Ride and Drive Challenge Update

My "ride & drive" challenge has slowed down some although I was very tempted in California to ask my great aunt and uncle's neighbor if I could take his combination "road/dirt" bike for a spin.  I did drive a Hyundai Sonata rental car which I was able to put over 1500 miles (2400 km) in just 8 days.  

I am now in Ohio visiting Annie for a few weeks and had the opportunity to go horseback riding with one of her friends.  Here is a picture of Sandy riding one of their mules and I got to ride "Doc".  This was after getting to throw around a few bales of hay and groom the horses!  

Beholding Beauty part 2

Annie and I continued our time in California by visiting Yosemite National Park.  What an amazing place to see and experience!  It seemed that every turn we experienced breath-taking views of Creation from huge mountains of stone, crystal clear streams and so many variety of trees.  

We stopped at the base of "El Capitan" (pictured left) where we were able to look through a telescope with 400x magnification to watch three climbers ascend the face of the mountain.  Amazingly the climb takes 4 days to reach the top!  To see more photos of the spectacular scenery in California, visit my photo album on Facebook.   

 

Beholding Beauty!

Annie arrived Monday evening from Ohio and we spent the first few days of our week hanging out in Morro Bay.  We indulged in my Great Aunt Iva's baking (oh my land can she cook!) and had a wonderful time walking the beach and chasing the seagulls. 

 On Thursday we headed out in the rental car for King's Canyon & Sequoia National Park which is home to the largest trees on earth.  The largest Sequoia is "General Sherman" which is 2,200 years old, weighs 1,385 tons and has a circumference 103 feet!  This tree is nestled in a forest of other Sequoia trees that were absolutely amazing to behold!

 

While traveling through the park, we came across 6 black bears and one 6-point buck who tip-toed away as soon as we got the camera out to take the shot.  

 

2259 Miles and Then Some...

In 16 days my parents and I managed to travel over 2200 miles in the RV to arrive in Morro Bay, California. We have been able to see some amazing landscapes from the plains of Kansas, to the mountains in Colorado and the deserts and ocean in California. We arrived earlier in the week in San Bernardino, CA (home of the first McDonalds and the entrance to Route 66) to visit with my Aunt Judy and enjoyed getting to know others with the Victory Knoll Sisters who minister in the area. From there it was on to visit my great aunt and uncle at their home in Morro Bay where we got to hang out on the beach!

Breathtaking & Inspiring

Our travels out west have been a spectacular display of Creation that has often left us without words to accurately describe the beauty that has surrounded us.  It has truely been a display of glory!  Rather than go into great detail, let me just share a few of those images.  

Bryce Canyon (Utah)

 

 

 Garden of the gods (Colorado)

 Red Canyon (Utah)

11 Down, 41 States to Go

Based on my title, you might actually think that I have 41 more states to travel to...but actually, this represents the number of states families I know have adopted children from Kazakhstan!  In the amount of time I have been working in Kazakhstan, we have had the privilege of dealing with over 30 adoptive families from 11 states.  

This past week my parents and I got to visit with another adoptive family as we passed through Denver, CO.  Unfortunately their two older daughters were not home when I took this picture but it was still great to see the kids in their home.  What a blessing to see so many lives touched by the joy of adoption!  My only wish is that I could travel and see everyone who has adopted!

Russ & Wendy with adopted children, Julia and Jack

Meeting Up with Family

My parents and I are continuing our journey out to California.  In a stop over in Colorado for a few days I got to see my great Uncle Phil & Aunt Mary.  I had not seen them for at least 16 years and a lot has certainly changed since then!  It was great to catch up with them and it also gave them an opportunity to get to know me better as well.  I found too that we have a lot in common and I also got an opportunity to learn more about my family.  


From there it was on to see one of my mom's cousins, Patty and her husband Sid.  Patty especially relayed some stories of my mom growing up that were good to hear.  Nothing like getting the "inside scoop" from someone who was there!

The next day we got to spend the evening with another cousin, Jeff, his wife Tara and their daughter Jacquelynne.  Along the way, it has been wonderful to see family and to reconnect with everyone!