Good morning! Yesterday was a long day on the road and we were too tired to put out heads together and write anything. Today we are in a little town of Sangudo. We found a nice little hotel called Riverside Hotel. The rooms are very clean and the people are great. If you go there tell Dale we said hello! He is a great guy who has had his up’s and down’s in life. He and his wife were cross country truckers. They have been a team not just behind the wheel but as husband and wife for many a year.
The land has taken on a different look. When we left Radisson yesterday outside of Saskatoon, the land was still primarily flat and sparse of trees. As we move into the province of Alberta, through the big city of Edmonton and beyond; the flat or gentle rolling land and tree-less backdrop was replaced with more pine trees, birch/ aspen type trees. No longer are you able to look for miles across the landscape. Now you are limited to seeing only a few yards into the woods. We love the bark on these trees and even how they are formed and shaped. The birch/aspen trees are generally not so full of leaves that you cannot see the tree trunk of the tree. When you look at these trees as a single or a stand of trees you will see a beautiful leaf that is green on one side and as the wind blows and turns the leaf, it becomes a silver green. The effect is that the trees seem to shimmer as the wind blows. Also with significantly less foliage on the trees you can clearly see the whitish bark on the trees which for me makes a stunning landscape. The leaves of the trees become a brilliant yellow color in the fall.
I still have not gotten use to the metric system here. I need to drive at a 100km per hour which is about 68 mph. The one that really gets me is the distance. When I see 250 to the next town I think that as miles and kilometers are less, about half. I struggled with metric in school too. I remember Mr. Hontz my junior high and high school math teach struggling with me and my lack of math comprehension. He is reading this now and even though he will not likely say it out loud I think there were times he would have loved to smack me with a meter stick instead of a yard stick! Mr. Hontz, you are a great teacher- you just had a difficult student.
Yesterday began with another challenge to our sanity. The car top carrier lock broke. Our first stop was once again to the local hardware store where we picked up another set of blue tie downs and of course some more duct tape. I should of known better than to buy a mear 20 foot role. I bought the biggest roll of duct tape they had. It is about the size of my head and will last a day or two the way we use it. I do not know if you are all familiar with the Red Green show that was on (and still on re-runs) but I learned about the necessity of duct tape as THE handyman’s tool! Red Green is not only thee handyman of all time but also the greatest contemporary male philosopher of the current age :-). With golden lines like "the man prayer", "keep your stick on the ice", "if women don't find you attractive let them find you handy" and many more: he is the man!
We thought we saw our first bear yesterday. It turned out to be a black lab- oh well what do you expect- I had my glasses on!
Well it is time to move on to Dawson’s Creek. Michelle is sick. She is running a 100 temp and has a sore throat and sneezing so we are doing a lighter drive today.
Our things have arrived in Anchorage. Susan and Pam will be there to help the overs great the right things put in the right places. Thank you ladies for your help and willingness to take this on. You are both amazing.
This is certainly a journey. We are half way done with this trip and my wife informed me that she is never going to leave Alaska. Two reasons:
1. She knows she is going to love it there and that is that!
2. She does not want to do this move ever again!
That is not unlike our journey here on earth. We love it here in many ways and God has created great and wonderful thinks here to enjoy. The truth of the matter is though this is part of the journey and that journey is not always that fun. This is not our final destination. Once we reach that final destination (heaven) that God has prepared for us we will know we are truly home and never want to leave. As much as we may love it here where we go when we die in faith we will love it more than we can imagine. I just heard today about the death of a disciple of my new congregation named Slim Waltson. I met him once when we visited and saw him in some pictures helping get the parsonage ready for our arrival. I know nothing more than that about him yet I know all I need to know about him because I know he rests with Jesus and he is home. One day we will meet up again and on that day I will know all about him and he will know all about me. I can then thank him for what he did in helping my family feel welcome at our new home in Anchorage. Thanks Jesus for all you have done!!
Remember:
The fields are ripe for the harvest.
People who don't know Jesus are dying everyday.
Storm the gates of hell and share Jesus with them so maybe they will be like Slim!
Blessings, Andy, Michelle, David, Grace, and Faith
