A busy week–by Schylie

Last Thursday, we visited Daddy’s Uncle Lon, in Thompson Falls, Montana. We stayed the night with him there and visited Daddy’s cousins, Chelsea and Leanna and a few of their children on Friday. We enjoyed our relaxing day with them. It was great to see them again.

Later that day, we drove to Conner, Montana, to stay with Linda & Phil Teakell, the warmshowers hosts Daddy and the boys stayed with a few weeks ago. What a wonderful time! Their hospitality was tremendous–we felt right at home. They took us raspberry picking, taught us how to milk their goats, gave us a ride on their 4-wheelers, let us enjoy their hot tub, made us delicious food, and completely took care of us. The creek provided us some relief with the 100 degree weather. Thank God for that! We enjoyed the Christian conversations we had with them. We also were invited by some neighbors, Becky & Scott, to a campfire Saturday evening. Sunday morning, we joined them for their church service. We were warmly welcomed and greeted, and were blessed by the pastor’s sermon on how God is light. We had such a wonderful time and hope God will cause our paths to cross again. Thank you Linda & Phil!

We left just after church to start our almost 11 hour drive to Torrington, Wyoming. It was long, but we enjoyed the beautiful drive. That evening, we had a close encounter with a potentially tragic situation. Driving on the highway at 85 mph, with no other cars in view, in the pitch black, Mama looked up from the wheel to see a deer in the roadway–just standing left of the dotted white line. In a split second, she gasped, and realized that she had just changed lanes from the left to the right. As we flew past the deer on our left, Mama noticed another deer off the road on our right. She braced herself for the possibility of that deer running in front of us. This all happening in a split second, and then we were past them. The girls looked up and Mama explained what had happened. We all were a bit shaken. Thank you Lord for keeping us safe! And thank you everyone for praying for our safety.

We arrived in Torrington after 10pm at Daddy’s Aunt’s house, Aunt Betty Sue & Uncle Cliff. Despite their small house, they gladly opened their home to us and made us quite comfortable. After a night’s rest, we spent Monday driving around with Aunt Betty Sue. We went to Fort Laramie, an old, preserved military fort. We also visited the old Oregon Trail wagon ruts that were cut into the sandstone. Finally, we stopped by Register Cliff, where hundreds of people passed on the Oregon Trail. As they passed this cliff, many would carve in their name and the year. We found some pretty fascinating inscriptions. We spent the afternoon cleaning out the sub and hanging out with our aunt and uncle. We enjoyed some wonderful conversation with them. We left the following morning, heading to Fountain, Colorado for the night.

We ended up making several stops and were waylaid a bit (one stop in Mitchell, Nebraska to fill up our bottles with Kangen Water, thank you Brad and Susan!) but finally we made it to Colorado Springs. We stopped first at Chick-fil-A for dinner, since it was after 7 and we were definitely hungry. Mama used her Chick-fil-A gift card that she received from her secret pal. She sends her hearty thanks! Thank you also to Christie, who helped us locate the restaurant. After eating, we went to a nearby Apple store. For the past week or so, Mama’s phone had been out of order. We dropped in and were helped by one of the employees. It only took a few minutes for him to diagnose the problem and fix it–for free. Thanks so much, Apple man! By this time, we were ready for bed. We drove about a half hour to Fountain, CO, to our Airbnb for the night. We were greeted at the door and showed to our rooms. The accommodations were perfect and we rested comfortably. 

We are now packing up, showering, and getting ready to head out. We are going to see Garden of the Gods, a natural and amazing attraction in the area. Tonight, we’ll meet up with the guys and spend time with them for the next few days. Mama is especially delighted to spend her birthday with them.

I wanted to post pictures, but due to the time constraints, I won’t be able. Hopefully soon.

Signing off…