Clue and Marshmallows

Hi all! Greetings from Redmond, Oregon!

It looks as though our last post was ten days ago, so I'd like to thank everyone for waiting patiently until we get a chance to sit down in front of a computer for awhile and update our blog. I wish we could write a new post every day, but unfortunately it looks as though about once a week is as good as we're going to be able to do. But I would like you all to know that we have not forgotten any of you, or that you're waiting to hear from us, and that we are receiving all of your comments and E-mails and although we can't reply right away to every single one, they mean a lot and are definitely encouraging to each and every one of us.

We're taking a rest day today, to sit and spend time with Vern, the man Katelyn met on the plane to Oregon. Vern is a chaplain for the fire district of Redmond, a deeply spiritual man who lives alone with his adorable dog Peanut Butter since his wife died a year ago next week. Already he has told us story after story that make you stop and think, or tug at your heart strings a little bit, or make you laugh. He's one of the kindest gentlemen we have encountered so far, and he's more or less adopted us all as extra grandchildren. Sometime soon we are going out to see Smith Rock, one of the most famous climbing rocks in the entire world. I hear it's beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, we have many more pictures to share with you all, but since Vern has dialup internet, I think it's best we wait to share some of those. If you're interested, I have an account through Webshots under matchez312@insightbb.com, which have all of my pictures for the first half of our journey uploaded already. I'm not sure if you have to have an account or not to see those.

Anywho, it's been a wonderful albeit rough ten days. Our hardest challenge so far came when we went up and over an old highway, 242, that was open for three weeks only to hikers and cyclists. There were gorgeous views all along the route, also called McKenzie Pass, and we took many side trips to see waterfalls, giant beds of lava rock, and we spent the night at the summit (over 5,000 feet) in an old stone observatory. The wind was howling, but we all huddled together in one two person tent to stay warm. It was great to have an entire road to ourselves for several days, but since there were no towns for several miles, we had to carry all of our food and water with us. It only takes a few days of the same meals (oatmeal for breakfast, Velveeta sandwiches for lunch, bean soup mix for dinner) to really make you start appreciating a lot of other meals you realize you take for granted every day.

When we came out of the pass, we stopped in Sisters, OR for the evening at a campground and on our next night into Redmond came across a family (Dani, Phil, Samantha, and Madeline), where we got our first showers in a week (the longest I believe any of us have gone without showering) and our first chance to do laundry in a lot longer than that. If you thought we appreciate food more now, I can't begin to tell you how much more we appreciate hot water and some Tide. We spent the night playing with Sam (9, almost ten) and Madi (8, almost 9). When they accused me of cheating at Clue they got out some marshmallow guns and the four girls barraged Jonathan and I with clouds of the stuff. I think it was my favorite night yet. I really wish he had captured some of it on film, but I guess sometimes there are some things that just don't come out right on film...as we're learning time and time again with our documentary.

That's been my biggest struggle so far; getting the hang of making this documentary. The more we experience, the less inclined I feel to bring out the camera because the camerman has to be an observer and not an interactor...and I want to interact and experience it all firsthand. I keep waiting for the right time to get some filming done, but what I really wish I could do is record every second of every day, so that we could share all of it the way it was meant to be shared.

That's it for now. Keep praying for us, sending us your kind words in comments and E-mails, and keep rooting for us. We've already gotten some small media attention as well, so be looking for us in papers and on the news. And if you're going to call us and find out our cellphones are off, PLEASE leave us messages so that we know you called and we can call you back when we get them! We love to hear from everyone!