Land That We Love Tour ~ Helena

We left our home on Tuesday September 21st for Day 1 of our Land That We Love Tour. We filled our tank with gas at the Costco in Spokane, Washington at $3.489 per gallon and made it all the way to Helena, Montana on that tank of gas. Our first stop was at Montana’s State Capitol Building. We parked in the rear of the building.

Wilbur Fisk Sanders (1834-1905) one of Montana’s first senators.

It was a very impressive interior with a lovely rotunda and grand staircase. This link speaks of all the art in the rotunda.

This link speaks to the art on and around the Grand Stairway.

Thomas Francis Meagher

Lady Liberty.

As you can see we had a warm sunny day. After our time at the Capitol we headed downtown to find a spot to have a meal. It was Tuesday so we enjoyed a Taco Tuesday meal at the Windbag Saloon and Grill. Helena was a pay for parking downtown. After our meal and before we checked into our hotel we found and toured the beautiful Cathedral of St. Helena. I’ll save that for another day.

Our night in Helena was our most expensive night on our whole tour in a Hampton Inn. The further east we traveled the less expensive comparable hotels were. We experienced the Covid all disposable product phenomena. No mugs for coffee in your rooms or at the ‘free’ breakfasts. Everything was paper disposable. Our disposable cups for coffee deteriorated and we decided that we needed to purchase some mugs of our own for the rest of the journey. One of the things we decided on was to take an inexpensive coffee maker, our own coffee beans and our grinder to make our own coffee each morning in the hotels. We are not fans of the small coffee makers and coffee pods, etc. hotels offer these days. We would do this again whenever we travel. These days hotels limit bath towels, hand towels, and washcloths to one per person but you can request more. No cleaning rooms if you stayed longer than a night. All of our stays were one-nighters except for our VRBO in North Carolina and our stay with my brother and his family in Dallas.

It’s been good to catch up with a lot of your blogs and see what is new. We have a lot of fall clean-up to accomplish on our property but it looks like we will not need to mow again until Spring.

Farm to Table Hodgepodge

It’s time again for Wednesday Hodgepodge where Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions for us to ponder.

Speaking of farmers, on one of our traveling days we took an exit to visit the Mennonite Heritage & Agricultural Museum in Goessel, Kansas. The mural above is from part of the museum.

1. What obligation do you believe you have to your country?

I suppose as a good citizen we are obliged to follow the laws of our country. It would be good for a citizen to know what is in the Constitution of the United States of America. I also think we are obliged to cast an informed vote in elections. As long as the laws of the country don’t violate my religious freedom in following God’s laws and my worship of Him I’ll keep the law. My allegiance is first and foremost to God the Father and His Law set down in the Bible.

2. October 12 is National Farmers Day. Do you know any farmers?

Yes, I know several farmers from my experience with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook and now living in Colville we’ve been acquainted with more farmers. We have farmers across the road from us.

What do they farm/grow/raise?

Hay, Wheat, Alfalfa, Corn, Vegetables, Apples, Apricots, Pears. Dairy Farms and Cattle ranches abound, too, along with sheep and goats and pigs.

Are there any farm stands where you live? Do you shop there?

Yes there are great farm stands and farmers markets and yes, I do shop there. Wednesdays and Saturdays we have a Farmer’s Market in town. I like to stop and support our local farmers. Farmer’s Market only runs through October and then opens up again sometime in the Spring.

3. What’s a skill you think everyone should have? Tell us why?

I think everyone should be taught to read. Reading is foundational to so many other skills. Without this skill you are more open to misguidance and deception and false teaching.

4. Favorite thing you’ve purchased this year?

I bid on, won, and purchased Tea for Eight in my home. It was so nice to sit at the table and be served all the wonderful delicacies that the Hostess made. The only thing I had to do which I thoroughly enjoyed was to set the table with my hoard of tea things.

5. What’s your favorite place to visit in the fall?

The Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze at a local farm here in Colville. The maze is always top notch!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We are just back from driving across the country for 20 days. We called our trip, Land That We Love Tour. I’ll be sharing lots of photos from all the things we saw along the way on my blog. So much to share.

When we arrived home we found sweet notes taped around the house that our grandkids left us.

“Welcome home We missed you See you soon Addy” also “I ❤️ u”

The note on the bottom right is Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti. Addy has been mastering and enjoying this song.

Baba appreciated each note and drawing and it made me smile real big.

Hope to come around soon and see how y’all answered the questions this week.

Rex Hotel

On our last night of our Land That We Love Tour we had our favorite meal at the Buffalo Block Prime Steakhouse at the Rex in Billings, Montana. The barbecue we had in Kentucky was real good, too, but Buffalo Block won out with the ambiance.

We chose this spot to eat because the Historic Rex Hotel caught our eye. Dear’s dad’s name is Rex and he was born in Montana and we enjoyed paying homage to him while in the Treasure State of Montana. Montana is also known as Big Sky Country.

French Onion Soup

Bone in Chop crusted in all kinds of yumminess on top of garlic mashed potatoes.

Prime Rib Sandwich with horseradish, aujus, coleslaw and fries.

creme brûlée

Lemon Pound cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

If you are ever in Billings and want some upscale food at upscale prices this is the place.

I’ll be recapping our trip with lots of photos starting at the beginning soon.

There’s No Place Like Home

We are home again from our ‘Land That We Love Tour‘. It will take me a day or two to recuperate and digest all that we enjoyed these past 20 days.

Hope you all have a good week. A very special Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian neighbors!

Happy Columbus Day in the U.S.A.!

Day by Day ~ Hymn

Day by Day ~

Day by day and with each passing moment
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best –
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure.
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev’ry day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure,
Is a charge that on Himself He laid,
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in ev’ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a Father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Words: Karolina W. Sandell-berg (1832 – 1903)

At the Break of Day…

We left McPherson, Kansas heading north on our Land That We Love Tour on Friday before dawn and then we turned West heading for Colorado. The majority of our drive was heading west today.

We saw the sunrise through the rear window of our car and the rear view mirrors.

Some Kansas views speeding by at 75 miles per hour.

We found some color in Colorado.

We ended our travel day in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

We are so thankful for another safe day on the road.

On the road we listened to a couple of sermons from 1 Peter chapter 3 today and then listened to a book on CD by Louise Penny.

A small portion of the sermon we heard on 1 Peter 3:13-17 by John MacArthur in 2013;

“I can’t tell you precisely what’s going to come in the future against us, but it’s going to come and it’s going to escalate. For how long? I don’t know. And in what forms? I’m not sure. Persecution is going to come against you as an individual, if it doesn’t already come, because you’re an outspoken Christian. Here you are in the world, an alien and a stranger, and your task is not just to survive, your task is not somehow to defeat the enemy, your task is to win the enemy to your side. You do that by keeping your behavior honest and excellent. You do that by being a shining light in the world so that men can see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. You do that by proclaiming the gospel and loving your persecutors and showing kindness to them. You do that by doing good, having a passion for goodness, being willing to suffer, focusing on Christ, looking to eternal glory and keeping your conscience pure.”

On the road in Kansas…

On Saturday we travel from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Billings, Montana.

Thursday Was a North Day!

Our Land That We Love Tour took us north from Dallas into Oklahoma and then into Kansas. We left in the dark and missed the Welcome to Oklahoma sign. This sign lit up the darkness. We traveled 35 north.

I was driving when we entered Kansas so we missed the Welcome to Kansas sign, too.

We stopped at Costco in Wichita and when we got back on the road north we noticed there was a Mennonite Heritage Museum on our route we pulled off and enjoyed a visit there. More to come later.

We made it to our hotel in McPherson, Kansas for the night. On Friday we have a longer day of driving north to Nebraska and then west to Cheyenne, Wyoming. 569 miles which should take us 8 hours.

Serendipitous

On Wednesday we met up with our dear friend from Southern California and her daughter who just recently moved to Texas at the Flower Child for lunch and conversation. It was serendipitous that we ended up in Dallas at the same time and were able to meet up.

It was so good to see them and catch up with the latest in all of our lives.

Heidi and I have been best of friends since our early college days. We had some epic travels together, too.

My brother Leonard, Nicole, Heidi, Myself and Dear. Heidi was one of my brother Leonard’s Sunday School teachers at Bethany Russian Baptist Church in Los Angeles way back when.

Two and a half hours of conversation and it was time to say goodbye till we meet again.

Thank you to my brother who chauffeured us around while in Dallas.

Tex-Mex

On our Land That We Love Tour we went to the fanciest Mexican restaurant we’ve ever seen on Tuesday night, Mariano’s. It is owned by the Martinez family. Mariano Martinez is the inventor of the World’s First Frozen Margarita Machine.

The first machine is now in the Smithsonian.

My youngest brother’s familia.

Dear and me.

Poblano Carbon

Tex-Mex tacos.

It’s Fall y’all!

Today we are meeting up with a dear friend from California who happens to be visiting her daughter who now lives in Texas. Serendipitous to be able to see each other in Texas.

Fun times today and then we hit the road early on Thursday heading north, then west, then north and then west, then west and north to our home! Did you catch our route?