Well maybe one more…

Awakening this morning, I realized there was something more I wanted to say. At the dinner table last night with Emily, Steve and Elias we were reflecting on the trip. I said, “Even if Lynnie had lived, she would never have gone on this trip with me.” Everyone agreed. But I’ve had second thoughts. Before […]

Home!

Tofu’s got a ball in her mouth. She’s ready to play a little catch and no release. I throw, she catches and keeps the ball. I throw another ball, she runs to catch it. She drops the first ball. When I come to pick up the first ball, she drops the second ball. Tofu picks […]

A Good Decision…

The decision to take highway 26 from Vale to Redmond is what I’m talking about. I could have taken the shorter route through Burns. But Lynnie and I already did that. On the map, it looked like the trip through John Day would provide mountain scenery. And it did! In fact, this has been a […]

Ore-ee-gun at last

During the last 34 days I’ve had several opportunities to help people with pronunciation of Oregon. This morning I was involved in scraping the windshield again. The temperature was 26 degrees in Twin Falls. The scenery across southern Idaho is not so much. There wasn’t a single reason to get out of the van and […]

On to I Dee Ho

Lynnie’s Uncle Cress, who was actually her great uncle, pronounced Idaho, I-Dee-Ho. He and his younger brother (Lynnie’s Grandpa) left Arkansas and moved to Idaho after Lynnie’s Grandpa graduated from 8th grade. When Uncle Cress was in his 80’s he would challenge the young bucks in the family to push-up contests. There was never any […]

High Plains Drifter

Remember the Clint Eastwood movie? The title popped out of my head as Tofu and I ploughed West across the high plains, a strong wind 44mph+ in our face, temperature about 36 degrees. There was a “point of interest” so I decided to take a look. The wind was so strong, I barely had the […]

Into the Wild West

It was 18 degrees with a strong wind blowing this morning in Kearney, Nebraska. Just getting our stuff in the Van was a major undertaking. If the wind is blowing 20-30 mph at 18 degrees, what is the wind chill figure. Most of our stuff is Tofu’s: two blankets, one dog bed, kibbles, treats, food […]

Prayer for Paradise

Today I was surprised to learn that Paradise, California is being evacuated due to a wildfire. In the late 70’s I was a pastor in Merced, California. In our Region, the church in Paradise was among our strongest. The pastor was a fierce table tennis competitor. I always thought it would be fun to tell […]

and now from Des Moines

It is cold here. A light snow is expected tonight. When we got here I found our motel and without checking in, we went on an adventure. Lynnie and I were here in 1997. When my sister Patty and I were kids, (I was 7,8,9) our Dad was in seminary at Drake Divinity School in […]

Holy Toledo

No pictures today. Last report I was having a near death experience in Youngstown. Today I’ve been doing much better. I guess We’ve made it to the Plains. The hills parted and about an hour out of Toledo, cornstalks appeared in large fields. Arriving in Holy Toledo we got our second oil change of the […]