headed down to the lower elevations we again found sun and blue skies.  But we also found frigid temps and high winds.  The 3.5 hour trip turned into 5 hours. 

We arrived safely in

Reno and hit the buffet and are calling it an early night.  It looks like we are in for more bad weather in the weeks to come.  Please keep us in your prayers.

Day 24 & 25

 

Sorry, today is a two for one...

On Thursday we joined our friends at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park and Sundial Bridge located in Redding, California along the Sacramento River.  The bridge is amazing.  It actually functions as a sundial. 

There were some beautiful birds...

And all the animals seem to like Rick's shoes!  Go figure, we go all the way to California to see a porcupine!

The exhibits in the museum were Out of this World which featured the costumes from the superhero movies and Fueled by Fire which were different types of art formed by fire.  One artist uses a torch and burns the design onto pyrograph paper.  Very interesting.  Something I have not tried...yet!

Then shopping and back "home" for a BBQ.  the sunset over the mountains was beautiful.   It is great to be spending time with old friends.  There are some people in your life that even though you don't see one another or even talk for long periods of time, that you can get together and be right back where you were.  It is good to have those ties. 

Today is a peaceful day up n the hill top in Cottonwood, California.  Catching up on homework, sleep, and enjoying the peace and scenery. 

Day 23

Today began with the exploration of Patrick's Point State Park.  Portions of Jurassic Park were filmed here.  The movie is portraying the Jurassic Period, said to be about 150 million years ago, give or take a few million.  Yet the conditions of the Park are were not "created" they are very foggy, misty and mossy today.    We hear huge numbers, into the billions, for the age of the earth and yet these enormous, strong, sturdy redwoods only average about 1,000 years old.

Why is it so easy to fall into negative behavior, form bad habits and believe out of this world explanations for any given situation and so hard to remain of positive thought, keep good habits, and trust in God's Word, which is actually much more logical than what the "world" would have us believe?

As the scenery of the Avenue of the Giants takes our breath away, how can we even consider any explanation for life than God's Hand? 

We spent the later part of the day winding, and I mean winding!, along California Hwy 36 to Cottonwood.  Even had to avoid a deer!  We will be with some old friends this weekend.

Day 22

 

Blessed with a beautiful day along the Coast!  Sunshine, Blue Skies, the scent of the sea and mild temperatures.  Nothing like a day at the shores and in the redwoods to bring your life into perspective. 

The views have been beyond words as we zig-zag along the shoreline. 

We drove from the coast into the Redwoods National Forest.  The trees have such strong limbs that they become the roots for other trees. 

The Trees of Mystery has at its center a place called the Cathedral tree.  Many trees have grown together forming a sacred spot.  These are the words that sit in that spot...

Do you suppose God created the Redwoods for the dinosaurs??

We capped off our evening with a nice dinner with my cousin Nancy and her family in Eureka, California.  Haven't seen them in 25 year...the last time we were in California!

More redwood adventures and visiting the Mills Family in the coming days...

Day 21

A Sunset!!!

Three full weeks!  We were blessed with a couple of hours of sunshine today and our first almost sunset over the ocean. 

The town of Bandon, where we are staying, is really a nice place.  Very historical and quaint...they even have a neat yarn shop! 

Rick and His Buddies



She can feed them both!



We spent the morning at the West Coast Game Safari Park.  Karsten loved holding, petting, feeding and playing with the baby tigers, leopard, lion cubs and other animals.  Rick had a buddy too! 

Then we had a great lunch and headed to the shore.  We were at Face Rock.  Can you see the face?

Do you See the Face?

The legend that has been passed down through the Coquille tribe summarizes by saying the face was put in place by God after a tragic event to remind the people to always head the advice of their elders and to always look to the heavens.

To top off the day, we visited the Cranberry Sweets Shop in Old Town Bandon.  Yummy! 

Heading to California early in the morning!

Day 20

Our night in Yachats was foggy and dreary.  The hotel left a lot to be desired.  I pray that we never let our profit margin interfere with our maintenace or customer service!  It is really sad that so many properties up and down the coast have prime locations and seem to take the attitude that they don't need anything else.  Most are friendly but the properties have been left to decay. 

All those who flock to the coast really need to check out Lake Superior!  We are now in Bandon (we skipped the extra night in Yachats).  Bandon is a very nice town.  We are staying at the Bandon Inn at a port and we can walk to the waterfront and the shops...on the list for tomorrow!  No pics today, it was so misty and foggy you could not see too much:(  But we do have video!

Day 19

This morning we left Seaside, Oregon to head south on Hwy. 101.  The weather was misty and bleak. 

 

We stopped at several scenic lookout points and got some great pics of  the waves rolling in and crashing along the shoreline.  We also made a trip to the Devil's Punch Bowl.  I have a video that will be on FB later. 

For all the economic woes we hear about, the western part of the country seems to be holding its own.  The lodging facilities all have their "No Vacancy" signs posted and the traffic has been steady.  We are in Yachats tonight.  Rick and I were here 25 years ago and there was nothing here then.  We stayed at a brand new little lodge right on the shore and could walk to everything in town which consisted of a post office that sold kites, a grocery that doubled as the liquor store and one restaurant.  Today, that little lodge has been torn down to make way for new condos on the shore.  And the shore line is just covered with homes, motels, and condos.  It seems that all those who built years ago that thought they were on the shore have now found out that someone else was brave (or stupid) enough to build even closer to the sea.  Kind of like someone building a two story home in front of DeHut's cottage! 

Some of the homes literally sit in the wet sand and the tide must be their front yards...on a good day.  I don't want to hazard a guess on where it is on a bad day.   On the way down we also stopped at some chainsaw carving shops.  Some of the work was absolutely incredible!  A real inspiration for Rick. 

Tomorrow we will be doing some exploring and hoping the weather clears a bit!

Day 18

Dragonfly @ Mt St Helens

Today was bittersweet.  We are anxious to begin our journey down the Pacific Coast but sad to say goodbye to Kylanne.  The day began much the same.  Very gloomy. 

Our View from the Bremerton Fairfield Inn

Our first stop was Mount Saint Helens.  It certainly puts God's creation into perspective.  On May 18, 1980 the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens devistated the lives of 1000's of people and forever changed the landscape of the area.  While doing so, it offers scientific evidence of how quickly change in the geoligical make up of our world can occur.  And while so much may seem lost ,beauty is offered in the oddest ways. One of my purchases is a beautiful topaz blue gyastone necklace.  This stone sparkles and catches the eye from afar, yet it is created from some of the 540 million tons of ash that covered over 22,000 square miles after the eruption.  The ash is used for many different glass creations.  You can view the handblown ornaments at the Glass Eye Studio website.  30 years later and they still have ash!  We also visited the 7 Wonders Museum.  They carry an incredible selection of books that delve scientifically into proving creation at God's hand.



Look closely and you can see part of the bridge.

Next we meandered along the Columbia River to the coast.  In Oregon they chose to build bridges instead of utilizing ferries.  The bridges are everywhere and very long.  One might ask if economically this was a sound choice.  It seems that Washington has quite a market running their ferry service throught the Sound. 

Tonight we are at the Inn at Seaside.  Cute little town, but very busy even though we are "off season".  On the road again tomorrow...