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Category: Life

Railtown 1897…

Cutting Edge Technology (100 years ago) Sticking to our theme of “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” we went on a historic rail ride yesterday that wasn’t even a part of our plans. On our drive from Yosemite to Lodi, we drove through the Gold Rush area of California, and stopped in Jamestown for some ice creme and shopping, and then noticed a Historic Railtown sign pointing up a hill that said ‘2 blocks’ so we turned – what a treat! We stumbled on Railtown 1897, one of the oldest steam trains in the USA still running, and turns out they only give rides on the weekends, so for $6 each we were on our way! Life Lingers Along the Tracks As well as being one of the oldest, this station and its #28 train is the longest running steam train in the country – after it stopped running for mining, it became a movie train, and has been in over 200 movies and hundreds of commercials and TV shows, such as Back to the Future III, Little House on the Praire, Unforgiven, among others. Engine pulling around to take us back to station. My favorite: a one-man hand-powered train! What fun!…

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Arrived in Spokane…

Rich Stafford anyone? We have arrived in Spokane WA after a looooong but fun train ride (pics to come, this is a Palm post). In addition to our visit at Shiloh Baptist, we are hoping to track down a college friend, Rich Stafford, who went to MBI with me and stood up in my wedding, but I’ve lost his contact info. Anyone know Rich and Donna Stafford? Let me know!!!! More later! Rich has been found! Check out his website: www.staffordstudios.com He now lives in Portland, and we are planning to see him NEXT WEEK! THANKS to those of you who helped, and especially to Pastor Rick who tracked his info down.

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Begun, This Sabbatical Has.

Well, the sabbatical is officially underway! In fact, this post is being made from a hotel in Richmond, Indiana – and with my laptop online with my cell phone, due to some fancy third party software that makes my Treo600 take my Powerbook online at 100K – not bad for free unlimited Internet while traveling (anywhere there is cell reception, of course) But since most of you are bored already with this ‘tech talk’ on to our adventures…. First stop: Fridays with Sara’s parents in the South Burbs… Next Stop: My older sister and her kids at Dairy Queen…(SEE MORE PICS FROM TODAY IN DAY ONE GALLERY) Me and Pastor Dave Barber. (boss man) I’d like to dedicate this first sabbatical post to my boss and pastor, Dave Barber. He’ll cringe for me saying it here (huuuummmmmble man of God that he is) but I am so grateful to be able to work with a pastor who truly seeks after God’s heart and who cares for his staff beyond just “job performance.” He really works hard to minister to us, encourage us, challenge us, and make sure we are doing well spiritually. While he is reluctant to accept any credit,…

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Evening in Atlanta…

Tannerman and I went out on the town tonight to escape the confines of the hotel, and decided to skip the closest restaurant, an orange owl themed restaurant, and explore further downtown. We ended up in a place called ‘Downtown Atlanta’ – best described for those in Chicago as lower Wacker drive with shops, very retro. It was a bit chilly, but nice to be out. We got back just in time for some meetings that went until after midnight! Here are some pics from our journey….. Me. In Atlanta. What else can I say? Tanner taking pictures for his blog. One of the locals… Shops…. and more shops…. a happen’ place as you can see!and finally, just for Tanner… (see his meal) My Dinner. Yum Yum. (afterwards, of course!)

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Happy Birthday Mom!

In celebration of my mom-in-law’s birthday, my wife and I met her parents for a nice steak dinner tonight at a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant called WILDFIRE, a 40’s themed steakhouse… In honor of my blogspiration, Steve Tanner, I will begin this post with what I ate for dinner… I had the Porterhouse Steak Au Jus, it is two favorite cuts – New York Strip and Filet Mignon – in a single steak and then I opted for the Parmesan crusting – something they claim they are famous for. It was delicious – though, as usual, I end up liking my wife’s steak better. (She got the Char Crusted Rib Eye “Prime Rib” chop, served au jus) For dessert I chose the giant chocolate chip cookie, hot in the pan, with ice cream on top, but asked them to hold the whipped creme, which they forgot of course.(Maybe I should have taken pictures of the food BEFORE I ate it? Sorry, I’m new at this blog thing.) There was a healthy choice of desserts to choose from, as you can see, my dad is having a hard time deciding… I take that back, ‘a healthy choice’ was probably not the…

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