4 posts tagged “mountains”

I've been so encouraged over that past several months by the wave of interest and support that I've been receiving for the ministry that God has called me to in Germany.  I've so much enjoyed the chance to travel and meet so many wonderful people along the way!!  These months have seen thousands of miles on my car, hundreds of great conversations, dozens of concerts and ministry opportunities, and now one very tired woman!   So, it's time for a break and some replenishing.  My mind and my body and my heart are all screaming out for a break, and since I haven't been able to figure out how to silence those screams, I've decided to give in and get away for a bit.  I've been given the wonderful gift of Buddy Passes for a flight to Calgary, Alberta, (thanks, Lesli!!!) which I'm going to "cash in" this Sunday and spend time with some dear friends exploring the Northwest Territories and the Canadian Rockies.   :::sigh:::  

I can assure you, there will be more photos to come, as well as videos that you can view on either my YouTube or my Facebook page.  Thanks for stopping by!  See ya around!

Here are some more videos of our adventures in the Canadian Rockies.  There are quite a lot of them, just so you know.  (We are well aware of the fact that they may possibly be solely for our enjoyment, but hopefully you'll also have some fun watching them as well). :)  If you want to see some of our pictures from the trip, you can view them here.

We decided to log our day today with a series of short videos to share with our Vox neighborhood.  When necessary, I've explained a couple, but most are pretty self-explanitory.  Hope you guys enjoy!

There's a section in the next video where the wind was blowing directly into the mic on the camera, so you can't really hear me explaining the important information that we learned about the Glacier.  During that section, we're facing the Andromeada Glacier which is on the Andromeada Mountain and has formed a "circ" in the side of the mountain, which is basically when the Glacier cuts away a circular formation as it moves down the mountain.

 

The next one is pretty dark for some reason.  You can still hear it though.  Sorry. 

Well, last weekend in Nashville was a BLAST!!!  It was so much fun hanging out with all the artists that I've been meeting on the Indieheaven message boards over the past few months.  The conference was jammed packed full of wonderful information and encouragement from the Indieheaven Staff, industry professionals, and well known artists like Margaret Becker, Shaun Groves, and Phil Joel.  It was definitely worth the jet-lagged 12 hour drive from Pennsylvania. 

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was meeting and hanging out with Amy Gustafson from Oregon.  Please check out her site and music!!  She is gifted artist, with a very tender heart toward God.  Not to mention the fact that she is a 100% bona fide HOOT!  I think we laughed most of the weekend.

 

                After the conference was over, we grabbed Rachael from the Indieheaven staff and took to the streets of Nashville Sunday night.  We had an absolute blast!  Then on Monday, we peeked in the windows and roamed around the grounds at that the Grand Ole Opry House.

When Amy left to catch her plane, I headed up I-65 through Kentucky and into Indiana.  When I was about 13 miles from my destination, I stopped to get gas and took this picture of my dashboard:

Yes, the odometer reads 200,000 miles...and yes, the gas tank reads empty, but that's just a little foreshadowing for you of a story to come later...:::sigh:::  Actually, the odometer should probably read about 220,000 because a few years ago my spedometer quit working which caused my odometer to stop working for about 20,000 miles, so now the reading is completely inaccurate, but there are certainly more pressing things in life to worry about.  I filled the tank and continued on toward Columbus, IN where I had the fun privelege of meeting and hanging out with none other than our very own Susan!  

It was fun meeting the 3D version! :)  And she even let me drive her jeep...with the top down...because the weather was nice that day!  In fact, I'm pretty sure that was the last day of nice weather that I remember to this point. :::sigh, again:::  Anyway, I got to see her new house, and visit her favorite coffee joint, and attend one of her Bible studies with her.  So, thanks for letting me crash for a while, Susan!  I had a great time!

I was supposed to do a couple shows in Ohio, but for some reason they were cancelled, which was actually a blessing because I haven't had a voice since I got back from Germany!  Plus, it allowed me to head home early so I could attend my nephew's 2nd birthday party and be home with the family for Easter.  So, after spending the night with some friends in Columbus, OH, I started the last leg of my trip home.  I just crossed over into PA when I noticed that my gas tank was on empty again.  I hate stopping for gas.  Some states like New Jersey and Oregon hire people to pump it for you...and that might make it easier for me to stop, but for the most part, I just hate having to stop.  Which is why I typically wait until the VERY last minute to do it.  This particular time was no exception.  But when I noticed that I was low on gas, I was already on the PA Turnpike which means I have two options: 1. get off at the next exit and pay the toll, or 2. wait for the next service station.  Well, since the gas light hadn't even turned on yet, I opted to wait for the next service station...I knew there was one coming up, so I passed by the exit and continued on.  However, no sooner did I pass the exit when I saw the sign. 

"Next Service Station 10 miles"

"Hmmm.  This could be interesting," I thought.  The really unfortunate part about this was that right after I saw that sign, I entered the portion of the PA Turnpike that goes through the "mountains" ("mountains" are in quotes for those of you reading who are from CO, or OR, or some other western Rocky Mountain state).  Regardless, of the size of the mountain, pretty much any upward grade is a not-so-great scenario for my car when I'm low on gas.  So, as my car sputtered and coughed its way up the way up the hill, the only thing I really could do was pray....something like this:

"God, I know I'm an idiot.  But I also know that the ONLY way I'm going to make it over this hill is if YOU get me over.  Pleeeeease get me over!"

I turned my hazard lights on and drove on the shoulder a couple times, but I made it over, and as I coasted down the other side, I saw a sign that said, "Service Station 2 miles".   I felt pretty confident about making it, but wouldn't ya know it, 1/2 a mile down the road I found myself on the side of the road staring at a wide open field to my right, a few houses on the other side of the Turnpike to my left, and absolutely no sign of a gas station in sight. :::SIGH::: 

But then I remembered!!  I have a gas can in my trunk with a little bit of gas in it...perhaps enough to get me to the station!!!  (Yes, you guys are smart enough to figure out why that was there!)  So I got out and went digging in my trunk for the gas can...but...to my dismay, I was without a funnel, which in reality didn't really matter anyway because there was only about 4 ounces of gas in the can which probably wouldn't have even gotten me back on the Turnpike.  So yeah, I was stuck...and remember that part about driving the jeep on the last nice day?  I forgot to mention that while I was rooting around in my trunk it started to snow. :::SIGH, AGAIN:::  My last resort was to call AAA, who told me I had to call the Turnpike people because it was an offical road or something like that, who then had to call their service guy to come out and help me. 

An hour later...:::sigh:::...I was finally on the road again...and I have to say, when I finally made it home, it felt really, really good to sleep in my own bed again!