Our 28th Anniversary

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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 scorching Mojave Desert. With some long days and some replanning, we decided to try and make up a full day by cancelling the Lake Havisu sidetrip. Instead, we left Kingman, AZ today and headed down the winding Route 66 to Oatman, AZ. It is an old mining town where the miners supposedly released the donkeys they had used in the mines and the donkeys now role in and out of town taking food from tourists. My own opinion is that these donkeys were stocked in the town to draw tourists because there would be no other reason for tourists to come to Oatman if it weren't for the burros.

We pulled into town ansd didn't see a single donkey. Walked down the street a ways then they started coming out of alleys as soon as the tourists with the carrots began to appear. Soon, there were over 20 donkeys hastling the tourists for carrots. Grace bought some trilobite fossils at a gift shop and we went down the street to a bar/restuarant and had breakfast. This place was unique in that stapled to the walls were many thousands of dollar bills. People would write on the bill then staple it to the wall. So, it being our anniverasary, I desecrated a piece of United States legal tender and stapled it to the wall with the words, "Steve and Grace Wisthoff, 28th Wedding Anniversary, 06-06-09."

We headed out of town toward Needles, CA and from there went deep into the Mojave desert on the old road. Grace had a pair of Route 66 boxer shorts made for me from some Route 66 cloth she found at Hobby Lobby before Christmas. So she presented them to me at Christmas. Jokingly I told her that when I got out into the Mojave Desert away from civilization, I would take my pants off and pose with my Route 66 boxers. She has held me to that statement and sure enough, when we were out in the desert, I did exactly that. Wouldn't you know three cars drove past while I was doing this? That's more cars then we saw for the next 20 miles.

One of the places I really wanted to go was to Amboy where Roy's Restaurant and gas station is located. It has long been closed, but it was purchased at an auction by an oriental businessman who purchased the whole town of Amboy and is in the process of restoring it. We had a coke, took more pictures, and headed down the road. We rode past the Amboy Crater (more like a cone) and lava flow and headed back toward Ludlow to get back on interstate 40 which took us to a motel 80 miles to the southwest at Victorville. I will have to say that that was the cheapest motel on our trip ($42) and also the dirtiest. Oh well, they can't all be good.

Today's scripture is from Luke 2:1-19 when Mary and Joseph traveled a distance to Bethlehem for the census under Caesar. Mary delivered her baby in a manger and his name was called Jesus. There was no royal carivan and no red carpet treatment. He was born in a stable. Just an ordinary peasant couple looking for a motel. Few people noticed and NOBODY would have noticed if it hadn't been for the STAR and the ANGELS. God has been getting our attention on this trip. It has been in ordinary ways, even though there have been some days it would be esier to follow a star than the elusive Route 66 signs. What we have noticed is God's amazing hand at work -- guiding us and protecting us along the way.

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