A beautiful thing

Friendship is a beautiful thing!

In Keeping with Tradition

Tuesday morning at around 2 am my brother and I were busy packing my trunks and washing machine onto his truck. I went in grabbed about six hours of sleep and then hit the road for Sebring, Florida where I would deliver my loads to be shipped on a container to Niger.

In keeping with my friend Amy's tradition, I stopped at the first rest area in Florida to enjoy a cuppa' freshly squeezed Florida Orange Juice. Here's to you Amy, for a mighty fine tradition! (I had great fun setting my camera on self-timer and taking this picture so that I could share the moment with you.)

God provided a beautiful day on Wednesday. No rain in sight which was kind of important because the plastic around my washer ripped right away. I made it to Sebring late on Wednesday night. Thursday morning I had breakfast with some friends who just came from Niamey so it was fun hearing the latest news. We unloaded and I took time to visit a 93 year old SIM retiree that worked with my mom and dad and in Sokoto and is praying for me now. Then it was off to town to buy a mattress and make sure it was delivered to SIM and put on the container. All that complete at 2 pm and I hit the road to return to Charlotte. It rained most of the way back and it didn't matter a lick! God is good!

Anyway, it was a whirlwind trip but I enjoyed the sights along the way. Here are some of them...

entering Daytona Beach

an electric pole in the shape of Mickey's head...how fun is that?

entering Orlando

passing Seaworld

the latest gas saving version of the Mary Kay pink cadillac???

giant pineapples or are they palm trees?

Weekend Visit

This past weekend found me in Greensboro, NC with my friends K and M and their family. It was such a relaxing weekend. I got there Friday night and after the kids were in bed, we went out and roasted marshmallows around a fire in the backyard. On Saturday, we took the kiddos to the Greensboro Children's Museum which was a lot of fun. And besides that, I had time for good conversation, playing with the kiddos, reading a book and helping in the kitchen. Ahh, how lovely to be in the company of good friends!

Messing Around

What's a brother for if you can't mess with his head?

Mountains and More

The final week of our vacation took my Mom and Dad and I back through the mountains. This time we headed north towards Jasper. We shopped a bit in the town of Jasper and then we headed up to Mount Edith Cavel. We took a winding road with lots of switchbacks but the reward was beautiful. Close to the top we got out and hiked about fifteen minutes up the mountain to a pond fed by the glacier. The ground all the way around the pond was very shaley (if that's a word). It was beautiful although the water wasn't quite as clean as I expected. I fished out a very small chunk of ice out of the pond. But it was pretty pathetic compared to the one my mom fished out for me to pose with. It would have been great to have a picture of the whole process...picture my mom bending over the lake with me holding onto her pants for fear that she might lose her balance and fall into the icy water. We left there and headed down the mountain to Athabasca Falls. This was my Dad's pick and it was awe-inspiring! Different from any falls I have ever seen. The Athabasca River falls down into a narrow canyon and the water moves through with incredible force. The amazing thing is that you can walk through canyons where the water used to flow. It's hard to describe it with words but if you ever make it up to Jasper don't miss the Athabasca Falls!After leaving the falls, we ran into some wildlife. First, there were big horned sheep on the cliff over the highway. When we stopped to take some pictures, we realized that there was a photographer who had climbed the hill and was less than six feet away taking pictures! I stayed down on the road.Further down the road, we ran into some long-haired goats along the side of the road. When we first started taking pictures they were quite far up the hill. As we took pictures, one particular Mama and her baby were making their way down the hill until they were right across from us only separated by a ditch. With horns like hers that wasn't really far enough away for me so Dad and I booked it out of there. I didn't get to see a moose but it was fun to end our time in the mountains with some interesting wildlife. The mountains were so beautiful, each one unique in it's own way, they left me longing for more. One day, I think it would be fun to start at the top and work my way back and forth through the mountain passes all the way to the bottom of the Rockies.

Forward Progress

Well, the packing process is finally moving forward. I've actually packed a couple of boxes...feeling pretty psyched about that. (Procrastination is my middle name when it comes to packing.) So anyway, I thought I would reward myself and tell you about some more of my vacation.


We left the prairies and headed toward the Rockies. This was my favorite part of the whole trip. The Canadian Rockies are indescribably beautiful. We stopped to take some pictures of the mountains reflected in this beautiful dam. A little bit further down the road we actually passed a black bear right down the bank on the other side of the road. Unfortunately, it was difficult to manipulate the car into a place where a picture could be taken. Kent wasn't too keen on the idea of getting out and taking a picture...I'm not sure why????

We drove on to Lake Morraine which is close to Banff and Lake Louise. Lake Morraine is surrounded by 10 peaks. It was absolutely beautiful and the lake was so calm. I was jealous of those who were out kayaking and canoeing because it looked like a lot of fun. We had to keep going though so we headed down the mountain and on to Revelstoke in British Columbia. Along the way, I saw another two bears traipsing across the mountain. At one point, after climbing through the mountains, someone looked back and saw this view. So of course, we stopped and that's when we realized that the car was overheating. Unfortunately, instead of leaving it to cool off, we opened the cap on the radiator and got an explosion of coolant. This began a succession of filling it up with water and having it overflow...probably very comical if you were an onlooker. Anyway, God knew we were in need of a little assistance and sent a couple who were on their way to Revelstoke. They offered to help and had a working cellphone (mine was dead and Kent couldn't get service) so we called for a tow truck. They were also willing to take my Mom and I on to Revelstoke while Kent and Dad waited on the tow truck.

While waiting, Kent found a perfect mountain spring for a drink of crisp and cool mountain water.

In spite of getting towed into Revelstoke, my dad decided the next day that it was okay to continue with the car. We eventually did have to replace the radiator but not until we got to Vancouver Island.

We picked up my cousin Cheryl in Abbotsford and took the ferry to Vancouver Island. We had a good time visiting with my Aunt Nina and cousins, Cheryl and Ron. Here are the cousins! Unfortunately, Kent had to go back to work at this time so he ditched us just before some more beautiful mountain scenery. More on that next time!

Oh, the Places We Went

This post is for Jen, who actually checked to see if I was posting during my vacation. Sadly, for three weeks she met with disappointment, but now at 3 am in the morning when only God knows why I'm awake and can't sleep, I'm going to write about it. :)I left Atlanta around June 15th and headed up to Toronto where my Mom, Dad and I all caught a flight out to Calgary, Alberta. Our trip began with my Dad's Bible College reunion. I guess it's kind of strange to be attending someone else's college reunion but even though I didn't know a lot of people, we heard some amazing testimonies and it was inspiring to see just how many people that attended his Bible college had dedicated their lives to serving God.

Kent joined us part way through the reunion. After the reunion, we traveled east almost to Saskatchewan to see some of the places where my Dad and his family grew up. We loved the slogan on Dad's hometown sign - Kirriemuir "Relish Today Ketchup Tomorrow." We even got to see the "hospital" where he was born which really just looks like a house. From there, we moved on to visit with my Dad's youngest brother and his family. Kent and I stayed with Jeff and Laurel. While Kent rode along on the tow truck, I hung out with Laurel and got to know her and their three little boys.
Then we headed to Three Hills where I got to hang out with friends from eighth grade - Debbie and Rhonda. This was a wonderful reminder of the amazing friends that God has brought across my path - friends that I can pick up with and feel like I just hung out with them yesterday even though it's been several years.Alright, I'm stopping for now in hopes that I'll actually be able to fall asleep soon.