Picture time!

Custer

We have to back track a little as we left out one of our all-time favorite places: Custer State Park, SD (about 8 hours east of Yellowstone).  This is the most spectacular State Park with lush, majestic valleys filled with bison and plenty of other wildlife. We saw several beautiful herds of bison, up close and from a distance.  What a site! Kudos to the terrific rangers and volunteers who keep this incredible creation so pristine!  We were fortunate enough to secure a campsite among some large shady trees (yay!) for the night without a reservation.  Let me tell you,there is no underestimating the pleasure in finding clean, odor-free bathrooms and showers.

Strange as it may sound, kindling and firewood can be hard to find "naturally" in most campgrounds.  There are several reasons for this, one being that the brush is constantly cleared out by staff to reduce the risk of forest fires. Therefore, we are frequently purchasing both.  As we were preparing dinner together we asked the kids for ideas on how to help out at Custer.  They tossed around several ideas and settled on collecting kindling for the campsite next door, no small task. We were told people were due to arrive anytime and they thought it would be a welcome surprise to have a fire pit well stocked. As the evening passed and rain clouds threatened the kids covered the kindling, adding a note stating "this kindling provided by Parks with a Purpose".

Knowing we cannot make large donations or a great impact everywhere we travel, we continue to look for small opportunities  to show and share God's love.  Of course, God asks us to do this always. We are learning to be more mindful of this. Our eyes and ears are becoming more keen to the needs of those around us. We won't share these all with you, however know that we are praying and ask for your prayers in our mission to reflect His goodness. 

3500 miles...

We've made it to Glacier National Park!  Camping just a few miles to the east of the west entrance and actually have wifi access for the first time in a while.  Here's the latest update...

We had an incredible time in Yellowstone NP.  Cody (WY) is such a western cowboy town...what a fun place to be.  Of course we went to the Cody Rodeo and marveled at the skills of the men and women who rode the bucking broncos, lassoed the calfs while riding full speed on horseback, and those brave enough to try and last 8 seconds on a bull.  When they invited the kids to come down and try and pull a ribbon off of the run away calf's tail, Lucy came a whisker away from grabbing it!  Good times!

Yellowstone was of course, remarkable.  The wonder and majesty of God's creation is awe inspiring.  Probably the highlight of highlights was watching a grizzly bear frolicking in the meadow just 50 yards away.  A beautiful animal.

We spent each night along the shores of the reservoir at Buffalo Bill State Park.  Total wilderness in the Wapiti Valley.  One evening a huge thunderstorm rolled through and we watched the lightning strikes head off over the mountains in the distance.  A kind park host kept us well supplied with drift wood for our fire.  A neighbor couple (who incidentally are going from west coast to east coast in their rv) gave us some great tips and even gave the kids $5 to buy Wilcoxson's ice cream...a Montana speciality...especially if you get the huckleberry!  Another neighbor saved our towels and chairs from blowing away when the storm came racing in and we were away in town.  Such kind people giving us small provisions of grace along our journey.

We spent a great morning with some fine and faithful folks who run the Provisions of Grace food pantry in Cody...a ministry of Harvest Church (www.harvestweb.net).  Each one of the volunteers we met spends close to 30 hours a week at the pantry, which in turn provides food to over 60 families in town twice a week.  We got to tour the facility, hear about the people they serve, and how the church is responding to the needs of the community.  We then heard what their most pressing needs were for the pantry that week, and went on a shopping spree to buy lots of fresh produce and dairy items.  It was moving to bring it all back to the pantry, spread it out on the table, and to pray over it, and for the volunteers, and for the families that will receive it.  The Missions Ministry at Covenant Congregational Church provided funds for just such an opportunity as this.  In a real and tangible way, the church there in North Easton impacted the people of Cody.  Praise God.

A couple quick updates...

Elsie reports that the ice cream intake has increased dramatically and Dairy Queen continues to serve us well.

Tanner reports we have now seen 500+ bison, herds of elk, more pronghorn than we can count, bald eagles, a golden eagle, a coyote, a marmot, loads of deer and mule deer, big horn sheep and one big grizzly bear.  Hopefully here in Glacier we will see some mountain goats.

Lucy continues to take lots of pictures that we'll post on our Facebook page (Parks with a Purpose).

Tobi has completely run out of books to read even with her kindle fire loaded down with them.

Ann met some amazing cyclists who are riding 4000 miles from Baltimore to Seattle to raise funds and awareness for cancer research...many of them riding for specific individuals battling the disease.  Very cool to see their commitment and determination.

The RV is doing well, other than a busted door knob on the bathroom that is a constant source of irritation.

Thanks for the prayers...we feel them!

2500 miles...

After close to 2500 miles, we've reached The Badlands in South Dakota.  We can see the strange peaks of this former underwater sea floor from our campsite and look forward to heading in first thing in the morning.  Then it is off to Custer State Park and the wildlife loop that include a huge herd of bison, loads of pronghorns, wild burros, prairie dogs, and who knows what else!  We'll camp in Hill City near Rushmore and Crazy Horse, spending the day in the Black Hills before heading into Wyoming.  Yes...we'll be visiting Wall Drug tomorrow after the Badlands.  Probably the best tourist trap in all of the USA!

We got such wonderful hospitality up in the UP of Michigan on Hagerman Lake from the Gotberg's and Strom's.  The kids spent the day tubing and trying to waterski, and we went down to Covenant Point, second best only to Squanto, for a visit.

We also stopped in to visit our old neighborhood, Currie Street in Maplewood, MN, and were thrilled that all the old gang was there.  It was just like old times, hanging out in the driveways, talking about life, and laughing.  Amazing people that we still love dearly.

At each stop we've been making sure to keep our eyes and ears open, sharing the purpose of our journey with those we meet.  Interestingly, it seems to make others want to help us instead of us helping them!  In Bear Lake, MI, a wonderful older couple gave us a tour of the town, took us to get firewood, and even helped us to get our fire started.  We shared our s'mores with them!  Red also showed me his trophy buck that won him first prize...a beautiful deer.

Today, Ann met Bob here at the campground, who is riding his bicycle from MI to Phoenix, AZ.  And yes, you just read that right.  His bike is loaded with packs and panniers, a tent and cook gear.  He is averaging about 80 miles a day.  He said the hardest part is being lonely, so we invited him to join us for dinner (he declined because he was already set) but Ann spent sometime after dinner talking with him and hearing more of his story.  It's good to know that sometime the best gift we can give to someone is our simple presence.

Thanks for all you prayers!  We feel them!

Elsie reports that soon after crossing the Mississippi River in MN we pulled into our first Dairy Queen. There was great rejoicing.

Day 1 & 2

Here's our first update...

Elsie reports that we have traveled 2 days and consumed zero total ice creams.  This must change quickly.

Tanner reports that so far we have seen a deer, a mother turkey and 4 babies, and one rabbit.  He looks forward to getting further west where there are bigger mammals.

Lucy took the photo of the day above.  More below about the story that goes with it.

Tobi's quote of Papa overreacting is: "shhhhh....we have neighbors you know!"

Coolest thing after 2 days: a field filled with hundreds of fireflies which we tried our best to catch.

We are now 1000 miles into our journey, and camping for the night at the Michigan Dunes near Sawyer, MI.  Beautiful spot and we were able to take an evening swim before the thunderstorms came rolling in.  Tomorrow we will head up the amazing coast of Michigan, heading for the UP.

Our first opportunity to serve came this morning, when Ann went into the tiny, time-warped to the 1940's office of the Rustic Acres Campground outside of Clarion, PA.  She talked with Quintin, the longtime owner, asking if there was anything that needed to be done, or anyone that needed help.  He asked why she wanted to know, and she explained about our trip across country to see the NP's and serve in Christ's name along the way.  He was deeply touched by this and talked about a weekly worship service they did there at the campground.  He then mentioned a single mom who lived at the campground who had just undergone surgery.  She was behind on her rent, and he was worried for her.

What a blessing that on our very first day we could make a difference in someone's life.  We were able to pay for half of her rent for the month, a surprise that Quintin couldn't wait to share with her when she returned later today.

I admit that I wasn't really thinking about helping anyone today...I wanted to get miles under our wheels, and figured our serving would be out further west.  But like the story of the Good Samaritan, we can't be like the priest or scribe and be in such a hurry to do God's work that we miss the needs right in front of our eye.  I'm grateful that Ann led us this morning to be mindful of that.

The RV is running well.  We're all excited to finally be moving.  Gas costs a lot!  We picks up trash on the beach after our swim.  God is good.  We are so blessed.  May we be a blessing to others in return.

Thanks for your prayers!  Keep them coming!

Peace,
Johnny

Where are you going?

We're now less than 2 weeks away from our departure date on July 7th!  After a week up at Pilgrim Pines Conference Center, we'll hit the road!

Easily the most common question we get is this: "where are you going?"  We've intentionally planned our trip with a freedom of movement that will allow us to spend time as we see fit.  In other words, we have no time lines of having to be somewhere on a certain date, or for a certain number of days.  We're going to go, and experience, and serve as the Spirit leads us!  That being said, we do have a general iitinerary.

Here it is:
     -from Massachusetts we'll head west and head up the beautiful west coast of Michigan and up and over the Mackinac Bridge into the UP.
     -after a couple days of visiting friends on Hagerman Lake, we begin our voyage in earnest
     -across South Dakota to Bad Lands NP, Custer State Park (with its amazing buffalo herd) and the Black Hills
     -into Wyoming to Devil's Tower NM, Big Horn Canyon NF, Yellowstone NP and Grand Teton NP
     -north into Montana to Glacier NP
     -westward ho into Washington to Mount Ranier NP
     -southward into Oregon to the Pacific Coast Highway with maybe a side trip to Crater Lake NP
     -further south down the Pacific Coast Highway into California to Redwood NP, Yosemite NP, Kings Canyon NP, Sequoia NP, Death Valley NP and Joshua Tree NP
     -east into Arizona to visit family in Phoenix, then onto Sedona and Grand Canyon NP
     -north to Utah to Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP and Monument Valley
     -east across New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas...and if there's any time maybe down to Mississippi and Lousiana...before heading northward through Great Smokey Mountains NP, Shenandoah NP...and homeward

Of course, on the way we'll stop at all sorts of historic sites, tourist traps and anything that catches our fancy.  We plan on serving in as many of the National Parks areas as we can through local churches, non-profits and agencies.  It should be quite a trip!

What are we missing that we just have to see?  Any suggestions for us?

...so that...

When our first National Park, Yellowstone in Wyoming, was established back in 1872 by congress and President Grant, it was done so with recognition that these amazing and beautiful places are an incredible blessing for our country and the world, and that these blessings must be celebrated and protected so that they can be passed on and celebrated by future generations.

As we as a family prepare to begin our summer journey to visit the great National Parks of our country, we recognize that we are receiving a wonderful blessing that will impact each of us for the rest of our lives.  We will always remember this trip!  We know that not everyone gets this opportunity, even if they desperately want it...time off from employment...financial resources...it simply isn't easy to make it happen.  We do recognize just how blessed we are to have this opportunity, and so in response, we want to make sure that we are a blessing to others along the way as we experience this journey.

Psalm 67 says: "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine on us - so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations."  It is so easy to think of blessings as "for us", when in reality we receive blessings in our lives so that we can in turn shine the light of Christ into the darkness of the world.  As we have reflected on the blessing of our adventure this summer, we feel the responsibility of those two small words: so that...and we pray that as we receive the blessing of Parks with a Purpose, that Parks with a Purpose might be a blessing to others in a way that reveals God's love for them and this world.