Chris's Christmas Trip

Chris is now in Jackson, Tn. 800 miles today. Take'r easy Chris

Chris

Chris is on his way to Florida. He is now in Arkansas.

Christmas

For somehow, not only at Christmas,
but all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
is the joy that comes back to you.
-John Greenleaf Whittier

When are we going to learn that Christmas Peace comes only when we turn and face the darkness? Only then will we be able to see the Light of the World.
-Ann Weems

Thankfulness

It is Sunday and the house is quiet. Gail and Harry are asleep. It is chilly today by FL. standards; people in the North East under all that snow would scoff and me saying it is chilly. I pray for all those folks stranded in airports. It might be days. Chris is in Wichita after a long drive from New Mexico. He sets out for Florida on Tuesday to be home for Christmas. I am thankful for my family and this quiet time.

Dear Family, Friends and Others,

After a long illness, I am now on my way back to recovery. Suffice it to say, I am doing well and want to once again share thoughts for This Day. I don't know if I will be able to send every day but I do want to share some of these "gems" with you. They are not mine, so don't ask me to explain them. They are simply my gift to you. As always, if I can pray for you just let me know. Please let me know if you want me to remove your name from the list. Here is the first installment.

Regardless of how severely the winds of adversity may blow,
we set our sails toward joy.
-Charles Swindoll

Months of Silence

Can't believe I have been so busy with life that I have not made a blog entrance since June! Closed on the house in Florida, eighteen weeks as the pastor of Bayshore Presbyterian Church, gone to the beach three times...life is good.

Settling In and AF Retirement

Cars are registered, new driver's license procured, HHGs delivered, but still in boxes. We are getting closer.

I have been officially retired from the Air Force now for three days and have a blue ID card.

A Long, Hot Summer

It has been a while since posting on my blog. We are here in Tampa, Florida, and I have been at Bayshore Presbyterian Church since Palm Sunday. We are having a wonderful time making new friends, learining a new area, and enjoying the start of a long hot summer. By the way, it is raining today and quite cool. Isn't that cool!

We made it to the San Antonio Riverwalk for breakfast at Zuma Grill. Aaron had a San Antonio omlette and I had egg, cheese and potato soft tacos. We pressed on to New Orleans after having a crawfish dinner in Lafayette, LA. Tonight we are in New Orleans in the Best Western with plans to visit the Big Easy tomorrow.

Stop and Go

Had the brakes replaced in Las Cruces, NM this morning and got off to a late start. We did not make it to San Antonio as planned, but will be there tomorrow for breakfast tomorrow. Lunch today was in El Paso at the all you can eat buffet at Golden Corral, uggh!

Travel Fare

We have had fun finding the good places to eat...not a difficult task as local folks are eager to share their favorite eating establishments. So,Gail, this is for you.

Monday Seattle: Coastal Cafe featuring food from Tunisia. Every six weeks they completely change the menu. Last month they served food from Breton.

Tuesday WA and OR: Breakfast with homemade biscuits and gravy, and an omlette at a diner (sort of) in Washington, lunch at a fastfood Sushi bar in Oregon, and dinner at the Cattleman in Redding, CA. Best steaks and hamburgers I have EVER tasted.

Wednesday: Dinner at Juicy's Cafe in Needles, CA. Fish and Chips and Steak Sandwich. Good Route 66 retro stop.

Thursday: Scrambled eggs at Juicy's, In and Out Burger in Phoenix,AZ...a good burger at this legendary California burger stop, dinner at the Cattle Baron in Las Cruces, NM...both had the salad bar. Very good in the city of The Crosses.

California-Arizona

We spent Wednesday and part of the day today (Thursday) driving California and into Arizona. Stopping the night in Needles, CA in the Mojave Desert, we tuned into the weather channel to learn about the blizzard heading toward Denver,CO and Amarillo, TX and into Wichita, KS...We spent the extra day driving through California to avoid the blizzard in Wyoming, but it headed our way. Our route was to be along I-40 through Flagstaff, Arizona,into Albuquerque, New Mexico, then on to Amarillo, Texas, Oklahoma City, then up to Wichita. The Weather Channel gal was saying that this would be the course of the storm and would be the heaviest snow in a decade. Our choices were to wait it out in Las Vegas for three days, have a good time, spend a lot of money, then head into Wichita on Sunday. This of course would have put us almost a week behind schedule, and who was to say that there would be clear skies to follow? Springtime weather is so unpredictable and I have been caught driving in a blizzard before. That is not at all fun and extremely dangerous! I put my pilot training to use and plotted a course around the weather. So that is why today we are in the desert heading across Arizona on I 10. The weather is nice, 72 degrees, with hardly a cloud in the sky. Our plan is to make El Paso by nightfall, then through Texas via San Antonio tomorrow. We ate lunch at the In and Out Burger in Phoenix, Arizona, went past the University of Phoenix, Aaron's college, and south to Tuscon. There have been severe thunderstorms east of Houston, so we are taking our time to let the front move east ahead of our journey. This has been a very exciting trip with flexible routes. Aaron's Explorer is running well and getting over 24 MPG on these long stretches of Interstate. And so we tumble along with the tumbling tumbleweed into El Paso, the land West of the Pecos.

Into California

Today we traveled through the beautiful state of Oregon, our first time. The rain stopped and the sun peeked out around Salem, OR. We crossed over the state line, passing the California agricultural inspection, viewed Mt. Shasta, and had a beautiful drive through the Cascade Range. Tomorrow we go to Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area. The rain stopped around Salem, OR, and we enjoyed a sunny trip through the Mt. Shasta park area. BEAUTIFUL! All is well, but we are tired tonight. All three food stops we made were great...A Harty Breakfast of homemade biscuits in Washington, sushi and teryiaki in Oregon, and the best sirloin burger in California. The Cattleman Restaurants are the best with locations in the Bay Area.

South out of Tacoma, WA

We had a very productive day in Tacoma yesterday. The Explorer has two new tires, fresh coolant and an oil change. I was wonderful visiting daughter Anna and Fr. Steve Booth. We have decided to travel south toward California to avoid the snowy mountain passes and potential blizzard conditions in the Rockys. This will add a 600 miles to our trip, but will not have to contend with severe winter conditions. Good bye, Seattle.

Honolulu to Seattle

Yesterday Gail dropped us off at HNL after a nice breakfast at the Hale Koa (House of the Warrior)the Armed Forces Recreation Hotel on Waikiki Beach. Aaron was off on Alaska AL and me on NW. Anna was at Seat-Tac to meet us and after retrieving our luggage and eating at Shari's, we arrived at McCord AFB at 0130 today. And so, we bid a fond aloha to Hawaii and begin another adventure on this journey of life. Although I have the tendency to plan out every step of the way, this trip will an exercise in dependence on road conditions, mechanical soundness of the car, weather, mood, our sense of adventure, and Aaron's driving skills. There were so many twists and turns to the outprocessing, shipping of household goods and auto, getting Gail's 90 year old dad Harry through the process and on the flight to Atlanta not to mention getting Corgi Maggie ready to fly, that I am aware that grace was the driver. Spiritually, continues to be an exercise of trust in God. If I can trust God to provide the way to salvation through his Son Jesus, I can certainly trust in him to get us to Tampa. We now have 2677 miles behind us. Gail, Harry and Maggie should be in Tampa by this writing. Today I will enjoy the sabbath rest, worship God, and be in the company of my son and daughter.

Aloha

Goodbye Hawaii. Mahalo

International Justice Mission

You might want to check out this site and respond as you are led by the Spirit.
http://www.ijm.org/

Mighty Mo, Pearl Harbor

More Hawaii Fishing

Hawaii Fishing Trip

Diamond Head 10K

My first competitive race since running track in high school. I started and finished! The very best part was running with my daughter Anna.

Retirement Montage

Retirement Ceremony

We are on the way to the ceremony to make my retirement from the Air Force official.