When we left you it was November 2006 and we were in Tacoma, WA…  Pat and I did a Saturday evening concert and Sunday morning service music.  We and the Pastor, Rev. Jan Skaggs had been watching the weather because we all knew that we needed to cross back over the Cascades and Blue Mountains on our way back east.  Pat and I decided that we would depart after service on Sunday and try to get ahead of the wind and winter storms which were forecast for the Cascade Mountains.  So we packed up with great help from the church youth group, said our goodbyes and started our journey.  As the sun set, our journey began to rise in altitude.  There was light snow but the signs along the pass posted the pavement temperature at above freezing, so we knew we were safe.  At least we were safe from freezing pavement...  But safe from needing a windshield defroster was another story.  The sun set quickly and the temperatures hovered around freezing.  Then the problem started….  The windshield began to fog.  We turned the air conditioner on to defrost the windshield but as the temps dropped (and the temp inside the coach hovered around 39 degrees) it was not enough.  Pat had to lie across the dashboard with a towel and a squeegee, wiping the condensation off the windshield so that we could continue.  There would be nowhere to stop for another 2 hours.  It was a long night and one we hoped we would not need to repeat as we crossed the Blue Mountains the following day. 

The next day, God had mercy on us and the temperatures and sun kept us frost-free.  The mountains were beautiful as the snow (that thankfully was on the ground) glistened in the sunlight.  Two days later on Wednesday, we passed through Salt Lake City, UT and started through the mountain pass toward Wyoming.  Then the wind began to pick up…  there was a storm front about 48 hours behind us and the winds were peaking at around 30 MPH.  And remember, we were driving a 32 foot long, 12 foot high “sail”!  The winds were a constant fight and at times were pretty scary.  When one of those high wind gusts would catch the side of the coach, there was nothing I could do to keep the coach from veering into the other lane…  We were moving slowly and weaving a lot!!

That night we stayed at the Little America travel stop.  And since the next day was Thanksgiving, we prepped for our feast!  Thanksgiving morning, the sun was high and the winds even higher!  We loaded our crock-pot with our little thanksgiving bird and started down the road.  The winds were peaking at around 35 MPH and with our top speed of around 50 MPH; it was a very long day!  The dilemma was between the storm behind us and the winds in front of us… oh, and then there was the date we had in Colorado Springs!  That night we stopped in Cheyenne, WY for our holiday meal.  The winds howled and rocked the coach all night long!

Friday, we drove the remaining miles to Colorado Springs.  The winds were not quite as high and the sun was warm and shining.  The winter storm had stalled on the other side of the Rocky Mountains and it turned out to be a really gorgeous day!

Sharon and her partner met us at Pike’s Peak MCC, Colorado Springs, CO.  They helped us get plugged into power and settled for the night.  Then the next day, they returned to help us set up for Sunday services.  We were received wonderfully and had a great time with the congregation.  But once again, we were watching the weather forecasts and decided to depart after Sunday services to get ahead of the winter storm that was forecast for Monday.  And it was a good thing we did…

When we left Colorado Springs, the temperature was around 70 degrees and the sun was shining… the next morning we awoke to winds and a winter storm warning for that evening!  This scenario continued for the next 6 days of our journey home.  Thankfully, we were able to stay about 12 hours ahead of the winter storm.  The winds were fierce but we found that preferable to ice and snow!

It was a long trip home but we made it safely and were thankful to be at home.  Even if it was storming… we didn’t have to DRIVE ANYWHERE!!

Thank you all for your prayers!  We have no doubt that your prayers and the hand of God carried us through a very difficult situation!  God is Good!