Heading West

Today we woke up and loaded the car to make the trek through Montana, Idaho, across the Cascades and into Seattle, WA. The drive wasn’t too bad, especially once we left Montana and got into Coeur D’Alene, ID. I made the comment more than once today that if I lived in Montana I think I would go insane. Now when you think about Montana mountainous landscapes and lush pine forests probably come to mind, and it certainly has those. The beautiful streams and valleys that captured my imagination from Robert Redford’s “A River Runs Through It” are represented in certain places, and fly-fishing is one of the few things that makes the place sound appealing to me. But besides that, there really isn’t much to write home about. The small town of Boulder where my uncle Ron lives has little vegetation, and has a population of about 1,400 people, but it seemed like even less. It was nice to see him and catch up, but I can’t say I shed any tears as the town faded from view. Early on in the trip we stopped in Butte to get some lunch, and I also partook in my first drive-thru coffee-stand experience. The farther west you go, the more of these little coffee-lover oasis’s you will see. I’m going to talk to some people while I’m out here and see about getting these out in Memphis.
At about 4 pm we came through the enchanting towns of Coeur D’Alene and Post Falls, ID, which among other things are home to Dr. Chuck Missler and his ministry Koinonia House. I first encountered Chuck’s Bible studies when, as a new believer someone gave me one of his “briefing packs” that explained the origins of the pagan celebration of Halloween. His depth of knowledge, passion, and occasional wit hooked me, and I have since become a devoted follower, having acquired most of his topical briefing packs and a few of his verse by verse commentaries. I had to stop in to their office and hopefully meet the man who is like a spiritual grandfather to me. When we arrived at their office which is just off I-90, we discovered that Chuck was not around, but I did talk to the receptionist for a bit, and picked up a few of their products. If you’re interested in learning more about the Scriptures in a serious and technical manner, check out their website: www.khouse.org.
From there Ben took the helm and it was a few more hours drive into Seattle. We stopped at the Columbia river for a quick photo opportunity, and I nearly got blown off the large rock formation I had climbed to get a good shot of the river from above. The mountains on both sides act like a wind tunnel that channel the gusts down the valley at incredible speeds. It is such a nice change to see some elevation to the landscape, as well as some water that isn’t the color of lightly creamed coffee.
We finally got into Seattle a little after 10 pm, found some parking, and got checked in at the Green Tortoise hostel right across the street from Pike Place Market, home of the famous fish-throwers and the original Starbucks. Every place has its own culture, and Seattle is in a league all its own when it comes to personality. Plus it’s the coffee capital of the world! The Green Tortoise is a neat place to stay if you’re ever up this way, want to stay downtown, and don’t want to pay an arm and a leg. It was apparently started by some hippies that wanted to keep an anti-establishment communal environment alive when it was no longer popular to do so, and it seems to be working quite well. It’s patrons, like my English dorm-mate Phil, are literally from all over the world. Walking through the commons area which has a cozy, inviting feel to it, and is set-up with old iMacs for public use, it looks like six continents could easily be represented. It’s almost midnight, and while the guests in the common area are showing no sign of turning in for the evening, my body is telling me it’s time to do just that. Ben and I have been on the road for a week now, seen some incredible sights, hung out with some great people, and we still have a long way to go. One thing I’ve come to realize so far is that regardless of where I go, God is still there. You could travel to the ends of the earth and not be able to escape from the presence of Him who made the heavens and the earth. He is not a cultural icon, a symbol of power, or a political tool. He is alive, and He is at work in the hearts of men and women. I love what Paul preached to the pagans in Athens in Acts 17:24, “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has appointed their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”
God is truly Lord over all the earth, and over all people, though all do not acknowledge Him as such. I am just so grateful that He has called me unto Himself, and that He has shown Himself to be intelligent and artistic through the beauty of His Creation.

With all this excitement I nearly forgot…I am officially no longer in the Navy.