This past weekend, Katie and I took a trip to Palm Springs.  I had never been there and although I had a head knowledge that it was in the desert, I did not really understand what that meant until we got there.  Palm Springs is in the desert!  Sand, dirt, hot as blazes… I am still somewhat baffled at how Palm Springs even came into existence?  I cannot imagine why someone would want to live there but it must have a draw for desert lovers and heat seekers…or golfers.  I will have to Wikipedia that one tomorrow.

Anyway, we wanted to go hiking on Mount San Jacinto State Park.  To get there, we rode a totally sweet action cable car up the mountain!  I do not remember the elevation at the base station but you travel up about 5000-6000 feet in elevation in a giant rotating cable car!  It was amazing!  The car could hold up to 80 people and I must admit that on the journey up, I freaked myself out a little when I thought about how much weight was being held up by a cable I could wrap my hands around!  YIKES!!  The top station is around 8500 ft I think and it is about 30 degrees cooler at the top (it was mid 70s at the top so what does that tell you about the desert floor?!?)  There were lots of trails and we hiked for several hours and it was super.  I highly recommend it.  Below are some photos from the day.  You can appreciate the view from the top and get and idea of the cable car route.

By the way, when we got back to the car (which had been sitting out in the parking lot working on its tan this whole time) there were two plastic coffee cups in the front that were melted!  Craziness!

Palm Springs and Coachella Valley from Mount San Jacinto

Other side of the mountain

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Mount San Jacinto

If you keep up with this blog, you will have known that I went to Nicaragua twice on short-term mission trips with my church in Virginia.  I worked as a driller on both occassions, part of a team operating a small mud rotary drill and we drilled wells for two villages that did not have access to clean water.

The church has sent another team to Nicaragua drilling and doing community health evangelism.  I must say I am quite jealous and when a friend texted me with some old drill slang like “rawhide the bore-hole” I felt a pang of sentimentality.  Nicaragua will always hold a warm place in my heart

Anyway, I have a number of great friends on the team and they are doing great work outside Managua, Nicaragua.  If you want to keep up on the action, the team blog is HERE!

Many of you familiar with mission or Christian circles will be familiar with David Brainerd. He was one of the first American cross-cultural missionaries, going to the Native Americans in the 1740s. His journals and memoirs were published by his also well-known friend Jonathan Edwards. His journals are amazing to read as you join with him in his efforts to spread the Gospel amongst the unreached Native Americans all whilst struggling with and eventually dying from tuberculosis.

Anyway, on a continuation from my post about missionary blogs, David Brainerd’s Blog is a great find put together by a Canadian woman who has written Brainerd’s journal entries in blog format. It is really neat to read!

On this blog I write frequently about my experiences on short-term mission trips as well as my long-term desire to serve the Lord overseas. Not only do I enjoy sharing this passion with you but I also enjoy reading other blogs written by missionaries and missions minded people. It is so encouraging and challenging to read about how God is working all over the world and how He uses men and women devoted to Him to do His work. I am fond of a site called Missionary Blogs. It is basically a directory of blogs from missionaries from all over the world and it is excellent for browsing for the reasons above. Please check it out and see what God is up to in other places!

Also, you will notice a selection of Missionary Blogs on the sidebar. These are friends of mine who are serving the Lord overseas so go ahead and check those out too!

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” - Romans 10:14-15

For those uninitiated in Eurovision, below are some links to videos so you can catch a flavour of the monster sweet action!  I am including below some pre-show commentary based on early video releases provided by my bro Adam.  His astute and scintilating observations I’m sure will captivate you!

Spain …un-freakin-belieavble

Russia the 2008 winner…political voting baby!

Greece …apparently an American?

Ireland …my personal fave but unfortunately did not make it to the final.  That’s right…it is a turkey puppet.

France …I love the bearded back-up singers

Bosnia & Herzegovina ..what the heck?

Adam’s Comments:

Bosnia & Herzegovina: “No description of this performance can ever do it justice. At no point did I feel comfortable watching as the freakish pantomime unfolded in front of me. Reminiscent of an incredibly terrifying drug trip, performer and songwriter Elvir Lakovic Laka obviously draws his/her influences from heroin. I remain uncertain if Elvir is the man or the woman.”

France: “Next in line is Sécastien Tellier of France. This singer/songwriter kicks off the song with some rad synthesizer and some heavily chorused “bop-she-bopbops”. Obviously with nowhere for his musical idea to develop, this filthy French Beegee breaks it down near the end to almost nothing for a few heart-stopping seconds, to rock back in with the synth. This man is truly a marvel.”

Ireland: “I can only pray that they make it into the finals, as this is probably the most hilarious act I have ever seen. Dustin the Turkey presents his priority track “Irlande Duze Pointe”. This EuroVision satire is in everyway pure genius. Beginning with the European folk music, over which the bird puppet sings “Oh I come from a nation what knows how to write a song,” straight into the techno dance beats. It would be a crime for Ireland to be denied a performance.”

Spain: “His name is Rodolfo Chikilicuatre. I only wish my knowledge of Spanish was adequate enough for me to understand his lyrics. Rodolfo, following up Spain’s two-year running Euro “champs” Las Ketchup, brings us his original track, “Baila El Chiki Chiki”. For some reason I was reminded of “Ooh, cheeky cheeky!” from the Cheeky Girls, but on a new plain [sic] of incredible…ness… You will be pleased to hear that Spain is through to the final so we can look forward to seeing Rodolfo perform live in May!”

Katie and I got back last week from England where we were visitng my family.  Her sister came up from France to be with us and Aaron and Jo came from Scotland so it was a big crazy time!  We visited some fun places and had a lot of great family time.  By a stroke of crazy awesome luck, we happened to be there during the annual Eurovision Song Contest and got to soak up all the delectable Euro music.  Oh how I miss it!  Another cool highlight was the visit to the Prime Meridian in Greenwich.  Also found out that my folks will be moving to Virginia to where I living up to a few months ago!  Crazy!  I am excited to have them on my side of the ocean for a change.  Below are some choice photos.  For more photos, check out Katie’s blog.

Wow, a lot has been going on and I haven’t posted in a beats long time!  Things are great and Katie and I are enjoying the time here in California while the Lord has us here.  Some highlights over the past couple months:

Baptism - I was baptized on 4 May in a sweet outdoor service at church.  I was baptised as an infant but had been thinking and praying about being baptized now as an adult and a believer.  It was a struggle with my own pride and in the end I just submitted in obedience to Christ and I am so happy to have been able to demonstrate my love and obedience to Jesus in that way!

Great growth in the Lord and enjoyment of my new church family – church missionary group and SIM prayer meetings are a big encouragement to both Katie and myself as we continue to pursue the Lord in this direction; fun and craziness helping out with the Junior High group at church; online theological courses; new service opportunities with a ministry to international students; new friends

Sweet trips and local adventures – Oregon to visit Katie’s family; Ensenada, Mexico; hiking all around SoCal; visiting old Spanish missions; England to visit my family (see other post); the beach; kayaking and lots of other fun times

I have posted a few photos below as a visual summary of the sweet action!  My blog is way outdated and I realize if I just wrote more frequently my posts could be shorter and easier to write…lets see if I can do it!

The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.  – Exodus 15:2

Day’s mileage: 289 miles

Lunch: gas station, Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM

Dinner: Waffle House, Albuquerque, NM

Lodging: Motel 6, Albuquerque, NM

Confusion.  My day started confused.  I logged onto the hotel internet this morning to find out where about the Petrified Forest is and it is in Arizona!  Bummer.  But I found another potential time wasting spot: the Kasha-Katawe Tent Rocks National Monument.  The photos looked cool and it is just north of Albuquerque so I will try that.

Left out of Amarillo and it was funny because the city stops abruptly.  You are driving…Waffle Houses and other things all over and wham-o after the city limit there is nothing!  Daylight has confirmed my estimate that the Texas Panhandle is the flattest place on earth.  Seriously.  It is crazy flat!  And then, maybe an hour west of Amarillo, the flatness suddenly gives way to a mesa strewn desert.  Very cool!  Plus as I crossed over into New Mexico, the time zone changed and I gained another hour!  Sweet!

New Mexico is very cool.  It looks like an old cowboy film.  Scrub brush, mesas, cool rock strata…what amazes me is that you never hear of anyone going to New Mexico or who is from there.  New Mexicans must like it so much they never leave but why don’t people go visit?  I don’t know. 

New Mexico also brought a shift in the radio station listening.  Much of America is radio no-man’s land.  Vast swathes of these random radio wastelands are unfortunately filled with country music stations.  Even in surprising places like Central Pennsylvania or Indiana often the only station you can get on the radio is country.  What the heck?!  Personally, I think there can be only one explanation.  Some entity is beaming country music to the US from space in an effort to undermine and slowly destroy our civilization.  There are only two potential groups dastardly enough to devise so brilliant a plan: aliens or communists.  Take your pick but if you think about it it makes sense.  Anyway, so in the New Mexican desert, I flip through the radio stations and what is the one station I get?  Not country but melodious mariachi music comes wafting to my ears.  Sweet relief has come at last!  New Mexico has somehow avoided the intergalactic onslaught of country music!  And coincidentally, Roswell is in New Mexico…maybe there is a connection…

So, I got to Albuquerque around noonish.  It looks like a very cool city!  Again, I am mystified that nobody ever talks about New Mexico!  I was doubly pleased to come to Albuquerque because of a personal connection with the place.  Two or so years ago, I got Vonage VOIP service to talk with my family n the UK.  You are allowed to choose your own area code and so I chose Albuquerque, NM to be my area code.  The good ol’ 505!  So that was cool.  But I found 25 North which was the road to get to the Kasha-Katawe.  I nearly missed the exit but saw the sign of it on the off ramp as I drove by so I had to turn around.

The Kasha-Katawe Tent Rocks are unbelievably sweet!  It is a canyon formed by the Rio Grande (I think) and the rocks form chimneys that resemble Dairy Queen soft serve blips.  Very cool.  You start out hiking up this slot canyon and scramble up the path until you are on the top of the ridge looking down into the canyon.  From there you can see all the surrounding mountains, mesas, etc.  it is amazing!  You can see the photos here.

So I got to hike around there for a few hours which was great and my body was so thankful to be outside getting exercise and not cooped up in the car for yet another day!  I had never heard of this place before but it is very cool and definitely worth the visit if you are in the area.

On my drive back to town, I saw the sign of the Coronado State Monument so I went to check it out.  It is a Native American archeological site and also talks about Coronado’s expedition here from Mexico looking for the City of Gold.  This brings up an interesting point and that is about our European heritage.  We always focus on the Pilgrims or Jamestown as our historical ancestors but often ignore the Spanish influence on our country that is much older.  St Augustine, FL is the oldest known European settlement in the US.  It was founded in 1584, 23 years before Jamestown in 1607.  New Mexico was founded as a Spanish Colony in 1598.  I might be mistaken but I think I read too that Santa Fe, NM is the oldest continually settled place in the US.  I could be wrong.  But anyway, I just find it interesting and unfortunate that these places and events usually don’t get much mention in the history books.

Below are some pics.  The first is of part of the Kashe Katawe Tent Rocks and the second is a random mountain north of Albuquerque that looked cool.

Day’s mileage: 718 miles
Lunch: Sonic, Sallisaw, OK
Dinner: McDonald’s/Dairy Queen, Shamrock, TX
Lodging: Super 8, Amarillo, TX

The day began well. Got back on 40 West and headed off. I was not sure what to expect of Arkansas. I drove through the part which parallels the Mississippi in ‘05 and that was mostly farmland but I knew I would be going through the Ozarks so my curiosity was piqued. It was cloudy as I headed off but about a half-hour into the drive, the morning sun burst out of the clouds and brilliantly illuminated the brown barren farmlands. It was amazing! The fields almost turned to gold in the sun and it was beautiful! After driving through Arkansas, I have to confess that I had erroneously held a bad opinion in my mind of Arkansas. I had always pictured a boring state of hillbillies. Most of my impressions of the state, unfortunately, are colored by the connection to Bill Clinton. Arkansas is a beautiful state. The mountains remind me of Western Pennsylvania. And honestly (this is where the post-dating effect comes into play) Arkansas was probably the prettiest part of the whole drive west. Little Rock looks like a cool town and kind of reminded me of Pittsburgh, maybe because of the rolling topography.

Anyway, Kirk continued to perform admirably. I stopped and added a little oil in Little Rock but other than that, he was golden. War and Peace continues to fill my voyage. (WARNING: Potential Spoiler) I think I realized one reason I like classic Russian literature: The characters are amazingly realistic. Often, fiction is written with a clear protagonist and antagonist. It is obvious who you should like and why. The heroes are nearly flawless and the villains dastardly. As I listened to War and Peace I realized it is not that way. Granted, there are some characters whom you will tend to like and dislike but generally speaking nearly all of the characters have both admirable qualities as well as bad qualities. Characters are human, make good and bad decisions, etc. I found that my feelings toward certain characters changed over time as time progressed in the story, characters were changed by events and time, etc. For example, I liked Pierre Bezukhov throughout although, for most of it I considered him a bit of a moron. Andrei Bolkonsky I did not like at the beginning due to his treatment of Lise but grew to like him as the story progressed. Anyway, I have been enjoying it.

My arrival into Oklahoma was heralded by a resounding cheer from the car and I stopped at the state welcome center to check it out and stretch my legs. I will have to read up a little on Oklahoma history since I am unsure if the Native Americans were settler there or how it works. It appears the state is divided up into different Indian Nations but I am not sure how this was done. Anyway, as I started the drive into Oklahoma, I was very impressed. Rolling hills and farmland. Very pretty. My estimation of this same landscape was to drop drastically as mile and after mile, hour after hour of farmland passed me by. The highlights of the drive included passing the hometowns of Carrie Underwood (apparently an American Idol celebrity?) and Troy Aikman. These facts were proudly displayed on the town signs. At first I was thinking, “Wow, Oklahoma has a lot of ‘famous’ people if towns keep putting them on their signs.” Then I realized that no, there was just nothing else notable about Checotah, OK except that it turned out a game show contestant.

I am continually struck, as I make stops, that people get progressively nicer the farther west you drive. Or at least so far. I have had jolly banter with quite a number of folks on my way. Oklahoma does seem to have a disproportionate number of super-friendly people. Or maybe I am conversation starved so when I stop I am ready for a good chat. Anyway, I have met some good folks on the trip.

As I drove, I began seeing numerous signs for the famous “Indian Store” in Sallisaw, OK. As it was near lunch time, I decided to stop in Sallisaw and stretch my legs and get some lunch. The Indian Store was ok, a little cheesy. The store did feature an amazing assortment of post and greeting cards with howling wolves, Indian maidens in buckskin miniskirts and even, yes, cards with Indian maidens accompanied by wolves! I am kicking myself now for not getting one for Rich Wing, he would have been all over that action. Oh well, maybe next time I am in Sallisaw…

One nice thing about a solo road trip is that it provides ample time to reflect on things. I have spent a lot of great time with the Lord, praying, marveling at His creation. In the vast openness of Oklahoma I had some rambling thoughts:
1) Cross-country road trips are sweet. They are long and grueling but I realized what a great blessing it was to drive across my country and see it for what it is. We have a great country. Beautiful. Diverse. And to see it for what it is is a huge blessing and opportunity. The varied landscapes from place to place revealing more of God’s creativity as He painted on earth’s blank canvas. Meeting American’s from all backgrounds in different places and having conversations. It has been amazing. I am well up for another cross-country trip (next time hopefully with company!)
2) I have long known or suspected that I would be unhappy living in a place like the plains of Oklahoma or the deserts of New Mexico. In my mind, I thought it was because there was nothing there. No sights to see, places to go, etc. I knew this argument did not hold water as I lived for 4 years in the DC area which overflows with activities, places to go, things to see…and yet I spent most of my time hanging with friends. I finally realized what puts me off ruralish places…it is the lack of community. On Oklahoma, I passed one farm every couple miles. There are no people! And as a people person I realized that the lack of people to chill with would make me unhappy. Anyway, that was an interesting realization.

As I drove, the setting sun started blinding me so I eventually stopped in Shamrock in the Texas Panhandle for dinner and to let the sun go down. Shamrock apparently has a piece of Blarney Castle in Ireland in the town which you can kiss if you like. Definitely a worthy tourist stop but I could not find it. The sunset in the Texas panhandle was AMAZING! It is so flat there (flatter than anywhere I have ever been) that the setting sun colored the whole western horizon shades from deep purple and blue to orange and red. In the rearview mirror, pitch black. It was spectacular and the flatness of the area meant that the sunset literally filled my whole view. Absolutely beautiful.

Well, I made it all the way to Amarillo, TX where I will stay for the night. I am tired and my back and shoulder hurt from driving. My goal is to get to Albuquerque tomorrow which is doable since it is only a few hours away. Katie is meeting me in Albuquerque the day after tomorrow so I will have some time to kill while I wait for her to arrive. I think I will stop at the Petrified Forest National Park to have a look around.

Day’s mileage total: 878 miles
Lunch: Arby’s, near Bristol, TN
Dinner: Iron Skillet, West Memphis, AR
Lodging: Super 8, West Memphis, AR
I kicked off the trip dark and early rolling out of the Longstreet Hostel around 6am. It definitely feels strange knowing that I am driving away from my home. As I rounded the bend to get onto Gallows Road I realized I won’t be driving this ever again…very weird. I lit up the morning with Mix CD 1 which I had made expressly for the trip! My goal today, the first leg of the trip, was to drive as far as I could. I knew I would never be as alert and excited as I would be the first day so I wanted to capitalize on that and my goal was to get to Memphis, TN. The route involves going west on 66, south on 81 an then hitting up Rt 40 west in Knoxville which goes all the way to California.

I was hit by a realization today which I have had in the past. Virginia drivers do not observe the rule that the left lane is for passing. VA drivers are notorious for camping out in the left lane, cruising just about the speed limit either trapping you behind them or forcing you to pass on the right. This is very irritating but more so when you have endless miles of boring Rt 81 to traverse and there is someone in a Crown Victoria chugging along in the left lane. MOVE OVER!!

This leg of the trip covered familiar ground. I had driven the route to Bristol, TN a few years earlier when I went to Dukesfest at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Yes, that is correct, an event dedicated to the Dukes of Hazard. You gotta problem with that?! Ha ha! The route all the way to Memphis was also covered as part of the “Grueling Pace, Meager Rations Roadshow” of 2005. So when I passed well loved sites such as Hungry Mother State Park, it brought back fond memories. Kirk Camry (my car) was also loving the sweet road action at this point and gobbling up the road miles like a beast!

The one hitch in the day’s travels was the crazy rain I hit in Tennessee. Apparently, this was part of the big storm that saturated the Southeast US. It was several hours driving in heavy rain which slowed the progress some. Tennessee is a beautiful state. The drive between Knoxville and Nashville is particularly nice as you wind your way through the Appalachians. We drove this part in the dark when I was here in ‘05, as I recall or maybe I was snoozing as someone else drove. In any event, I had not remembered it so it was quite nice. I am struck, as I always am, at the amazing courage and tenacity of early explorers and settlers who set off west by foot into the unknown. I drove past the Cumberland Gap, Davy Crockett’s birthplace, other Daniel Boone sites and imagined these guys out there in the wilderness. Crazy! I think I would like to read a biography of Daniel Boone. That would probably be a good read.

Actually, there was another crazy incident today. Driving through the mountains in Tennessee, this 18-wheeler in front of me had a blow-out on one of his tires or something and as he continued to drive, the tired got shredded and was flinging large hunks of rubber behind the truck which I had to dodge a couple larger ones. That definitely added some excitement!

Speaking of good reads, my time in the car has been delightfully passed listening to an audio version of War and Peace. I have always wanted to read it and what better excuse then a beast long road trip! I am a fan of books-on-tape so this was quite a gem. Although, I must say, it was not a real book-on-tape. Not only because it was on CD but it was actually a dramatized BBC Radio version of the book. But very entertaining anyway!

Anyway, by the time I got to Memphis, I was beat after 14 hours of driving! I decided to stop in Memphis for the night (my goal anyway) and started looking for a hotel. As this point I made a disconcerting discovery. You know how when you are driving, at the exit signs they show what hotels, food, gas stations, etc are there? They do not do that in big cities! So I am driving through Memphis at night looking for a place to stay and of course you can’t see anything from the highway so I just kept going. A couple times I noticed hotels at a particular exit but only after I had passed and I wasn’t going back baby…forward to nothing! So anyway, I ended up crossing the Mississippi River and staying at the HUGE truck stop which is West Memphis, Arkansas. My room at the Super 8 was immediately next to the truck stop but I was so beat tired that the roar of truck engines all night did not keep me awake. So that was Day 1 people…let the good times roll.