Sunday, December 27, 2009
Prayers for My Family
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Snowed in at the Youth Apostles House
Check out the slideshow to the right....sorry I haven't been blogging. I'm doing well overall...I'm finding out how difficult dissernment can be....especially when you're of the type that tends to take in everything going on around and inside of you and pain stakenly analyzes it. I'm learning a lot about myself and have been working on being able to place more and more trust in God and allowing my heart to be prepared to receive His will loud and clear (hopefully).
Reflection on Freedom
Freedom Reflection-12/8/2009
They may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM! ~William Wallace
1730 God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him."26 Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts.27
26 GS 17; Sir 15:14. 27 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4, 4, 3: PG 7/1, 983. 28 Cf.
Rom 6:17. 29 Gen 3:13. 30 Cf. Gen 4:10. 31 Cf. 2 Sam 12:7-15. 32 Cf. DH 2 # 7.
33 CDF, instruction, Libertatis conscientia 13. 34 Gal 5:1. 35 Cf. In 8:32. 36 2
Cor 17. 37 Rom 8:21.
William Wallace: There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.
Youth Apostle Idea of Freedom
• In Youth Apostles we talk about Freedom in the context of Truth, Freedom, and Care, our ‘Triple-threat Offense’ of “human values that facilitate the reception of the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love.”1
• We emphasize in our ministry to youth that “true freedom allows them to be more fully human and not trapped by sin.” 2
• Commitments made in freedom allow us to grow in our faith lives through a tangible and methodical manner of building trust in God and coming to know we are loved. Prayer is one of the more fruitful manners in which we come to know God’s love and it’s incorporated into every one of our commitments.
• We believe that “responsible freedom can only be achieved through discipline and sacrifice.” 3
• We believe that “in the midst of difficult times we need a model of real freedom, and no one better than Our Blessed Mother…Mary was faithful to God. She was prayerful and reflective. Those who want to live in freedom need to prayerfully think before they act, examine their consciences, and recognize possible weaknesses and addictions that can reduce their ability to make free choices.” 4
• “True freedom is achieved when we reflect on God’s will in our life, choose His will, and make a commitment to Him. We must renew this commitment every day of our life through personal discernment and prayer. We are created free so we can freely offer our freedom to Christ in imitation of Our Mother Mary.” 4
• “Youth should be allowed to make some choices…Prudent risk is necessary on the part of those in charge, to promote their healthy growth, however, they need to be guided and protected. Adolescents must be encouraged…empowered to follow through on their great dreams, while still being guided with patience, love, and insight” 5
• “Growth into a state of true freedom is not possible without learning to obey. Those in authority should model their own willingness to be obedient. They need to teach obedience with prudence and love.” 6
• “We must fight the battle of ridding ourselves of slavery to the passions. Our goal is to freely choose what is good, what is God’s will (the Goal of the Spiritual Exercises). Our work is to empower the youth to choose correctly by teaching them that difficult choices require: Personal discipline, willingness to sacrifice, and obedience to God and to the Church. We must help form the moral conscience of young people entrusted to our care. The decisions they make at this stage in life shape their lives. Mary serves as the perfect model of this freedom.” 7
1 Dir. Cor. May ’95 2 CLC handbook 3 Dir. Cor. ’98 4 Dir. Cor. ’94 5 Dir. Cor.
Aug ’95 6 Dir. Cor. ’97 7 Fr. Jack YM Sem. 3Oct’06
Over the last couple months of my consecration I’ve reflected on and come to understand a little more fully my need to be obedient and disciplined as a manner to gaining my own freedom. I’ve learn to gain more control of my free will through living a specifically defined life-style in a somewhat obedient fashion (I'm a work in progress). Having other consecrated brothers to model that life-style has been very helpful and even more so when they walk with me and show me the ropes. Being able to witness their peace and joy motivates me and helps me through times when prayer, or service, or to love of others as myself is not easy or appealing. I receive help from my brothers to be able to be freed from the slavery of sin. We can fail to be free in the ways that we’re overwhelmed by temptation or struggle in the depths of depression or self hate. Having brothers that share in my life are great help in reminding me of the Love of God. As I begin to make free choices with faith in the mix I begin to trust more and I’m more willing to be a staunch defender.
Monday, November 16, 2009
A Case of the Mondays
I’ve come to know that my role in prayer is to simply clear out all the nonsense, rid myself of distractions, and be waiting in hopeful expectation for God to make the encounter. That’s what I’ve come to know through reading books on prayer and spirituality and my own experiences of honest encounters with God, sometimes a good day of prayer is simply being able to clear my mind of distractions and spend some good time being present with God in the Blessed Sacrament. There are also days when I have a good bit on my mind and I have to learn to be submissive to God’s will and put those things away trusting that God has a plan for them and if and when he required some cooperation from me he’ll let me know, but for now I need to be working on clearing out the things that don’t matter so God can continue His work of forming me.
I’m currently reading a book by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR entitled ‘Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones: Spiritual Answers to Psychological Questions.’ I’ve really been digging it so far and have found the psychological approach to it very appealing. The premise is that for each chapter or essay it takes two spiritual vices and pairs them up with one virtue to aid in conquering those vices and applies how they work or develop in our human psyche. He also identifies human tendencies and how we normally mature and overcome them by our approach and trust in God’s work in our lives. I identified with a passage I read this morning that put words to the growth that I’ve been feeling over the past couple months:
If you want to love, you must be willing to be vulnerable. The Gospel makes
it clear that if you extend your hand often enough in a gesture of love, someone
will drive a nail through it. If you love Christ, you must walk the difficult
road to Calvary. But you will begin to see yourself borne by powers that are
beyond you. It may not be very noticeable at first. It may be no more that
patience with criticism, or extra generosity after you have done enough. You may
feel firmly drawn to God even when you can’t pray. You will begin to change. And
this is the effect of charity, which will overflow into a love for others that
goes beyond affection or pity.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Exultant Warrior
Late morning Saturday I had my first monthly consecrated gathering with the other consecrated guys in Youth Apostles (there are 9 of us now). Being my first I didn't have too much of an idea about the normal flow of the gathering went, I just did my best to have read through the document we were going to begin to discuss (Fraternal Life in Community) and see where it went from there. I've noticed over the last couple years since they started these gatherings how the friendship between the consecrated brothers has grown and how that has had a domino impact on a number of other unifying things in Youth Apostles.
After the gathering Tom Yehl and I headed over to Clyde's in Old Town for a friends Birthday Brunch. The amusing part to that trip was that after brunch we were going to head over to get cup cakes at some place that was suppose to be a couple blocks up from the wharf. Well as we stepped out side the drizzle slowly and slowly turned into a full downpour and the "couple blocks" quickly came under close scrutiny as the rain fell harder and we still hadn't made it to our destination, but I kinda like walking in the rain myself. The kicker to the amusement was that the cup cake store was closed and Tom and I walked the "couple blocks" back to the car with no reward.
Later that evening I had dinner with my old roommates at the Paquette's house down in Lorton. The Paquettes are one of the Youth Apostle family; Mike and Helen and their four boys and two girls. Dinner was a lot of fun as most things are at the Paquette household...it reminds me a little bit of the environment at my house growing up with lots of energy and the older siblings being relied on more and more to wrangle the younger siblings when ever outsiders were at the house.
This past Wednesday, Fr Jack, Brian Abrams, and myself headed down to Virginia Tech to visit the Youth Apostle guys down there for some festivities and of course a Cheesy Western (the real breakfast of champions) or two. It was great to get to see the guys down there and was my first trip of the semester.
Yesterday, we had our house work day to clean up and reorganize "the ranch" seeing as when you live in a house with 15 or so bedrooms and a large amount of gathering space you need to set aside a good bit of time to conquer and divide. Afterwards we feasted on a very nice scallop and pasta dinner cooked here at the ranch, which prepared me for a night of costumes and college students (CCM Halloween Dance Party at GMU). It was a pretty impressive party that the students threw over at the FOCUS missionary house near campus, with shuttle rides and all. Yours truly donned a completely black get up with a pretty creepy looking batman mask. I didn't think it was that creepy but when you pull up to a curb late in the evening to pick up students, it can set an uneasy tone for someone to get into a car on Halloween with a person they can't easily identify. I only stayed for a couple hours as I needed to get some sleep and get up for some "Buff like Jesus" time the next morning.
I started out this morning a little bit ahead of myself. Actually a whole hour ahead as I forgot it was day light savings this morning. Since it was raining Jonathan and I headed straight down to the weight room to see what would get us motivated. I had found these 20 minute Yoga tapes a few weeks back and hadn't given them a shot yet. It was quite interesting to say the least, we started off with the flexibility tape and found out quickly the guy that was leading the exercise was related to gumby. We pushed on and did our best and learned some of the Yoga language as I'll call it. The mountain pose, the upward dog, the downward dog, the exultant warrior, and a few others. I kinda digged it and will probably keep that in the rotation.
Another development over the last couple weeks is that I decided after I cut my hair it was time to get over this despisement that I have of facial hair and pretty much hair in general...or at least challenge it. I did that by starting to let things go for a few weeks and not shave...and for the most part I kept to that. Someone had mentioned to me recently that in the original rule for the Franciscans that it was mandatory that the brothers had to grow a beard and the reasoning behind it was because "it is the manly and austere thing to do in imitation of Jesus Christ, Francis, and the early Church Fathers" I'll probably be "manly and austere" for one more week before shaving it off so my family can heckle and let me know what they think. ;)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
A 'Happy' Week
Mark – Black Skirt Tetra – (Mark/Dark)
Luke – White Skirt Tetra – (Star Wars Reference)
John – Bleeding Heart Tetra (The Beloved Disciple)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Why Youth Apostles?
Tonight I was asked to be one of the members to present a reflection of why I've made my recent commitment to Youth Apostles. When I first had this question run through my head I was thinking that it was asking if not Youth Apostles then what community would I have chosen to become a part of. I thought about that for a little bit and couldn't really come up with a line of thought that really could fill up up 2 or 3 minutes of time or seemed very relevant or interesting. My answer to that would have been I wasn't really looking for more community to be involved in. I have a very large and loving family unit and grew up in a very active parish and with in the Knights of Columbus community there.
The directions that my thoughts lead me was to think of how did I come to know and want to be a part of Youth Apostles and why have I stuck around? My story starts in my senior year of High School when the post conformation religious ed at All Saints turned into a youth group lead by a couple Youth Apostles (Rob Tessier, Rod Kresge, and Dave Brisow) that were new to the parish. At the time I was a very shy/reserved kinda guy; an obedient and somewhat faith filled Catholic, but with plenty of my own hangups and imperfections. I wasn't the type to divulge information about myself so that people would know who I am unless I was asked about it and I kept to myself and observed a lot more then I interacted.
That senior year in High School I signed up to go with the youth group on the pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada and I'll admit the motivation was more self-centered then it was purely motivated from wanting an experience with other Catholics to be excited to celebrate my faith and dive in more deeply. I desired to meet Pope John Paul II and to travel to some place new and to be even a little edgy by going somewhere without my parents that wasn't simply just walking down the streets to visit friends. I met a few more Youth Apostles on that trip by name and observation, noting to myself that these guys were decent fun people, but that is about as far as that thought process went at the time. I went off to my first year of college at Virginia Tech and returned that summer to work on building the sets for the theater ministry that started up the summer prior that I enjoyed doing the previous year.
That summer I also went to my first couple Youth Apostles meetings and got to see the community in a bit more of a full on setting. Later in the fall of that year Fr. David gave me a call saying that he was going to be in Blacksburg visiting some people and invited me to have dinner. We shared some good conversation and he invited me to come on a retreat that the community was having that winter break. I was open to the idea and so there I was just after the New Years celebration of 2004 on my first silent retreat with a bunch of other guys taking sometime to get to know ourselves and God in a fairly intense way; it was an Ignatian retreat after all. That first retreat was hard with getting use to the silence and the schedule that was fairly rigorous 7am-11pm, but it really opened my eyes to what this community was about. These guys were serious about their faith, their love for one another, and their service to the youth. To me that was very inspiring at the time, even with my difficulties of focusing on that first retreat and getting into the methodology of it.
In my reflection last weekend while I was with the GMU CCM on beach retreat, what came to mind more and more was why I've stuck around with Youth Apostles. Like I said that first retreat was very inspiring to me and in the years that I was a candidate I learned more of the communities charisms and vision for ministry and community. It's always been very clear and natural to me that I belong here and this is the path that God has created for me. I'm still discerning my vocation, but I feel that through community, formation, and ministry with Youth Apostles that it will be made perfectly clear to me. It hasn't been easy for me, but that's because I've been relying on myself all too much and I need to depend more on Him.
Recently in my formation I've been studying about the spiritual aspects of the evangelical counsels. The disciplines as I'm to live them in Youth Apostles are easy to understand and they're layed out in black and white for me in the guidelines, but the spiritual way of living them is more of a gospel way of living my life and has more to do with how God has been calling me to live them though the example of Jesus Christ.
Looking at the counsels the one that I see as the biggest gut check for me has been chastity and not for the obvious conclusions that are drawn with no dating, marriage, or sex. Those 3 things certainly are very good and very appealing, and no doubt will cause me trouble, but the way the light bulb went off the other day to inform me was that to live chastity is to love like Christ loved. Christ loved everyone very specifically with an undivided heart, accepted all of their hangups, loved them where they were at the time, and called them out through his love to a life much greater and life giving. I can be a loving guy, but yikes I'm going to need some serious help and accountability to even be mistaken for being in the same arena as Christ.
I see this community as offering to me the challenge and accountability to live a Christ like celibacy by supporting me in an open, honest, and upfront way. My brothers show their love for me and they also give me an example of how to love others in the way they live and minister.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
It's been one week...
It has been just over a week now that I've been trying to live a new commitment as a lay-consecrated man in Youth Apostles. To those that already know me well I can imagine they perceive me quite differently than some of the students or staff at George Mason that are now meeting me for the first time. Knowing someone sure makes it easier, most of the time, to love them and or feel connected in their joys and sufferings. I don't think a person is at a disadvantage in the other case it's just different.
As many of you probably do I spend a good bit of time and energy into thinking, working, and living in a manner that is aware of how people perceive me. At points that has helped me in discerning my vocation and in other ways it has set me back or at least uncovered something I wasn't looking for. This idea of perception has taken hold of a great deal of my thoughts this week as I try to answer to others and to myself "how is this week going?" I'm very tempted to pull back into my comfortable world of being a natural introvert and not worrying so much about putting myself out there for the sake of others in ways that I'm not naturally comfortable with. I know that I'm very comfortable and gifted by God in working with my hands and my mindset to build things and be very calm and introspective in times when things are pretty crazy, but over the past 6 or 7 years God has been gently calling me out to be more generous with those gifts in a more outward manner and to something more.
As I begin this year of discernment my thoughts are quickly drawn back to what I said I would be committing myself to. For me the only way I really feel called to answer that question about "how is the first week of consecration going?" is through how I'm beginning to be aware of what it means to live my commitment and how I've responded.
1 yr Temporary Consecrated Full Member Commitment
This week was full of blessings, grace, and struggles all of which have aided in a great first week. I could have done a better job preparing for where I'm at now with different transitional stuff, which were mostly financial matters to settle and administrative items at George Mason. I've really enjoyed the time spend at Mason getting to know the Catholic Community there, it's a blessing to be in a place where you have so many well grounded people fired up about their faith and ready to reach out to others. Formation wise this month I'm going through our Internal Guidelines for Consecrated life and reading a book called 'To Love, to Share, to Serve: Challenges to a Religious' by L. Patrick Carroll, S.J. and have been enjoying both.
Friday, September 4, 2009
700 + 8,000 = 8,700ish
We pulled into the Youth Apostles House in McLean before midnight and the road trip came to an end! Well, at least for now – Paul leaves for Atlanta and the Virginia Tech v. Alabama game before dawn on Saturday morning! But the main trip is over. We drove about 700 miles yesterday and put a total of 8,700 miles on the GOLF Cart in 27 days. Phew! Time for another oil change! What a great trip!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
St. Louis
I love the Arch. I’ve visited it twice, and both times I burst out laughing when I stood beneath it. I can’t help it – it’s so audacious it cracks me up. Everyone knows what it looks like; you can probably conjure up an image in your mind’s eye right now. But what you can’t appreciate until you stand beneath it is just how huge it is. It’s big enough to straddle nearly every building in the city! It tops out at over 600’. Plus it tapers as it goes up, which creates the illusion that it’s even taller when you stand under it and look straight up. Add to that the fact that it’s covered in shiny stainless steel (who doesn’t love shiny stuff?), and that it’s triangular. When all that finally registers in my brain it causes spontaneous laughter – like the kind you get when you think the fireworks just had their big finish and suddenly they get even bigger! Love it!
And if that isn’t crazy enough, there’s an entire museum, including two movie theaters, in the underground space beneath the monument. Plus you can ride these whacky train-roller coaster-elevator cars up to the top and look out. The whole thing is remarkable. I still smile when I think about it.
City Museum perfectly captures that joyful feeling and amplifies it. Imagine a museum designed by a 12 year-old boy. It has absolutely no purpose! No seriously – there are no information boxes, wall text, or other descriptions; they don’t even give you a map when you enter! You just start wandering around and exploring. If the City Museum has a Mission Statement it probably goes like this: Help people have fun and leave the education to the other museums!
So what would a 12 year-old boy come up with? Well, he’d probably gut the building and build a series of interconnected caves that cover three floors and wrap around the building’s roof-to-floor atrium, with dark halls, dead-ends, passages that you have to craw through, and slides connecting the levels. If he put in a fish tank it would have cool stuff like turtles and catfish.
The caves are just the start. The interior stairways have industrial rollers for banisters (picture the end of the x-ray machine at the airport – they used those rollers your bags slide down, but put them sideways to act as banisters). Each is painted in different crazy patterns and colors. As you go up or down you run your hands along the banisters and they all spin creating fun, wild patterns (yes I did this, several times!). On one floor there’s an indoor skate park. Another floor is full of beautiful architectural relics and salvaged pieces. The closest thing to a teaching moment I saw was a wall showing different decorations used on masonry and door knobs ("these knobs have a 4-part pattern, these have a 5-part pattern," etc). There’s a man refurbishing a pipe organ encircled by a toy train large enough for kids to ride .
Hidden away in corners on most floors are snack bars or coffee counters. If you look you’ll also find old couches or tables and chairs scattered around. Basically, Moms and Dads can sit down and watch the madness from a safe distance (if they aren’t climbing through the caves or going down the slides!). On one floor we found a huge thrift shop. Old tuxedo jackets? Check. Old band uniforms? Check. Wedding dresses? Check.
And that’s only the inside. The coolest feature of the City Museum is the tricked-out, over-caffeinated, death-defying jungle gym outside. Again, think about this from the perspective of a 12 year-old: it includes not one but two (!) old fighter jets, plus a fire truck! All three suspended between one and three stories above ground. There are also gazebos, old construction cranes, and other whacky urban detritus, most of which is suspended above ground and connected by bridges and paths constructed with re-bar and wire fencing. Where an adult would put stairs they installed sliding boards – some descending two or three stories. It’s nuts. And yes or course I was on that thing like stink on a dog! My thinking was if this thing wasn’t safe someone would have died and it would have been shut down by now (perhaps flawed logic but it worked for me). It was a blast!
There’s also some stuff on the roof of the building but we didn’t make it up there. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if it included a trampoline and bungie cords – it’s that kind of place.
So, yes, I climbed all over that thing like a monkey, and no, I was not the only adult doing it. I did see one Dad get stuck in a stairway – not because of his girth but because he was too long to get out at the top (there are few straight lines here – remember, think like a 12 year-old)! I even skinned my elbow on one of the slides! Yeah baby! Did I learn anything? Nope. Do I care? As if. If you go to St. Louis, go to the City Museum. If possible, go on a weekday so you won’t have to share it with too many kids!
After the City Museum we made our way to the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis for Noon Mass. The cornerstone was laid about 100 years ago and the building was consecrated in 1926. It’s a beautiful sanctuary covered from floor to ceiling (literally) with mosaics. They are extraordinary! They include the Bible scenes you would expect to see in a Basilica (Resurrection, Pentecost, etc) but also include local history like Native Americans and the early explorers in the west. The mosaic behind the main altar includes two deer! It’s a beautiful sanctuary and worth a visit when you’re in STL.
After Mass we went to Sweetie Pie’s for an awesome lunch. It took a month, but Paul has finally turned me into a lover of local cuisine. We drove across the country and back without eating at McD’s, BK, or the usual suspects. It sounded crazy at the start, but I now see the brilliance of the plan. It was awesome – we ate well, had fun, and met some cool people!
Alvaton, KY
I still owe you a description the fun we had in St. Louis, but I was having too much fun in Kentucky last night to pull out the laptop. Paul and I stopped in Alvaton, outside of Bowling Green, to visit with my sister and most of her family. We stayed with Rob, Leslie and Brock, who made us feel right at home and threw a big party for the gang last night. Mike and Steph and their boys Will and Benjamin (just four weeks old!) were here, as were my sister and brother-in-law Cindy and Max. I don’t get down to Kentucky as often as I’d like, so it was great fun to hang out.
Rob fixed up ribs on the grill last night and we also ordered some pizza as a supplement. Cindy brought over a chocolate pie and other sweet goodness. Then Rob unveiled his newest creation: grilled donuts. On man, he’s on to something there. They are currently in there frying up eggs and bacon to fuel our longest drive of the trip – back home via Blacksburg and dinner with the guys at Tech.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Sweetie Pie
Chip will report on the City Museum and the Cathedral-Basilica of St Louis. My quick review of City Museum is that it is entirely out of the box and a lot of fun for kids and adults. It was pretty empty in the place so we had the run of the mill. The Cathedral (which rounds us out at 10) was very impressive...a ton of beautifully done mosaics that Incorporated scripture teachings and scenes from the Bible and is fairly world renown and historic. Check it out if you're ever in St. Louis.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Oh Pappy!
Sweet cheesy bananas that was a lot of food! The man is trying to kill me! Our first clue was when the waitress brought out the four trays of food and then four more empty trays for us to divide the food up among our party. Um, party of two.
But here’s the thing, it was incredibly good! I don’t even eat ribs and I loved these – I’d probably eat them for breakfast! The pork, in fact all of the animals we consumed, was tender and tasty – basically perfect. The sauces were a bit sweet but darned good. Even the deep fried corn on the cob was good. And oh man don’t get me started about the fried sweet potatoes. Any time fries come with brown sugar you know Chip is in his happy place.
This place is serious – we had to wait in line for ten minutes to order dinner…at 4:45! They only cook a certain amount of BBQ each night and regularly run out, so the locals know to get here early. As we were pulling up there was a guy in the parking lot taking pictures of the building and the smoker – Paul’s stunt double!
I can’t believe I just wrote several paragraphs about food – that’s Paul’s job! But that’s how much I enjoyed dinner. Pappy’s was a great place to eat, a wonderful to start our victory lap on the final leg of the trip, and just what we needed tonight.
Now we need to go walk it off! I’ve got the Arch over my right shoulder, the Mississippi River right in front of me, and St. Louis at my back. The guys in the car next to us are clearly headed to the Cardinals v. Brewers game – which is a good walk from here, but it’s a beautiful night and probably a cheaper parking lot so who can blame them? I promise to tell you all about it!
Quick shout out to John and Eun Young and the kids for a great meal last night (my first, but certainly not my last, Korean meal!) and for a really enjoyable visit. Thanks for making me feel so welcome – and for not making me use the hot sauce! Thanks to Jess for the great lunch. It sounds like an incredible ministry and we will keep you in our prayers.
Oh, and a quick PS from the Denver stop on the tour: we didn’t have time to visit the world’s first Chipotle restaurant, which is located in Denver near the University of Denver campus. Sorry Jimmy! Many of you will know understand the level of sacrifice that represents for me. Actually, Paul has opened my eyes to some great eats over the past month, so Chipotle can wait till we get home!
Hold the phone...grab a snack...and put your fat pants on
- The ribs were AS good if not slightly better then the one's I got at Jim Neely's Interstate BBQ in Memphis, TN. As the owner Mike "Smokey" Emerson states: “We’ve got nothing to hide so the sauce is on the side!” They're a dry rib rub style not crusted just dusted, and claim to be a Memphis style BBQ joint. They're rated number 1 in St Louis so I'm not sure why they don't just claim St Louis style for themselves.
- The sauces were just ok (I think Neely's has the leg up in that department as theirs was better balanced). You can choose from three different sauces: Original, Sweet, and Hot. The original I didn't really care much for, the sweet was very thick and very sweet (I think this is what they cooked the beans in and why they claim to be Memphis style), and the Hot had some heat was slightly sweet but nothing on the heat level of a Texas BBQ sauce and didn't really have the flavor to back it being such a medium sauce.
- The Beef Brisket was pretty good (they could at least hangout in Texas...maybe), but when your comparison is Smitty's Market in Lockhart, TX and the City Market in Luling, TX it's hard to really soar to the heights of Texas pit BBQ.
- The Pulled Pork was very succulent and smokey and went well with the Hot BBQ Sauce...I don't think they were trying to give North Carolina a run for their money b/c I didn't taste nor see any vinegar in the place.
- The Chicken was good but didn't really seem very special and was slightly ignored b/c we wanted to make sure the rest of the meat was handled with care.
- The Deep Fried Corn on the Cob was good, but I think a properly handled and grilled sweet corn on the cob is where it's at.
- The BBQ Baked Beans were tasty and very very sweet. I don't have a sweet tooth so I didn't desire to gobble them up.
- The Sweet Potato Fries were good and sweet even crusted with a little suga, but not too sweet and not too crispy or too soggy.
- The Frito Pie was pretty good, but I think I would have desired more of it if the beans hadn't of been so sweet.
I didn't however forget about the meal that I had last night, I just forgot to take pictures of it. (Sorry) Eun Young made Korean lettuce wraps that had bean sprouts, rice pasta, kimchi, roasted garlic, and marinated bacon; which rocked the house. She had also made some Vietnamese summer rolls that were appropriately nicknamed Vietnamese burritos b/c of her conquest to place a lot of good stuff inside of them.
It was nice to get to spend another night with John, Eun Young, Donna, and the twins Anna and Jenna. I really hope I get to see more of them while their on this side of the pond. We also spent the morning at their house and then headed into Kansas City on the Missouri side to visit with my friend Jess who I met around the same time as Eric and Logan doing ministry at All Saints. Jess is volunteering with a new organization called A Simple House, which started a couple years ago in DC but has since branched out to Kansas City this past January. A Simple House serves project and Section 8 neighborhoods. That involves meeting people in their neighborhoods and in their homes, and it is focused on the parents instead of the children. Primarily through home visits by pairs of volunteers, and the visits usually include counseling, prayer, bible study, or delivering groceries. Check them out if you're interested as they're still a fairly budding outreach to the poor, but a great group from the people I got to meet today.
We're off to get a view of the city tonight from the Gateway Arch and then checkout the City Museum tomorrow morning before heading down to Bowling Green, KY to meet some of Chip's extended family.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Colorado
We were only in Colorado for about 20 hours but for me the trip went back more than 20 years. Good fortune allowed Paul and I to route the trip so that I could visit with some very good friends in Colorado Springs and Lafayette, a suburb of Denver. It was entirely too brief, but it was great fun.
Jamie and I actually met over 30 years ago in junior high school. We were close friends through high school graduation and kept in touch through college, but had a hard time keeping in touch after school as both of us relocated several times. Through the wonders of social networking we reconnected last fall and got together for dinner in December when he was in DC for work. It was great to be back in touch then and I really enjoyed hearing about his family and career. Yesterday was the first time I met his kids, Chris and Cassie (12th and 8th grade, respectively, and both very nice, funny, smart, cool, grounded and overall great people!) and to catch up with Aly, his lovely wife. The kids were disappointed that I didn't have any scandalous stories of their father from high school - please! I can't remember what I had for breakfast! As Paul noted, they provided a wonderful late lunch for us. We were only able to stay for about two hours, but it was fun to catch up and I look forward to our next opportunity to do it again.
After that we drove north to visit Janine and Greg and their boys, Ethan and Caleb. They provided another wonderful meal and we had a few hours in the evening to try to catch up on the past few years – an impossible task but we covered a lot of ground in the short time we had. Janine and Greg and the boys visited the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone about a week before Paul and I this summer, and it was fun to compare notes. They were able to continue north to Glacier National Park – it was on the wish list for us but we didn’t have the time to go that far north. Hearing their stories I wish we’d made the time to see it while we were in Montana.
It was a wonderful visit with both families. Paul and I were so comfortable and sated from the meals and hospitality that we forgot to get pics of our hosts and their families! My bad! We regret that our schedule didn’t allow us more time to hang out with both families and to explore more of Colorado – next time we’ll take in the Air Force Academy, Pike’s Peak, the Denver and Boulder, and such. We did drive by Mile High Stadium (I know, there’s an “Investco” in the name somewhere – whatever) as they were setting off the fireworks during the National Anthem of the Sunday Night game. If there was a blimp shot on SNF you might have seen us (I had a brown shirt on). It wasn’t as cool as being inside for the game, but hey, it’s something.
Driving east across Kansas today gave me a little time to think (yeah just a little, ahem) about the past weekend and the wonderful families we were fortunate to visit in New Mexico and Colorado – and really since South Bend for me and since Alabama for Paul. These families and friends opened up their homes to us – booting kids so we could sleep on their beds, delaying their meals to fit our whacky schedule, and extending generous hospitality in the short time we were together. What wonderful living-breathing examples of community! It’s very inspiring to spend time with folks who are so dedicated to their children and each other, who reach out to friends, who choose to care for the environment, who think beyond themselves and consider the world in which they live. This also describes our other friends back home and around the country and of course our families. You can never get too much of that, and it never hurts to be reminded that there are plenty of good folks out there working hard and trying to do the right thing. We are very blessed!
Quick shout-out to Kansas for the awesome wind farm we passed on I-70 this afternoon. The thing was huge – literally went on for miles and miles. Some of the towers were right up against the highway giving us our closest view yet of those amazing towers and propellers. Hope they are generating energy and such, but for me they are cool looking even when they are standing still. One thought, though, would it kill you guys to try a few different colors? Seems to me you could generate just as much energy if they were different colors – the white thing is pretty much played. Just sayin’.
Oh, and one more thing, am I the only person that doesn’t watch the Food Network?
B&B Appreciation
Most recently my friend Bryan in Santa Clara treated me to a couple home cooked meals and Logan and Eric fixed us a number of delicious meals while we were staying with them Friday night through Sunday morning. Chip's friends Jamie and Aly in Colorado Springs treated us to a late lunch with homemade appetizers, steak salad, and a ginger pound cake with fresh strawberries and ice cream for dessert! (I was happy and stuffed)
We then headed up to a town just northwest of Denver called Lafayette where we had dinner with Chip's friends Janine and Greg who have been following the blog for a while and were keenly aware of the food reviews, so they decided to kick it up a notch (perhaps their cooking just stays on that level for all I know). They prepared us quite a meal of smoked salmon over linguine in a butter cream sauce and teriyaki green beans. The acquisition of the salmon even had a story to go with it; a friend of theirs had gone on a fishing trip up to Alaska and brought back like 100 lbs of salmon and had given them a portion of the plunder. Greg, in the indigenous traditions of the northwest, smoked the salmon over alder wood and I believe even some apple wood. Janine then broke out some triple mud pie that she had crafted earlier in the day that was delightful. This morning Greg broke out the café latte skills and crafted us a couple brews.
Today we're headed back to my brother's house in Ft. Leavenworth for some more tasty spoils.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Green or Red?
No, this is not a question about which Christmas color you prefer. It is
actually the official state question of New Mexico, and refers to which type
of chile you prefer. Red chile is prepared from, well, red chiles, which are
typically dried and then reconstituted with water before being cooked. Green
chiles, on the other hand, are picked fresh and then roasted, peeled,
chopped, and used for the basis of the delicious dish known as chile verde.
As green chiles must either be used or frozen shortly after being picked,
they most often feature as a regional specialty, frequently used in the
cuisine of New Mexico (where many such peppers are grown), but not that of Mexico. ~Happy Living Magazine
If you can't decide you can just say you want "Christmas" and they'll give you both here in New Mexico. That was what I learned yesterday as we were having lunch with the Hornes at this awesome New Mexican restaurant in the town of K'uuyemugeh (the Indian name of the town) called Gabriel’s. I got a taco and an enchilada with green chile sauce which was awesome; it's nice hanging out with locals so you don't end up in a place whose food is just blah or ok. We were also served some great salsa and tortillas and sopapillas with honey.... mmm!!
Earlier in the day we spent a good chuck of the morning hiking through Bandelier National Monument home to the ancestral Pueblo Indians. As you walk through the park you see two different community set ups and historians aren't exactly sure why or if different tribes lived in the cave dwellings verses the clusters of stone built rooms about 50 yards away from the caves. The guide even gives you the historical freedom to kinda make your own educated guess and go with it. Regardless, the place is very well preserved and interesting to walk through to see the reminders of the Pueblo presence by climbing up into their cave dwellings, kivas, and keeping a keen eye to spot the petroglyphs.
After lunch we headed into Santa Fe and got to walk around and see a number of the different markets and eye shop through the different stores around the Zocalo or town center. One such store we walked into was a leather clothing shop and I remarked to Chip how much I like animals and I wasn't sure if I liked them more dead or alive, but I guess that depends on the animal and how tasty, warm, or comfortable they are. There was also a pre-fiesta concert happening in the Zocalo that started soon after we had arrived and were waiting for mass at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi (number 9 if you're still counting). It was fun standing there to regain our bearings and then hear a blast from a trumpet as a mariachi band starts marching towards us and a woman comes over the loud speaker explaining why there are mariachi and other people dressed in traditional costumes from the 16 and 1700s. Just then Eric leans over to me to explain how there's always something interesting happening in Santa Fe, but it's hard to know what to expect.
It was great getting to spend a good chuck of time with Eric, Logan and the two sets of twins; Helen / James and then Max / Isabelle. I really enjoyed spending time and getting to know them when they were living in Virginia and their presence is missed. I had met Eric through my first real experience of volunteering with the youth ministry program at All Saints and particularly through the middle school program called Prime Time. Logan I met though a couple visits to Mary Washington and even through the program at All Saints where she volunteered as well. The most important experience I came away / thing that I learned through seeing Eric interact with the kids was that you can't really control middle schoolers (their hormones are just going nuts!) and they'll resent you if you do try, but you can skillfully guide the mass chaos and every once in a while have a quick moment to tell them about God's love and encourage that budding relationship.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Random Stuff, Volume 2
· We just surpassed 6,000 miles driven on the trip so far.
· Four Corners was a quick diversion. We did the typical “stand in four states” thing and waited in line to take the requisite picture. Then we drove the GOLF Cart all the way around the monument so we could legitimately claim it’s been in Utah. Sweet!
· The Navajo have something called “fry bread”. If the Navajo were Amish they would call it Funnel Cake. We approve.
· We continue to pray rosaries each day with your intentions and ours. Most recent rosaries have been for personal intentions. We also continue to pray for the Youth Apostles and Women Youth Apostles communities, the CLCs we serve, for our families and the families we’ve been blessed to stay with, and for vocations. Please let us know if you have an intention you’d like us to pray for.
· I love buttes! I realized driving through Arizona yesterday that they are one of my favorite landscape features, probably because there’s nothing like them on the east coast. I have way too many windshield shots of buttes, and continue to snap them when I see them! And so far New Mexico has not disappointed.
· The scenery in northern Arizona is dramatic and spectacular: first red cliffs and buttes, crazy cliffs and rock formations, then everything is yellow for a while. Flat as a pancake, then incredible formations pop up out of nowhere. The desert is remarkable in the variety of textures and colors and shapes in the landscape. It’s like nowhere else I’ve been and I understand why people are so captivated by this area.
· Having said that, I will be very happy to get back to the eastern half of the country and see green again! I’m craving me some deciduous trees! Oh, and some shade would be awesome!
· Beautiful scenery aside, I’m not sure how any one lives in northern Arizona. We drove for nearly an hour today with nothing around us but red rock – no topsoil, so no plants, bushes, or trees.
· I love air conditioning.
Somewhere in Arizona
We just caught our last glance of the Grand Canyon and we’re heading northeast towards the Four Corners. We have several long drives left in the last week of our trip, and today is one of the longest. After we stand simultaneously in four different states for a moment and take a few pictures we’ll drive east to Los Alamos.
The weather is beautiful again this morning (we’re in the desert, so I guess that’s not unusual, but it’s been so long since we’ve seen rain that I think we’ve got dirt on the GOLF cart from Iowa). Last night we left the fly off the tent so we could see the stars. It was awesome! I was walking through the campground this morning and saw an 8-point buck munching on some bushes about 20 yards from a tent. Pretty cool stuff.
I have a confession to make: I have no idea what time it is. After the second week of the trip I had a tough time telling you what day it was, but I could still tell time. Now I’ve lost that, too. See, we thought Arizona was in the Mountain time zone, but all the clocks suggest they are on Pacific time. It’s probably just a daylight savings anomaly, but the effects of going through four time zones in two weeks are taking a toll on my brain!
In the past three days we’ve visited Yosemite, Death Valley, and the Grand Canyon. That’s a lot to absorb in a short amount of time, and I think Paul and I have run out of adjectives to try to describe what we’ve seen.
We’ve been so fortunate to see so many of the wonders of our land. And yet in some ways this last week of our trip is the one I’ve been looking forward to the most because we’re going to see so many great friends and have a chance to visit our families on the way home. I can’t think of a better way to wrap up this trip than to share it with friends and family.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Welcome everyone. I am your dam guide, Arnie...
On the way out today we passed by Lake Mead and crossed over the Hover Dam that was impressive in it’s size, but also a little depressing as the Colorado River was very low (maybe 25’ or so). They’re also currently constructing a large single span concrete arch bridge that will over look the dam and I’m assuming the future construction that I’ve heard is down the line to update the turbine system that they use to generate power.
Now to what I’ve wanted to talk about since I finished eating about 20 minutes ago. Chip and I stopped in a little town on historic route 66 by the name of Williams, Arizona. The town itself is pretty quaint and has some fun historic buildings that are a snapshot of what one would assume it looked like in the 1920s-30s. We fueled up and then made way to the Pine Country Restaurant (we’re back into some greener vegetation), which seems to be one of the few restaurants that stayed open between lunch and dinner. I had checked them out on the internet before we got into town and already had my eyes and stomach on a certain menu item that caught my eye, the Texas Red Burger. As the waitress brought the plate of “hot mess” in front of me I have to admit that it looked even better than I had imagined. It consisted of an open faced burger on a slab of corn bread topped with a bath of chili with beans and shredded cheese and a side of battered freedom fries. I would describe the taste as a merry go round of enjoyment, not one particular item stood out or would have been pleasing by itself with the exception of the fries (they were quite good all alone). What I mean is that the burger wasn’t very juicy, the corn bread wasn’t sweet or moist (and it didn’t involve a guess the secret ingredient game, one of these days I’ll guess correctly Tommy D), and the chili lacked some kick. However, all together it worked for me and was very tasty and I was able to remedy the lack of kick with a bottle of my girl Cholula or as Jay likes to call it “Paulula”. For the work campers that went with me to Elmira, NY this summer the answer is no, it wasn’t my own personal bottle, like I brought with me then, although I should have now that I come to think of it.
The internet signal hasn’t been really reliable today, so I’ve been writing this post piecemeal. Right now we’re watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon at the Grandview Point and it’s quite the view as you can see in the video below and the pictures in the album. We’ve been in the park for a couple hours now and have been able to see how the canyons seem to change and shift as the sun rises and falls in the sky. Parts of the canyon that are hidden at one point are later revealed as well as the visibility of the red, grey, copper, and brown layers of the canyon walls. There’s quite a bit more vegetation around here once you step away from the canyon cliffs as well as being much cooler then what we’ve experienced in the last couple days (mid 80s was the high), but what isn’t really? We’ll camp here tonight and then tomorrow we’re off for Four Corners and then to Los Alamos, New Mexico to visit with the Hornes.
Dry Heat is Still Hot!
I would like to have a quiet moment alone with those folks who always say, “Yes, but it’s a dry heat”. It was a very dry heat in Death Valley today, and yet, oddly enough, it was still hot. Crazy hot!
We rose from our campsite in Yosemite early this morning to get a jump on the day. The drive out of Yosemite was nearly as incredible as the afternoon spent touring yesterday. At one point we crossed through a pass with an elevation of over 9,000 feet! The views were spectacular, and the roads were nearly empty. It was great fun. Driving down the valley towards Bishop, California was also beautiful. The Sierra Nevada Mountains are rugged and tall and a sight to behold. Trees and even bushes were getting scarce. At one point, however, we saw a herd of elk grazing in a green field (it was only green because it was irrigated). That was cool!
We stopped in Bishop for breakfast, to gas up, and to visit a photography gallery recommended by my nephew, Rob. Rob used to live in Pasadena and spent most of his free time exploring the Sierra Nevada Mountains and California National Parks on his motorcycle. He suggested the route we took today, and it was excellent!
From Bishop we headed for Death Valley. We were already driving down a valley with rough looking brown mountains on both sides. We had to cross over the mountains to our left to get into DV. We passed a few strange looking cactus along the way, but other than that life was limited to some grass and small bushes – the stuff that tumbleweed comes from. Driving down the road towards DV we were buzzed by two fighter planes that came up from behind. Paul thought they were about 50’ or 100’ over our heads; it was hard for me to tell from my position under the front seat of the car (the first one startled me a bit, to say the least).
We arrived in the Panamint Valley but for a moment we thought we were in DV. The temperature was hot, but in the back of my head was I thinking, “this isn’t too bad”. We were Father Crowley Point, a bluff overlooking a desolate valley, thinking DV was below us. We took a bunch of pics, then drove down into the valley. We paused at the bottom of the valley to look at the map – there should be a road here! Then realized this was the Panamint Valley, and that we had to cross yet another set of mountains to get into DV. It was pretty hot down there.
Us being manly men and all, we decided to experience DV without air conditioning. From the time we entered the Panamint Valley until we passed the “thanks for visiting Death Valley” sign we had the windows down and the AC off. That was about three hours of blazing hot, scorching ouch.
We finally entered DV and stopped at Stovepipe Wells, currently a store, hotel and a campground, and one of the original tourist outposts in DV about 100 years ago. We were now at sea level – a more than 9,000 foot change from this morning! The thermometer on the shaded porch at the store read 115 degrees. Porches are about the only shade in DV, so the heat we were feeling was much worse than that. We quickly plotted out a course: south to Badwater and the Artist’s Palette, then west and out of there as quickly as possible.
Amazingly, we weren’t the only ones in DV in August! It obviously wasn’t as crowded as Yellowstone or Yosemite, but there were a surprising (to me, anyway) number of visitors there. We also have a hunch that we saw a few vehicles being test driven by car companies – I guess if you want to see the newest model of your pickup truck or minivan can take the heat this is the place to be.
There are no words to describe how hot it was in DV in late August. My head throbbed. The back of my shirt soaked through from sitting in the car, but after a minute of leaning forward it would be completely dry again because the air was so hot and dry. It was basically like sitting in an oven. Dry heat is still hot.
We saw Badwater, which is a salt water lake in the spring but basically a puddle in August. The former lakebed turns to baked mud in the summer, with salt deposits covering everything. This is the lowest point in DV and the lowest point on the Continent (and the hemisphere, I think): 282 feet below sea level. There is a sign mounted on the canyon wall behind the parking area showing you where sea level is! From there we drove through the Artist’s Palette, which is a road that takes you into the canyon and around colorful formations caused by the different mineral deposits in the rock. It’s probably really beautiful when your brains are cooking in your head. Paul enjoyed the windy, hilly drive, which was a sharp contrast to the ‘straight as the eye can see’ road on the valley floor. We also drove by the Devil’s Golf Course, where the terrain is supposedly so rough “only the devil could play golf there.” Or so it says on the website – from the car it just looked hot.
From there we were done and about to head out of DV towards Las Vegas. One last stop: I picked up a cheap combination thermometer/key chain at Mt. Rushmore so we could check the temperatures on our trip. This poor thing is useless. The morning we had ice on the tent it read in the mid-40s. Today is was reading 95 degrees in DV. We decided to put it on a rock on the valley floor for an hour and see what it said. On the way out of DV we checked it (after about an hour in the sun) and it read 110 degrees. Hot, but considerably below reality.
Seeing DV in August in awesome – if you’re only going to do it once you should get the full experience of the heat. And I promise you, unlike my nephew, I only plan on seeing it once!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Go Climb a Rock
The ride to Sacramento wasn’t too bad…to my right was a chatty college girl that had just gotten back from spending 3 months traveling in Europe and the woman to my left had just come back from seeing her first grandson come into the world. I also earned 2000 free frequent flyer miles and had the money returned to me I was suppose to pay to check luggage ($40), so not too shabby and I only ended up getting to the airport an hour and fifteen minutes behind schedule. The only odd thing was that the shuttle bus had to drop me off in the middle of the economy parking lot and I had to try and coordinate with Chip how to come and find me, which was successful.
Yosemite National Park is absolutely beautiful…up until this point it has been pretty hard to really say what has been my favorite city or place and I really think that Yosemite could be it or is definitely in the top 3. It has so many different things that it offers in just one park: river beaches, mountain streams, mountains, waterfalls, sequoia trees (redwoods), bears (at least enough signs to make you think there are bears, I haven’t actually seen one yet), hiking, mountain climbing peaks, lively camping villages, a cool lodge hotel, a ski lodge, and a number of different stores that could keep you well stocked including a grocery. I really wouldn’t mind coming back here and staying for a week or two…we only really spent 4 hours or so touring the park and taking in the sights, sounds, and excellent smells (the mix of camp fire and redwoods should be the newest old spice scent…I’d wear it).
As the night wears on the temperature has dropped to a nice cool 50 degrees or so and the camp sites have been getting less and less rowdy and people are bundling up near the fire rings and hanging out; even the Japanese guys at the camp site next to us with the miner’s helmets and lights. We also have these bear boxes next to our picnic table where we’re suppose to keep all food and aromatic items like soap, so the bears don’t try and break into the cars or the tents. Since I haven’t seen any bears on this trip besides the ones in the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago I was thinking about leaving out some of the smoked salmon I got back in Seattle and wait for one of the suckers to show their face. Chip didn’t like that idea so much and thought it would be rude if I didn’t run that by the other campers around us. I don’t think they speak much English so I’m in a bit of a snag…maybe if we head out early enough in the morning I’ll see one.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Those things we can't control...
Sitting in the Sacramento airport waiting for Paul. Our plans meshed perfectly: my friend's flight out was at 11:15 and Paul's arrival was at 10:10, meaning I could pull up to the departures driveway and do the drop, then pull around to the arrivals driveway and pick Paul up. Hahahaha! The best laid plans, blah blah blah.
Monterey and Santa Cruz
Monterey Bay
Wilder Ranch - Santa Cruz
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Capital Tour Continues
We enjoyed a casual day in Sacramento today (Pete: for the record we drove through Olympia, Washington and Salem, Oregon on the way down here – those count, too!). It was good to keep the mileage down after three 300-mile days in a row. After a lazy morning I went to noon Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento (that’s the fifth Diocesan Cathedral on the trip: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Seattle, and now Sacramento!). After Mass I walked a block over and looked at the California Capitol building. After that was a quick run along the Sacramento River past the historic portion of Sacramento – very cool, but I’ve reached “quaint fatigue” and can’t really handle any more historic downtowns for a while.
We also did a bunch of errands today: post office, shopping, laundry, etc. This afternoon we dropped everything and went to the California State Fair. It was a hoot! We ate junk food; walked among the cows, pigs, sheep and goats; watched a horse show, a hypnotist’s act, and some African acrobats; and heard Tonic warming up for tonight’s concert. We did not get on anything that turned us upside-down or spun us around. It was a great time, and a fun and simple excursion today.
Tomorrow I pick up Paul at the airport in the morning and we head down to Yosemite.
**Whoops! Two things from the fair I forgot to mention in the original post: the entertainment while we ate dinner was a squad (?) of belly dancers. No lie - see the pics. Also, in the Candy Building in the Expo area (yes, California has an entire building set aside to highlight achievements in candy - how awesome is that!?) they had a portrait of Schwartzenegger made out of Jelly Bellys. (We had hoped to tour the plant while we were here, but it was a bit out of driving range.)
They Prefer *Golden*
In August, California is brown. They would like us to think it’s the Golden State, with golden hills, golden fields, and golden bears. We see brown, brown, and, well, we haven’t seen any bears yet but I doubt they are golden. California is a very brown place.
Leaving Blue Lakes it was foggy, thanks to the proximity to the coast. As we climbed into the mountains we climbed out of the fog and into the sun. The mountains near the coast were lush and green, covered mainly in evergreens. However, they quickly transitioned to brown hills and mountains, and the remainder of the day our views were filled with “golden” vistas. It’s fire season here in the west, and after driving here for several days it becomes obvious why all the signs in the national park warn of extreme fire danger.
Turns out there’s a bunch of mountains between Eureka and Redding, California. It took us over three hours (due, in part, to some serious construction on the mountains) to make the drive to Redding. It was beautiful, particularly when we were paralleling the Trinity River. However, we weren’t expecting several hours of mountains (our three previous passes through the mountains to the north during the zigzag tour of Oregon were much quicker) and at times it seemed they would never end.
We arrived in Redding around noon and headed to the Sundial Bridge, the last official stop on my Architectural Wonders tour. It’s a beautiful walking bridge crossing the Sacramento River in Redding, and yes, it’s also a working sundial.
After Redding we pointed south and drove to Sacramento. For two hours we drove through an amazing variety of agriculture – olive groves, fields of sunflowers, tomatoes, and other plants we couldn’t identify from the highway. Nothing grows here without irrigation, but with the addition of water this valley provides an abundance of food! It’s the tomato harvest here right now, and as we neared Sacramento we saw tractor-trailers on the highway filled with tomatoes heading for processing. More unusual still were the tomatoes lying on the shoulder of the road like litter – they had fallen from the open trailers in transit. For several miles the road was spotted with red!
We had a wonderful dinner with friends in Sacramento – more former co-workers from our days at the TV station in Harrisonburg. They were recently blessed with twin boys, so it was a fun night of juggling the boys while preparing and enjoying a wonderful dinner. The unusually pleasant weather allowed us to eat dinner in the back garden, surrounded by lemon and lime trees. It was a wonderful evening!
**Whoops! Forgot to mention in the original post that as we drove through the mountains in western California we passed through Willow Creek, home of the Bigfoot Museum. We saw the museum, but unfortunately the big guy did not make an appearance (he was probably at church).