Over the river and through the woods....

well its official. i just vacuumed out the car and took the travel pod of the car and will soon get it washed. with those things done the smell of the road trip and remnants of the road will be off the car. then i will feel finally in spokane for vacation. we had a great road trip with laura and ann my sister in law and of course milo. our first stop was in the great city of turlock. there is some mystery to this city. evrytime i am there the city grows on me a little. but the real draw to the city is nelly our adopted oma. i will expound on her over the break sometime. needless to say we walked into her house and the china was out and she served us a four course meal, with real German dessert and then gave us each our own couch and blanket for a nap. the woman oozes hospitality and has created a sacred space in her house. we then proceeded on to walnut creek and met up with stover and his sister annie. ate at a great new vietnamese restaurant downtown and then had one of the most spiritual and greatest experiences in a long time. we went to a friend of mark and jer's Sam's. he is an older gentleman from their church and a recent widower. the man loves Jesus. refuses to call himself a christian but instead a follower of Christ, is one of the most networked men i have ever met, and loves jazz. we sat in his gorgeous home from about 10:30 until 12:30 listening to a friend of his Jamie Davis, Count Basie, Pete Marinverni, Diana Krall, etc. we listened and laughed and listened to stories and drank good wine. it was a very rich time and a great substitute for the Opera. Sam talked about PMS. Power Money and Sex, the epidemic that is destroying families around the country. most of all it was just great to hear this man who prays for people, hangs out with sinners and lives Jesus to them. i left wanting to be more like Jesus because of Sam, more on him later. the next morning we raced to Vancouver, Washington and were welcomed by s bunch of my friends from higshschool. this was an amazing evening as well. it was nice for Laura and Ann to finally meet some friends of mine from high school. we had a real unique group of friends form high school. there was all walks of life and all types of personalities and we have remained closer than most people from there high school days heard stories of rolfing, babies, jobs, families, old friends and basically just laughed real hard and ate great food. my friends pat and bethany put us up for the night, joe baker bought me black butte porter, which doesn't get sold in okahurst anymore. a great night. thanks so much to pat and bethany who fed us steak and great squash and made us beds. the next day to spokane via olympia. said hi to my sister and saw her restaurant, the waterstreet grill. ate breakfast and then off to Spokane. i had forgotten how great my sister was and it was awesome to be with her and hear her passions see her gifts and watch her flourish. i learned more of her life and we had good conversation. i love her dearly and pray His rich life for her. we arrived in spokane and went directly to the walkers for Lynn, my sister in law's (i have three of them) birthday. it was awesome to see the whole walker family and to be with them and my nieces. we are now home and this entry is long enough. a rich time i think is the best word for it all. rich in taste, laughter, smells, sounds, that is the life he gives. i have a friend in spain who shares prayer requests with the following preface, "if you pray", i will use it too, please pray for laura, she is ill and i am getting over something. as well that our time here would be just as rich nd we would rest and be renewed. thanks for reading.