Big Top Worship

Get The Girl - Part 2

Let me go on record to say that it is a way different experience finding JH in the Honda than finding it in the bbow - just sayin'. We parked down below by the cabins and ran up to the lodge to see what was going on...and if she would happen to be there. The lodge was buzzing with people everywhere...doing all the things you want and need to do before leaving. Most of the 270 students will leave late tonite on buses for the airport in Sacramento...only seven are actually being picked up, and the sixteen year old would be one of the seven!

Not finding her at the Lodge we headed back down to her cabin. Just as we got there she came out the door to start looking for us. The look on her face was priceless! She was so happy to see us, happy for the amazing time she's had at JH, and happy for us to meet her new friend Katy. Katy is adorable and these two had a spectacular time together. Katy is from Santa Barbara - well, at least it's on the West Coast. These two have all the same interests - music, horses, art. So thankful for their special friendship! Everyone was getting ready for their final dinner together up at the Lodge.

The hour before dinner was spent getting pictures with everyone you could possibly get your picture taken with. It was quite chaotic.

These are 14 kids in Taryn's group. Two of the girls were actually in her cabin last year so that was a lot of fun.

Taryn & Katy posing with...John Wayne??

Final dinner in the amazing dining pavilion. Gary and I had the honor of eating with the staff. Mack Ogren, development director at JH, was our host at dinner and it was such a blessing visiting with him about all that God is doing at JH.

After dinner there was a long presentation of awards.

This is one of the great little trails you can take from the dining pavilion down to the cabin area. Going down is so much fun...going back up, not so much! Of course I made this trip at least five times. Imagine do that multiple times a day for two weeks!

And here is the bbow parked among the pine trees at JH. Lovely! There was actually another rv parked down there near the creek. This family was from the Alabama and had made the trip to JH a family vacation. In hindsight we wished we had planned to stay the nite right here...but at this point we had no idea just how late this nite would become for us.

After that everyone was responsible to have their cabins cleaned out and all luggage in the proper location for departure. There was actually a very large horse trailer designated for luggage. And then everyone headed down to the Big Top. It is actually quite an amazing venue. I've heard so much about it I was beyond excited to actually be there!

In the corral next to the Big Top all these tents were set up to dry out - kind of a visual testament to God's sovereignty. Two days earlier Second Wind's three day wilderness adventure and the Shasta Trac 2 adventure were aborted due to weather. Second Wind teams had hiked, often in snow, to find a specific location using only a compass and coordinates. This can take two to ten hours depending on how well you navigate as a group. Taryn's group took six hours to find the correct location (first ones!) and set up camp there for the nite. She remembers falling asleep with the gentle patter of rain on their tent. She woke up around 3 Am with her feet and sleeping bag completely submerged in a puddle of water. This was not good. As everyone woke up in the same dilemma they were given instructions to pack up camp and head back to the ranch. This was very wise...but also very disappointing as this experience in the wilderness, that includes a 24 hr solo time, is considered the pinnacle of Second Wind. Still using this as a teachable moment they had a very special Big Top back at the ranch where Mack taught them about God changing our plans for His purpose.

Waiting for the Big Top to begin was another photo opportunity. The girls in Taryn's group had their picture taken with worship leader Ronnie Freeman.

And another group shot

Everyone waiting for the Big Top to begin.

The call to worship from the Big Top is unmistakable and every one was so anxious to worship. This was a dream come true for me. Ronnie Freeman is an amazing worship leader, and by this time the kids are so familiar with the music that the worship is uninhibited and just flows out of their passion for Christ.

A quick recap of what they had learned over the past two weeks was followed by testimonies from the students. The staff and coaches call this meeting "pay day". All the coaches work for the summer as volunteers - none are paid - so hearing how God has impacted the lives of the kids in their cabins is their "pay day". It was wonderful to witness this part of the program.

Near the end the sixteen year old in obedience got up and shared just a bit of what God was teaching her over the past two weeks. She shared that coming last year with her dad was really for her about her relationship with him, compared to this year when it was all about her relationship with the Lord. God met her here at JH and drew her heart even closer to His. At one point she looked down at one of her bracelets - a gift from her sister - that says on it "More Than Words" - that is the passion of these two weeks at JH for her - identifying her faith even more as her own, and cementing it in her heart as a faith that is "more than words". It was a grand moment!

As we left the Big Top I had this experience of stepping into the night and having the brightness of the stars completely stop me in my tracks. At this elevation the stars are so brilliant I literally thot I was walking under white Christmas lights. It was a crazy moment to realize it was actually the stars in the sky. It took my breath away!

After farewell sundae's in the dining pavilion it was time for some very tearful good-bye's as the buses loaded to leave JH. We left in the bbow shortly before they did, but well after midnite. We still have a two hour drive back to Redding. The good news was we got to hear wonderful stories from the sixteen year old about her time at JH - the bad news was it was nearly 3 AM when we fell into bed! What an amazing day in so many incredible ways...and we got the girl!

Get The Girl! - Part 1

Crazy excited to get the girl today, and loving this drive between Redding and Yreka - Lake Shasta, Mount Shasta, the cinder cone, Weed, Scott Valley - it's a wonderful drive. This horse's tail made me smile today too!

Every corner reveals another view Mt. Shasta that is absolutely stunning! You can't even imagine in the last two weeks how many different photos I have taken of Shasta - a book full!

This cinder cone near Shasta also fascinates me. I have been trying to research it - find a name for it, but so far no luck. It is huge and also very fun to see.

Another view of Mt. Shasta.

While driving thru Yreka towards JH last week I saw this huge bbq and commented to Taryn that this is a place the big guy would be stopping. Today as we were driving to Yreka he reminded me that I saw a bbq place there...and he's in the mood for bbq today. So we found Pat's

Ok, Pat and her husband are really nice people, but this right here was a bbq disaster on so many levels! I won't bore you with all the details why, but a main culprit was the sauce....all seven of them were, well tragic. I ended up taking some of the brisket with me and we had it the next nite with some Sweet Baby Rays and it was so much ridiculously better. We're a bit early for JH so thot we'd spend some time in the big city - Etna...the last civilization before JH.

Nestled in Scott Valley Etna CA is a kick in the pants! With a population of, oh just over 700 and dropping, it's a small town dream. JH makes regular stops here at the Scott Valley Drug for ice cream, and that is a memory for Gary from last year's father/daughter camp he did with Taryn, so since we had time he wanted to show me.

The soda fountain is actually quite wonderful...love the gorgeous oak unit.

And they have this wonderful player piano here. We didn't get to hear it, but Gary did last year and it was great. I now wonder if we had asked if they would have played it for us....hind site!

The pop served there is still syrup mixed by hand with soda water - quite charming, and they have a great selection of Breyers ice cream. We decided to go with an old fashioned strawberry soda. Watching her make this was so much fun for me...that was my high school job when I worked at the Big Scoop!

It was a most delicious memory! After the memory we drove thru town again looking at the old buildings and scouting out some old cars, and then we hit the road winding thru Scott Valley in to the Siskiyou Mountains to find our girl!

Truckee to Redding

This morning was still a bit drippy but we wanted to be at the Donner Memorial State Park Emigrant Trail Museum when it opened because we have a long drive today. This is the monument in front of the museum. The pedestal is 22 ft high - the exact depth of the snow that fateful winter. From here there is a short trail to the door of the museum. The Donner story is explained in a 25 minute video. Eighty-nine westward bound pioneers were trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the winter of 1846 - 47 after making the decision to try what they were told was an easier and quicker route. It wasn't, and as a result of that decision only 49 survived. I think there is a spiritual application in there somewhere.

The museum holds some of their actual personal items...


...which was just a bit haunting.

This very unusual item is an actual horse showshoe...and I was absolutely fascinated by it. It was so heavy...and I just couldn't imagine a horse wearing four of these let alone working in them....but they sure did. With a little help from Goggle I found several types horse showshoes, and even pictures of horses working in them. Crazy!

After the lights came on in the little movie room I saw this most startling wall of butterflies and moths.

Not gonna lie...I don't do moths...but the blue butterfly was really pretty!

This picture shows how they would disassemble their wagons to get them through the mountain. How hard this must have been!

Ok, and then there was this random collection of stuffed animals. These two were my favorites - the lynx and the weasel. Goodness sakes they even had a stuffed mole!

Leaving the museum we continued on Hwy 80 beside Donner Lake, and it is quite beautiful.

We accidental took a wrong turn that ended up being one of the best parts of our day.

This is what remains of the emigrant trail. What a thrill to see this piece of it.

The bbow in another spectacular location!

Signs. Yes, it is my duty, with no children an board the bbow, to read signs with the big guy. Signs are a great source of joy for him. I do not know who wrote this particular series of signs, but they had a wonderful sense of humor and even I couldn't wait to read the next one. Note to sign makers of the world: adding just a touch of pithy humor to your writing gains results in an instant rapport with the non-sign readers. Trust me!

We made it to the summit!

On the other side of the Sierra Nevada's we were soon into incredibly productive farm country. We spotted this little mom & pop farm and stand and just had to stop.

We picked up strawberries, these amazing blackberries, small squash and zucchini for an eventual stir fry. The family growing and selling these had immigrated from Asia. They were hard working, and thankful to deal with you.

Then suddenly we were in acres of orchards - fruits and nuts. Sure wish there were signs posted so we knew what we were driving by.

By 6 pm we had made it to Redding...and starving we busted over to In-

N-Out Burger. Oh how we heart In-N-Out!

And we had to see a bit of Lake Shasta before settling in our resort. The lake is so high. Seeing a little houseboat heading down lake, and another tucked in a cove made my heart long to do that again! Tomorrow...we get the girl!

Eleven Hours Around the Lake

Thot it might be nice to include a map of Lake Tahoe in this post. Today we travelled for 11 hours around the lake. It was a grand adventure of seeing parts of Lake Tahoe we had never seen before. We left Zephyr Cove around 9 AM heading South around the bottom of the lake. As you can see Nevada and California each share half of the lake. We will leave Nevada today, enter California and then swing around the top of the lake back in to Nevada for just a bit. Leaving we made a quick stop into Safeway for groceries, fuel and to find a Post Office to mail a postcard puzzle to the little boys and a birthday card to Brandon boy.

Our first official touring stop was at the Tallac Historical Site. I can't get over the amazing pine trees here. They tower above us and there is nothing quite like the smell of a pine forest - it is delightful!

We took this fun little path to the Tallac information center for trail maps and so the big guy could read signs.

This was a great pine cone display there. It is very interesting to distinguish the cones different trees produce. The ground is completely covered with pine cones. I really felt compelled to hoard some in the bbow, but in a moment of unusual self control I didn't take ANY! Gary however did put one in which we later gave to Kay.

These amazing fallen white trees were littered along our walk. They were quite intricate and interesting to me.

Ok, and there are stellar blue jays everywhere...and I love them. It was a game to try and get a close-up photo of them. After several fails this was actually quite a good shot.

In the 1870's this area around Tahoe was the playground of the rich and famous from San Fransisco. There were resorts, casinos and private homes built here. Three homes - the Pope, Baldwin and Valhalla estates are still there and open to the public.

This is the most historically preserved one and we enjoyed walking thru it.

Really loved this old piano, and wished to play it actually.

The kitchen was a lot of fun. it was set up to look as if someone was canning.

This amazing wooden refrigerator was actually working and you could get bottled water out of it.

Utility room

These quiet and pleasant paths took you from building to building
.

And there were also some cool vehicles outside.

Not gonna lie....I love this pic of a jay among the pine needles. How cool is that!

Continuing on around the lake this is on Hwy 89 heading towards Emerald Bay - a favorite spot of ours. The road gets pretty crazy around here and the drop off to the lake instant - quite an interesting drive in the bbow.

At one point you are driving along the very crest of the ridge, the sides dropping on both sides of you. Intensely crazy! Hard to get a real good photo of this experience, but this is the best one I got.

And this is beautiful Emerald Bay and Fannette Island with the Zepher Cove Tahoe Queen, an authentic Mississippi paddlewheeler, giving a lake tour. We took that tour many years ago with our three oldest and it was an amazing way to see the lake and hear the history at the same time.

At the far end of the cove is the Vikingsholm house built by Mrs. Lorna Josephine Knight in 1928 and is considered to be one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the U.S. Before building Mrs. Knight toured Scandinavia with her team of architect's.

And on the peak of her little island she built a unique little tea house where she would take friends over by boat for afternoon tea. On a random but interesting note, While Mrs. Knight is primarily known for building Vikingsholm, she and her husband were also primary financial backers of Charles Lindberg's non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927.

This overlook has always been a favorite stop for us every time we've been to Emerald Bay. You can see it all from here...and have a great time scaling rocks too.

The big guy got some new amazing hiking shoes at the beginning of our trip and this was his first real moment to see how they would do. They were awesome!

It's hard to capture the magnitude of this waterfall. The snow melt made it pretty spectacular today...and it sounded wonderful too!

The big guy with his amazing Honcoop determination found a parking space in this impossibly small parking lot. i was under the table as he was backing and maneuvering around other vehicles. Aughhhhh!

Leaving the outlook heading North up the West side of Lake Tahoe was a new adventure of previously untraveled road for us, and we enjoyed it so much! Meeks Bay, Tahoma, Homewood and Sunnyside were all new to us and part of our grand adventure around the lake today.

This is the Truckee Dam in Tahoe City - a great place to stretch your legs, read signs (if you're the big guy) feed monster trout and greedy ducks white bread, and find great ice cream.

Oh my word, when I spotted The Dam Cafe across the street I insisted the big guy risk life and limb crossing four lanes of traffic so I could get a picture of him under the sign. He got me back by insisting I too cross the busy street and enjoy some ice cream with him there. My kids will all "get" this!

A storm was moving into the area that day and as we continued our drive across the top of Tahoe back in to Nevada we watched the waves build on the lake. Another stop near Sand Harbor State Park let us enjoy another jaunt on the rocks near the water.

The wind and the waves gave an amazing wild sensation.

And there were all these fun little paths to wander on and explore.

We said good-bye to Lake Tahoe and headed back around the top of the lake on hwy 267 to spend the nite in Truckee. Before hitting the resort we drove thru town several different ways enjoying the old buildings and imagining the town this once was.

This is the Truckee Hotel in downtown. It was built in 1868 and still is a working bed and breakfast. Truckee was known as a rough and tough gambling town in those days, and this building likely saw a lot of that...but will never tell.

We were barely set up in our campsite when it began to rain...and hard!