Saturday, October 31, 2015

Cross Country Adventure - Day Seven




Only one more entry after today. The adventure is nearing a close, but not without some tense moments.

Let's have a look at what happened.



Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Tonight we are sleeping in Las Vegas, but yesterday we set out across New Mexico and Arizona ... after a harrowing day in Texas. The weather was ominous so we got on the highway early. Reports of dozens of tornadoes in the states we'd passed through the day before buzzed across the radio stations. And there were reports of continuing severe weather. We were nearly through Texas when a tornado warning blasted over the radio. A tornado on the ground in the county we were in and the clouds looked pretty scary. The landscape offered no hiding places, and I wondered what we would do if faced with a damaging twister.










We managed to reach Fort Stockton without incident and settled down for the night while warnings of severe weather continued. There were still no real safe places in the small town, but God's peace surrounded us and we slept soundly.

(In my book To Dance With Dolphins,it is Willow who helps hold our group together when tragedy strikes just outside Fort Stockton.)



Tonight we are sleeping in Las Vegas, but yesterday we set out across New Mexico and Arizona. The morning began with clear skies, but soon the winds picked up and dark clouds appeared on the horizon. We were in for it, or so we thought. Although strong winds buffeted our truck, the storms remained north and south of us and we made our way across the prairies and deserts bathed in sunshine. God has done this for us from our first day of travel.



There was so much to see and savor as we moved through the dry lands in the middle of the country. New Mexico was a mix of  broad prairies, rocky mountains, and red rock formations. I loved the colors of the landscape and Greg and I decided to incorporate many of them into our new family room. We picked up a few pieces of pottery and art work that will remind us of our time here.




 (This typical of what we saw in New Mexico)


It was all so interesting I wanted to stay and explore our history and the unique sites and to study what God had made, but we were forced by time constraints to keep moving.

We stopped briefly at the Petrified Forest in New Mexico. It is an amazing place, where centuries of history have been laid down. What a privilege to revisit our past. I could have spent days there.

Yesterday we arrived at the Grand Canyon. There are no words to describe the canyon, but I will make an attempt - magnificent, majestic, frightening, humbling, breathtaking. It is a place layered with colors and textures. A place where I felt God's presence, a place only He could have created. And a place that made me feel small and at the same time significant because the God who created this wonder also created me. Even now when I think about it tears well up.



I wanted so badly to spend more time. I needed to find a quiet place overlooking the grandeur where I could be quiet and contemplate God and what He must have been thinking when He created this glorious place.
Instead, I had to move on. This is a working trip, after all,  and I'm nearly out of time. So, we packed up and hit the road. Tomorrow we will begin the last leg of this adventure.

My next message will be from my office at my home up on my mountain in Oregon."


Tomorrow I will wrap up my trip across our great country. There are still many wonders to come.

Today's Question:  Have you ever been caught in a dangerous storm. What did you do?

Today's Gift:  Willow loved her tea. So, I'm excited to give away a set of Mara collectible dinner mugs (coffee or tea).  



One day to go. I'll see you tomorrow.

Grace and peace to you from God,

Bonnie

9 comments:

  1. Grew up in IA. Our house had a big picture window. You could see across the street. Behind that house was basically a cliff with a river below. One summer was particularly bad. Early one evening the sirens went off. I was looking out the window and I could see this wall was coming right at the house. We headed down to the basement and it was so dark we had to turn the lights on. Don't know what all was in that weather front but one of the trees in the backyard had the top twisted off the next time we saw it.

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  2. Anonymous11:10 PM

    I wrote a post about Peggy and I in a storm when all dressed up in pink satin gowns--and becoming drenched rats--but don't know where it got posted--or if it did! Oh well...

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  3. My scariest time happened when we still lived in KY. Not very long after my daughter, Linda, was born I was was watching two of a friend's daughters so she could take her baby to the doctor. That means I had my newborn, (under a month old), a two year old, a four year old, and our miniature poodle. I looked outside and saw a storm was approaching. I turned on the raidio and the DJs said a tornado had been spotted in a neighboring town. Just at that moment the air outside first got real still then the wind picked up, the power went off and the tornado sirens started blowing. I took the girls into our "safe spot" in the bathroom under the stairs, had the 4 year old sit and hold Linda and ran upstairs to get all the pillows and comforters. Then got our dog and the battery run radio. We sang songs and I told stories until the all clear signal sounded. There were a lot of branches broken in our neighborhood. Then I found out that 1/2 mile away there was damage to some of the base housing and some cars. It turned out to be a straight wind and not a tornado, but it was scary.

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  4. I had three little girls at home and hubby dosging tornadoes on his way home from work one night. I looked out and saw a young tree doubled over touching the ground from the strong winds. Heard what sounded like a freight train in the distance. We had no basement so huddled in the corner of the kitchen away from windows and prayed for God's protection. Found out the next morning the high school 1.3 miles away had gotten hit by a tornado. We live in central Indiana so tornado warnings and watches are part of our lives, especially in June and November.

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  5. I remember driving through Nebraska about 10 years ago on my way hom from college. My car was being pushed between lanes and branches blew across the highway. Then I looked into my review mirror and saw a black funnel cloud. the radio said it was coming my way. I was young and that is the only reason I can think that caused me to keep on driving rather than look for safety. That solitary drive gaveme a wonderful opportunity to feel the power of God's creation and luckily I was safe enough.

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  6. We've been close to tornado's, floods & hail storms! We just bunker down, pray & wait it out. We've never been hurt but the aftermath has sometimes been a long clean-up process! Just this year our river flooded it banks 3 times & closed the bridges twice in 3 months, I live in Nebraska & in 60 years I've seen quite a few bad storms..
    We did a road trip to Las Vegas from Nebr and there is certainly some awesome scenery!

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  7. I love all your stories, and I'm so glad we don't have terrible fierce storms here where I live. We do get thunderstorms, rain and wind but rarely the damaging kind.

    And Patti, I'd really love to hear more about the pink satin gowns and drenched rats.

    Thank you all for sharing.

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  8. National parks are fun to visit. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. Wow! You guys are brave. And I'm thankful you're still here to tell your stories. Downright terrifying. But I love to hear about them.

    We're almost ready to draw the winners names. :-)

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