RV Road Trip

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Katrina's right

'Nuff said - I'm not ready for this to be over. It's gone by too quickly.

See you all soon!
Nicole

It's here. The last day. None of us really want it to end, and none of us want to stay out here forever. We're in that place of looking back and looking forward. Sigh.

I think Nicole may be having the hardest time. I can't be sure, but she's still huddled in the far corner of the upper bunk under a pile of covers, brandishing Oscar like a weapon and moaning, "I don't wanna go. I don't want it to end." You be the judge.....

Kristi says, "Last time showering in flip flops isn't that bad."

I say, "Let's hit the road."

We'll see you soon, if you're a Jefferson area person. We'll be giving tours of the RV later tonight for a very low admissions fee. What? How do you think we're going to bankroll this adventure?! :)

Katrina

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Some late night reflections

I have been posting pictures but I haven’t written anything in awhile. I know that there is a TON of new stuff, I believe both Katrina and Nicole wrote new blogs and I just posted tons of pictures- I think we are finally caught up on pictures actually! But it’s a lot for you followers of the blog in one day and now- just to put a cherry on top- I’m going to ramble theologically a bit. It's late at night and there's stuff bouncing around in my head~ Your forgiveness please!

The three of us noticed something interesting in these last couple of days about the arc of this trip. We started, well, if you don’t count Vegas, we started with a lot of astounding wonders. We were out in national parks, and reveling in God’s creation- the Grand Canyon, Slide Rock, Sedona, the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. I felt continually in awe in that part of the trip- the world God has made is so big and different from anything I’ve known, and beautiful beyond the telling of it. And so we made our way across the country.

The past couple of days we have taken a turn. It started as we pulled into Oklahoma City- to visit a tree I’ve been talking about for months. It is the survivor tree that is a part of the memorial built on the site of the Oklahoma City bombing. The memorial is hauntingly powerful- a tribute to the men and women and children who lost their lives on that terrible day. Today we arrived in Memphis, and spent a couple of hours at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel- the site where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed.

It is as if we are making the journey back into the brokenness of the real world- and I find myself wrestling with one of the essential questions that comes with being a person of faith this side of heaven. What about this brokenness and suffering and evil? We live at these crossroads- and it is so amazing and such a powerful act of defiance and faith to know that the same God who created the grandness of the Grand Canyon is present in our moments of deepest suffering too. The Oklahoma City memorial has outside of its gates a statue of Jesus, crying- with the two words underneath, “Jesus wept.”

We continue to head toward home now and despite our best efforts- the blessings and the burdens of the work we have left are starting to break in. And maybe that is how it should be. Maybe our challenge is to let what we have seen and done and the fun we have had nourish and inform us as we dare to stand at those crossroads with others.

Maybe answers still lie ahead of us on this journey- we are, after all, heading to grace-land in the morning. :) For tonight though, I am content to live seeing “in the mirror dimly,” to open myself to what God has to teach me, and to give thanks for the blessing to live the questions together with my friends.

Peace- Kristi

Memphis- Part 2

Dinner--- YUM!!!!!!

We all had ribs- the dry rub was a huge hit- though the wet was amazing too- as was the pulled pork. Here's a picture of Kristi's dinner:

Yeah, Katrina liked the ribs....

It was a LOT of food and we were really full. But.....

we still had enough room to share dessert!! YUM-O! :)

Memphis- Part 1

The wreath is on the balcony outside room 306, where Dr King was shot

Oklahoma City

The Oklahoma City memorial:

Each end has a gate- one marked 9:01 the other marked 9:03- the bomb went off at 9:02 changing lives and this city and country forever.

There is a chair for each person who died in the bombing- they represent the empty chairs in homes and with families. These smaller chairs are for each of the children in the day care center who died.

And here is the survivor tree which was in the parking lot and which they thought had been killed in the blast. Instead it bloomed again, and is a symbol of survival, deeply rooted faith, and new growth even out of terrible tragedy.

The survivor tree again- truly a tree worth stopping to see....

The Big Texan- 72oz steak anyone??

In Amarillo, Texas we ate breakfast at "The Big Texan" a Rt 66 landmark famous for their promise that anyone who can eat a 72oz steak and all the sides within an hour gets the steak for free (otherwise it costs about $75). Don't believe it? Watch people try at www.thebigtexan.com We did not take the challenge, but we did have a good breakfast and a great time here.