Let’s see…  Pat and I were leaving Tucson, AZ when we left you last…  It was November, we still had no defroster and we were heading north.  Pat and I had never driven through Utah (I know, hard to believe but true) so we decided that we could afford to stop for two days and see what we could find.  We selected Zion National Park for our first stop.  IT WAS INCREDIBLE!  When we arrived on the Friday following Tucson, the weather was great, the trees had just turned yellow and the scene was beautiful!  Pat and I drove up the small winding road in the park and loved every minute of our trip.  We spent the day on Saturday in Zion and then drove the 30 miles or so to Bryce Canyon National Park and spent the night in a parking lot just outside the park.  Sunday we worshiped God in one of the most beautiful parts of creation.  Then we hit the road for our next destination, Richland, WA.

On our way, as we approached Pendleton OR, we started up the Blue Mountains.  The weather was clear and we were not concerned, yet!  As we climbed in altitude, the vegetation changed and so did the temperature and the ground cover… snow!  But still the sky was blue and the road had been cleared, it was pretty.  Until we started down the other side of the mountains... then it started to snow.  We reduced our speed as we made our way down to the valley without incident knowing that we had narrowly escaped a treacherous situation.  As we drove across the valley, the winds picked up and since we drive a 32 foot, 12 foot high vehicle that acts like a sail, we were feeling those gusts pretty hard.   So we stopped in the very small town of Pendleton for the night and our rig rocked us all night in the wind.  The next day was clear but still windy as we slowly completed our journey to Richland.

We pulled into River of Life MCC, Richland, WA on Friday afternoon.  We parked our rig in the rear of the church and were greeted by Rev Janet Pierce.  She was excited and showed us into the sanctuary where Rev Elder Troy Perry sat with a local reporter for the scheduled press conference.  This was a special weekend for River of Life, they were dedicating their new facility.  As Rev. Perry finished up the interview, Pastor Janet gave us a tour of the building.   That evening we returned to the church for a special gathering with Rev. Troy.  Great eats and fellowship!  Then Pat and I retreated to our rig for the night.

The following day we unloaded and set up our equipment for the evening concert.  We had excellent help…  The concert was well attended and we had a great time!  After the concert, we moved our equipment to the sanctuary for Sunday services.  Then that evening Pat and I joined Revs Janet and Troy at a UCC service in neighboring Walla Walla, WA. What a wonderful weekend!  The ROLMCC congregation was high energy and we all had a very good time!

ROLMCC graciously agreed to let us stay at the church for the next few days until we needed to leave for Tacoma, WA.  But Pat and I knew we had more mountains to cross and since most mountains in the area required snow tires we also knew we needed to watch the weather closely for the best day to cross the Cascade Mountains.  We called the mountain pass phone line several times a day, kept a close watch on the TV weather and decided on Tuesday for the trip.  We made our way across feeling the hand of God as we watched the temperature fall while we climbed in altitude… the snow on the ground was beautiful and the road was well marked with temperature readings and road condition advisories.  We made the trip without incident and arrived at a soggy MCC Tacoma, WA.  The rains and winds had been relentless on the northwest over the previous few weeks and the grounds and basement of the church showed the effects. 

We had a very helpful group greeted us at the church and got us hooked up to power and water…  and then we once again retired to our rig.  Pat and I rented a car for one day during the week and headed for a day in one of our favorite places, the Pike Place market in Seattle, WA.  The ships bring in the freshest fish, smoked salmon and other interesting things from around the world.