Thursday, October 25, 2007

Westward, ho!

The wagon (i.e. Itasca Suncruiser motor home) has begun its journey westward beginning on Monday, October 15th. On November 11, Jerry will begin an interim pastorate at the Sammamish Presbyterian Church in Sammamish, WA - so travel with us as we head west!
Our first stop-over was in El Paso, where we spent a couple of days catching up on our visiting with our cousins Bill and Wayne...I wish we could say we sat on their patio and watched the spectacular view of EP and Juarez, but unfortunately, the winds were horrible, which confined us to inside, but didn't slow down the conversation one little bit!
Fortunately, the winds had subsided when we left for Arizona, which is a good thing - I have always wondered about those roadside signs that say "Dangerous winds." I think I would have understood that better on this trip had the winds still been up! This is a beautiful time of the year to travel Interstate 10 and we were constantly marveling at the scenery. After an overnight in Tucson, we became squatters in front of my brother's home in Phoenix. Jim and I haven't changed a bit, have we? (see picture) We were able to visit with their two adult kids who live in the Phoenix area (Nancy and Steve) as well. Brother Jim's weekend was perfect with OU winning their football game.
Our next stay was Las Vegas NV - you will remember we spent two months there shortly after Jerry retired, with Jerry assisting Jim Houston-Hencken, pastor at FPC LV. The city continues to build and build - everywhere we looked, more construction. We spent the evenings with Jim and Kathy, and our "grandchildren", Peter and Paige...who also continue to grow ...I just wish we lived closer to them so we could see more of them...but we will take whatever time we can get!
You will see Jerry with our other niece, Sarah, in front of their new home...our "home" while in LV was the big driveway at Sarah's former home which is on the market presently..anyone want to buy in LV? What a treat to spend time with her over lunch at a great local Mediterranean restaurant..later on that evening, Sarah, her husband, Ray, and son, Ryan, stopped by--so we got to spend some time with all of the family.
Yesterday we left Nevada and entered California - destination Barstow. The drawing card was Peggy Sue's Nifty 50's Diner - and it lived up to all its advertising!! The place is an absolute museum of memorabilia from OUR generation - and we loved it. 50's music filled the dining rooms, with so many photographs and movie posters on the walls, it would take a week to look at them all. We toured Barstow this morning - its on historic Route 66, also a restored Amtrak train station, with a Harvey House museum (anyone remember the Harvey House?)
We watched the sun set last night through particles of smoke beginning to float in from the wildfires in southern California --and woke this morning to the smell of smoke as well as a hidden sun, sometimes barely visible through the smoke. What a horrible experience for all those folks!
Tomorrow we head for Bakersfield, so we can enjoy country & western music at Buck Owen's Crystal Palace located there, before turning north. We already miss our friends and family in the midwest, but are eagerly looking forward to living in the great northwest for a while and meeting a new church family. God is so good!
Love from the Gypsies

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