Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Layover in Cleveland, then on to San Francisco.
One of many late nights traveling.
Sugar Pine Christian Camp, Guest house.
Kellie's activity day, making string bracelets. Lots of fun! Drew cut his short. Max wanted his thicker. The group received comments on how well behaved they were.


Kellie leading us in prayer in the airport, using the Hour by Hour prayer books. The kids were wonderful about reading!


Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Kellie’s Prayer/Activity Day Theme: Seeking God in the Journey

3:15 am Wake up!

4:00 am Grand Rapids Airport Morning prayer

6:00 am Departure CO2904 GRR -- CLE 6:00-6:52 am CO555 CLE -- SFO

9:10 - 11:19 am Lunch on the plane

12:00 pm Pick up vehicles (noon prayer upon arrival)

1:00 -4:30 Drive to Oakhurst -(207 miles) Get Groceries, then on to Sugar Pine Christian Camp. (Dinner along the way)

7:00 pm Evening Gathering (prayer/reflection)

7:30 pm Personal Time

9:00 pm Lights Out (midnight Michigan time) Daily Questions:

Well, we didn't manage lights out by 9:00pm. We didn't arrive to Sugar Pine until closer to 10:30 pm, California time!! We were all very exhausted. Some of the kids had never flown before, and did very well. Some frustrations along the way, but we made it safely. We were short one bed at our guest house, but we managed to get some sleep, ready for hiking in the morning. We prayed in airports, and restaurants, receiving compliments from other travelers about how well behaved our group of teens was. It made me proud to be one of their leaders!!


Travel can be challenging and, at times, frustrating. What have been the challenging and frustrating times for you today?

• Long day! Awake for 23 hours.
• Stressful sitting in a crowed area for 5 hours.
• Feeling like we weren’t getting anywhere.
• Drive took twice as long as it should have.
• Meals and time zone messed up.
• Getting really sick of bananas and muffins.

Notice acts of kindness throughout today’s travel. Have you been the recipient of an act of kindness today? Have you offered another act of kindness?

• Waving to random people.
• The cashier let Max use the bathroom even though it was for employees only.
• Rescuing knife and leatherman out of Max’s carry on bag.
• Flight attendant was cheerful and helpful. (especially giving more sugar to Dani!)
• Chris had a cup of coffee waiting for Linda
• Passenger held our binder while we were loading our luggage on the overhead compartment
• Good comments about our group from different people
• Picking up suitcases without being asked
• Stephanie assisted a French lady find salt in the store

Where do you think God has been evident on this journey?

• There was a "sign" when we saw the shampoo and soap label had "San Francisco" on them, in the Grand Rapids hotel.
• In the view of the mountains and the lakes from the plane.
• He was with us because we all stayed safe and we didn’t breakdown.

Highlights of the day

• Laying in bed
• Stretching out our legs
• Hannah running out into an orchard picture (at the Grand Rapids Airport, mural)
• Finally not being sick (air, car sick!)

Quote of the day

• “Do we need our bags?” (Max leaving his bag at the counter!)
• “I really like your eyeballs.”
• “You are delaying the departure of this train.” (Barb's backpack was sticking out the door)
• “Is there really a floating mall in the sky?” (sky mall catalog!)
• “Does the Marauders Map really work?”

Our “aha” moments

• Attempting to bring a knife on the plane. (He forgot he had it in there!)
• Max having his unicorn hunting license (No clue!)
• Go get in doesn’t mean go back into the hotel, it means get in the taxi. (Katie went back in the hotel instead of going to the taxi!)