Tag Archives: Land That We Love Tour

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?

The Blue Heron

On our Land That We Love Tour we stayed at a beautiful home on Hickory Lake in North Carolina while we attended wedding festivities. There were 10 of us in this home. One morning we enjoyed watching this blue heron.

On Sunday after 4 full days in this home we packed up our car again and had to use our Tetras skills to get it all to fit. We headed west on Interstate 40 through the Appalachians in North Carolina and along the Smokey Mountains into Tennessee and all the way to Jackson for the night.

Dear needed coffee along the way and we stopped at a local favorite restaurant called Aubrey’s and it was a good experience.

On the road again we traveled through some incredible thunderstorms and downpours that slowed us way down because of no visibility. Several accidents had the freeway backed up for miles. Most of the accidents were on I-40 going east which was fortunate for us. We were so happy to finally get to clear skies and dry roads. We thanked God for bringing us safely to our destination.

As I typed this on Sunday evening our kids were in the air headed home to Washington State.

Today Monday we drive 534 miles to Dallas, Texas. That should take us close to 8 hours.

Hope all is well with all of you dear friends!

Early Morning Start

Tuesday September 28th we started early on our Land That We Love Tour south in Kentucky to Tennessee and then East to North Carolina.

We enjoyed a great sunrise.

We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

We had fog along the way. We had thought about stopping at the Cumberland Gap to see some views but the fog was heavy and we continued on without stopping.

Today was a shorter mileage day but we were in the Appalachians and the roads were windy so it took us a lot longer to travel those miles.

We reached our destination in Boone, North Carolina a little after 1 PM.

Boone is a college town home to Appalachian State University and it is full of young people.

We checked into our hotel found a restaurant to eat in and did a little shopping. We shopped at the Mast General Store and a few smaller shops, too.

Tomorrow we reach our wedding destination and our family will join us in our VRBO. Looking forward to seeing their faces and our extended family. We have wedding festivities on Thursday and Friday and family reunion times before, during and after. I will be very very busy and since my grands will be living in the same house I will be surprised if I have much computer time at all. Enjoy your last days of September y’all!

The Ark Encounter

Today was day seven of our Land That We Love Tour and we were very impressed with this encounter!

What an amazing morning we had in Williamstown, Kentucky visiting the life size replica of Noah’s Ark. Dear forgot that in Noah’s day there were no sunglasses but before I judge they didn’t have eyeglasses either.

Lots of photos were taken and I might have to do a weekly post on all that this experience offered.

On this Monday night we stayed in Berea, Kentucky about 80 miles south of the Ark Encounter at the historical Boone Tavern on the campus of Berea College. It was nice to only be on the road today for about 110 miles. We’ve traveled 2500 miles already.

On Tuesday we travel south and then east to Boone, North Carolina.

Something we saw at the Ark Encounter to think about. This is from the father of lies, the devil, the serpent.

Thank you so much for visiting and commenting while we’ve been traveling.

Badlands National Park

Our Land That We Love Tour started in the Badlands National Park in South Dakota on Friday morning, September 24th. We drove the 39 mile loop and stopped at every scenic turnout.

Amazing morning at Badlands National Park. We managed to arrive at dawn and were awe-struck. On Friday our day ended in Omaha, Nebraska.

Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Praising God today for all He has done…

On to South Dakota

We continued on our Land That We Love Tour into South Dakota today, Thursday September 23rd. It was a long day and I’ll leave you with just one postcard. Later I will document more fully all we have seen. No time for the computer on Thursday.

We loved getting to this spot which was a ‘bucket list’ must see in person destination. Mission accomplished.

I have many photos from Mount Rushmore so be forewarned that I’ll be sharing them soon.

Friday we head to a new time zone.

Montana and Wyoming

We have moved further east on our ‘Land That We Love Tour‘. We took a back road out of Helena to get back to the I-90 interstate east to Wyoming.

This little church was in Montana.

Fall colors were pretty off the interstate as we approached our Wyoming destination.

We arrived in Sheridan for the night and right away Dear was in trouble.

Better put your hands up, Dear!

On our travels on Wednesday we listened to some more sermons in 1 Peter and some good music and also enjoyed periods of silence except for the tires on the pavement. We are pondering the attributes of God and these verses.

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.