Girls (and Frodo) Road Trip to JH

So excited for our road trip to JH Ranch! This will be Taryn's second time there. Last year she and Gary went for the Father Daughter Adventure week. This year Taryn will go alone for two weeks as a part of their Second Wind program. We left around 6:30 AM...in the rain. Ugh!

First stop on any road trip is the Samish Starbucks. We got coffee and and artisan breakfast sandwich's to go. The friendly barista asked our plans for the day and we told her we were road tripping to CA, so she drew these sweet little pics on the wrappers! How fun is that? Seriously...this was what driving was like all the way thru WA & OR. It was miserable driving!

The sixteen year old humored herself trying different photo shots with my camera. Notice Frodo's nose. He traveled with us and is having his first experience at JH.

After stopping at several more Starbucks - coffee, free wifi and clean restrooms - and a 30 mile off the beaten path drive out of Eugene (oh brother) we made it to Medford OR where we stayed at a very random Ramada. Nothing sketchy, just some crazy decor that really messed with us.

The sixteen year old spent as much time as she could communicating by text with Danger.
Sunday morning we woke up to this amazing sunshine. As we left Medford we were positively giddy with joy over the sun so we busted open the sunroof waving at the sun and singing the Classic Crime chorus "My oh my what a beautiful day outside! Hey, Hey what a beautiful day!"

Mt Shasta took our breath away. We stopped at the lookout and took pictures. Not gonna post 'em cause our hair went crazy in the wind...and it's all about the hair. (It really was bad...even the sixteen year old made me promise not to post them)

Had a late lunch and time to kill in Yreka. Ok, so there really is not much happening in Yreka. Randomly we did attempt to find a ukulele - long story - and this is where the sixteen year old had her final technology fix.

We drove part way to JH and stopped at Dotty's...a little drive-in
hotspot in the last town of Etna. We still had time to kill so Taryn played with her new little camera...which she loves! She asked to drive to the ranch so I let her. Everything looked familiar which I was glad of because after the whole Eugene experience I was more than a little skeptical of the GPS. After driving quite a while she realized we were not in the right place...which the GPS confirmed. We were about 13 very rural miles in the opposite direction. Oooops! No worries as we still had time.

Taking the right turn we easily found our way to JH. So excited! After checking in Taryn took me on a tour of the ranch. It was so much fun for me to have her show me around. Pictures do not do justice. It is absolutely as wonderful as they described.

The JH beach, blob and water zip line will be a rockin' place tomorrow when the rest of the kids are here. You gotta watch the JH video to see all the fun and adventure.

This is the new pavilion that opened last year when Gary and Taryn were here. This is where meals are served and it is spectacular.
At JH they used adventure to teach foundational Biblical life principles. This how they describe their ministry:

At JH Ranch we use the motto,
"I heard and I forgot. I saw and I remembered. I did and I understood."

The content of the JH Ranch is taught primarily through the challenges of practical experiences in the great outdoors. With each challenge, our goal is to teach and model the Great Commandment: love God and love others. Therefore, our guests leave JH Ranch with practical principles for everyday life and not just more inspiration.

Every experience at JH is so intentional and transformational.

And there are horses! I think the sixteen year old spent about 10 minutes just leaning on the fence staring at them. It is an incredibly beautiful sight.

I missed including a picture of the Big Top in this group of photos but did get an interior shot. This is where the teaching and worship take place. Most of what I heard about last year happened in here. When I stepping inside the Big Top for the first time I almost felt like I was on holy ground.

One of the benefits of arriving at JH before the others was Taryn got first choice of bunks. I had asked her as we drove if she preferred a top or bottom bunk and she said "normally I would always choose a top bunk, but I learned last year that heat rises...so go for a bottom bunk". And she got it...right next to the deck where a cool breeze can flow in. She was so excited to unpack and set up.

After dinner with the staff and unpacking I left the sixteen year old for her next grand adventure at JH. I drove off VERY carefully following the GPS - not gonna lie I had a bit of a panic attack at the thot of getting lost at nite out here with no cell service or AAA. :-) It was so beautiful and I spent this amazing time in prayer thanking God for this amazing opportunity for her, and asking that He would continue His work in her life over these next two weeks.

Embrace every moment sweet girl!