We are home! We did not have computer access on our last night away from home, so I’ll give some highlights. The scripture for the day was Acts 9:1-9, Saul on the Damascus Road. This is a powerful story and I love it, but at the time I wasn’t seeing any immediate connection for our day’s plans. However, I do have what I call “signposts” in my life—those moments when God is working so powerfully and obviously that His presence is undeniable, even palpable. Some of those signposts have been: --individuals who have functioned as “second fathers [View Full Entry]

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Our trip is winding down and we are taking some quiet time in one of my favorite places -- Grant Teton National Park. We are staying at THE HOSTEL at the base of Teton Mountain in Teton Village outside of Jackson Hole. Yesterday morning we awoke to clouds but dry conditions in Rexburg, ID, but that was shortlived. We weren't more than five miles out of Rexburg heading north toward West Yellowstone when the sky opened up and it began to rain. As we rose in elevation, the clouds became thicker and the rain more steady. By the time we reached [View Full Entry]

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I think the last time I put sunblock on was on Malibu Beach. And it has been 4-5 days since I last felt comfortably warm through a whole day's riding. I think I last remember feeling that way while riding through Sonoma wine country on US101 in CA. After that a low pressure system stalled over the CA/OR coast and we've been in various clothing and rainsuit layers ever since. But I know better than to whine too much. I decided a few years ago that I liked motorcycle riding because of the feeling of freedom and usually wonderful air smells [View Full Entry]

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We left late from Medford because of rain and cold and finally got on the road around 10:30. Our route took us north up past Crater Lake, but not in view of the lake. It is very high and there is still a lot of snow around the rim. We did go over the pass near the lake at an elevation of about 6,000 ft. and there was snow in the ditch along the road. It began to rain and it poured pretty hard for about the last hour before we stopped for an early lunch. My motorcycle boots are a [View Full Entry]

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Scripture: Luke 10:30-37 A neighbor is one who shows mercy. That was the message Jesus was telling the religious leaders in the Good Samaritan story. Two people were traveling on a highway up the coast of California on a motorcycle when they grew tired and wanted to stop for the night. When they saw a sign that said, "$55 per night", they turned around and went back and rang the doorbell. A young proprietor came to the door and said, "Our rooms are $110 per night." The weary traveler responded, "I thought the sign said $55." The young proprietor said, "That's [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Fortuna, CA after spending a great day riding on winding roads and through Redwood Forests and along the northern coast of California. After supper, we sat in the hot tub for a while then settled in for a few episodes of Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel. Today we went north to Redwood National Park and then Northwest to Medford, OR. We stopped at AAA and picked up some maps that should get us through the rest of our trip. Grace and I were both in kind of a lousy mood this morning when we started out and had [View Full Entry]

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Today we left Buellton, CA after staying at a FANTASTIC Best Western motel with wonderful beds. I think if I've learned anything about myself on this trip, it's the importance of a good mattress and how it effects my life the following day. I had a great day today because I had a great mattress last night -- maybe. Our Bible text today was from Luke 2:41-50. It was Passover and twelve year-old Jesus traveled with his parents to Jerusalem to the Temple. Jesus got into some conversation with the religious leaders and I'm guessing he was talking Torah and Pentateuch [View Full Entry]

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The scripture today, Mt. 2:13-18, was about Mary and Joseph's flight to Egypt with baby Jesus. Here and there scripture records journeys whose sole purpose was protection. I think of David running from Saul, Jacob "getting out" after he stole Esau's birthright, and a number of others. With a crooked smile, I think of today's journey with a little bit of the "fleeing for protection" motif. L.A. Specifically Santa Monica Beach and the end of Rt. 66. We were eager to get there and didn't want to stay. We wanted to celebrate reaching the milestone and then get out of town. [View Full Entry]

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Today's text was from Ezra 1:1-4--God effectively paving the way for the Israelites to return from exile by changing the heart of the king of Persia and causing him to make law that all the Persian people should give the Israelites whatever they needed to return home. When does that ever happen for anyone?! Again, I didn't immediately resonate with today's text, but mentally filed it for later rethinking. This day was great and physically a bit punishing. Winds were 35 mph with 40mph gusts. We figured we would take the riding in smaller increments so as to give Steve's arms [View Full Entry]

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We left early from our motel in Santa Fe to try and make up time. We are hoping that if we can make up time, we can go through L.A. on Sunday which would likely be the best traffic day of the week. Also, we need more time to go up the Pacific coast. Traveled through Albuquerque and on to Gallup where we were supposed to have spent the night last night. We stopped at a grocery store and bought some cut-up fruit with the idea of going to a park and having fruit for lunch. When we were exitting the [View Full Entry]

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