The Pacific Coast

To the 2 or 3 of you out there who watch my blog daily to see if I’ve updated it (hi, mom!), you’ve been a little disappointed in the last few weeks.  In preparation for our fast-upcoming move to Africa, Rachel and I have been traveling all over the USA to say goodbye to friends and family.  The last trip took us as far as Canada, through my childhood state of Washington, and some other favorite places in Oregon and California along the way.  The main point of the trip was visiting people, not taking photos, but even passing through those places lent some fun opportunities to stretch our legs and take some photographs…  Enjoy.

Incidentally, I made a few changes to the travel section on my site, too.  Check it out to see some of my latest travel photos, and let me know what you think.  Enjoy!

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Ice…
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See the moon?
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A special shout out to all the people we got to see along the West Coast.  Thanks to all of you for your hospitality and friendship.

And tomorrow we leave for the midwest…

Jeff & Jenn

There are so many joys of being involved in people’s weddings. One of them is celebrating God’s joining of two people who are perfect for each other. I’ve enjoyed knowing Jenn for many years, and she’s been a close friend to my family as well. So when I heard about Jeff, I knew he must be a special guy, and I was eager to meet him. We finally met at the wedding, and Jeff was the perfect guy to marry Jenn. From their incredible intelligence to their love for God to their understated senses of humor, anyone can see that they’re made for each other.

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Jenn.
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Jeff.
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I love this shot.  Plus, you can show all your friends in Kentucky that they really have trees in Southern California…20081213-0056-jeff-jenn.jpg
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Possible favorite.
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What a fun group of guys!
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FYI, he didn’t shoot the deputy.
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Love those Christmas lights…
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I’m not sure who invited these guys.
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And they’re off!
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Jeff and Jenn, I’m so excited that God has brought you two together.  I know you’ll be able to do and be far more together than you ever could have apart.  I’m so encouraged by your unabashed passion for the gospel and I can’t wait to see where you go next.  Much love to you both!

The Salton Sea & Anza Borrego SP

My brother Ben and I grew up doing everything together. We went on all kinds of adventures, and we shared so much in common that we could finish each other’s sentences. But as we’ve grown up, those adventures have become far too scarce. So we determined to spend the weekend before Christmas going on another adventure, and catching up on each other’s lives.

But the weekend before Christmas was promised to see nights well below freezing just about everywhere within 300 miles, which didn’t fare well for our plans to tent camp. So we followed the weather maps, and found the warmest places we could find.  We ended up at the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego State Park: a fascinating part of the desert we never would have found otherwise.

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Nothing beats the desert sunrise.
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Snow!
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Straight out of the camera…
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More snow…
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We watched a strong breeze blow the haze and dust out of the valley below…20081222-0381-anza-borrego.jpg
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To brother Ben: thanks for carving out the time to go on a roadtrip.  It was an epic adventure bringing back the memories of the old days.  I can’t wait to see where our next expedition takes us!