California Vacation 2008: Day 6

Monday was transition day, as we broke down our home (read: "tent") from the past three nights and made our way to the comfort of a hotel. Trevor and I jumped in the car and drove a few miles down to Santa Cruz to scope out on the internet a reasonably-priced hotel that would provide us with good accommodations and a fairly short drive to San Francisco International. This actually took longer than we thought, as we first had to find a wi-fi connection (apparently both McDonald's in town had never heard of the internet), and then pour through the many choices available. Finally we settled on a Days Inn in Redwood City. After heading back to the campsite and eating lunch, we drove the long, but scenic, way into town, got settled in and cleaned up (that first shower back always feels great!) and then turned right back around and headed back to Santa Cruz to meet the family for "Boardwalk Night".



The Santa Cruz Boardwalk is an amusement park built in the early 1900's. Of course, there have been lots of improvements made to it since then, but certain elements--like the carousel and the wooden roller coaster, for instance--still remain. It's really a pretty cool place, and Monday nights in summer are specially-priced events, where certain food items as well as attraction tickets can be bought for 75 cents. Because neither Becki or I wanted to ride the rides, we helped watch the kids, stuffed ourselves with boardwalk food, and tried to avoid the chilling winds off the ocean. Definitely a fun evening, but I had a bit of trouble staying awake on the drive back. The winding mountain roads didn't help that, either.


Final day of vacation coverage coming up soon...

California Vacation 2008: Days 3, 4, and 5

The middle part of our vacation represented the "meat" of why we came out here. Every year, Becki's family gathers together on the coast, just north of Santa Cruz (Swanton, CA, to be exact, although it's not really a town per se), for a family reunion. Outside of a potluck lunch on Saturday afternoon and a family church service on Sunday morning, there's no real schedule. Instead, we just hang out by the fire talking and visiting, or watch the kids try to catch crawdads in Big Creek, or munch on snacks, or catch up on reading, or...well, you get the picture. Pretty much just "hanging out". Of course, being in the beauty of a forest on the edge of the Pacific ocean helps give the "hanging out" part some real definition. Waking up each morning to the cool, brisk air, followed by the realization that there is no agenda except for being with family and friends is my idea of a great weekend.

As I said, there was actually not a lot to report from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A few random highlights, though:

- We detoured through Monterey on our way up the coast to the reunion. Not nearly as big of a deal as I thought it would be. I didn't get to see Pebble Beach golf course as I was hoping, and, to be honest, the whole place was a little too "touristy" for me. Still, I can cross it off my list now.

- The family had a blast meeting Jacob. That includes his younger-by-three-days cousin, Zachary. We had no shortage of babysitters for the weekend, either.

- Our friends Trevor and Heather Peacock and their two little girls, Hope and Gabriella, drove up from Los Angeles to hang out with us for a couple of days. We all camped out on Sunday night (and the Peacock's quickly made friends with the Voris clan) and then moved to a hotel in Redwood City for Monday and Tuesday nights. As I told Becki, I love camping out with her family. But that first night back in "civilization" (and particularly, that first shower) is great.

OK, here are a few pics:

California Vacation 2008: Day 2

When I planned today's visit to Yosemite National Park in my head, there were three things that I was anticipating that didn't actually happen:

1. An early start and a 10am or so entrance to the park.
2. Lots of hiking.
3. A sense of accomplishment, knowing that we had seen at least most of what we wanted to.

Because this is a vacation, we're not on a particular schedule for now, and, let's face it, these things happen, none of those things really happened. Oh, yeah, we were blown away with the awesome things we saw, but I definitely left the park this afternoon with a sense that there was much, much more to see. In fact, after only 5 minutes of driving through the front gate, I remarked to Becki that we needed to make plans to come back and stay for several days. The place is simply awe-inspiring and I have no idea how--or why--I didn't manage to see it up close and personal on so many trips out here. Rather than describe the awesome sights to you, I thought I'd share our views through the many pictures we took.

Special thanks go out to Jacob and Candace Tallmon, Becki's cousin and wife, who met us for lunch and proceeded to tour us around. Here are the highlights of what we saw:

1. Bridalveil Falls











2. El Capitan











3. Yosemite Falls











4. The Ahwanee Hotel








5. Half Dome









Our plans for Friday were to include getting up early and driving from Becki's aunt and uncle's house (where we bedded Thursday night), but, after the 2+ hour drive from the park to their house along winding mountain roads, we've rethought that plan and will instead head to the coast, where we'll do some sightseeing before gathering with Becki's family for their annual campout/reunion. Because we will most definitely be out of range of any kind of internet access until Monday, I will post then.

California Vacation 2008: Day 1

If I had room for a subtitle for this post, it would be: "You get what you pay for". Our vacation is not off to an incredibly rousing start thus far. Not that we're not enjoying being in California, mind you...it's just that, while this will be a great sightseeing and visiting trip, it will not really be a "relaxing and restful" time. As far as the subtitle goes, here it is, blow by blow:

4:00AM: As we're lugging suitcases, car seat, carry-ons, and baby to my parents car for the drive to the airport, we very quickly make the decision not to carry through with our afternoon plans of taking BART (San Francisco's version of the subway) from the airport downtown to pick up the rental car. We rented off site and saved $200...turned out to be a not-so-great move, as you'll see later.

5:23AM: After a short wait, we check in. Yep, as I feared, we're overweight on luggage. Luckily we're able to rearrange and avoid an $80 fee--just because we're a mere 4 pounds over.

7:00AM: The plane's supposed to be moving back from the gate now. No dice. Turns out it has a little something to do with the lightning and thunderstorms going on. We have to wait for the lightning to clear, another 35 minutes, before taking off. I officially start to worry about missing our connection in Atlanta.

9:30AM: My fears are confirmed. We run, but miss the plane by just a couple of minutes. Thankfully Delta does their best and re books us on a flight about two hours later. At least this gives us an opportunity to grab some breakfast and relax just a little.

1:15PM: We land in San Francisco. Given that we've nixed our previous transportation plans, we have to come up with new ones. Taxi? Limo? Hitching? We settle for one of the many "door-to-door shuttles", which encompasses $50 and a 45-minute ride. But it's pleasant enough and, in fact, we share the ride with a couple from Cocoa Beach.

2:12PM: We are dropped off at the Alamo office in downtown San Francisco. Here's where the fun begins. We walk in the office to find a line at least 30 deep, most of whom seem incapable of speaking English or--as it turns out--actually driving (I'm not kidding. I actually witnessed one of the attendants frantically teaching a French family how to put the car in gear and drive). After standing in this line for 30 minutes and not moving, I call the 1-800 number and complain. I'm told I should be able to use the "express counter" downstairs in the storage garage because I have a reservation. We trek down there (pulling luggage and Jacob with us) to find...uhhh, there is no "express counter". Nevertheless, the attendant working has pity on us and gets us set up in a Rav4 fairly quickly, which is a good thing, because Jacob's not happy, and letting everyone know it. After stealthily moving the SUV out of it's tightly packed parking space, we load up and head in the city. Where we realize we've forgotten a map. After a few turns, though, we find I80 West and head out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Lesson learned. After spending $50 on transportation, unnecessarily lugging all of our stuff, and wasting valuable time...well, I'll probably just go ahead and rent at the airport next time.

4:27PM: We make our first stop in Fairfield, where we zip into the Jelly Belly factory to load up on a few "Jelly Flops" for our eating pleasure.

5:08PM: Our first of what I hope will be a few stops at In and Out for delicious burgers and fries.

7:04PM: After a short stop for supplies at WalMart, we finally arrive at our destination for night one, Becki's friends Dave and Melanie Eastman. It feels great to finally stop moving for the day. We rest up for Yosemite tomorrow.

One rant for the day (besides the ones above): Because of the missed connection as outlined above, we got bumped to another flight later on. This meant we ended up being on a smaller plane, with far less amenities. Like leg room and entertainment. Keep in mind, from Orlando to Atlanta, we were on a newer plane with a bit more room and, more importantly, individual entertainment screens that included live TV. I have no idea why Delta decides to do this, but it makes no sense. Orlando to Atlanta: a mere 1 hour and 20 minute flight. Atlanta to San Francisco: almost 5 hours. Yeah, that's what we need on longer flights: less diversions from the fact we're crammed in like cattle for hours. And we pay for this privilege. Seriously, next time...we're driving.

on James 1:5-6

"If you need wisdom--if you want to know what God wants you to do--ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that you really expect Him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind."

If only I had this kind of faith.

James gives us a pretty uncomplicated blueprint for obtaining wisdom here. We simply have to ask. God not only wants us to, He expects us to.

That's the simple part, though. The hard part: listening. For me, really, I don't doubt that God will provide me with the answer(s) I need; I have doubt that I can still myself enough to hear His Voice. I'm the kind of person who surrounds himself with distractions--I'm sure you know someone like me!--that drown the silence and stillness out of my life.

Lately I've been getting more aggressive with the asking part. Those of you who are on our "Walton Family Update" email list (if you're not, and would like to be, I'd love to add you...just let me know) know this. We are getting in the habit of asking specific things from God, as opposed to broad general prayers that do nothing but fulfill the goal of "praying" itself. I wonder if God's not frustrated with those prayers? I wonder if He doesn't sit there going, "OK, yada, yada, yada...now, what is it you really need?" So, anyway, I've been trying this for a few weeks now, and, I have to say, I think it's working, if only in the sense that it's giving me a peace that He knows what's going on in our lives and what we need (as if He didn't already!). I suppose I need to have more faith and expect an answer, for instance, to our financial debts, either in the form of a pile of cash or a second source of income. I guess I should be anticipating our car problems being wiped out, either supernaturally, or by something as simple as someone showing up to fix them for us (which would be supernatural, too, now that I think of it). And that's the next part of the equation for me...first, expecting Him to speak and then listening to His voice.

I'm getting ready to dive into a 30-day journey about the listening part of it. The Art of Listening Prayer by Seth Barnes was provided to me free of charge to review if I agreed to post my findings on my blog...so, naturally, I will be. This is a book that explores the notion that prayer is not the boring monologue many of us make it, but is supposed to be a dynamic, interactive conversation with our Creator. The idea is we should be giving God the opportunity to speak to us, instead of drowning Him out with our words. On one hand, I must confess to being a bit nervous about starting this book. It relies heavily on two things I'm uncomfortable with: journaling and long stretches of silent meditation. On the other hand, it's precisely because I'm uncomfortable with those things that I'm excited about diving into this. I'm really pumped about abandoning my "uncomfortableness" and allowing God to do precisely what He wants to do with me. I have no idea what to expect, and I know I won't be able to lean on myself for support...but, after all, isn't that what faith is all about?

In the end, I hope to be more in line with both ends of the formula James provides us with for attaining wisdom. The asking part, I'm getting better at, day by day. The listening part...well, I've got a long way to go. But God's eager to meet me on the journey, I know that much.

a milestone...

So, I finally completed one of my long-time goals this week. For the past 18 months or so, I've been slowly but steadily reading through the entire Bible, and I finally finished that this week. This may not sound like a huge accomplishment, but I'm really proud of myself for sticking to my goal, as it's one I've started and given up on many times throughout my adult life.

I feel like I've been at a buffet while I've been doing this. You know, just picking and choosing, not really paying too much attention to content, but trying to make sure you get your money's worth by loading up your plate? I've tried to keep my eye on the goal of simply reading, with the understanding that I will go back and really dig into stuff later on. Every time I've come across a pasage I wanted to study further, I would note it with a post-it flag for further reflection later on. I've got dozens of said flags in my Bible right now. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you've seen posts on some of these passages already, and you should be prepared to see more in the future as I go back and study more.

If the past 18 months have been a buffet, the next few are going to feel like a gourmet meal! Seriously, I feel like, now that I've gotten a taste of everything on the table, I can take the time to go back and truly savor the "meat" of what I've been reading. I'm really, really looking forward to it...and also excited to share it with my readers.

random Sunday post...

I didn't even realize until this moment that I didn't do a Weekend Review this week, so I guess my work-week has been fairly busy. Sorry about that! Anyway, the July 4th weekend was a long one (a four-day stretch turned into a five-day one thanks to Jacob's hospital visit) and fairly dull. Not even fireworks. But we did get to hang out with our good friends Scott and Carmen Copeland on Saturday afternoon, which is always a blast and way too infrequent. Other than making sure Jacob was back to full strength, though, we didn't really do anything out of the ordinary.

So, here's just a few random things going on in my head right now:

- Is it cruel that I take perverse joy from this story? Seems the big Apple IPhone launch yesterday didn't go all that well. Poor techies. As pointed out by a brilliant comment on the linked article, these same people should have to stand in line for food--not a gourmet meal, but life-sustaining rice, for instance--in a third-world country for awhile to gain some perspective. We make some interesting choices in this country (which, I guess, is why our country is so great--diverse opinions. But, still...). As noted by one of my co-workers yesterday while we were watching this on the news, the local station briefly mentioned how foreclosures were at one of the highest rates ever for our state--and then cut to a good five minutes of coverage about the IPhone drivel. Hmmm...

- It's finally time for a new car for the Waltons. Quite frankly, I should have been looking around a few months ago. But necessity is the mother of all invention (and, I believe, action), so, with the catalytic converter finally puttering out on us on our 2000 Kia Sportage, along with no A/C and some battery problems on the 1997 Nissan Altima...well, I guess it's time. Luckily we shouldn't have to look too hard before our vacation in less than two weeks, as our parents have graciously allowed the use of their automobiles in the meantime. In fact, we'll probably sit on it until then. We'll be in the market for a used-but-solid car, one with not a ton of miles on it, and basics like A/C, a CD player, and (for Becki) tinted windows. My hope is to find something where we can simply sell both cars--even in the shape they're in--and turn right around to buy a new (for us) one. Any suggestions? Better yet, know anyone who wants to buy a couple of good, solid cars that need some work?? :)

- Speaking of vacation...it's right around the corner! We fly out on July 23. I'll be posting a few times out there (hopefully) and also putting some pictures up on Flickr, so check back if you're interested. We're spending a couple of days in Yosemite, heading over to the coast for Becki's family reunion, and capping off the week with some sightseeing in San Francisco with our good friends Trevor and Heather and their two girls. I always get real excited about this trip--we do it every couple of years--and this year is no exception. I'm especially looking forward to introducing our son to everyone, including his cousins, aunts, and uncles.

- I still can't believe it, but I watched Bowling for Columbine last night. I feel dumber for it, and I'm still not sure exactly what hypothesis Michael Moore was trying to make...except that, in almost every homicide case, the fault lies with someone other than the shooter. That includes the six-year-old boy in Michigan who shot and killed his classmate and who, Michael conveniently leaves out, had behavioral issues that included stabbing at least one other classmate and whose mother was a single woman who, because of financial difficulty, "had" to move her family in with her crack-dealing brother--who also happened to own a loaded gun. Oh, and in the case of Columbine, well...apparently it was all Kmart's fault for selling the ammunition in the first place. Please...
I will agree with him on one point, though...our news media definitely feeds the fire when it comes to gun violence in America. Of course, Michael's way of dealing with that isn't to ignore the media. Nope, he decides to go make a movie about it. Pot, meet kettle.

on 1 John 3:16-20, 23

"We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help--how can God's love be in that person?"

Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord, even if our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." (16-20)

"And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us." (23)

It's interesting--and disheartening--to me to see how little our fellow human beings mean to us most of the time. Even in the church, our focus is not on how we can help each other, but rather on what's in it for us. Sure, we talk about loving one another. We talk alot, actually. But Jesus' command to love one another didn't include anything about saying we loved one another. In contrast to our lips flapping and our arms not moving, He asked us to love each other through our actions.

I'm going through a period of my life right now where I'm beginning to question things I've been taught to this point in church. No, that's not it, really. Maybe I'm just beginning to see that there's a disconnect between what we say in our churches and what we're actually doing through them. I see the effort occasionally; I'm just wondering if it's half-hearted. I guess I'm thinking we (and I definitely mean "me, too" here) can do more...much, much more. We are in a "comfort coma"...and very few us want to be woken up.

For instance, I'm told that, in South Africa, a child can be fed, clothed, educated, and have their medical needs met for somewhere around $30 a month. Connect this with the fact that 30,000 of those same children died last night from starvation and you can see the gap between "talk" and "action". To bring this point emphatically home...think about how callously we throw away $30 on a daily basis. We should be doing more--so much more--with the things (read: money) God's given us.

This stretches to our churches, as well. It's inconceivable to me that we can think nothing of spending literally millions of dollars on a building and resources in light of the fact I posted above. In one of the most egregious examples I've ever heard of, I was watching an interview with a pastor recently who admitted--willingly, and even while smiling--to spending $1.6 million dollars on a lighting system. If you're not great at math, I'll do the calculation for you. That's 53,300 kids who could have their lives impacted forever. But at least the stage looks pretty, right?

Now, I understand completely that many churches--probably more than I'm willing to give credit for--will turn right around and use said resources for reaching many more people for Christ's kingdom. But for every church who is doing a bang-up job of distributing their wealth, there are dozens more who are content to allow their congregation to come for their hour of "worship" each week, sit in air-conditioned comfort, listen to a neat, point-by-point 25-minute sermon, close with prayer, and hit the local buffet before their rival church lets out, lest they have to wait for a table--and call that loving God.

I'm convinced we've got it all (or most of it, anyway) wrong. I could write a book about this--maybe I will one day--but I think this verse sums it up nicely: "But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help--how can God's love be in that person?"

Challenging words. I know, after writing this blog, I'm definitely going to be looking for everyday opportunities to do the "ordinary" and love my fellow man much more through my actions. I'm also going to be on the lookout to do the extraordinary and make an eternal impact on the lives of everyone I meet. Where will this all lead, and what form might it take, God only knows.

our first scare as parents...

We had our first scare with Jacob this past week. Early Thursday morning, around 12:15 or so, the little guy woke up barely breathing. He was wheezing and struggling so hard to breathe that his chest was literally almost touching his backbone, and his mouth was turning bluish. He had been coughing and wheezing a bit the night before, but we chalked that up to a minor cold and didn't think anything of it, especially because he had been acting like his normal, happy self all day. So, naturally we were terrified at this turn of events. I frantically got on the internet looking for 24-hour urgent care centers in our area (I'll give you a hint: there are none here. Not one.) while Becki tried to calm Jacob down by singing to him and holding him near the steam from the shower (to help loosen the congestion).

Anyway, we got him in the car and drove him to the emergency room. Luckily, as he normally does, he dozed off in his carseat, but we could still hear him struggling to draw a normal breath. Upon arrival at the hospital, the staff--which was very good, by the way--jumped into action, getting oxygen flowing, hooking up an IV, and generally poking and prodding the poor little guy from every angle. Which, of course, didn't immediately help matters, as he was getting more and more anxious. The attending physician told us that it sounded like he had a respiratory inflamation of some sort, probably croup, and, while his breathing was much better after an hour or two, he was still concerned with his "retracting" to try and draw a breath. Based on that, he made the decision to transfer us, via what I'm sure will be expensive ambulance ride, to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando. My parents graciously got up in the middle of the night to drive me over, while Becki rode with Jacob and the ambulance crew.

And, of course, once there, everything was fine. The doctors (as it's a teaching hospital, there were 4 of them!) all agreed very quickly that Jacob had gotten croup and went through a particularly nasty spell of it, which is why he was breathing hard. It's fairly common, and, most of the time, doesn't require hospital assistance, but everyone thought we had done the right thing by bringing him in--I know that I, despite the cost of all this, felt better knowing he was in good hands! So, after diagnosing him and giving him a shot of a steroids-based medicine to help clear his respiratory system out, there was really nothing to do except spend some quiet time together as a family while the nurses monitored him, and hopefully get some sleep (we didn't). We were discharged in the early afternoon, set up a follow-up appointment with Jacob's pediatrician, and were home by late afternoon.

So, all in all, yes, it was a scary night. But, as God often does, He pointed out several things clearly to me:

1. I need to appreciate my wife and son more. Honestly, I think I do a fairly good job of this already...but I know I can do more. For instance, in the few days we've had together since coming home from Orlando, I've learned how much more entertaining spending time with Jacob can be, as opposed to flipping on the TV or surfing the internet. And that time will not only not always be there, but it will go quickly. I need to learn to take the time to enjoy it.

2. I need to give God not only my life, but those around me. There was seriously a point in the hospital in the first few minutes where I was asking myself what would happen if Jacob didn't survive. It's a brutally poignant question. But the truth is that God's in control no matter what. If He wants to take me, or Becki, or Jacob in the next five minutes...well, that's His business. And, no matter my grief, I have to trust Him completely. After all, as a Christ-Follower, what choice do I really have?

3. Life is precious, and little else matters. Funny how a few hours in an emergency room dealing with a potential life-threatening issue makes our "problems" seem so trivial.