Our main reason for coming to the Kansas City area was to attend a two day cross cultural orientation event at MidAmerica Nazarene University in preparation for possible short term missions work with the Church of the Nazarene. It was both informative and inspiring. The last question we were asked to discuss was “What’s next for you?” At this point, we’re not sure. We’ll simply continue to wait for direction. When the time comes, as I’m sure it probably will, that our skills match up with a need in the field, we’ll be ready to go.

Kansas City sits on the border between Kansas and Missouri. This morning we crossed the state line and spent most of the day on the Missouri side. We began by worshipping at Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene and then made our way to Country Club Plaza, considered by many to be the city’s crown jewel. Spanish inspired architecture, statues, tile mosaics and sparkling fountains make this 14-square-block shopping and dining district a perfect place for a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Kansas is known as the City of Fountains. There are over 200 of these public works of art in various locations around the city. We saw several of them in the Plaza area as well as one in front of Union Station, the second largest working train station in the US after Grand Central Station in New York. Built in 1914, it quickly became one of the city’s most prominent landmarks. Today, it houses a science centre, theatres, restaurants and a model railway display that would thrill some of the men in my family!

Bloch Fountain at Union Station

On the way back to the campground, after crossing the border back into Kansas, we stopped for a few groceries. I also decided to check out the shoe store that’s just down the mall from the grocery store and guess what I found? Red shoes! Super comfortable, I love them totally, red shoes! What could be more appropriate than buying red shoes in Kansas? Even better, not only were they on sale but the store was having a buy one pair, get the second pair half price sale so I also bought the same shoes in black!

Over the past two days, we made our way across the breadth of Kansas on the I-70, the interstate that’s also known as the Main Street of Kansas or America’s Main Street. Along the way, almost every little town or city has its claim to fame, some because of interesting landmarks, others for political or historical reasons.

Abilene was the childhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Russell, where we camped last night, was the birthplace of 1996 presidential candidate, Bob Dole. Lawrence was founded as an abolitionist settlement in 1854 and nearby Lecompton is known as “The Birthplace of the Civil War Where Slavery Began to Die”. Though we read about each as we passed by, we didn’t stop at most of them. We did, however, stop to look at the 24 foot by 32 foot reproduction of one of Vincent Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings that sits on an easel almost 80 feet high in Goodland, one of the nation’s top sunflower producers. We also stopped at Oakley and ate our lunch at the foot of a larger than life statue of Buffalo Bill Cody or “Cousin Bill” as we fondly refer to him since Richard is a direct descendant of his aunt! Apparently the Buffalo Bill legend began just a few miles from Oakley when Bill, at that time a buffalo hunter supplying meat to the construction crews working on the Pacific Railroad, won a contest with fellow hunter, William Comstock, to see which of the two Bills could kill the most buffalo in an eight hour period.

In many ways, Kansas reminds us of southern Alberta with it’s wide open fields and big sky. It’s much hotter though and at the moment, at least, much more humid. The thermometer reached 40C (104F) yesterday and a heavy rainstorm last night left today very muggy. In fact, it feels much like a summer day in Japan complete with the whine of cicadas, a sound we haven’t heard since our summer there! I have a much better internet connection sitting outside under the awning but I actually have to go inside the air conditioned trailer once in awhile to cool off! Another indication of the difference in climate between Alberta and Kansas is the fact that we saw combines at work in the fields and it’s only the middle of July!

We’re now comfortably settled in a campground on the outskirts of Kansas City and ready to attend a two day cross cultural orientation event at MidAmerica Nazarene University in preparation for possible short term missions work with the Church of the Nazarene. I think the Lord must have saved this spot just for us! The campground, which is located about 15 minutes from the MNU campus, is very much a city parking lot type but we have the end site at the back of the campground next to the dog run. Instead of looking out on another trailer 6 or 8 feet away, we look out on a lovely little wooded area & are shaded by a grove of big trees. Apparently the campground stays very full & they recommend reserving well in advance but I called yesterday morning and this was one of only two spots that were still available!

It wasn’t a hike but we spent several hours walking today! From store to store we went searching out bargains. We love American factory outlet malls and made sure to include a huge one located at Castle Rock, between Denver and Colorado Springs, in our travel plans.

The recent recession has hit the United States hard and that was never more obvious to us than today. The Castle Rock Outlet Mall has space for approximately 115 retail outlets but about half of them sit vacant! For whatever reason, it seems that clothing outlets have fared best and we visited many of them today. I have no idea how many garments I tried on! It would have been very easy to get carried away and buy more than we needed but we managed not to. We did come away with some wonderful bargains though. I bought two pairs of capri pants at Gap for less than $12 each. Richard and I bought four items at Izod for a total of less than $60. Any one of those items might have cost that much at Golf Town or in our golf club pro shop.

In addition to clothing shops, we also visited several shoe stores and Richard found a good buy on running shoes. I, however, did not find what I’ve been looking for for the past few months. Red shoes! I’m not sure why but I really want a pair of red shoes! Since I started looking, I’ve seen several pairs I liked. Unfortunately, they’ve always been on someone else’s feet. Tomorrow I’m going to Kansas; Wizard of Oz country. I really should have had red shoes.

I love the colours of Moab. Interestingly, they’re the same colours that enthralled me on PEI last summer but the landscape is entirely different. Unlike the serene fields and seascapes of Canada’s smallest province, here in southeastern Utah we’re surrounded by rugged red canyons and amazing rock formations.

This is high desert country; hot and dry but absolutely gorgeous! Apparently May and October are considered the best months for strenuous activities like hiking but we’re busy farming at that time of year so here we are in the mid summer heat! Clearly, we’re not the only ones though as we’ve seen a plethora of license plates from all across the nation and heard many different languages spoken along the trail.

Double Arch, our favourite of many

Morning is the coolest time of day so the alarm clock has been ringing very early most days. By about 8 o’clock on Wednesday, our first morning here, we were at the Devil’s Garden Trailhead deep in Arches National Park ready to begin our longest trek. We hiked about 11 km of moderately strenuous trail that day and saw many amazing arches. The next day, wanting to rest our weary legs but do enough hiking to stretch out tight muscles, we headed into Canyonlands National Park where many of the sights could be seen from viewpoints along the road. Short hikes gave us views of Mesa Arch and Upheaval Dome which is not a dome at all but a 1500 foot deep crater of unknown origin.

Upheaval Dome

Friday morning found us playing 18 holes on the beautiful Moab Golf Course. How they manage to have grass that is greener and lusher than ours back home and greens that are impeccable and lightning fast in the middle of the desert, I do not know! Later in the day, we enjoyed a scenic drive along the Colorado River. It’s easy to see why many movies, especially westerns, as well as advertisements and fashion shoots have been filmed in that area.

Delicate Arch

By yesterday our legs were ready for some serious hiking again so it was back to Arches National Park for an early morning hike to Delicate Arch, the only part of this entire week that was a repeat performance for us. About 15 years ago, while traveling with our kids, we stopped in passing and did the same hike. On that occasion, we hiked during the midday heat and I wore sandals because I was nursing a broken toe. In spite of that, the 480 foot gain in elevation seemed a little more daunting yesterday. Must be an age factor, I guess!

Today has been more restful. After sleeping a bit later this morning, we attended a local Baptist church then drove around the area looking at some of the numerous examples of prehistoric Indian art carved into sandstone walls. Though it was tempting to reach out touch them, putting my hands where the hands of ancient artists had once been, I didn’t. These are fragile remnants of the past and even the oils of a single handprint can chemically affect the rock surface. We were alarmed to see how much vandalism some of the sites have suffered. What kind of idiot carves his or her name into or takes shots at something like that?

Tomorrow morning we’ll say a reluctant good bye to Moab’s beauty and head eastward through Colorado. We won’t be doing a lot except passing through that state as we’ve seen much of it before but I am looking forward to stopping at one or two of the huge factory outlet malls!

Though I have a hard time believing it myself, I graduated from high school 40 years ago! Because my family left Vancouver just before my final year, however, I didn’t have the opportunity to graduate with my classmates and I’ve never attended a class reunion. The past few days have been a wonderful mini reunion though.

Janis and I were best friends through our years at Argyle Secondary School and kept in touch for quite awhile afterward. Motherhood and the busyness of life took precedent over letter writing, however, and we eventually lost contact with one another. We reconnected a couple of times and last saw one another 17 years ago but once again, we lost touch with each other. Then came Facebook! We found one another again a couple of years ago while I was living in Japan and began reading one another’s blogs and catching up.

Richard and I spent the past few days visiting Janis at her home in Clearfield, Utah. It was a wonderful time of sharing memories and getting to know many of her seven children and fourteen grandchildren. How amazing it was for her and I to find that we could simply pick up our friendship where we left off so many years ago!

Clearfield celebrated the 4th of July on Saturday. On Friday evening, we went with Janis to stake out a spot for the following day’s parade by laying out quilts on the sidewalk. A local tradition, many others had done the same thing leaving blankets or lawn chairs to hold their places! We started the following day at a pancake breakfast put on by the local Boy Scouts and then went to watch the parade. Sure enough, our quilts were exactly where we’d left them! Afterward, we packed a picnic lunch and went with Janis to tour Antelope Island, the largest of 10 islands in Great Salt Lake. A fairly barren place, it is connected to the mainland by a causeway and is now a state park and home to antelope and buffalo. We especially enjoyed touring Fielding Barr Ranch which was a working ranch from 1848 to 1981. Later, several of Janis’ children and grandchildren joined us for a barbeque supper before we all went to watch the community fireworks display which was quite spectacular.

Sunday was a quieter day with church and lots of visiting as well as more fireworks in the evening with Janis’ daughter, Emma, and her family.

With Janis as our guide, we spent most of yesterday touring 30 acre Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. We learned a lot about the history and the beliefs of the Mormon people who first settled the valley in 1847 after fleeing persecution in other parts of the nation. Most of the family gathered for another barbeque last evening and it was then that I had opportunity to spend a little while with my two namesakes, Janis’ daughter Rebekah Elaine and Bekah’s daughter, 10 year old Hailey Elaine!

Saying good bye was difficult but Janis and I have vowed to keep in touch and not to let another 17 years go by before we see one another again!

We left home on Wednesday morning and headed south. After crossing the wide open spaces of southern Alberta and northern Montana, we followed the Missouri River for awhile and drove through beautiful green mountains. Sometimes it’s the unexpected surprises that make traveling so much fun though.

Yesterday morning, we stopped at a rest area near Blackfoot, Idaho so that Richard could change into shorts and I could refill my water bottle. We ended up taking an easy interpretive walk through a high desert area known as Hells Half Acre. Thousands of years ago, molten lava seeped through fissures in the ground, hardened and created a rugged and fascinating landscape. Over the years, junipers, sagebrush and prickly pear cactus have taken hold in the thin patches of soil in the clefts between the rock. The cactus were in full bloom; something neither of us had ever seen before.

We spent almost two weeks sleeping in the trailer this month without ever leaving our driveway! While our kids and grandkids were home, it served as an extra bedroom and regardless of how often babies woke during the night, we slept soundly! Melaina and her little family had the guest room while Matt, Robin and Sam used our room. On the weekends, Nathan joined us and slept in his old room in the basement.

What a wonderful two weeks it was! Hours spent playing with two year old Drew and nine month old Sam as well as cuddling with seven week old Jami-Lee. Sunlit days spent walking to the playground, lounging in the backyard, splashing in the kiddie pool and golfing with Matt. Evenings spent playing Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan.

Since the last of the clan packed up and headed for home the day before yesterday, the house has been very quiet but we’ve been busy getting the trailer packed and ready to serve as our home away from home for the next month or so. We leave Wednesday morning on a trip through the central States. Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and wherever else takes our fancy. I love blogging about our travels and hope you’ll follow along!

I grew up as part of the print generation. Dictionaries, encyclopedias and atlases were our primary sources of information but all that changed with the advent of the internet. Now all we have to do is google!

Old habits die hard however. When my niece phoned in a state of panic on Sunday evening to tell me that her younger sister had just been diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and was being transported to Edmonton by ambulance, I knew nothing about the illness other than the obvious fact that it had something to do with her pancreas. Without thinking, I grabbed a dictionary. Only when I couldn’t find the word there did I think to turn to Google. Within minutes I was reading detailed information about causes, symptoms and treatment.

I absolutely love having a world of information at my fingertips. Whether I’m looking for a business address or the answer to a trivia question, I can almost always find it by googling. Yesterday, when the student that I tutor couldn’t find his copy of the periodic table, I googled it and printed off a new one for him.

Recently I’ve been planning our upcoming summer vacation. When I wondered how long it would take to drive from Moab, Utah to Olathe, Kansas my first instinct was to spread out the maps and start figuring. It didn’t take me long to realize how foolish that was and to resort to using Google Maps instead. Within moments, I was presented with the choice of three different routes each complete with mileage, estimated driving time and step by step details!

Google even speaks 57 different languages! I often use Google Translate to try to figure out the meaning of comments that my Japanese friends post on Facebook. The quality of the translation is often rather dubious and once in awhile it’s so garbled that it’s just plain funny but most of the time, I get the jist of what’s being said.

I knew I’d really outgrown my print generation roots when we decided not to get a daily newspaper anymore. Instead I read the news online, depending on Google News as my main source.

Yes, the world is changing and so is our language. Not only can I not find pancreatitis in the trusty old dictionary that’s been around since college days but it doesn’t have internet either and it most certainly doesn’t include google, googled or googling!

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the places and moments that take our breath away.”               – Anonymous

According to the Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator, which claims to use the most current and carefully researched medical and scientific data in order to estimate how old a person will live to be, I can expect to live until I’m 92!

If genetics has anything to do with it, I should live for a very long time. Each of my parents had just one sibling. All four are still alive today and the youngest amongst them is 86! Our recent trip to Vancouver included visits with all of them.

The eldest is my father’s sister. Two months short of her 92nd birthday, she is frail and very hard of hearing. She lives in a care facility but, until her back gave out less than two years ago, she lived in her own home and until recent years she was an avid world traveler who enjoyed maintaining her large and beautiful gardens.

We celebrated my mother’s 88th birthday last week. Though she spends her days in a wheelchair and has lost most of her sight over the past year, she continues to live at home where she’s lovingly cared for by my father who will be 87 the day after tomorrow. Following his retirement, they traveled the world together and after more than 62 years of marriage, he refuses to consider placing her in care and being separated from her. He does all the grocery shopping and cooking for the two of them. He officially retired from his last volunteer position at the age of 75 but is still active in his church and is considering taking another college course this summer!

On the way home from Vancouver, we stopped in Jasper for a visit with Mom’s sister who, at 86, is the youngest of the four. Widowed several years ago, she continues to live in her own home but she’s far from lonely! She has a wide circle of friends and is committed to staying both mentally and physically active. A hip replacement following a fall on an icy street a couple of winters ago hasn’t done much to slow her down. In fact, she’s planning on going hiking again this summer. She’s actively involved in seniors activities in Jasper and sometimes goes along on outings as a caregiver for someone younger than herself!

Yes, I come from stubborn and hardy stock and should be around for many years! Of course, I’m realistic enough to realize that I could be run over by a bus tomorrow, though in Sedgewick that’s highly unlikely! Having lost a daughter at 5 years of age and both my parents-in-law in their sixties, I realize that life isn’t always fair and good genes isn’t a guarantee of longevity but the odds are in my favour. More important than number of years, however, is what we choose to do with them. The legacy passed on to me by my parents and my aunts is not only one of long life but also one of living life to the fullest and that’s what I aim to do for as long as I continue drawing breaths!

The certificate says that he was duly called to the Bar of the Province of British Columbia and admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of British Columbia on the 21st day of May, 2010. For the past couple of days, we’ve been celebrating this momentous accomplishment in the life of our oldest son!

The celebration began with a Thursday afternoon reception at the downtown Vancouver offices of McCarthy Tetrault, one of Canada’s biggest law firms. Matt’s relationship with McCarthy Tetrault began when he was hired as a summer intern in 2008. After graduating from law school last spring, he returned to the firm as an articling student and was delighted when he was recently invited to join the firm as an associate in the litigation department. At the reception, family and friends sipped champagne, snacked on hors d’oeuvres and listened as Matthew and seven other young lawyers were welcomed to the firm. It was indeed a proud moment for us!

At 9:30 yesterday morning, we gathered at the courthouse for the call ceremony during which Matthew and 67 others donned their robes for the first time, took the Barristers and Solicitors’ Oath and were officially called to the bar. Definitely another very proud moment! In fact, the simple act of carrying his robe to the car brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye! It truly is a blessing to see one’s child meet such a challenge and achieve his dream.

Throughout his years of preparing for this moment, Matt had the wonderful support of his wife, Robin. We enjoyed sharing the highlights of the past couple of days with her as well as her parents and were delighted that my father was also able to join us for the call ceremony. Matt and Robin’s wee son, Sam, was also very much a part of the celebrations. After the call ceremony, Sam was dropped off at the home of a dear friend and the rest of us went out for a lovely lunch in Matt’s honour. As he sat at the head of the table, he mentioned several times that the whole thing felt quite surreal. I suspect that it will take a few days for the fact that he has in fact accomplished his goal and reached this milestone to completely sink in.

We are indeed proud to have a lawyer in the family! In actual fact, there are two of them. Though they had only met once prior to finding themselves in the same class, Matt shared his law school experience with my cousin’s daughter-in-law and she was also called to the bar during yesterday’s ceremony!