Westward Ho!

The past two days have been on the road, towards our next encampment at Judith Guard Station in Montana - all 1,150 miles of it across Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and half of Montana.
Friday night we stayed in Valley City, ND where we got the last non-smoking room in town at the Wagon Wheel.
Saturday was our longest day West but what a day it was. Huge farms stretching on and on in the flatlands, punctuated by rows of trees used for windbreaks, then giving way to more grasslands and grazing cattle on rolling hills, then the hills turn into little mounds and eventually become a rugged landscape with ravines, cliffs and more of a south-west character.



I-94 follows the Yellowstone River upstream as do several rail lines, so we watched the trains go by as we enjoyed the varied scenery. At one rest stop overlooking the Yellowstone we were privileged to see a pair of very rare Whooping Cranes fly up the river below us as we took notice of the cautionary signs about rattlesnakes.

For part of the trip (about 50 miles) we took a back road which paralleled the river and enjoyed a closer encounter with the land where we shared the road with a group of cows on the road.

Earlier in the day we shared the road with another local character.

We arrived in Billings around 4:40 got settled in, set up and rested for a while. Then we had dinner at Denny’s, did our shopping for the next week, (got a .10/gal discount on gas, filled up at $4.09 plus the discount) and drove up the mesa above town where we enjoyed the sunset, rain showers sweeping across the valley and saw a forest fire to the West. We also had out first view of the mountains. They are actually out there.

Later in the evening a serious thunderstorm went through here with lots of noise and pretty intense wind. The locals even seemed to be impressed.

After attending church this morning we drop out of sight at Judith Guard Station and the Gird Point Fire tower. So, until next month - be well, do God’s work and keep in touch.

Encampment Three: Cedarly Retreat Center
Posted from Fargo, ND, July 25



Cedarly Retreat Center, west of Milwaukee, proved to be the perfect place of the third encampment on our sabbatical journey. Here we found gracious but non-intrusive hosting in the persons of Andy and Nancy and shared the house with nine other guests - four pastoral couples (one from Columbia, PA!) and one single pastor. The breakfast and evening meals were set out in a little kitchen galley for us to eat on our own but the noon meal was fully prepared and personally served by the resident chef, Mike. We could not have eaten better. We all gathered around the large table, Andy would lead in a brief devotional thought, give thanks for the meal and we dug in. Between bites, Andy would probe and challenge our thinking in relation to how we take and observe sabbath as a means of growing our relationship with God and maintaining physical, spiritual and emotional health in our ministries. This was the only scheduled group activity of the day. Beyond that we could rise when we wanted and use all the rest of the time to pursue our own schedule of rest, reading, journalling or conversation with the other pastors, something that increased as the week went on. Every need was taken care of and we could give ourselves to our spiritual journey without distraction or interruption. A large lake provided opportunity for canoeing, swimming and, of course, windsurfing.

Again we commit all that we have seen, heard and learned in this place to the Lord as we move on west to our fourth encampment at Judith Guard Station and then on to the Gird Point Fire Tower. Until now, all of our places have involved some measure of interaction with others, but this next week will be just the two of us. Let’s see how we survive that!

Heading North

My what a difference a phone call makes! Wednesday evening (July 9) we thought it was about time to check in with Beth and Costandy (the owners of Munzar Acres), just to let them know how we were doing and, in the course of our conversation, Beth instructed us to be sure to make an entry in the guest book. We hadn’t even discovered it yet (after all, guests don’t snoop in every drawer!) and we could easily have left without leaving a trace. Thank you Beth!

Then to our amazement, when we did locate it, we discovered that it was the original Book from the little red cabin behind the Maple Grove Church and so it has the entry we made on our job-seeking trip to the area before we moved here as pastor of the congregation in August of 1966, and our later entry while on vacation in 1974. It was a real trip down memory lane to go back over the entries and remember all the people who visited while we were in Rust.

Tuesday (8th) Once the rain stopped and things began to clear, we spent the rest of the day canoeing on Fletcher Pond, bird watching and trying to fish until Gene’s reel broke, so we just paddled across the lake to Jack’s Landing, got a bite to eat and relaxed, then headed back into the wind and waves. A great adventure.

Much of Wednesday (9th) was spent at Avalon Lake with Darlene reading and Gene windsurfing with some challenging wind.

Spent the evening reading Amish Grace , the story of the shootings at the Nickel Mines School in PA. Coming from an Anabaptist background the grace of forgiveness which they showed, while wonderful, was not particularly surprising to me (Gene). What was truly amazing was the way the PA State Police handled the press conferences and particularly the way they led the funeral procession - on horseback rather than using their cruisers. It was truly respectful of the Amish community and one more model of how to do life well which emerged from this tragic story.

Thursday, July 10
An all-day trek to the Traverse City area (just past Honor on the way to the Dunes) to spend several hours with Edna Shaffer whose husband, Howard, now deceased, was pastor at the UM Church in Hillman during the years we were at Rust and with whose family we became very close during that time. Edna served us a wonderful lunch over which we lingered , took a long walk down memory lane and brought each other up to speed on our current journeys and families. We plan to meet one of their daughters, Molly, when we cross the UP (Upper Michigan, for those of you not from around here) on Saturday.

Friday,July 11

Our last day here (still cloudy and cool from the rain of last evening). Doing laundry, packing up, and getting this cozy place ready for the next guests. Gene got a haircut this morning from Diane at her salon and this evening, after the fish fry, we were able to connect with another of our former youth group members, Marsha, who owns the Lickety Splits ice cream parlor in Hillman.

Saturday, July 12
Breakfast at Lickety Splits courtesy of Marsha and Don. We said our final “good-bye’s” and headed north.

It has truly been a blessing to be here in this “quiet place in the beauty of God’s creation.” What a wonderful start for our sabbatical and the first of many similar places to come over the next 3 months. The pace has been relaxing (we never turned on radio, TV or video), the activities we’ve been able to do outdoors rejuvenating and our contacts with the people we’ve been able to meet from days of long ago have exceeded our expectations - heartwarming, affirming and challenging.

We are deeply grateful to the Lord and to Beth and Costandy for the privilege of being here at Munzar Acres. We’ve become a bit attached to it and the people we’ve re-connected with so we leave with some measure of sadness but also of anticipation for the Journey ahead. And so it is with the people of God - continuing on our Pilgrimage for on this earth we have no permanent abode, but we seek a City whose Builder and Maker is God.

Saturday Evening, July 12
Dinner in L’Anse, Michigan, at the base of the Keweenaw Bay on Lake Superior with Molly (Shafer) and her husband, then down to the Sylvania Wilderness, stopping along the way at some points where Gene had kayaked when he was with the Honey Rock Camp program.

Sunday, July 13-Sunday, July 20
Encampment Two: Sylvania Canoe Area

A wonderful time relaxing the beauty of this wilderness setting. Our cabin is adequate and cozy and we are constantly serenaded by 6 or more hummingbirds outside our window. 

Lazy days of canoeing, a bit of fishing, marginal windsurfing and lots of wild-life watching. The other guests at the cabins are very much “into” the out-of-doors as are our hosts, Josh and Katherine, so we’re among kindred spirits. Bald eagles are common around here and we saw them daily.

Gene spends a lot of time reading his wilderness trip journals (since 1972) and writing reflections from those experiences as well and distilling material for possible essay topics. He's also doing readings in preparation for our trip to Zambia. Darlene does cross-word puzzles, plays Scrabble and reads. 



Sunday, July 20 we left Sylvania, heading for Cedarly Retreat in Wisconsin. Along the way we were able to stop at Honey Rock Camp where Gene served and studied in 1972 and 1978. We arrived just in time to participate in their worship service and then walked the campgrounds for a while.

We arrived at Cedarly around 8:30 and were warmly welcomed and made familiar with our setting. This promises to be a perfect place for some very quiet meditation and processing of life’s journey. Next post from Fargo, ND on July 25.

When I checked our email today (July 21) I discovered a most amazing map of our U.S journey posted on line by our son, Tim.  Thanks Tim for this excellent addition which will help people  keep track of our journey. Just click here to view it.

Michigan Musings

Wednesday, July 2

We arrived safely at Munzar Acres, our cottage in Michigan after 12 hours on the road. (We kept below 65 mph the entire way to get better mileage and enjoy the view!) The cottage here has everything we need and we’re settled in relaxing, reading and recreating.
This is the community in which we first pastored from 1966-1970 and the church building is less than a mile just west of us but the house in which we used to live behind the church is no longer there. Thursday night we drove the “deer route” - a loop of about 5 miles through woods and meadows, and counted 99 deer. We also have a resident fox near our cottage which we’ve spotted several times. Sandhill Cranes frequently show up in the nearby fields.



Thursday, July 3

We drove to Alpena, the nearest major town about 32 miles away, where we both taught public school 40 years ago, visited the schools where we taught and looked up the names of some of our students in the yearbooks. Some of them actually graduated! A photographer from the Alpena News caught Gene windsurfing on Thunder Bay and he made page 2 of the July 4 edition!



Friday, July 4

We stayed at the cottage for the day. Gene has found a small campfire circle a little ways into the woods behind the cottage where he has set up his “quiet place.” He often lights a small fire to keep him company during his reflections there. Darlene reads, does crossword puzzles and embroidery and takes walks. We did our own cook-out and later on we were able to observe 4 fireworks displays (plus our next door neighbor’s!) from our front porch although it was not very dark. Stars don’t even start to come out until after 10:00 P.M. and it gets light soon after 5:00 A.M.



Saturday, July 5

Spent most of the day at the cottage but we took the canoe down to Fletcher Pond - the nearby lake - for a couple of hours paddling.
We had to keep near the shore under the shade since Gene was experiencing some hypersensitivity to direct sunlight because of an antibiotic he was on. Fortunately he’s done with that.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Went to Hillman United Methodist for 9:00 A.M. service. Today was the first Sunday for their new pastor and hopefully the start of a new day for the congregation which has been through a period of serious stress. The pastor’s text was “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, etc.” A wonderful invitation at the front end of our sabbatical. We met and had great conversation with several people whom we remembered and who remembered us from 40 years ago.



We then went over to Maple Grove Community Church - the location where we pastored 40 years ago - wondering if we would see anyone there we knew. There were only 4 people present including Pastor Peter Smith. We arrived just as Sunday School was concluding and as soon as we sat down, the lady in the pew in front of us turned around to welcome us. Her eyes flew wide open and she said, “Eugene and Darlene?” and we said “Diane?” She would have been 10 when we arrived in 1966 and was a part of our youth group. That started up a great conversation which continued long after the service as we recalled people and events from many years ago. She is a faithful member and leader in the congregation. During the worship service she remembered that Darlene used to play piano for the service, so she invited her to play - which Darlene did, just like the former days there! It was encouraging to see a continued Christian witness in this community at Maple Grove and even more so, to see Diane’s own continued commitment and vitality in Christ. One often wonders about the long-term impact of pastoral ministry and today’s encounter with Diane certainly affirmed the value of sowing seeds and investing in people’s lives.



Monday, July 7, 2008

We’re back in Alpena - at the public library - taking care of things on the internet, posting this blog, doing emails relative to our Zambia trip, etc. On our way home we’ll be getting some strawberries that were picked this morning. In all likelihood this will be our last post (at least with pictures) until July 20. See Post #1 for where we go from here.