Our Time in SC...

Thanks for all the prayers. We made it safely to visit family and friends in SC. You've heard of "jet lag", well, we had "car lag." It seemed to take me a few days to recover from the long trip. Andy said all that needed a rest was his ears- because little Rachel and Abigail were his passengers.

Time in Spartanburg flew by and included a birthday party for Sarah, lots of family time, too much good food, a trip to a water park, and Piggy Park in Columbia. We had a reunion with some dear old friends from high school (and earlier). It was great to see all our children together.

We've been in Georgetown this week with family. We've enjoyed some beach time at Pawley's Island, the Myrtle Beach Pavillion, and visiting more good, old friends. I even ran into some former students. I taught them in first grade and now they are sophomores in college. Could I really be that old?? We are ready to hit the road on Sunday for our last leg of this PCS. We will be glad to come to rest at our new home in Virginia. The Lord is so good... LT

Coast to Coast: Days Six and Seven

Twin cities? Or Twilight Zone?

The blog went undone last night because we got lost in a time portal or parallel universe. And when the portal is East St Loius, bad things are gonna happen . . . .

This was pretty bad. As we were laying around in our comfy Comfort Inn after the days journey, eager to visit old friends in O'Fallon, it was brought to our attention by one of these old friends on the phone that something was terribly wrong. We were in the wrong O'Fallon . . . and the wrong state, for that matter! Did you know there are two cities named "O'Fallon" within 45 miles of each other? That's right--neither did we. One is west of St. Louis and the other is east of St. Louis. And both have Comfort Inns. Guess which one we were in? Yep, the wrong one. So we had to scramble, reload the caravan, and head through St Louis at rush hour and a blinding thunderstorm. Our friends got a good laugh out of this, but I think we still could use some counseling to get over the trauma. Apparently this happens quite a bit since the cities are so close. It just seems plain wrong that the O'Fallon clan of old couldn't get along and had to start dueling cities on opposites sides of the river!

Meeting with friends has been the icing on the cake for this trip, though. Leigh gets all the credit for setting these reunions up. Last night we saw the gang from the McGuire Evangelical Service (01-04) at the Dougherty's, and tonight we had dinner with our dear friends from our last pastorate, the Fowlers. Jason is an archivist at the Southern Theo Seminary library, and one of the smartest and funniest guys we know. Michelle is an awesome school teacher who can match his wit. We have too much fun chewing on theological, philosophy, and schemes to save organized religion in America. They are great and we miss their fellowship. Thanks for a great night in Louisville!

Tomorrow is the last leg of the trip to SC. We hope to see my brother in Ashville before rolling into Spartanburg in the evening. Keep us in your prayers--we ain't there yet!

SDG--AT

Coast to Coast: Day Five

We swung into Fort Hays (or what's left of it) this morning on the way out because the kids wanted to see the buffalo herd. We weren't really interested in taking the tour of the fort, particularly after the museum worker told me that Matt Dillion never really delivered any prisoners there. The Officer's Quarters (virtually all that's left of the fort's structures) caught our attention. They almost looked more inhabitable than the one's we just left at our last assignment!

The buffalo "herd" (as it was advertized) looked pretty thin at five. Tetunka has seen better days. Sorry for the rear shot, but apparently these guys aren't real impressed with tourists.


We passed the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abeliene, and if we had more time we would have stopped. We like Ike. Ironically, road crews were reconstructing I-70 along that stretch of highway with some of the most elaborate machinery and materials I've ever seen in road construction. Perhaps it was a nod to the President who concieved of the interstate system 50 years ago.

We rest tonight in Independence, Missouri, home of the 33rd POTUS, Harry Truman. We'll drop into his presidential library and home in the morning, Lord willing. I've gotta admit I'd much rather see Eisenhower's crib, but Truman intrigues me. One of our most unlikely of presidents, he was a failed businessman who never graduated college. He was the last choice to replace an unpopular VP under Roosevelt, who apparently rarely if ever met with him. HE FIRED GEN MACARTHUR (that's a foul), and he had an approval rating of 22% the last year of his presidency (and the press sounded the death knell when Pres Bush's rating hit 31% in May?!). Through all that and numerous scandals caused by his political appointees, ole Harry still rates as one of our best presidents. Maybe it is because he honestly spoke his mind. Or maybe he didn't have a pollster on staff. And maybe we'll get enlightened tomorrow.

After that, its off to St Loius to see our old pals from the McGuire AFB Chapel. I love reuinions.

SDG--AT

Coast to Coast: Day Four

So this is Middle America.

Oh yes, we are in Kansas, Dorothy. Hays, Kansas, a name I remember from Gunsmoke episodes as a town where Marshall Dillion always had to go to fetch a prisoner (and usually get bushwhacked by said prisoner and his buddies on the way back). There's not much to Hays, pop. 20,103. But it looked like the gates of heaven after 350 miles of nothing from Denver. In fact, I think "Hays" is a Shawnee Indian word meaning "finally, something!"

So that's our one Kansas photo. Don't let those trees in the foreground fool you--that shot was actually on the Colorado border. I just couldn't motivate myself to take a picture of endless prairies. We came a gopher's breath from going into "Prairie Dog Town" to see "the world's biggest prairie dog" and "6-legged steer." That's what prairie stare will do to you.

Seriously though, we realize we are in America's Breadbasket. We would be hurting without the vast agricultural activity of this state.

So we ate at the Golden Corral tonight to celebrate.

See you in Missouri tomorrow, Lord willing!

SDG--AT

Coast to Coast: Days Two and Three

Hi folks:

Sorry for combining two days, but it turns out that the internet doesn't work too well in Green River, Utah. It is in the middle of NOWHERE, after all. They did have a cool Jon Heder (Napolean Dynamite) billboard though. The kids spotted it first. Figures. They all know the "I Love Technology" song by heart.

Today we stopped in Rifle, Colorado. Had lunch with old friend Cathy Rex Rossilli and her family. Cathy was in our wedding 16 years ago and discipled Leigh. Great people and we wanted to spend more than 45 minutes with them, but we had a train to catch.

If you've never been up I-70 from Grand Junction to Denver, you have yet to see God's Country. Plug in a little John Denver and enjoy the view. The kids miss most of that, of course, and just want to know when the next tunnel is ahead. The Eisenhower Tunnel is the mother of all tunnels that we've ever traveled--1.7 miles long, with an elevation of 11,000 feet. It was a chore making it up the 7 percent grade pulling 3,000 lbs, expecially after lunch at Sonic.

But Georgetown, Colorado was waiting at the top! I called Dad and told him we were in town, but he figured out pretty quickly it was not Georgetown, South Carolina, the place of my nativity. Still can't pull one over on that guy . . . .

We arrived just in time to catch the last train on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Check out the pictures and you'll get the "loop" part. It was a trip back in time as one can imagine it hauling silver ore down the mountains. Apparently the silver mining was so big in the late nineteenth century that it was the 3rd-largest city in the state. Its pretty much a ghost town now, which may be bad since we're staying here tonight.

Its Kansas tomorrow, Deo volente.

Coast to Coast: Day One

Greetings Friends--

Having completed our tour at Vandenberg AFB on Friday, we have set out on our cross-country trip back to SC and then on to the Pentagon assignment. Thought you might be interested to read our travelogue, since nothing is ever boring with three little girls in tow . . . especially for 3,000 miles.

Today we are overnighting in Henderson, NV, the less-grungy sister city of Las Vegas. Yeh, they still have the casinos, but you don't get the street hawkers passing out flyers to peep shows. This is probably because with no shade and 110 degrees, hawkers would have to be on an IV to avoid passing out themselves.

The big jewel today was the Hoover Dam, and yes, it was "dam" big. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. No more cussing, but take a look at the pics (click on to enlarge). It is quite the engineering marvel, a testament to a time in America when people worked harder. Apparently the project was completed two years early and several million under budget (and this was government work?!). We didn't take the tour (couldn't imagine a 7 and 5 year old being interested in water turbines), but we drove over and peered over the sides. I would have gotten more dizzy if I weren't so sick from the 108 degree heat. Somehow, a more sturdy generation of Americans braved the heat and the heights putting this thing in place.

Back in town, we enjoyed a West Coast experience we will sorely miss--the good ole In-N-Out Burger. We ate there for the last time tonight, since there are none outside of CA, AZ, and NV. Fresh cut fries, never frozen hamburger meat, absolutely fresh everything, in the cleanest restaurant you've ever stepped into, and with workers who look like they just walked out of a "Leave It to Beaver" episode. And this is cool--John 3:16 printed on all the cups! So eating fatty meats and fried potatoes is actually supporting the Kingdom of God, wouldn't you say? Yes, I hear that "AMEN" from my portly buddies across America.

Off to Utah tomorrow . . . another state I am fairly certain the Lord never intended for man to inhabit. We'll just be "pilgrims passing through," of course.

Good night.