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.