From ID to WA via Roger's 55th reunion

We headed to Meridian the next day to visit with Cukurs. It was good to get caught up on their lives! Joy fixed a delicious meal for us. That night we parked in their church parking lot.

On Friday we drove almost to the Columbia River, spending the night in OR.

Roger's 55th high school reunion was Saturday. It was a lovely day and we had 2 hours outside visiting. Then on to the dinner inside - the food was super; the "entertainment" (reminiscing) was good, too. That night we stayed in the Apple Tree parking lot.

Sunday we attended the church Roger once went to - however the building has been purchased by another group and the service was unique, to say the least! Then it was on home, arriving at 6 p.m.

Weather & overnight

On our way to ID, we were hit with a major wind/rain/hail storm. After fighting the elements for a time, we pulled over with the trucks to wait it out.

We were able to find a small church with a Wednesday night service. Unfortunately, they hadn't updated their information, so we were 1/2 hour late! We missed the potluck, too!! There was good fellowship, and we got some leftovers from the potluck! We spent the night in their parking lot.

The heat continued until night fall. Then we had to get up and add a blanket - it was cold!

NW AZ to UT - Zion and Bryce Canyon NP

We left our friend Darrell and headed to the NW corner of AZ. Zion National Park, where we were headed was straight north of his place, but the Grand Canyon was in our way. We could skirt it on the east side or west side. Since we covered part of the east side already, we opted for the west side.

On our way, we pulled into a spot to get some pictures of the Joshua trees. A Tesla was stuck there - the Chinese driver ignored all the warnings and ended up losing! Even his phone couldn't be charged from his battery. He walked over to us and asked if we could charge his phone to 20% or so. Roger had the correct cable because he had picked one up in off the ground at a recent fuel stop. We had a Chinese Gospel of John along, which he willing took. We consider this a Divine encounter.

The road was not very good! So far, AZ has had the worst roads of our entire trip. We crossed into NV and traveled the outskirts of Las Vegas. From there we crossed back into AZ for a brief time. However, the landscape was incredible. Towering rocks hugged the road and decorated the roadsides. It was truly a great experience. We arrived in UT, where we spent a night at Walmart.

The next day we drove to Zion National Park. Pictures are totally insufficient.

To get from there to Bryce Canyon National Park, we had to drive through 2 arches and 1 tunnel. The tunnel was only wide enough for us, so traffic was held up at both ends while we drove down the middle of the road for 1.1 miles! Again, pictures do the views an injustice.

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We both climbed to the highest point with only 1 stop on the way!

Phoenix Area

On our way to Roger's cousin Sue and her husband Barry, we stopped at a Burger King. They have a great museum set up with information on the (Navajo) Code Talkers. We learned a lot! It was a missionary kid who first suggested they use the Navajo people; the first 29 who were selected as a test group all passed (if even just 1 had failed, they would not have used them); the Navajos had to create new words for war terms; the battle of Iwo Jima involved them - some on land and some on the ship offshore; because they spoke the code, it was much faster to transmit messages; they blended in because they are very similar to Japanese. Outside was a display of their hogans, etc. The Navajo language is related to the Mongolian and Maori tribes. Lots of new information - showing the greatness of God and the way nations are related.

We stopped at a McDonald's, mostly to cool off!! Although AZ has yet to reach 100 degrees, it's been miserably hot!!

From there we went to Sue's. It's always good to reconnect with Christian family members. We enjoyed the evening together - she cooked a great meal, too!

Sunday morning we headed off to a church near our friend, Darrell. The folks were friendly, and we really liked hearing the organist and pianist. But once again we were saddened to realize that the pastor was leading a traditional Baptist church toward reformed theology.  Heather's dad warned of this just before he died - he saw it coming.

The afternoon and evening were spent with Darrell. He is doing well, considering he's recently widowed.