Ever have one of those days you really wanted to remember forever? This has been the trip of a lifetime for both Grace and I because it was fairly bold and spontaneous for two people who are almost 50 going across the country on motorcycle. So when we did the planning it occured to me that we would be traveling on our anniversary. In our initial planning, we had planned to go, on our anniversary, to Lake Havisu AZ where the London Bridge has been reconstructed. We would then end our day at Needles before we would enter the daunting and [View Full Entry]

---

---

"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7b This scripture text on Samuel journeying to Bethlehem to annoint the next king of Israel didn't resonate with me much initially. So I pondered it and put in the back of my mind as we drove into the new day. This day was "red letter". A high pressure system had come in behind the rain and the air was clear, the sun bright, and the temp like air conditioning. We drove out into the new-to-us desert landscape marveling at everything around us. Steve kept commenting [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today we left Erick, Oklahoma and almost immediately entered Texas since we were only 7 miles from the Texas border. The problem was, we couldn't get out of our motel room until 11:00 a.m. because of the heavy rains, lightening and thunder. Neither Grace nor I are fond of playing lightening rod at 70 mph on the back of a motorcycle. Our first stop was in Shamrock, TX where we stopped at the "U Drop Inn" which is no longer a service station or restaurant but is an information center and gift shop on Route 66. The claim to fame of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Grace and I woke up in Tulsa this morning (I think that is the same place we went to bed last night. I was too tired to care.) It was kind of a "dive" of a motel down in the industrial area of Southern Tulsa but it was close to Route 66 and it had a keyboard, even though the spacebar didn't work very well. You wouldbegintotypeanditwouldlooklikethis. Then you would have to go back and pound on the spacebar to make sure it created a space. Needless to say, it was frustrating trying to write our blog. I had mentioned that [View Full Entry]

---

---

We took a little side trip up to Kansas City on Sunday. After a couple hours of riding, we arrived at the Nelson Museum near the Plaza in Kansas City. I tend to forget how fantastic that place is. Ancient stone figures from Egypt in the time of Moses reminds me of our today's scripture of Moses leaving the luxury of the palace in Egypt and fleeing to the land of Midian after he killed the Egyptian overseer. Exodus 2:11-22 I've always believed that Moses could not have become the man he was had he not gone to the desert of [View Full Entry]

---

---

I had a fairly open mind about what we might experience on this trip, knowing that there were too many variables. Our scripture to ponder on the day of assault on St.Louis, was Joseph's journey into slavery (Gen. 37). The question I wondered about as I finished my pondering and prayer time was: "When have I been on a coerced journey like Joseph's and how did I react? I came up with a few vague ideas, but nothing I was very satisfied with. I needn't have worried: a sample was about to slap us in the face. We got lost at [View Full Entry]

---

---

So what ever happened to the travelers on route 66? It's like this -- we discovered that not every motel has a computer in the lobby. In fact, we had three straight nights with no computer to record the happenings on our route. So, since we are also doing a journal, we can regress in time three days and catch you up on what has been happening. We had a great time riding down through Illinois. It was great to be OUT of Chicago and in open country through Bloomington and Springfield. I had heard recently about a cafe that had [View Full Entry]

---

---

I haven't written here for a couple of days, just my journal. Last night we grabbed almost the first motel we could find after riding through 30-40 min. of steady rain and departing daylight. (no computer in this motel of our desperation!) It was a fun day of rolling green vistas in backwoods Wisconsin. The only problem was the wide weather system blanketing most of the midwest. We were in mist and cool air mid-morning and then finished the day in rain. I can affirm that "hole-in-the-wall" authentic Mexican food tastes amazing when you are tired and wet! (Also, rainsuits are [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in Mankato early today (around 2:00) and rested. We will probably have to ride in the rain on Tuesday, but we only have about 350 miles to go to Rockford, Il. on Tuesday. Each day Grace and I have some scripture to look at and contemplate about journeys depicted in scripture. It seems every movement of God involves journey and travel. Nothing worthwhile ever occured in scripture without someone taking a risk and taking a journey to accomplish it. Journeys sometimes involved someone going someplace special like Noah (who was really just adrift) or Abraham where God told him [View Full Entry]

---

---

It took me the first 100 miles to mentally grasp that we are really on our way. And then I couldn't stop smiling. In the past few weeks I have thought more than once about the pre-journey that occurs in the preparation for a journey. My pre-journey prep seemed pretty intense as I worked to get three teaching projects with which I have been involved ready to be turned over to other hands. I realized the truth of what Steve has been telling me about my over-commitment to volunteer work. Boundaries in these areas have been non-existant for me. Preparing to [View Full Entry]

---

---