Nearing the End of the Trail

Our days in the Phoenix area are drawing to a close. We leave on Saturday morning to make the 6 or so hour drive to Anaheim for the training. There is a little nostalgia and a little relief. Nostalgia because this long sojourn across the country is coming to an end, and relief because this long sojourn across the country is coming to an end!! It is time to settle down for a while, but we are very content with the way all the details of the trip turned out. We really do sense the Lord's blessing and care for us in every detail. It has been the trip of a life time. Funny thing, though -- we keep having trips of a life time!! Many years ago we took the kids and drove all over Europe for 3 weeks and up to that point it was the trip of a life time. Then a few years ago we went to South Africa to meet our prospective son in law and that again was the trip of a life time. Now, with upcoming and ongoing trips to South Africa the novelty is no longer there so we had to do something really brave and now we have done it. I wonder what is next? Only the Lord knows what is in store for us, but we look forward in anticipation to more adventure ahead.

I have a few statistics concerning our trip. We have made stops in 24 cities (1 was for dinner with some old friends), traversed 14 states, stayed with families or couples in 15 churches where we received loving hospitality, stayed with 4 family members (more loving hospitality), 4 motels or bed and breakfasts, and slept in 23 different beds. Our stay in the Phoenix area has been different because we actually stayed in 2 places here. (We stayed with a very nice family in North Phoenix both weekends we were here so that it was more convenient for fellowship and the Lord's Day morning meetings). We have seen how beautiful this expansive country is in all its variety of topography, weather and flora. We have appreciated the fearlessness of the early pioneers who crossed some of the most foreboding geography we have ever seen. We could only wonder at their strength of character to do such a thing. We have learned more to rest in the Lord's arrangement for each day, no matter what it brought.

One would think that staying here in Phoenix for 2 and a half weeks would lead to some level of boredom, but that has hardly been the case. There has been more than enough to do. Besides doing all the cooking and shopping, there have been endless errands to run, van maintenance (new tires and special locks--in preparation of Southern CA), coming to the library to do wireless Internet (Stan's mom has dial up), business and personal financial details to attend to, things to buy in preparation for the training, correspondence to keep up with, and visiting time with Stan's 93 year old mom and taking care of some of her needs. We are finally in a place that has a Bally's gym so Stan is going when ever he can. And in the evenings we like going to the pool in the complex, but the water is more like a bath tub than a pool. We had the wonderful opportunity to have my cousin Kaye and my 91 year old Aunt Kathy over for dinner. I made a coconut cream pie to commemorate the event. It was fun to reminisce about old times and experiences together.

For those of you who remember my unfortunate foot accident, it is slowing getting better. The more I keep it on ice the better it gets. That is one advantage to staying someplace longer -- I am able to sit on the couch with my leg up and my foot on ice. I can wear my shoes now, but still haven't tried on the new pair I got in Albuquerque the day before the fall. I read that bad sprains take 6 to 12 weeks to heal. I think I am in my 7th week, so I am getting there. I still limp slightly and it is hard to walk any distance, but it is improving.

Words just can't express our thankfulness to the Lord for all that He did to make this trip possible. Every detail is a cherished memory. All the variety of people we have met, the open homes and hearts, the experiences of living by faith and all the care that we have received is an everlasting memorial to us to express His love for us and His desire for His purpose.

So the next time I write will be in California, probably after one week of the training which begins on August 31.

Idaho and beyond

It has been a while since I wrote because we settled in at Nampa for a while. We had a very refreshing stay at my brother's and sister in law's house in Nampa, ID. We actually got to unpack, hang up our clothes, and put our undies in drawers. It was the first time to do that since we left!! I also got the chance to spend along sessions with my foot on ice -- especially the first week. We spent quite a bit of time with the saints in the church in Boise, and were invited over for dinner 5 times in 2 weeks -- not including the first weekend with the Collinses in Boise the first weekend we were there. Most of them were families we have known from another time or another place but they usually had others over that we didn't know, so we felt like we got acquainted with a lot of people there. It is a very friendly and warm church that has a lot of care for each other. They also just sent a campus team to Austin to be trained. Boise State University is across the street from the meeting hall.

We had a lot of fun with Dave and Carolita (my brother and his wife) eating ice cream, cooking, celebrating birthdays (Dave's and mine), their anniversary, cleaning up after workers on their addition, eating ice cream, cooking new recipes like pineapple flambe and Navaho fry bread, laughing, eating Hagen Das, and having lots of good fellowship. There just isn't enough room to tell you about everything. Nothing dramatic or very unusual, just a lot of good times. Stan finished the pergola but there wan't anything else to do since the workers on the addition were behind and is wasn't ready for Stan to do the cabinet they wanted in their new dining room. So maybe another time...But we kept ourselves busy around the house doing odds and ends that need to be done. Did I mention that we tried different flavors of Hagen Das?

We left Nampa this past Monday morning and got to Salt Lake City where we spent the night with a very sweet Korean family with 3 teenage daughters. We had a great night's sleep in a nice room in their basement. In the morning another couple came over for breakfast and our hostess sent us off with bags of strawberries of grapes. We drove a long day down to Flagstaff, AZ but along the way we saw some spectacular scenery in the Vermillion Cliffs region of Northern Arizona. We got to Flagstaff and spend the night with a couple we had known in Huntington Beach in the 70's. It was a short but sweet time with them and their 21 year old son. We liked Flagstaff but kept moving. Our hosts had recommended for us to take a little time to go through Sedona, which we did and were very glad we had the time to do it. The red rock formations were icredible. If we were rolling in money we would have liked to take a helicopter tour of the area, but we aren't so we didn't. So we went out to lunch and are now heading toward Chandler, AZ, outside of Phoenix. We will be staying with Stan's mom for 2 weeks and will be participating in the church life there as much as possible. There are a lot of things to do there, like getting some new tires, shopping for clothers for Stan, getting caught up with correspondance, getting together with some family members and working off all that ice cream!!

Right now, as I write, we are driving through the bleak rolling hills of the desert in Cental Arizona. It is filled with seguaro cactus which looks like giant cigars sticking up into the air. I hope to add some pictures....

That's all for now. Our next stop in Anaheim for the Middle Age Training.