Ben and Sue Day 58

Friday, November 2, 2007, Day 58

. . . We are nearly home . . . about 225 miles south of Portland, Oregon -- will be home on Saturday for sure.  Was a quiet, somewhat uneventful day today -- was good to begin to see places that were more familiar to us.  We travelled part of the way north on Highway 101 north -- oh the views of the Pacific ocean were spectacular -- giant waves crashing on the rocks.  Now that we are closer to home --  a trip back here along the coast seems very possible and we hope/plan to be able to return and spend some time here.

. . . We saw elk today with huge racks.  Two of the males were fighting -- locking horns and pushing each other back and forth -- was amazing to  watch!

Sue  

Ben and Sue Day 57

Thursday, November 1, 2007, Day 57

. . . We're on the home stretch -- yea!!  We stayed a second night in Eureka California and  spent the day today viewing/exploring the California Redwoods.  Oh my goodness they are tall -- I think I remember reading the tallest one was 360 feet.  To give you an idea of how large in diameter  they are:  Both Ben and I stretched out our arms and stood fingertip to fingertip around the base of the tree.  It took both of us three times  to go completely around.

It's getting cold these past couple of mornings -- only reached 53 degrees all day today. 

Very close to where we are camping -- in fact within walking distance is a thrift store with the sign reading:  50 percent off everything in the store.   So of course we went in to browse around a bit.  This man had some really really old stuff -- good thing we are needing to be home soon.  We did buy one table -- not a very big one and then one shelf with a heart carved into it.  Oh my goodness you should see our truck and our 5th wheel -- yikes -- it's going to take me a month of Sundays just to clean everything out and put everything away.  When you hear the new message I am going to put on our answering machine you will surely understand!        

Sue     

Ben and Sue Day 56

Wednesday, Octoberv 31, 2007, Day 56

. . . Starting out this morning first thing we saw was a field with hundreds of sheep.  Was chilly this morning -- didn't check temperature but my guess was 40 -- 45 degrees.  A heavy fog blanketed the area -- burned of though as the sun came out and most of the day was sunny and warmer.  Travelled north on Interstate 5 to Redding, then took Highway 299 west to Eureka which is where we are this evening.

Highway 299 -- oh my goodness!  Our trip all day was only 160 miles but took us about 6 1/2 hours to drive because the mountain roads were so twisty and curvy.  One lane each direction -- only a few places to pass all the day long.  We did see the most gorgeous autumn leaves -- I think this might be the peak time for them -- very  bright golds and reds and yellows -- really beautiful.  All along route 299 were supposedly these "towns" -- or at least we kept seeing signs for towns -- wish I had written down some of the names but the populations were funny -- in one instance we passed a sign for a town which read:  population 0.  Other populations were almost always under 100.

So. . . that  was about it for today --  mountain roads with the river below and the bright clear blue sky above. 

Our daughter Kat called today to tell us it was snowing back in Sultan where we live  Oh for joy joy joy after almost eight weeks of uninterrupted sunshine.  Ben and I were both thinking the same thing -- maybe we will just drive back down south and stay there for the winter.  Kat went on and on describing  the cold, icy, snowy conditions -- and when she had us both thoroughly convinced she finally told us she was just joking!

Sue    

Ben and Sue Day 55

Tuesday, October 30, 2007, Day 55

. . . Brrr it was cold this morning -- 38 degrees!  I can finally start wearing some of the warmer clothes I packed -- haven't had any need for  them up till today.

.  . As we drove today -- more mountain, flat, sagebrush covered land -- we came upon underground bunkers -- perhaps thousands of them on either side of the road as far as I could see.  Then a sign -- Naval Undersea Warfare Command.  I have always heard that Nevada had a   general reputation for:  secret work, UFO sightings, area 51, storing America's nuclear resources --  that sort of thin.  I wonder . . . I wonder. . .   We did see rather sophisticated looking antennas high up on one hill.  Also several signs to tell us Nevada was the #1  best place in  America to star gaze -- evidentially the stars are clearer here than anywhere else in America.

. . . And then . . . WOW . . . we were driving around a curve when what did we see but a horse drawn buggy -- a very old horse drawn buggy with three horses -- travelling very slow on  this 60 mph road.  The driver pulled to the right to let us pass and as we were passing I saw some words on the side of the canvas "sowing native flowers".  Well of course I was very curious and convinced Ben to pull over to a very wide spot in the road and to wait for that horse and wagon to catch up so I could hopefully discover more fully.  Poor Ben.  He said he was not at all interested in "discovering more" about a rather old women dressed in Indian garb and sowing naive wildflowers.  But he is so good to me -- has been the whole trip -- stopping often along the way to investigate  things -- I love Ben so much!

. . . So anyway, after a few minutes we hear the clop clop of the horses feet and here she comes.  Seeing us parked there, she also pulled over and I had tons of time t ask her questions.  VERY interesting.  Long story short:  she was American (Irish she told me) not born Indian at all but through her adult years began adopting more and more of the old Indian ways of life and thinking.  She had been travelling and living in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada for many years.  She herself, wherever she lived, planted gardens with native flowers and roots and taught others how to do so also.  Mostly she planted edible flowers and medicinal roots.  She seemed distraught about highways and buildings destroying so much Native American land.  She invited us to sign the canvas wagon which I did.  So if you ever see her travelling along . . . look for our names!

All through Nevada we have passed what I call shanty towns -- homes and buildings where people used to live and business used to take place but now all are abandoned.  Sometimes it appeared to be fire that partially destroyed the tiny community.  Sometimes it looked like people just one by one picked up and left town and left the buildings/homes behind to deteriorate by the elements as the years went by.  There  was never any sign of life -- no people, animals, gardens -- no signs of life.  Lots of times there were old junk cars all around.  Somehow I would not be surprised if Ben makes an "old car hunting trip" down here in the not too distant future.

Saw some funny road signs today:  Rattlesnake Drive, Mary's Lane, Soda Lake Road, Bottom Road. 

Made it to Culoso California tonight.

Sue    

Ben and Sue Day 54

Monday, october 29, 2007, Day 54

. . . Drove as far  as a little town called Mina,  Nevada today.  The entire day was an endless road that seemed to have the exact same scenery from morning till night.  We  drove perhaps 300 - 350 miles today and saw flat land, covered with sagebrush and mountains in the distance.  During the whole day there were only three tiny towns we passed.

 . . . We stoped for lunch at a restaurant near Creech Air Force Base.  Saw lots of young men and women in uniform talking and enjoying lunch.  At the table just next to us were 8 non-commissioned officers -- all of them talking about a young female airman who would not/could not decide whether she was going to reenlist or not and all the trouble that was causing them all.  Ben and I had a great deal of fun listening -- remembering our Air Force days and similar lunches/conversatins.  They all looked so young to have  the rank they did -- a couple of them were Master Sergeants/SeniorMaster Sergeants.  It's so funny how when we are young everyone looks old and we think people who are 40 are about ready to die.  Then when we get older we think people who are probably 35 to 40 years old look like they are about 20.

. . . We saw several trucks pulling 3 trailers today.  have only seen these a couple of times on our long trip.  I wonder if they are illegal in  most states?

. . . Weather was pretty and warm again today -- about 70 degrees most of the day.  Because there was absolutely nothing to block the wind -- when the big trucks did come by it was a huge gush of air -- whoomp!  Wondered if they were going to blow us right off  the road!

Ben and I laughed as we wondered if we were passing "Area 51" where supposedly secret work by  the government is going on and where supposedly UFO sightings are investigated -- the stuff late night talk radio is made up of! 

Tomorrow  -- California for sure!

Sue

Ben and Sue Day 53

Sunday, October 28, 2007, Day 53

. . . We started out the day today by attending Calvery Church in Williams, Arizona.  Was a small, country church -- way back on a dusty road -- but  despite its size and location  the people there were hugely friendly.  So many people came up to say hello and welcome.  And of course when we  say we are from Seattle they start asking questions about Seattle or telling us about a  family member or friend who lives there -- so conversation is very easy.  As we sang the praise songs at one point I just could not sit down and sing -- so I stood up.  I was the only one standing for a while but it felt so good and right to stand up and raise my hands  to the God of Heaven  and earth.  After a short while though other people stood and some raised their hands too and the worship service was pretty awesome.

. . . After church we walked around Williams -- totally cool Route 66 place and very 50's and 60's.  Lots of people were taking pictures of the very old Edsel automobile and in front of one store there was set up a very authentic mannequin of a rock star and a beautiful young lady and one could sit in the chair between them and have their picture taken.  Was fun to amble down the main street and it wasn't hard to imagine it was 1965 all over again.  We wanted to travel Route 66 all the way across country but only discovered a map that shows this route when we were in Arizona.  None of  the Rand McNally maps or  the AA  maps showed it.  But we had fun travelling on it for a while.  Maybe in our next trip. . .

So . . . we continued on to Kingston Arizona at which point we headed north on Route 95.   Weather today was 75 --80 degrees all day and even now at 8pm it is still 80 degrees.  We have been lavished with 51 days of warm/sunny weather.   So. . . how's the weather in Seattle dear friends?  PLEASE don't write and tell me!

Sue    

Ben and Sue Day 51

Day 51, Saturday, October 27, 2007

. . . Drove today from Flagstaff to Seligman Arizona.  Ben has wanted very much to be able to drive along historic old Route 66 for a long time now.  Today we discovered that we were actually very close  to Route 66 -- so we asked some questions and were actually able to drive  thru one town on this Route, then continue on to Williams Arizona.  The entire tiny town looks similar to Radiator City in the movie Cars -- which inspired us in the first place to begin looking for Route 66.  The town was just about one main street filled with tourist shops and restaurants/garages to have your car fixed -- shops to buy new tires.  We did a  lot of shopping there because we kept seeing things for sale that we have not seen anywhere else on our trip -- lots of 50's and 60's memorabilia -- old replicas of cars -- Edsels -- I Love Lucy stuff -- candy from the  60's -- really brought us back in time.  Was fun.

. . . Ben found a gun shop but it actually turned out to be closed today.  The gun shop actually was an addition to a bigger main store which was open -- only  the gun shop part was closed.  So we went in and Ben asked lots of questins.  He was told that here in Arizona one does not need a permit at all to carry a weapon as long as it is in a holster and clearly visible.  Very liberal law compared to the rest of the country where many states are severely restricting gun use/carrying a gun.

So. . . weather was beautiful again today -- reached a high of 75 degrees.  I took some of the most beautiful pictures of our trip this evening at sunset.  Gorgeous cirrus clouds like quiet wispers of the day as it  was coming to an end.

. . . Found a Harold Bell Wright book -- written in 1916.  I think I have 6 of the 7 books he wrote now -- only missing one.  The one I bought "When A Man's a Man" was only $15.  I've been looking for it for many years.  So happy to have found it at an affordable price.  I'm sure Ben cringed when I suggested we go into the used book store "for just a few minutes" and actually my ploy was "Ben, maybe  they have some Route 66 books in here." 

Oh it was hard to spend 15 minutes in an old used book store.  There have been occasions when we have gone on a trip -- not this time but in years past -- when Ben has been willing  to drop me off at the used book store in town -- he has gone off to explore the whole rest of the town by himself -- and picked me up later.  Oh the joy of old book stores -- the smell, the old books, the atmosphere, the conversations with the shop keeper, the hope of finding that unique rare book ---mmmmm!

We left Williams and drove all the way to Seligman today -- 17 miles -- along Route 66.  Saw lots of Berma Shave signs.  Some day I'll discover why those signs have such a funny name.  One read:  Sign 1 :  If daisies are  2.  Your favorite flower  3.  Keep pushing up  4.  Those miles per hour.  Another funny  one was :  Sign 1:  Cattle crossing  2.  Means go slow  3.  That old cow  4.  is some bull's beau.  Kind of fun to read as we drove along.

. . . Tomorrow we are hoping to continue on Route 66 to Kingsman Arizona then 95 north to Las Vegas and finally west to California.  Hoping to make one final stop at the California Redwoods.  We are on the home stretch now -- miss everyone so much!

Sue

 

Ben and Sue Day 50

Friday, October 26, 2007, Day 50

. . . We took a tour of the Grand Canyon today -- was much fun.  Went in a big van with four other people.  Our driver/tour guide was very knowledgeable about the Canyon -- took us to some beautiful spots.  As always the view was breathtaking -- I never fail to be in awe of the beauty  our Heavenly Father has created.  There were so many layers of  rock and each one was a different shade or a different color entirely from the layer above and below it.  Our guide was explaining  that there has been a 9 year drought in this part of Arizona and many ranchers are trying to sell their land and move on.  Evidentially land can be bought for a song but to live on the land is incredibly expensive and difficult.  No one digs wells here beause if one is lucky they may find water at 1000 feet but it is risky and expensive.  Otherwise everyone lives in the city  and uses the community well.  He was saying that if you live away from the city well- water you buy your water in tanks much like propane tanks.  If you buy the water yourself it is 15 cents a gallon.  If you have it delivered it is about 25 cents a gallon.  No long hot showers for those people for sure.

. . .The group of people we went with were a lot of fun -- each one having travelled different places and  thus having different stores to tell.  Made the trip more interesting.

. . . The book I bought about  the Canyon explains that the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon were Spanish Conquistadors in 1540 -- searching for the great Colorado River of which they had been told.  After weeks searching for water in the desert they gave up their search and it was not until 1775 that Francisco Graces once again began to explore.

The Canyon is so vast one feels overwhelmed by its immense size, the strange shapes, colors and variety of landscape.  The stories our guide told about the people over the decades who tried to etch out a living in this harsh desert land were sometimes funny sometimes sad, and  other times amazing.  He told us that sometimes there can be as much as a  40 degree difference in temperature between the bottom of the canyon and the rim.  Many Hopi and Navajo Indians have lived here for hundreds of years.  As I travel and learn little by little more about the Indians and their way of life -- I am beginning to appreciate and admire their way of life, their traditions, their culture.  Much like at Little Big Horn -- all my life I only knew  the Hollywood version of American Indians which is altogether wrong and harmful to teach actually.  I am incredibly thankful for this awesome opportunity to learn so much truth. 

At one point the guide explained to us that for every head of cattle one must have about 40 acres of land because the dry/dead grass just does not provide much nutrition.

. . . Bought a new book today at the Grand Canyon Bookstore -- sometime the titles of books are so -- ha ha I'm taking a break just in the middle of this sentence to tell you that I wanted to write -- . . . so intriguing -- but wasn't sure how to spell it  and since my spell check doesn't work I at first choose  the word "interesting" instead -- then I remembered I do have a dictionary with me so I looked it up -- ha ha!

. . . Let's see, where was I . . . oh yes . . I was telling you about the title of this book "Last Child in the Woods" with a subtitle "Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder".   On the back cover it explains "In his  groundbreaking work about the staggering divide between children and outdoors, journalist and child advocate Richard Louv directly links the absence of nature in the lives of today's wired generation to some of the most disturing child-hood trends:  the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression."  So when I get home if I don't answer my phone for a few days hopefully you will understand and be patient with me?

Sue  

Ben and Sue Day 49

Day 49, Thursday, October 25, 2007

. . . Was a quiet day of driving again today.  We made it as far as Flagstaff Arizona.  Were hoping  to make it to Williams which is just outside the Grand Canyon but after 8 hours of driving we decided to stop at Flagstaff.  As I have written before . . . some days are as ordinary as the next is exciting.  Landscape is remaining about the same -- dry/dusty/flat.  Saw a Safeway truck today which made me feel close to home.  Safeway is the big grocery store in Washington where I do my grocery shopping.  We signed up for a tour of the Grand Canyon tomorrow -- surely looking forward to that.  Weather reached 95 degrees  today.

Sue 

Ben and Sue Day 48

Wednesday, Octobrt 24, 2007, Day 48

. . . Ben and I were sitting in Dennys this morning enjoying breakfast and I was  remembering back to yesterday when we had breakfast.  Yesterday we were at the Crackeer Barrell (our favorite restrurant here in the south) and breakfast was rather disasterous for me.  First of all I asked for tea and the waitress brought me both a cup of hot water and a small silver picture of hot water and I put the tea bag in the small pitcher instead of in the cup so I had to ask for another tea bag.  Then, when my pancakes came (pecan -- yum yum)  I wasn't thinking very clearly and thought the little silver pitcher of tea was the maple syrup so I poured a bunch of tea on my pancakes before I figured it out.  After breakfast I went into the rest room and when I was washing my hands there was a pretty bottle of soap there -- so I took a couple of squirts and started washing my hands.  But there was no suds at all.  So I looked back at the bottle and  turns out it was lotion and not soap as I thought.   The soap dispenser was mounted to the wall.  It's important to know how to navigate planet earth!

. . . Today I had cream of brocolli soup for lunch -- my absolute favorite.

. . . Let's see. . . today was mostly taken up with driving.  We drove from Las Cruces, New Mexico to  Benson Arizona.  Not much  exciting happened.  Finally got my spell check to work -- had to fugure out how to change the default Internet Explorer setting to allow pop-ups because for some very strange reason which I don't understand at all -- pop-ups and spell check and somehow connected on the computer and one cannot use spell check without allowing pop-ups.  Maybe it was some kind of compromise between the advertising engineers who obviously want customers to see their ads but which the Internet Explorer people know are aggravating and don't want to allow them AND the spell check engineeers who know everyone wants and needs spell check.  If if sounds like I know what I am talking about -- I really do not.  Took me about three hours to figure all this out.  The long and short of it is -- if there are any more misspelled words it's not my fault anymore.  (Update:  I wrote  this in my journal last evening when spell check was finally working.  Tonight spell check is no longer working so the spelling errors are my mistake once again until I figure it out again.  I didn't change any settings or anything so why spell check worked last night and does not work now is a greaty MYSTERY!)

Ben and I stopped quite early this evening -- about 3 o'clock.  I was able to take a lovely nap and after dinner we went and soaked in the hot tub together -- very relaxing.

Sue     

Ben and Sue Day 47

Day 47, Tuesday, October 23, 2007

. . . Mexico!  Ben and I drove  to the Mexican border at Deming today.  Was very interesting.  About a 1 1/2 hour drive once again past desert sagebrush and cacti --  flat and barren.  Once we got to the border we parked the truck and walked across the border.   No one stopped us, asked us any questions or in any way hindered us from walking right into Mexico.  We walked the main street for perhaps a mile or a mile and a half.  What I saw was so sad -- first of all the whole area smelled quite bad -- even just walking on  the road.  Then if we went into any stores the smell was more pronounced.  The streets  were VERY dirty -- sidewalks all broken up -- glass and trash on the side of the road.  Many businesses were closed and abandoned.  Many of the side streets appeared barren --  just roads --  without houses or  businesses on them.  One beggar was trying to talk to us but we did not understand what he was trying to say.  He was sitting down and looked dirty, unshaven, with ragged clothes.  He started talking and then pulled  the top of his  shirt off and pointed to his shoulder.  Surely wish I could have understood what he was saying.  We so obviously looked like American tourists ambling down the street, camera hanging around my neck and bottle of water in my hand.   Many people were looking curiously at us.  A group of little girls -- perhaps school age -- stopped and looked at us and started giggling.  I felt very much like an intruder -- like a rich American coming to Mexico to see how the poor people lived.  Can't explain exactly why I felt this way, but I did.

. . .After a while we went into what was called the Pink Building.  The campground director had told us  this was where the best shopping and eating places w re.  The smell was quite awful.  But we looked around a bit -- saw mostly Americans there -- and finally sat down to eat at the restaurant.  I had heard often about being careful where one eats and the water one drinks in Mexico.  But it was way past lunch time and we were both hungry so we ate there.  The prices  were incredibly cheap and the food quite good.  There were corn chips on the table and in a couple of minutes the waiter brought salsa.  Ben tried it first and  said it was "burn your tongue off hot."  So I enjoyed  just the chips .We (or rather I) am not very adventurous so I stuck with familiar food  -  tacos, beans and rice.  Was quite good.

. . . After lunch we walked back across t he border.  The border was a rather quiet place on a Tuesday afternoon .   Hardly any cars or people were waiting to get across.  Despite a rather large sign that read "All Pedestrians must report to Border Patrol",   Ben (who thinks rules don't apply to him) told me we were just going to walk back to our car which was right there in the parking lot.  So we started to walk to our truck but the border control officer came out of the building and beckoned us over.  So we walked across to the building and reported to the border patrol who simply asked us to state our citizenship and ushered us on.  Just at that time I saw a yellow school bus (American) drop off a lot of children on the American side of the border.  I asked the officer about this and he said they were all American children and thus were entitled to  go to school in America even though they lived in Mexico with their parents.  Of course this prompted  million questions about citizenship.  I'm hoping to have time to either research on  the Internet or perhaps buy a book which will answer some of my questions.

A couple of people have called and asked if we were doing okay in light of the southern California fires.  We are  doing well -- heading north today to the Grand Canyon then west to San Francisco so  we will by-pass Southern California entirely.

Sue  

Ben and Sue Day 46

Monday, October 22, 2007 Day 46

I'm writing this evening sitting at a picnic table at the KOA campground overlooking Las Crucs New Mexico.  It is SO beautiful here -- sun still fairly high in  the sky (4pm), yet I'm staring right at the moon.  It is very peaceful and quiet here and huge cacti are growing just a couple of feet away -- some are 4 -- 5 feet high and their thorns really hurt -- some being 2 -- 3 inches long.

Just about the time I think I can't sit in the truck and drive one more mile and I'm thoroughly bored -- God bring along a day like  today.  Woweeeee! We started out with breakfast with Ian and is lovely wife Christina -- good food, good conversation, good fun.  After breakfast Christina showed me how to put pictures in my daily E-mails (there is GREAT hope yet, Mary !) for which I was so excited and happy.  Ian helped Ben patch up  the broken window.

Then we headed west from Van Horn intending  to make our way to the Grand Canyon.  We were SO close to the Mexican border -- especially in El Paso that we decided to switch things around a bit and go to Mexico rather than continuing on the the Grand Canyon.  You can only do this kind of thing if your children are happily married (you are happily married aren't  you Benjamin and Kat?) and you have time and money (have to save for a long time though.)  So all you Moms who think you'll never be able to have things your own way -- just keep on doing  the great job you are doing and one day before you know it you'll be able to go on the exact vacation you want.

Okay. . . So. . . where was I?  Oh yes -- Mexico.  We drove around El Paso for the longest time looking for a place to park our truck and  trailer but had no success.  We were close enough to the border to simply walk across.  There were lots of parking garages in El Paso -- we could have parked and walked or taken the trolly bus.  But no parking places would accomodate our truck and trailer.  We asked and asked to no avail.  Quite disappointed we headed back to Interstate 10 and continued on our way.  But really neither of us were very happy to have been so close but not able to cross the border.  So we decided instead to drive to LaCruces (about an hour west) -- stop here for this evening and drive back to Mexico tomorrow without the trailer. 

Thank you so so much for praying for us.  Today on the freeway a driver just in front of us lost a big yellow ladder.  Ben saw it and had no choice but to swerve quite a lot to the left to avoid hitting it.  Praise the Lord that the driver to the left but a bit ahead of us sped up, and the driver to the left but a bit behind us slowed down a good bit and Ben was  able to avoid hitting either of them.  Could have been a nasty accident.  Thank you Jesus!  Thank you Ben for being such an awesome driver!

I have been thinking about illegal immigration so much  these past days as I stare at these mountains and desert between the United States and Mexico.  I am sure I would fail as a border guard because instead of making people go back to the miserable/wretched poverty in Mexico I am sure I would be trying to help them find safe haven in America.   Being here and seeing what I now have seen for days crossing Texas and New Mexico -- I cannot shake the thought of poor illegal immigrants risking their lives, walking so many miles often without sufficient food or water to try to begin a fresh ew life in a country they have always only dreamed of.  

One thing this trip has done for me is open my eyes to the rest of the United States.  In my sheltered little life in Sultan Washington I seldom have reason to think hard about illegal immigrants, about desperate poverty and hopelessness in Baltimore Maryland, about so many who lost their homes and families during Katrina and are still unable to rebuild.  You know how it is -- a certain hot topic hits the front pages of the newspaper and it's all  the talk about town for a few days or a few weeks.  Then it fades and another hot topic takes its place.  But now it is so much more than mere front page news to me.  I have been so many places and talked to so many people that my whole world has been so enlarged -- my understanding expanded -- my biases and prejudices questioned.  It has been unbelievably magnificant and I. am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for allowing  such an awesome trip!           

Ben and Sue Day 45

Day 45, Sunday, October 21, 2007

Greetings from The United Republic of Texas!

. . . We had a busy day today -- went to church -- First Baptist Church of Van Horn Texas.  Was a lovely, alive, friendly church.  Lots of people introduced themselves and shook our hand and welcomed us -- we felt very welcome.  Once again was good  to start the week with fellowship with like-minded people, to sign old familiar priase songs and to hear God's Word preached with passion and yet mercy.  Was very good indeed.  One lady at the church gave us a white bag filled with goodies because we were visiting for the first time.  After church I discoverd it was homemade pumpkin bread -- oh delicious.  In fact just now,  late in the evening as I write I am enjoying tea and pumpkin bread. 

So. . . we went to Carlsbad CAverns today in New Mexico with our friends Ian and his lively wife Christina.  We have missed them these many years and was good to see them, enjoy a meal and good conversation once again.  In order to get to Carlsbad Caverns from Van Horn one must drive north 90 miles on highway 54 -- one single long, flat road with surely some of the most barren land on planet earth.  Much like yesterday there was mile after mile of sagebrush, cacti, desert sand, foothills on every side.  The caverns were spectacular.  We were transported via elevator 750 feet underground.  If you have an opportunity to get on the Internet  and look for pictures of Carlsbad Caverns I would really encourage you to do so because whatever words I use will be so inadequate to describe its beauty and uniqueness.  Absolutely awesome, inspiring tour of this huge hole 750 feet in the ground -- took about  1 1/2 hours to walk the whole distance around.  We saw tons of staglamites and stalactites -- seemingly bottomless pits, whole "Scenes" created by calcium sulfate deposits that looked like woodland creatures gathered together, huge holes in the ceiling and sides of the cave and so much more.  Every time we turned a corner of the cavern one of us was saying something about how awesome, creative, unique or beautiful that part of the cave was.  So thankful we had the opportunity and so much fun to walk through with Ian and Christina.       

Ben and Sue Day 44

Day 44, Saturday, October 20, 2007

I feel a bit sad today because I had a peice of paper with a lot of notes on it -- things I was planning to write about today but lost the peice of paper.  I will try to remember as much  as I can.

. . . Once again the day was taken up with driving across Texas.  Ben and I kept saying this is our least enjoyable part of the trip.  The United Republic of Texas:  -- very big -- very barren land/forsaken -- 80 to 120 miles between cities -- biggest and most delicious French fries I have ever seen/eaten -- perhaps 5/6 inches long.  What they call mountains in Texas we call foothills in Washington.  Thousands and thousands of acres of sagebrush, cacti, barren land -- probably has not changed much since America was first founded.  It is easy to understand why so many of the lonely prarie cowboy songs were about Texas!

. . . It was  getting about time to eat dinner when  I saw a sign "Tayor 12 miles, Van Horn, 81 miles.  In mentining it to Ben we decided we better stop in 12 miles at Tayor.  Think again.  We showld have known right off it wasn't going to be a good place to eat.  There was a huge sign on the road that told about the restaurant and truck stop -- but a huge square had been cut right out of it.  So we took the exit and saw a red barn shaped building with a restaurant sign.  I said "Oh, this looks like a good place to eat" and no sooner had I said it then I noticed the closed sign on the door and also that the back of the building was falling down.  Then we saw a Texaco sign and  twe would get some fruit and crackers to hold us over.  Think again.  We turned the corner to the Texaco station and it looked as though it had been bombed.  All the glass blown out -- most of the building burned.  Since we did not see any other signs of life or signs telling us where we might find life () I think it is fair to say that the town of Tayor Texas if officially DEAD!

. . . In the morning we drove past perhaps five miles of windmills generating electrical power.  Also drove past miles and miles of cotton fields.  At one point Ben was able to pull over and I picked (gleaned  ) a tiny bit of cotton from the field.  It was very soft and had seeds inside it. 

Whether this afternoon was 98 degrees with clear and cloudless skies. 

Ben and Sue Day 43

Day 43, Friday, October 19, 2007

God was so gracious to me the very first thing this morning.  I was in the little store while Ben was checking us our of the campground and getting ice for  the morning.   I picked up a pretty soap dish that I was considering buying and it slipped out of my hand and broke.  I brought it to the cahsier and offered to pay for it but she said "Oh no, that's pefectly okay -- no need to pay for it since it's broken."  and she took it from me.  How kind she was!

Most of today was taken up with driving once again -- today we reached Abileen Texas.  Texas is a BIG state!  It is taking us a long  time to get across it.  We are still trying to connect with Ian and Christina but no success so far.  We changed our plans several days back and decided  not to drive to Colorado Springs because Ian and Christina are leaving there and are on their way to Mexico for a couple of days.  So glad we did change our plans because Colorado Springs has snow, ice and rain now -- chains are required for all vehicles.   How unsafe that would have been.

Let's see . . Papaw told us an encouraging story when we visited him and Mamaw.  He said that the church he fellowships with -- I think it was called Cornerstone Baptist Church -- began to fly not only the American flag and the Texas flag but also the Israeli flag.  Since the Bible does speak a lot about Israel and the Jewish people being God's chosen nation/people -- they wanted to identify with/promote that Bibical idea.  One day though someone burned their Israeli flag.  This prompted all kinds of national and international media and  the church was thus able to explain/expand on their position to an ever-widening circle of people.  One person called and told  them he would love to send them another Israeli flag, and yet another if the first one he sends gets burned.

We have seen so many eagles on our return trip.  I don't remember seeing any or hardly any on the  northern route travelling East, but all the way West we have seen them flying -- every single day.  They are so majestic -- easy to spot with a wing span of up to six feet and also they hardly ever flap their wings but rather ride on the wind currents.

We have seen many trucks that have the  words "Covenant Transport" on them.  Every single one has the message: "It's not a choice, it's a child."  I don't know about Arizona and New Mexico but so far on our trip across the southern states God seems to be very present in the culture here.  Of course it's hard  to make a very realistic judgment like that when we are only driving through and stopping at restaurants here and there.  But what I have observed is that there are huge billboards with signs like:  "Need a marriage counsellor?  I'm available.  God" and another that said "It's Me -- God"    and yet another:  "Tell the kids I love them.  God" and similar ones all along  the way.  Yesterday we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Cracker Barrell.  The food was absolutly delicious and when the waitress gave us the bill she wrote "Have a blessed day."     

We are working hard on eating dinner by 6 or 6:30 and it is definitely helping Ben's blood sugar.  There for a long while seems like we were eating at 8 or 9pm and this always caused Ben's morning blood sugar level to be very high.  So as a result he is feeling much better.  Thank you for your prayers for him.  Driving on the Interstate is not very easy at all.  Yesterday Ben needed  to move one lane right to make an exit and this  trucker absolutely would not let him in until the last second.  It's kind of unnerving sometimes to me to be sandwiched between two huge, loud, fast trucks!

Just by way of reminder if any of you have missed any days or just want to go back and re-read a certain day -- Benjamin created a wonderful blog where all our daily entries are:  Benandsuesroadtrip@blogspot.com.  Thank you so much Benjamin and Megan for doing that for us!       

Ben and Sue Day

Thursday, Octoberv 18, 2007, Day 42

. . . Today once again was mostly taken up with driving.  We drove from just south of Shreveport, Louisiana to Dallas/Fort Worth Texas.  This evening we got settled into our campsite, unhooked the  truck and went to visit very old and dear friends in Forth Worth -- Papaw and Mamaw Minnick.  Papaw was our very first preacher  in Germany.  I had only been on my Christian journey for six months and Papaw led Ben to the Lord while we went to the church they pastored in Morfelden, Germany.  I could write a book about our time there under their mentorship.  In all my life I have never known two people  who showed more love and selflessness than Papaw and Mamaw showed.  Ben and I grew mightly as Christians under their wisdom/guidance/love and care.  When we returned to the United States in 1987 my heart ached for a long time because we were separated by so many miles.  When they returned to the US they lived in Oklahoma and we would on occasion call or send a card.  Five years ago they moved very close -- to Monroe Washington to live with their son and daughter in law.  So we were able to visit and fellowship  more often since they were so close.  Then, six months ago they moved once again to Fort Worth to live with another daughter and son in law.

. . . Mamaw had a stroke several years ago which left her unable to speak or walk --  her right side being paralyzed.  Nonetheless Mamaw is still Mamaw -- her radiant smile, beautiful and carrying heart, has not changed one bit.  I'm not sure if Ben and I will have the opportunity  to see Mamaw any more because I was told her health is failing and she spends many days in bed now.  How incredibly thankful I am to my loving Heavenly Father who has given Ben and I this blessed opportunity to enjoy such a sweet sweet visit once again.

. . . Oh the sweet joy of Heaven!

. . . One thing that we have seen on this part of our trip is cotton growing in the fields and sometimes in bales.  We saw lots of bales -- seems as though one layer of the bale was as white as the cotton was in the fields and  the top layer of the bale was grey.  Not sure if that top layer had been treated or why it was grey.  The bales were huge -- perhaps 5 to 6 feet long and 4 to 5 feet high -- truly massive in size.   

  

Ben and Sue Day 41

Wednesday, Octoberv 17, 2007, Day 41

During our  trip I have been trying all different kinds of styles for my hair because I know that even if my hair turns out awful, the chances that I will meet someone I know thru the day are pretty slim.  Today I used LOTS of hairspray which I never use at home.  After only a short time outside today it started to pour down rain.  My hair was sticking together just fine but it was sticking together in all the wrong places and all the wrong ways.  It was sticking straight out in places. 

It was in this condition that I went into the UPS store.  All along the way I have been collecting little gifts to send off to a friend.  We saw a UPS store and thought that would be an excellent to mail off the box.  Now if I was at home I would have gathered all the stuff, put it in a box, taped the box and had it addressed BEFORE bringing it to UPS.  I would have gone in, put it on the counter, they would have weighed it, I would have paid for it and been out of there in five minutes.  That's what I wanted to do -- go into UPS, get the right size box and packing but supplies and go back to the truck to put it all together. 

But Ben thought it would be better to gather all the stuff and walk into UPS and put it in the box there.  No big deal I guess except for my ridiculous sticking out hair!

So we did end up bringing all the stuff into the store, packing it there, and mailed it off.  They were very helpful and the box is finally off.  It's really important to know how to navigatge planet earth!

When we came out of Wall Mart today the security guard drove up beside us as we were putting our stuff in the trailer and said "Folks, I just wanted you to know this area of Louisiana  has just been put under a tornado watch so just to let you know to be safe and  drive carefully."  A tornado watch??!! Yikes!!  I was scared half to death and it took me a little while to stop shaking.  The rain was pouring down for a couple of hours after that -- hard for Ben to drive.  But we made it to a lovely campsite in Lindman, Texas -- Whispering Pines.  The tornado was following us because even now as I write (11PM) the winds are shaking the trailer.  One never knows what each day will bring.

After dinner this evening -- by the way I LOVE cooking with gas instead of electirc -- we went to the hot tub and soaked there for a a long while -- was most pleasant.  Ben stayed in the hot tub longer and talked to another couple about our age who were vacationing in an RV also.  I got out after a while -- 'twas dark by now -- and sat by  the swimming pool.  Nearly 8PM and still 75 -- 80 degrees outside -- nice.  

 

Ben and Sue Day 40

Tuesday, october 16, 2007, Day 40

God was so good to us today!  Ben was driving -- we  were about 75 miles south of Shreveport, Louisiana.  Ben wanted to stop at a hotel because in all our camping books we did not find a campground before Shreveport.  I hoped Ben would continue on to Shreveport because it was so close and because it is both costly and inconvenient to stay in a hotel.  So we had a verbal spar about it.  Just about that time  Ben saw a little sign on the Interstate for an RV park at the exit just ahead.  So we pulled in there and there was room for our 5th wheel for the night.  Thank you Jesus!

Again God blessed us in a special way -- one of my Dad's medicines needed to be refilled but was out of refills.  So we called his doctor's nurse about it.  She told us Dad needed blood work before she could refill his prescription.  We asked her if it could wait three weeks till we got home and she was very unhappy about our request but told us she would check with the doctor and let us know.  In the end they did refill it.  Ben did a superb job of making sure Dad had enough medicine before we left -- and a wonderful friend, Lloyd, is visiting Dad each week and giving him his medicine and making sure Dad is well and visiting with him for a while. 

Today was pretty much taken up with driving all day -- from New Orleans to just south of Shreport, Louisiana.  We dwadled for a long time in  the morning and it must have been nearly noon before we ever got on the road.  We continue to have a great trip -- after five weeks we are understanding how we would change some things next time we take a long trip.  One thing I would change is the length of the trip -- two months seems like a very long time with no structure.    

Ben and Sue Day 39

Monday, October 15, 2007, Day 39

Weather Flash Alert!  Day 38 of warm, sunny weather.  All records broken from the beginning of weather record keeping!  Outlook is for continued warm, sunny weather in  the mid and western part of the United States until November 6th!

. . .We took the free shuttle today from the camp grounds to dontown New orleans -- specifically to the French Quarter.  Ben good naturedly/patienty waited for me as I shopped.  We had breakfast at a little rstaurant called the Cole Street Grill -- delicious food -- music was very loud New Orleans jazz.  Was fun for a little while to listen to the music.  One thing  they make well here is grits -- Ben has been ordering grits every morning and they always bring a big, hot, delicious bowl.

. . .So. . . after a while we rode the horse and buggy all around the French Quarter -- down the infamous Bourbon Street.  As happened in Baltimore my heart was very burdened with   people who seemed to have no real purpose except to get drunk night night after night.  What a terrible thing for a city to be famous for:  drunkeness.  I went lookin for a T-shirt to bring back with me and every single one I looked at had Bourbon Street on it.      I do believe of course in  the Lord Jesus and take great delight in serving Him and the assurance of eternity with Jesus in Heaven when I die. But perhaps  the very best part of my Chistian journey is that Jesus has given me purpose for my life/hope/a sense of direction  and guidance  to navigate this 'ole body on earth.  Do any of you remember the old cartoon Mr. McGoo?  Mr. McGoo walks through life TOTALLY oblivious to every danger and at the very last second when you just know he is going to die for sure -- circumstances/his path change and he is rescued once again.  I feel certain that must be how my life is -- my wonderful Heavenly Father saving me from a million disasters before they happen.

. . . I'm sort of rambling on here aren't I?  Okay. . . back to our trip today.  On the horse and buggy ride we visited a Catholic cemetary.  What a strange sight.  Because New Orleans is about 6 feet below sea level, they bury people above ground so that, during hurricanes/floods their bodies won't float back up to the  ground.  Or so the buggie driver told us.  He said in very old days the people  thought when dead bodies resurfaced it was because of vodoo.  Kind of gave me  the creeps!

. . . Oh yes he told one other fact too.  He said  there were three ovens in the cemetary where people were cremated.  Once a body is cremated the oven door is not opened for one year.  He did not know why.  Maybe I will have time to research it on the Internet -- if I find out I'll let you know tomorrow.  Oh the things one learns on vacation!

. . . Let's see . . . after the buggy ride we walked a bit more then took an old fashioned steam boat ride on the Mighty Mississippi River . . . was fun.  Learned that New Orleans was the third busiest seaport in the entire world.

. . . On the return trip to  the campground the driver took us down a street named Magazine Street.  He said the street was six miles long and "all six miles consiststed of little shops where you could buy just about anything your heart desires."  Many, probably most, of the buildings were really houses where people lived in the upper part of he house and converted  the lower half into a shop/store.  To my sweet sisters Kathy and Carol:  Let's make that our next vacation spot!  

Tomorrow we sadly leave New Orleans and had towards Denver Colorado where we hope to meet up with a dear friend Ian Thomas and his lovely wife Christina.

. . .Forgot to tell you:  enjoyed jambalaya for dinner today.  Always heard it was a real southern dish but did not really know what it was so I asked:  peices of sausage, beef and shrimp mixed with rice and chopped tiny peppers.  Very good indeed!  

Ben and Sue Day 38

Sunday, October 14, 2007, Day 38

My goodness, my goodness did we have an AWESOME day today!  Ben and I started the  day by going to church -- first Baptist Church of Kennwich.  Was so good to sing familiar songs, hear a good message, and be with like-minded people.  Kind of set the tone for the entire day.

. . .After church Tom  and Julie picked us up and for the next several hours took us all over New Orleans -- showing us and explaining to us so much about the history of New Orleans, the devastation of Katrina, the beautiful antebellum homes, treating us to a delicious dinner at a very old and famous restaurant --  Medinas -- and being the absolute best/kindest tour guides we have ever experienced.  Right away when I saw Julie I knew her because she looked so much like her sister (my friend) Jane back in Washington.  And Tom and Julie both were the most hositable people I have known -- you know how sometimes when you met someone for the first time there is that period of -- kind of awarkwardness -- as you talk and ask questions and get to know one another?  Well it  wasn't like that at all.  From the very first minute both Ben and I felt like we were in the presence of two very genuine people and all four of us talked and laughed quite easily.  It was so cool!

. . . So . . . New Orleans -- Wow!  I believe the one thing that stood out the most here was the determined spirit of the people to rebuild -- to reclaim their beloved and beautiful city.  Yes, there was MUCH destruction and one huge section of the city -- called a Parrish (about the size of a county) which is still completely without water or electricity and no one in that Parrish seemed to be rebuilding -- not even the businesses.  But aside from that one Parrish I saw great hope eveywhere.  Seemed to be that everywhere else there were plain and obvious signs that people were somewhere in the rebuilding process -- from gutting their house/business and rebuilding to completely destroying the structure and starting from the ground all over again.  Businesses were not only having grand re-openings -- they were have grand re-openings with huge signs "Welcome Back -- We're Reopening" and "We Love New Orleans -- Welcome Back" -- often with American flags flying beside the signs.

. . .I know I tend to be overly optimistic and I don't want to paint a rosy -- everything will be fine -- kind of picture.  It will probably be many decades before New Orleans begins to resemble pre-Katrina days.  And from  what Tom and Julie told us -- even now after two years it is still very hard to get workers -- construction people/plumbers/electricians are still in very short supply and if my understanding is correct it takes perhaps several months to get someone to put a new roof on your house -- very much a shortage of workers.  Julie said that in the months following Katrina the trash was 10 to 12 feet high in many places -- was a definite health hazard and surely must have been incredily unsightly.  Today I saw lots of trash outside the houses that were being rebuilt -- but at much more managable levels.  Many, many lots were vacant and only grass was growing where there were once homes.  As we drove down Jefferson Boulevard many huge cranes were woking on repairing the dikes and levees on the lake.

. . . Tom drove us to what is called the French Quarters -- old historic New Orleans.  I especially enjoyed walking there -- listening to the street musicians -- seeing people making/selling crafts/art.  We went to the famous  cafe De Monde for French donuts and coffee -- delicious for sure.  The donuts were sprinkled with powered sugar and when I got some on my black pants Julie said that  was common and everyone would know I had been to the Cafe Du Monde.  There were many people there walking around/taking pictures/enjoying shopping and eating -- a sure sign to me of hope and determination -- the tourism industry is making a comeback -- slowly but progressing just the same.  We saw horses and buggies -- their drivers explaining the French Quarters to those who rode.  After a while we walked up on the banks of the Mississippi River and Julie and I sat for a while enjoying the river and chatting about our childhood while Ben and Tom stood a little ways away also talking together.  Was most pleasant -- the river was calm today and the weather could not have been better.

. . . Over the years my friend Jane has often told me of her deep longing to return to her childhood home of New Orleans -- her family and friends.  I never had any such longing myself so I did not completely understand.  I hope I always listened with attention and compassion.  Well . . . after being here for only two days . . .I can understand so much better Jane's deep longing.  There is something about New Orleans -- difficult to describe -- a deep sense of community -- a strong knowledge of its histrory -- a sense of belonging that I have not experienced anywhere else on our trip.

 . . .Over and over again I am reminded of  that glorious day when we will all be friends in Heaven and there will never again be tearful goodbys.