Category Archives: Travel

Sunday Drive

After church and lunch out we decided to take a drive north from our home towards where the fires had been burning.

We only stayed on the main roads and we did not drive onto smaller roads up into the fire areas. We could see some of the trees that were scorched. It was a nice drive and we were encouraged that it wasn’t smoky.

Meanwhile in the state of Texas!

Josh had business in Dallas and extended his time there to spend time with his uncles, aunts, cousins, and childhood friend. Laura flew in after Joshua’s conference was over to join him for the ‘family’ time. An early round of golf happened on Saturday with his uncles and cousin.

Later on Saturday my sister, Lana and her hubby Steve, arranged for this get together, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and friends!

Laura with cousin, Hope (who is in her senior year of high school!). Josh with Nikki, my best friend’s daughter who lives in Texas now with her family. My brother and sister, the twins, who both live in the Dallas area. Nikki and her brother grew up with our kids in southern California. Nikki’s mom, me, Lana and Leonard were all part of the Russian Baptist church in L.A. growing up and into our college years.

Before Josh and Laura flew home on Sunday Steve and Lana treated them to a trip to the Dallas Arboretum.

It’s Fall y’all!

Thank you to Josh and Laura for sharing their time in Dallas with us through their photos! Thank you, to my sister and hubby, who opened up their home to them!

Hope y’all had a good Fall weekend, too.

Cedar + Elm at The Lodge

Before I move on to today’s post I wanted to let you know that our home is safe and evacuation levels have stabilized but the fire is still burning.

On Friday September 5th Laura and Katie treated me to tea at Cedar + Elm at The Lodge at St. Edward Park.  

There was live music and the artist had a beautiful mellow voice which made for a pleasant background of music.

When we were done with our leisurely tea we walked about the Lodge.

Lady of the Lake of Arthurian legend.

Thank you to Laura and Katie for the nice treat and lovely afternoon together. Thank you, too, to Josh and Laura for always being so hospitable to us.

We spent last Thursday on the road to travel to Bothell then spent the next three full days on the Westside. We met up with friends on Thursday and Saturday.  On Saturday morning we attended a conference with Paul Tripp on Suffering. It was such a well spent 2-1/2 hours! On Sunday evening our westside kids treated us to dinner to celebrate Greg’s birthday a couple days early. More about those events at a later date.

It has been a relief to be out of the smoke filled air in Colville for these few days. We are on the road back to Colville today and hope the air quality improves each day to come.

The Road We Traveled

Our route for this one day road trip took us along Hwy 395 north across the Columbia River and then along the Kettle River to Boulder Creek Road. It was about 25 miles to Boulder Creek Road from home and then another 22 miles on Boulder Creek before we dropped into Curlew at Hwy 21. The Boulder Creek part of our trip took us over the Kettle River Range. In Curlew we crossed the highway and continued on Kettle Road along the Kettle River north to Customs Road crossing the Kettle river and continuing north to the Midway Border Crossing. This was another 16 miles.

There were warning signs along the road about range animals.

Approaching the highest elevation of our journey we met up with a slow full cement truck but luckily he pulled off a little after the pass and we were on the road alone again.

This section of the range was devastated by a fire in the recent past.

Back in lower elevations we dropped into Curlew.

We drove through the historical section of the little town.

It was very sleepy with no one about and few businesses still in operation.

Back along the Kettle River we continued up to the Border crossing.

We got to the tiny border crossing way too early so we circled back to try to find some spot that might include some restrooms.

Hooray for Beal Park and their humble offering.

The reflected views on the Kettle river were nice.

The Kettle River begins its journey to the Columbia River at Holmes Lake in British Columbia. It first enters the U.S. at Midway in Ferry County, Washington. It then loops down, south east, to Curlew, WA.; then heads north east to Danville, where it crosses back into Canada. The Kettle River then re-enters the U.S. at Laurier in Stevens County, where it proceeds south to join with the Columbia River, near Boyds, Washington. 

Back to the Border and we were the first crossing of the day. I wonder just how many crossings they encounter?

We enjoyed seven and a half hours with our friends at a campground about 1.4 Kilometers from the border crossing (that is under a mile) before we turned around and reversed our route home. (I shared our time with more photos here)  Those hours seemed to pass quickly. The campground was situated along the Kettle River. This road trip seemed centered on the Kettle River.

Our border crossings coming and going were both pleasant exchanges with the agents.

We saw more of the fire damage on our way home.

We were across the border by 4:30 pm and home by 6pm. It was a good full day.

To Canada!

On Friday the 29th of August we left early for a little road trip to Canada to meet up with a couple of the Mennonite Girls and their husbands who were camping close to the border in Midway, B.C. We traveled new roads to us.

Instead of deer, we were on the lookout for cattle along Boulder Creek Road.

Today I’ll share the destination and the time with our friends and tomorrow I’ll show more of the sites along the way.

Our route was well marked. In the near future, I’ll share what we learned about Ranald MacDonald, too.

We knew this small border crossing closed at 5pm but we didn’t realize it didn’t even open until 9am. We were early so we tracked back to the little town of Curlew and we were pleased to see this sani-can!

Thank you, Beal Park, for your facilities.

We were back at the border crossing at 9am and were welcomed into Canada with a tip that we should be back to the crossing at 4:45pm to insure that the border wouldn’t be closed.

We found Lovella and Judy’s campsite which was about 3 minutes from the border and it was so good to see our friends face to face.

The table was set for our breakfast together.

Judy and Lovella served us a feast!

After our delicious breakfast we played a few rounds of Skyjo!

We had a good catch up time and we might have solved some world problems.

We had another fabulous meal together that we called linner before we said our goodbyes and headed for the border!

Our Linner even came with dessert, fruit filled perishky!

It was such a nice time together but it was time to wave goodbye and head to the border.

Thank you, friends, for your hospitality at your home away from home.

We crossed the border after a nice chat with the border agent and made it home by 6pm.

Saturday was a stay at home and relax day. Sunday we were in church and afterwards stayed inside because of smoke from a few fires burning in our area.

We can’t see our beautiful mountains.

These fires are about 12 miles north of us.

This photo above is from our county fire agency. The fire is in rugged areas that are hard to get to. We are hoping all the agencies and volunteers fighting these fires make progress today. Such hard intense work.

Another photo from Northeast Washington Fire Information Group. This was the caption for this mornings briefing;

Crown Creek – Blackhawk Mtn Fires
Good morning from Fire Camp in Colville and 0600 morning briefing. About 550 crews have arrived to help engage and manage the fire, with more crews arriving throughout the day. 550? That is about 10% growth for the city of Colville.
What an amazing turnout!

Today is Labor Day here in the USA and Canada and we also welcome September! School in our area will start tomorrow and Awana starts on Wednesday.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Flashback Friday~Butchart Gardens

In August of 2009 Greg, Katie and I managed a one day journey from Washington State to Butchart Gardens. When I had a glitch with Photobucket all my photos from early days with my blog were deleted. It’s quite a task to revive those posts. My photos have been recently recovered and I’ll share the photos I have from  our one day epic trip in 2009 here.

On Tuesday (August 4, 2009) we left our house at 6:00 am and headed north to Anacortes to catch the 8:15 ferry to Sydney, Vancouver Island, B.C. Our ferry ride through the San Juan Islands was very foggy and misty for most of the way. At first it was hard to make out the islands till you got very close. Towards the end of the trip the skies lightened up. Vancouver Island was nice and sunny. We made it to Butchart Gardens after stopping for breakfast along the way.

First things first before touring the Gardens… Katie learned that she needs sunblock or else she’ll burn like a marshmallow in a campfire.

Katie was really intrigued by the Chilean Rhubarb that grows 6-10 feet tall. I zoomed way in to try to capture it. Katie is sure you could float down a river on one of the leaves! :0)

A little blue from Butchart Gardens. It always makes me smile to see blue flowers. The stained glass window was from the Blue Poppy Restaurant in the gardens.

From the Ferry in Sydney on our way to Butchart Gardens we stopped at a restaurant called The Roost which had great freshly made food. I opted for their sandwich special with Beet Borsch on the side. The sandwich was a chicken, cheese, basil, tomato, red onion and Portobello mushroom. Dear had the same sandwich but with a Roasted Yam and cilantro soup. Katie ordered the 3 cheese quiche with a garden salad. We would go back to this spot if we ever ferry across from Anacortes to Sydney again. After we walked about Butchart Gardens and on our way into Victoria we stopped in Oak Bay and were happy to stumble upon the Penny Farthing where we enjoyed some traditional Fish & Chips and Lamb Stew.

It’s too bad we had to be in the ferry line for 90 minutes prior to our trip back to the states or we could have fit in one more good meal on the Island!

We traveled on the Black Ball ferry out of Victoria to Port Angeles to get home. From Port Angeles we had to make it to Kingston, Washington before the last ferry set sail at 11:10 pm. We were so thankful to make it on time and to be in our beds by 12:30 am!

It’s incredible to me that we managed this trip in one day back in 2009. We were still living in Camarillo, California during this time and we enjoyed coming back to our home in Washington and spending as much time as we could with our adult children.

The Eagle Lectern

The symbolism of the eagle derived from the belief that the bird was capable of staring into the sun and that Christians similarly were able to gaze unflinchingly at the revelation of the divine word. Alternatively, the eagle was believed to be the bird that flew highest in the sky and was therefore closest to heaven, and symbolized the carrying of the word of God to the four corners of the world.
The eagle is the symbol used to depict John the Apostle, whose writing most clearly witnesses the light and divinity of Christ. In art, John, as the author of the Gospel, is often depicted with an eagle, which symbolizes the height to which he rose in the first chapter of his gospel. The eagle came to represent the inspiration of the gospels.
Eagle Lectern at Glasgow Cathedral
Balliol College, Oxford.

THE FLYING eagle is the symbol of John the Evangelist (see Revelation, ch 4, v 7) who proclaimed Christ as ‘the Word of God’ at the beginning of his Gospel. The flying eagle is thus a suitable emblem from which God’s word is read, reaching to the ends of the earth.

St. Mary Magdalene Church in Woodstock

Broadway Day 7 034

St. Michael and All Angels Church in Broadway (Cotswolds)

We were intrigued with these ornate Eagle lecterns that we saw in most of the churches and cathedrals we visited in England. That is why I researched to see the significance of this design.

The lectern stands as the location from which Christian Biblical lessons are given. Lecterns hold the Bible in place as the church leader reads various passages from it. Lecterns in the shape of an eagle hold special value within churches.

Eagle lecterns date back to early church history. Some of the earliest examples of church lecterns that are still in existence date back to the 13th century, such as the lectern located within All Saints’ Parish Church in Bedfordshire, England.

The eagle is the symbol used to depict John the Apostle, whose writing is said to most clearly witness the light and divinity of Christ.

Another reason for eagle-shaped lecterns lies in its symbolizing the word of God being read from the lectern and soaring its way to the ears of the churchgoers.

Oxford

York Minster

What a blessing it has been to be able to visit so many of these beautiful chapels and cathedrals and learn the history and inspiration behind the Eagle Lectern. But how much more amazing is it that we can hold the Word of God in our hands and read it and learn from it and grow in wisdom and grace.

Psalm 19:7-11

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

I’m adding a quote from one of my favorite pastors who inspired me to love God’s Word because of His love for all of God’s Word and his faithful preaching of the Word.

“It is the power of the Word that saves. It is the power of the Word that sanctifies. It provides doctrine. It reproves error and sin. It sets upright and then trains in the path of righteousness.” ~John MacArthur

The Great Exchange #4

We are calling the long weekend of July 17th-20th, The Great Exchange. Dan flew west and Laura flew East, exchanging planes.

After the celebration at Yep Kanum Park in Colville we gathered at our country bungalow for some water fun and for dinner.

After cooling off in the water, we enjoyed an Asian noodle dish with chicken that was easy to throw together and a salad. We had a blueberry lemon loaf for dessert with a dollop of ice cream.

Sunday morning we gathered at church filling a row and then came back to our place for Greg’s famous Swedish Pancakes with little smokies and fresh fruit.

Addy and JJ have moved on to enjoying Legos.

There was some epic tug of war battles under the dining room table! They left our bungalow with more events planned before Auntie left for the airport.

Time with Auntie was coming to a close.

Meanwhile on the other side of the mountains.

Saturday morning started early with a game of golf for our boys and Jamie D. These three have been friends since elementary school.

The brothers weekend was a relaxing hit!

We are so thankful to the LORD for our two beautiful daughters in law.

It was time to say goodbye. Auntie LOLO drove Dan and Jamie’s truck to the airport, parking it for Dan to pick up when he arrived on his flight. He had driven LOLO’s car to Seatac for her to be able to drive it home when she arrived. That was the plan anyway but there was a huge glitch to this great plan.

Both of their flights were part of the huge Alaska Airlines Snafu on Sunday night. All flights were grounded with no hope of them traveling this night. LOLO found a hotel next to the airport to spend the night in and Dan drove back to Josh and Laura’s for the night. They decided the best thing for the two of them to do on Monday morning was for each of them to drive and meet up halfway, exchange cars and continue to their homes. That worked great and they were both back at their own homes in the early afternoon.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and find a new plan. Thankful it worked out in a good way for both of them to get home safely. Thank you, LORD!

Today, a week later we are heading to the airport to pick up my brother and his son for a 4 day visit here. We have some events planned and are looking forward to extended time together. I will be scarce on the internet for several days. Enjoy the last days of July, everyone!

Name Dropping Hodgepodge

One of the Hodgepodge questions asked us if we’d been to a Disney Park. This photo is from the end of 1991 just before we attended the 1992 Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena on New Year’s Day 1992, University of Washington v. Michigan. Many college football fans represented their colors at Disneyland before and after the Rose Bowl game.

A fresh week of Wednesday Hodgepodge questions thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. What’s a characteristic you admire in others? Elaborate.

I really admire people who can engage others in conversation by asking good questions. I’d like to develop the art of asking good questions in order to get to know people better.

2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let’s see it. Why is this one your favorite?

The mug on the left is my favorite daily mug. It greets me in the morning with a good 16 ounces of coffee. I bought that mug in Windsor, England at a TKMaxx.

3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day…will you (or did you, depending on what day you answer these questions) give something away? If so what? Do you regularly give away or do you tend to  ‘accumulate’?

We will be donating even more stuff from our garage sale to ‘The Bridge’ here in Colville. The back of my vehicle is filled with stuff.

4. You’re planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities or smaller, more off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these 12 ‘off the grid’ towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed which one would you most like to visit? Tell us why?

Boothbay Harbor Maine, Middlebury Vermont, New Hope Pennsylvania, Rehoboth Beach Delaware, Brevard North Carolina, Saugatuck Michigan, Medora North Dakota, Ouray Colorado, Lamoille Nevada, Neah Bay Washington, Hood River Oregon, or Cambria California

We’ve only been to the West Coast areas listed in California, Oregon and Washington states.

We saw Neah Bay on our way to Cape Flattery in Washington State. It is part of the Makah Reservation.

We crossed the Hood River Bridge from Oregon to Washington State to go to Bonneville Hot Springs.

In September of 2009 we were in Cambria. It is a charming little seaside town on the California Coast.

*You can read more about each destination by clicking the link above.

5. Have you ever…ridden a motorcycle? Yes, in high school.

I had a ‘boyfriend’ that gave me a ride.

been to a Disney park? Yes

Collage above is with photos from 1986 and 1991.

Growing up in Southern California and living there until 1988 afforded us lots of trips to Disneyland over the years. Our 9th grade end of year party was at Disneyland. The last time I was there was a family trip to Disneyland in January of 2023.

met a celebrity? Yes, and I have a lot of shameless name dropping to add here. 🙂

In 2013 when Josh, Laura, Greg and I were in London we stopped in at one of Jamie Oliver’s Restaurants and he happened to walk in while we were there. He came to our table to say hi and we got a photo with him.

Greg and I also had the interesting experience of sitting in the VIP box for an Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium for his performance there in 1975. We didn’t meet Elton but we met his mother who was seated there, too. The office manager for Elton was a friend of ours and we were hosting John and Jan and their toddler at our apartment in Los Angeles. We drove John to the concert and he flashed his ID/VIP passes for parking and to get us seats.

In November of 1960 my older sisters and I walked the block and a half to Whittier Boulevard in Montebello to watch John F. Kennedy come by in a convertible and we were able to shake his hand. He was campaigning in the Los Angeles area.

Greg met Peter Falk (Columbo). Greg, his dad and brother painted Columbo’s house in Beverly Hills 1972ish.

One of our favorite famous people who never aspired to fame and who was a humble servant of God, died on Monday, John MacArthur, the pastor of Grace Community church for 56 years. He was our first pastor after we were married. His fame centers on his faith in Jesus Christ and faithful expository preaching of the Word of God. We spent a more intimate time with both him and his father Jack at a Christmas dinner party in the Hollywood Hills in the home of a famous Hollywood set designer, Bob Keene. Bob and Sharon invited us to the dinner while we were still living in Huntington Beach in the 1980’s. We met and became good friends with Bob Keene while singing in the Christian band that Bob’s brother was the leader of. Bob’s brother Tom, an arranger/ composer and musician was also famous in L.A. for his musical skills. Tom Keene has arranged and produced hundreds of albums and played for such artists as Ralph Carmichael, Bill Gaither and Andrae Crouch. But, back to Bob…

This tribute was written about Bob Keene after he died in 2003. His funeral service was held at Grace Community Church.

won a contest? Yes

The school district our kids were part of had a contest to name a new school. The new school was taking in students from Woodin Elementary and Moorlands Elementary so I came up with Woodmoor for the name of the new school and they chose it over all the other entries.

Woodmoor Elementary School ~ Home of the Dolphins

Tell us something about whatever you answered yes to on this list.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A beloved pastor who finished his race and is with his Savior (1939-2025).

A Prayer on the Fourth

A prayer from President George Washington’s Prayer Journal:

“O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul.

Direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the ever lasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life.

Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the Gospel. Give me repentance from dead works. Pardon my wanderings, & direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation. Teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments. Make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber. But daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life. Bless my family, friends & kindred unite us all in praising & glorifying thee in all our works begun, continued, and ended, when we shall come to make our last account before thee blessed Saviour, who hath taught us thus to pray, our Father.”

I’m humbled by this prayer from the first president of the United States. I pray along with it as I ready this post.

The stained glass window with the sun streaming through casting it’s light and color onto the statue of George Washington was taken at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. in May of 2011. Dear had a conference in D.C. and I was able to tag along. The National Cathedral is a must see if you ever travel to D.C.

Here are some wise words from our first ‘first lady’;

“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about us in our minds wherever we go.” ~ Martha Washington

It is folly to say our nation was not founded on Christian principles. Some would like to blot out this part of our history and remove all evidence of our Founding Father’s faith in the one true God.

Have you ever seen or read the third verse of “The Star Spangled Banner”, our National Anthem?

 O thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, “In God is our trust.”
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Praising God this morning for preserving our nation to this point in history.

Give me this day almighty God the Spirit filled mind to serve thee in the righteousness of your dear Son, Jesus my Lord, Christ’s sacrifice covers my sin repented of and gives me the strength to live in your holiness.  God bless America and keep our land free to worship you in righteousness and truth.

Have a safe and sane 4th of July everyone! We are celebrating with gratefulness and joy!

Tea ~ White Heather Tea Room

Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.

This post is from April 6th 2011

On Saturday we walked many miles around town and ended up for an afternoon tea in the Oak Bay area of Victoria. It was a wonderful authentic English High Tea that was recommended to us by Pondside who lives on Vancouver Island. She graciously made our reservations for us including instructions not to be seated in the middle of the restaurant. We had a delightful experience at the White Heather Tea Room and would recommend it to you. Later I will post about meeting Pondside on Sunday and what a wonderful day we had together.

It was so delightful to meet Pondside face to face on this trip.

We visited this tea room on a Sister weekend the four of us enjoyed in Victoria B.C. for my 60th birthday. This tea room is still in business!

We stayed at the Beaconsfield for our weekend.

Back to the present: Yesterday was the first day of Summer and we got a nice rain shower and today we are expecting some more rain. Lots of heat forecasted for many areas in the U.S.A. the next few days. Colville is supposed to be 55 F today with rain starting at noon. How are the temps where you are?