a few pictures

I've been meaning to post these pictures for several weeks now and for whatever reason just haven't done it. Anyway, here they are :)

Gettysburg Welcome Center Sign (per jordan and gregs request...)
The biggest buffet I've ever been too
An Amish horse and buggy
The Dingi :)

In case you haven't noticed...

...we haven't had a chance to post any more pictures from our trip. :) We are working on getting files of pictures created to upload to the blog, but there are so many pics to go through! We will post them soon, so hang in there!

-More to come-

Home Again!

Hi All -

We pulled into our driveway about 5pm today, so thankful to God for all of the blessings we've known from Him on this trip. Total mileage from when we pulled out of our driveway 4 weeks ago on June 18: 8549 miles. We averaged 15 mpg, which isn't bad.

More posts and pics to come, but for now we are on to the really fun stuff: unpacking and doing laundry!

On the road again, and again, and again...

Hi All - (Greg again)

This last week has been a whirlwind, and we've had limited access and time for getting more updates out.

We spent our final day in DC last Tuesday visiting the National Archives (where the original documents of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are displayed), then touring the Capitol and Library of Congress, and Jordan and me visited the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington Cemetery. Then we hit the road about 4am on Wednesday to drive almost 700 miles to Louisville, KY, where we spent the night at The Legacy Center at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (where Al Mohler is president). Thursday we were on the road early again, driving to Topeka, KS. We stayed in Topeka Thursday and Friday night with my one of my close friends from college days at the University of Oklahoma. It was a great time of fellowship and refreshment with John, his wife Liz, and their son Micah. Then on Saturday we headed west again, this time to Colorado Springs to see our friends the Sinclairs, who we got to know when we all lived together in Simi Valley, CA a number of years ago. Our plans are to leave here early in the week, and then arrive back in Sacramento sometime later in the day on Wednesday.

It may not happen until after we get home, but we're definitely planning on giving a little more detailed udpates about all that has transpired in this final week and a half of our trip, along with posting some more pictures.

We're so grateful for all of you who have followed our journeys on this blog - it's made the whole trip all the more special for us. So thanks for your interest - we trust it has been a blessing for you in some way.

Bye for now. Next stop: Sacramento (Lord willing!)

A few mellow days...

Greg here...

It's almost midnight on Monday, and we returned home from a very long and fun day in DC just over an hour ago. Laurie and some of the kids will be posting fuller reports in the near future about our adventures over the last few days, but here's a brief recap.

Friday, July 4 - slept in and did things around the house in the morning, took the Metro into DC around 2 pm, visited the Air and Space Smithsonian Museum, rubbed shoulders with the 10's of thousands of other sweaty, sticky people who were there for July 4 festivities, hung out on the National Mall waiting for fireworks, met some new friends from Ohio, got rained on, dried off, got rained on again, watched fireworks (WOW - never seen anything like it before!), got home about 11:30pm. Exhausted, but WOW!!

Saturday, July 5 - slept in and had a leisurely morning, Metro'd to DC in the afternoon, explored more of the Smithsonian Museums, back home to the house around 7pm.

Sunday, July 6 - Attended worship services at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in downtown DC (AWESOME!!), enjoyed leisurely lunch and fellowship with David, Grace, and Rachel Verhey, along with Grace's brother Abe (a refreshing joy to have fellowship with them all!), drove around DC on our own for just a bit, then drove to Independent Bible Church in Martinsburg, WV (about 1 1/2 hours from DC), for the sending-off service for Brent and Tracy Alderman (Brent had been the Worship Pastor at IBC for 11 years, and is the new State Director for Capitol Ministries, Maryland), enjoyed fellowship with many afterwards, drove home, got in bed shortly after midnight.

Monday, July 7 - up and out early, Metro'd to DC for a 9am VIP tour of all of the key monuments and memorials around DC (courtesy of the National Park Service and our friend David.) Amazing! The intimate and informative tour ended about 5pm. Relaxed for a bit at Union Station, then met up with Jedd and Rachel Medefind and their two little girls, who hosted us for a fun and special picnic dinner on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol, along with a great concert from a Country Western/Bluegrass U.S. Navy Band.

As you see, the last few days have been very full and memorable, hence the absence of any posts/pictures from us for awhile. But Lord willing, Laurie and the kids will write some more detailed reports of all these things in the near future, and we'll get some more pictures up. Coming Tuesday: our final day in DC before heading west for home! Right now for me, I'm off to bed!!

Pics - Friday, July 4th in DC - Fireworks!!

more pictures - Wed. 7/2 in Valley Forge, PA

more pictures - Tues. 7/1 and Wed. 7/2 in Philadelphia

Pictures - Finally! Sunday, 6/29 in Maine

Day 15 (July 3)

Hi to our family and friends! Thanks for keeping up with us through this blog – we’ve enjoyed your comments and emails! It’s my turn (Greg) to share an update.

Our day began early, with us out of the house at 6:15. There is a Metro (the DC area train/subway system) station just a few miles from our home, and we headed there to travel into downtown DC for the day. We had visited the station Wednesday night to familiarize ourselves with the Metro, and to buy passes that we’ll use all week to get around. After about a half-hour trip on the train, we arrived at our destination, which was just a few blocks from the White House. We walked around a bit and grabbed some critically important “stamina-accelerating-rations” (coffee), and then checked in for our White House tour about 8:30 am. This was a special tour that a friend of ours who works in the Bush Administration set up. It was a self-guided tour that allowed us to walk through many of the significant rooms in the White House – complete with many watching eyes from the very-present Secret Service. What a thrill it was to see this very famous house “up close and personal.” It certainly has a regal and stately presence about it.

After the tour was completed and we were walking outside near the White House, we suddenly heard the whirring rotors of a helicopter overhead in the near distance. We were standing on the East side of the White House grounds and looking to the South towards the Washington Monument, as this was where we heard the helicopter and we could tell it was getting closer. Then sure enough, just beyond the trees near us we saw Marine One (the President’s helicopter) approaching to land at the White House. Whether or not President Bush was on board, who knows. But it was pretty cool to see it!

Following our White House adventure, we then took the Metro to the National Zoo in DC. This is free to the public (as are most of the DC museums and attractions), and Tyler especially wanted to visit this. We stayed for a few hours, and had a great time enjoying the uniqueness and diversity of God’s creation that such a facility showcases (albeit, mostly unknowingly). The National Zoo is a very clean and spacious place, and we really had a good time there.

Our final tourist stop for the day was at the National Cathedral (www.nationalcathedral.org). WOW! It truly is a magnificent and stunning piece of amazing architecture, done in the Gothic style. Most of you may remember that a national memorial service was held in this facility a few days after 9/11 in 2001. The sun was shining brightly as we arrived in the afternoon, so the brilliance of the building was all the more illuminated, both inside (with all of the stained-glassed windows), and out (with the Indiana limestone which was used to construct the building). The succession of my thoughts and reactions in visiting this unique building was “tremendous…temporary…and tragic”.

It is a profoundly tremendous building. The planning and work of its construction spanned nearly 100 years (it was officially completed in 1990), and involved thousands of people in the process. The building represents the hightest order of human creativity, expertise, and skill. Additionally, it is the sixth largest cathedral in the world, which is no small boast.

Yet in spite of its tremendous features, at the end of the day it is just a building. As with everything else in this world, it is temporary. All of its beauty and design will one day come crashing down when God executes final judgment on the earth.

This reality then heightened a sense of tragedy in my mind, for whatever else may be said about the building and those who built it, it is not in any way a place where the Word of God is upheld and the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ and the Gospel is cherished. Instead, the building itself seems to be the object of worship for many. Those who preach and teach in the building are clearly committed to a message of political correctness and cultural expediency, rather than biblical faithfulness and gospel integrity. All of the literature I read concerning the building promotes a very liberal, “all roads lead to heaven” theology. Further, my Washington friend told me that he and his wife attended a Sunday service there, and heard nothing from the Word of God or concerning the Gospel. Thus, what a tragedy that those who may be drawn to this building for any number of reasons, will likely never hear the Christ-exalting, sin-forgiving, judgment-delivering, life-giving, soul-comforting message of truth and hope echoing within its walls. Perhaps this is not what the original builders of the cathedral had in mind, but it is certainly the reality today. Tragic!

One statement engraved on the wall in the lobby area gripped me deeply:

In thanksgiving to the living God
For all ministers who have borne
The hot coals of His Word
Upon their lips
And in their lives.

It’s sad to read such words in a building whose ministers no longer bear those hot coals. It’s also sobering because I know the temptations are constant to compromise the Word of God for the sake of comfort and expediency. Please pray that God would enable me, and all other ministers of His Word, to be faithful in what He has called us to!

Well, after our full day in DC we returned to our home about 5:30. We were thoroughly sun-soaked and exhausted (we did LOTS of walking throughout the day), and thus grateful to relax for the rest of the evening and then get to bed in good time. Fridays plans: Independence Day celebrations in downtown DC!

We've been taking lots of pictures, and will get more up on the blog at some point in the near future.

Bye for now!

Special Post – “The Great Yak-Attack” (as reported by Greg)

Okay, it really wasn’t all that great, and it really wasn’t an attack. But it was exciting. Here’s what happened.

Soon after getting on I-95 going south out of Philadelphia early last Wednesday afternoon (July 2), I was driving and said to everyone, “Turn around and say good-bye to Philadelphia.” Immediately Tyler, who was sitting in the back of the van, followed my instructions and added, “And say good-bye to Zach’s shoes bouncing on the highway!” At that very moment, a few other things happened simultaneously: 1) Laurie noticed a few shoes on the roof by her window (she was sitting in the passenger seat up front), 2) Tyler said he saw some other shoes on the highway, and 3) another driver in the lane next to me started honking wildly and giving me the universal sign language signals for “Hey buddy, the top of your Yak is flapping open, shoes are flying everywhere, and your luggage is about to be donated to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation!”

Now you have to understand that at this time I’m doing about 65 mph in the number 3 lane of 4 lanes of traffic. The Good Samaritan who signaled me was in the number 4 lane beside me, but he quickly sped away after alerting me – I’m sure fearing that at any moment one of our projectile shoes would shoot through his window. With the number 4 lane now open, I quickly merged into it, and then to the shoulder where I came to a stop. The only problem now was that the shoulder was approximately ¾ of an inch wider than the width of our van. So here I am sitting with my family in the center of a busy interstate, fellow southbound cars whooshing by me on the right, northbound cars whooshing by on the left (separated only by a short concrete divider), a good number of our shoes sprinkled on the roadway behind me, and with an apparently malfunctioned lid on our Yakima cargo box. Oh by the way, the wind was blowing from right to left at about 40 mph.

Well, I knew that for safety reasons I couldn’t get out of the van to inspect things. So with my emergency flashers on, I prayerfully and carefully put the van in motion and began to make my way across traffic to get to the other side of the highway. This went fine, other than the fact that for whatever reason there was no real shoulder on the right side of this particular portion of highway. Therefore, my only option was to proceed slowly in the number 1 lane for a short distance until I could exit the highway. This process took about 5 minutes (though it seemed like 50), and was accompanied by some other kind and gracious motorists who honked and also gave the same universal sign language as the first guy (DUH! Like I didn’t know I had a problem at this point!). It should also be known that throughout this process, my dear family remained calm, cool, and collected – for the most part.

Once off the road and able to inspect the problem, it seems that the wind got under the front flap of the Yak cover, and dislodged one of the latches. We’ve always checked these carefully before driving, for obvious reasons. But who knows – maybe we just didn’t latch it as securely as we thought. Whatever the ultimate cause, amazingly no permanent damage was done and the Yak is still fully functional. Also amazingly, we only lost a number of the loose shoes that were in the Yak, sharing space with some duffle bags, sleeping bags, and a few plastic bags filled with dirty laundry. No luggage was lost. This was a great blessing, not only because we still have all the luggage, but if other items would have left the Yak, it could have caused a serious accident.

I’m happy to report, therefore, that we survived the “Great Yak-Attack”. Lord willing, we won’t have any others on the trip!

Day 12 (June 30) and Day 13 (July 1)

(As promised, here is Zach's post from a few days ago...)

Zach here. In case you haven’t noticed, I have not yet posted on the Family Blog. I will be writing about day’s number 12 and 13.

Day 12 (June 30)
Day was a driving day. We drove from Nashua, New Hampshire to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia). It was around 430 miles and 10 hours total (we made quite a few stops). The highlight of the day was driving through New York City. We drove around the city, saw the Empire state Building, Ground Zero, and other landmarks. Some of us got out of the car and saw the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, and we bought some authentic New York hotdogs and pretzels. It was great to get to actually see the stuff we always hear about. We ended the day with a workout and a quick swim and went to bed exhausted.

Day 13 (July 1)
We spent today in Philadelphia. We started our tour of the city in the Independence Hall Visitor’s Center, which was actually a few blocks from Independence Hall. After checking stuff out there, we headed to the building that holds the Liberty Bell. After seeing the bell, we went to a restaurant called Campo’s, which we were told was one of the best places to get an authentic Philly Cheese Steak. The sandwiches were great. Following lunch, we went to Independence Hall, the site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, two of the most important documents in our country’s founding. We toured the Hall, and then went to a room where original copies of the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution were displayed. After seeing the documents, we went back to the Visitor’s Center to grab some souvenirs, and then ran into Dunkin’ Donuts for some coffee and donuts. On our way out of the city, we drove past the Philadelphia Museum of Art, whose front steps were immortalized in the movie Rocky. We will be doing some more touring of Philly tomorrow, before heading down to the place we’ll be staying near Washington D.C. (about 150 miles from Philadelphia).

Thanks for keeping up with us. More to come…

Zach

Day 14 (July 2)

Let me start by saying that Zach has written an update for days 12 and 13, but we have had some technical difficulties in getting it posted. We hope to get it up as soon as possible!

For now, I'll briefly tell you about Day 14, which was Wednesday, July 2. After getting up and loading our rig with all our stuff, we spent the first part of the morning touring Valley Forge National Park, which was 5 minutes from our hotel and about 20 minutes from downtown Philly. This is where George Washington and the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777-1778. It was intriguing to learn more about this significant time in American history, and the people who were a part of it.

We then visited the U.S. Mint in downtown Philly, and took a brief tour. Very fascintating to see how coins are designed, produced, and distributed.

We then left Philly, headed south on I-95 for Lanham, MD, which is about 10 miles from D.C. We arrived at our home about 4:30 pm, and this is where we will be based now for the next week. Did I say home? Yes, and what a great provision from God this is! We are staying at the home of Paul and Linda Mutchler. Paul is a Grace Brethren Pastor who is an acquaintance of mine. He pastors the Grace Brethren Church of Lanham. I contacted him a few weeks prior to our trip, and as he and his wfe were planning on being on vacation the exact time of our D.C. visit, he offered to let us housesit while they were away. Yaha! Their spacious and cozy home is actually the parsonage of the church. The whole church and home campus is right across the street from Capitol Bible College and Washington Bible Seminary, in a beautiful area of Lanham. We are very thankful for the Mutchler's hospitalit and generosity to let us stay in their home, and for this "over and above" provision from God!

Thursday we are off to tour the White House and get familiarized with D.C. in general.

In an upcoming post, we'll be telling you about an "exciting and adventuresome" event with had with our "Yak" cargo box while traveling south on I-95. It made for a great memory!

Bye for now - Greg

New York City Pictures - Mon., 6/30

Zach will be posting an update very soon...I promise!