WE MADE IT! We are tucked safely in our little spot at Glen Eyrie, which is a part of Navigators Ministry . We took today to get acquainted with the area (and do a little food shopping!). Honestly, the Rocky Mountains are in our back yard!! This morning I watched about a dozen bighorn sheep walk along the road as we headed to the gate. And as you can guess, my camera has been clicking away. In fact, I have quite a little travelogue all put together about our journey here with lots and lots of pictures. But, although they provide us with a good strong wireless internet here, some sites have been blocked. My Flickr account is one of them. 
I can’t talk to the IT guys until Tuesday, so I’ll just have to wait. Sorry!)
But I did want you to know that we are here. At the Rockies. Farther West than I have ever been (in a vehicle). And it only took us four years of driving around to get here!
Fortunately the pioneers were a little quicker!
Quick post - We have made it to OKLAHOMA!!!! In fact, we’re more than half way (if you don’t count the panhandle!) across the state! OKLAHOMA - doesn’t that sound WEST?????
We had a great time in Branson - resisted the sales pitch, saw a show with friends (thank-you to Scott and Beth for your comp tickets!!!), visited the famous Lambert’s Cafe - home of the Throwed Rolls (literally - you raise your hand if you want a warm fluffy roll, and they throw you one!!!), checked out Table Rock Lake (and the dam and fish hatchery nearby!) ….lots and lots of fun!
Right now we’re at a Walmart in Enid, Oklahoma - and we’re going to buy Diesel for under $4.00 a gallon. Isn’t it sad that that makes me HAPPY??? I’ll try to get pictures and more details of our recent adventures posted when I have a more secure connection. Right now I’m “borrowing” one from MacDonalds and I don’t know when it will kick out. Maybe tomorrow we’ll be in more Verizon-friendly territory!
Oklahoma…..my oh my!
First - Lara arrived safely in Waco - exhausted, but there. Thank you for praying! The bigger part of her journey lies ahead - getting settled, starting her job, building relationships……As she comes to mind, I know she would covet your prayers!
As for us, we have a journey of our own coming up. Tomorrow we move the house to a local dealer for a little check-up on Monday, and while Lizzie is being checked over, we’ll be up in Branson,MO enjoying a little tourist time. When I left Gary alone in Memphis, he signed us up for a Time-share freebee in Branson! So, in exchange for listening to the schpeil (no clue how to spell that - or if it is even a real word!), we get two nights at a lovely hotel with a couple of nice perks. We’re meeting friends there and hope to get to see a show or two, depending on the budget! At any rate, we’ve heard a lot about Branson, so we’re looking forward to our time there.
We return to Springdale on Tuesday, hook up the truck - and take off for COLORADO!!!!! We should at Navigators in Colorado Springs by Saturday since we’re hoping to see some sights along the way. And since we have NEVER been that way before, there will be lots of new sights to see!
Before we bid adieu to Ecclesia - a couple of Parting Shots…..
I don’t know what it is about fields with round hay bales - but I just love the looks of them. Imagine my delight when I realized that although we are parked in a nice grove of mature trees, there were fields of hay bales all around us! There is something so symmetrical, yet random about them!
And in the early morning mist……
How pretty is that?
Here are the guys going to work-
See - hay bales everywhere!
Well, I need to continue getting ready to roll - you know, put the toaster oven in it’s travel spot (inside the microwave), strap down the coffee maker (literally - we use a bungee cord), and clear off all the counters. Time to hit the road!
(can you believe it? ….COLORADO!!!)
Just a quick post this morning, with a prayer request attached. Our daughter Lara has taken a wonderful job at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Yep, Texas! She leaves Columbus, Ohio this morning, driving a nice sized U-haul filled with miscellaneous furniture and towing her newly purchased Honda. Her traveling companions are Clem and Niki, her cats. It’s a LOOONNNNGGGG drive (about 1200 miles) and I know she would greatly appreciate your prayers for her as she makes this journey.
And then, of course, there’s the rest of the journey - new house (no more residence hall living!), new area, new friends, new….life! Lot’s of adventures ahead for our dear daughter.
Ah, yes. Prayer. It’s THE good thing!
I Peter 1:2b
May grace and peace be yours (hers!) in fullest measure.
So I haven’t shared too much about what we are actually doing here at Ecclesia College. It’s not because we haven’t been having a good time – we have, but just that the month has gone by pretty fast and we’ve been doing some pretty regular stuff. Jane and I have been working in the “Dome”, I’ve been manning the front desk, answering the phone and working on some spreadsheet/data entry for the upcoming school year (reminds me of my previous life!) and Jane has been doing everything from averaging grades to cleaning spots off the rugs. Gary and Neal have been working on completing some new residence space – mostly working on two matching bathrooms. They started with tiling – floors, walls, even the ceilings! That was pretty crazy! Have you ever heard of ceramic tile on the ceiling???? Well, it’s a done deal here.
So, real quick – here are some shots from the job….
The “Dome” – this is the main building on campus. It houses all of the offices, the library, bookstore, auditorium and I believe several classrooms.
One of the bathrooms in the beginning……….and near the end…..
Gary with Jane and Neil taking our wonderful mid-morning break!
And here’s a classic Gary shot – He just loves diving into a good electrical panel!
So that’s a nutshell of what we’ve been doing. But what I have really been enjoying is where we are parked. First of all we are parked right next to a lovely butterfly bush – and have been delighted with the variety (and abundance) of butterflies that have visited.
And between our rig and the butterfly bush we have hung our hummingbird feeder. And how we have enjoyed those antics! Lots of little hummingbird wars going on out there. And all of them moving too fast for this girl’s camera!
And on a totally un-related note, I thought I’d share this picture of our little blue-eyed Maddie. I’ve been having fun playing with my Photoshop Elements program - and came up with this today. I hope it brings you a smile. It brought one for me!
