Sabbatical Journey - 2024

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On this page you will find the journey that Pastor Matthew and Kathy are on for this Sabbatical, this time of rest and refreshment! They will be gone for two months and will be traveling from here to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, etc. They hope to visit the Grand Canyon, see the giant Sequoia trees, visit Kathy's family in CA and Washington! Pray for them! Pray for good health and their vehicle and camper will function without any issues! Come by this page often as they will be posting regularly in their travels!
There was a traffic jamb for while on I-80. At the end of the jamb a woman passed us then rolled down her window, pointed up and gave us the thumbs up sign and waved. She was reacting to our message "Know Jesus...Know peace." Later a truck driver went by and gave us the finger. We prayed for that driver!
To all of you who are following along on our two month journey, we want you to know that we are praying for all of you as we travel. Our nation is huge and full of all kinds of people. We are running into beleivers all over and having the oportunity to spread His love! We are grateful for your prayers as we travel. We have had no issues mechanically with the Sequoia and the camper and we are getting a
​whopping 8.5 mph!
Today is July 3rd. We did about 430 miles to get to our campground in a little town called Valle, AZ. The trip was glorious as every hill we drove over revealed yet another grand vista that was breathtaking! Then we mae it to our campground and set up camp, ate some dinner and headed back out to see The Grand Canyon! /tomorrow we will spend the day there. Stay tuned!!!
When we entered the Mojave Desert, it was 115 degrees out. We stopped for gas, (8.59 a gal) and when we got back into the Sequoia, the air conditioner compressor quit on us. The clutch burned up so now we have no cold air! We toughed it out for over 150 miles until we g0t to the next campsite. That campground was in a very small town and nobody could fix it on a saturday. So, Kathy and I got up at 4am and traveled the 300 miles to the next destination which is in San Juan Bautista, CA. We somewhat beat the heat and the heat will break tomorrw with temps around 70 degress. We are going to meet Kathy's sister tomorrow at her church in Monterey. Excited for Kathy to finally meet her sister Melissa face to face! Hopefully we can get the air conditioner fixed on Monday!
Today is the day Kathy gets to meet herr sister she found through DNA! Melissa and her husband Randy live in Marina CA. We met at their church called Shoreline Church in Monterey then spent the day with them! What a blessing they were to us!
Today, July 8th is the day we did laundry and brought the Toyota Sequoia to the dealer to get fixed. They had to keep it overnight so they gave us a loaner car to come back to the campground. We can pick the Sequoia up tomorrow morning at the tune of $2500! Sure glad our Lord supplies all our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus! We still had a couple of divine appointments!
Wednesday, July 10th was a travel day. Headed to Oregon but still in northern California!
Thursday, July 11 is a travel day but we stopped in Medford, OR where Kathy's maternal grandfather is buried.
Today, Friday, July 12th is a monumental day! First, we cross into Washington! Second, we travel through Seattle where Kathy was born! Third, after we check in at the campground and set up our camper, we will go find Kathy's sister's grave. She died at almost three years old. As far as we know, no one has visited her grave since she was buried over 60 years ago because Kathy's family moved great distances away.
These photos are of Kathy meeting her cousin Kristina and Kristina's niece, Grace. We met them for the first time at her church, Calvary Chapel in Edmond Washington! Kristina founded a mission for children with cancer in the Philippines called Everlasting Hope.  Google "Everlasting Hope, Philippines" to find our more about her mission!
This next group of pics are from July 15 and 16. We left Everett, WA and traveled to Sequim, WA but we had a new experience. We put our Sequoia and camper on the Edmond ferry. It cost about the same as it would have for gas to go all the way around Puget Sound! It was an experience for sure. We met Kathy's cousin Kathleen and her husband Ray. They graciously let us park the camper in their back yard and we will be here for up to a week.
Today was a "lazy day" as we only went to one cemetery looking for Kathy's grandmother's
​grave with her cousin Kathleen. 
Today, July 18th, was a really special day for Kathy! She met another cousin but they knew each other way back when Kathy lived here in Sequim, WA. She left when she was four years old but her cousin, David Clinton was seven and he remembers Kathy! We had lunch with David then we went out to the cemetery to look for Kathy's great great grandmother on her birth father's side and we found it! We also went to Kathy's aunt and uncle's grave. Both of thier birthdays and Kathy's mother's birthday was today! 
 Today is July 19th and it was a traavel day for us. We left Sequim, WA and only traveled about 240 miles because  the traffic was horrible around Tacoma. Once we got on I-90 travel was much more enjoyable! Here are some photos of the trip today! Any photo will enlarge if you click onto it!
We had yet another travel day today and what we saw was spectacular! We left Vantage, Washington and traveled through the northern desert area of this state. We then crossed into the panhandle of Idaho and then into Montana! You will see the changes of terrain as we went from desert, to farm land to the Rocky Mountains! We have awesome mountains in NH but nothing can compare with the Rockies!
Today is Sunday, July 21st and we watched the service at Grace while we got ready to go to Elevate Church in Missoula, MT. Elevvate Church is about the same size as GCF with the same thrust in ministry! 
Today we traveled to Cody, Wyoming, about a 440 mile journey through the back roads of Wyoming through the Rocky Mountains. God's handiwork is awesome to say the least!
Today is July 23rd and we spent the day in Cody, Wyoming at some Buffalo Bill museums. A good restful day! Kathy's second great grand parents were married on horseback during a 4th of July celebration rodeo in Cody. The librarian in the museum found a couple of photos of Kathy's great great grandfather, Jonnie Dodge!
Wednesday, July 24th. We had such a good trime at the Buffalo Bill Museum, we went back again. When you purchase tickets, they are good for two days and they have 5 differenet museums to go through! 
Thursday was Yellowstone National Park Day! We saw a grizzly bear with a cub, a herd of Elk, Buffalo, birds, and all kinds of things God has created! Lots of photos in this portion! It was an awesome day to say the least!
 Friday, July 26th is another travel day. Interesting to note, we had to travel through Meeteetse, Wyoming. This is a little town of 309 people and Kathy's Great Grandmother on her mother's side was born here in 1880! We are headed to Mt. Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota but will do an overnight in Rozet, WY.
July 27th and we made it to South Dakota! In one day we saw The Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore! A great day to see history!
July 28th. First on the agenda was church! We went to a church called Living Outreadh Church in Custer, South Dakota. They had a real western flavor and the worship was unique and supurb! Pastor Joel brought a great message from Hebrews 11. Then we went back to the campsite for lunch and then to Custer State Park!
Today, July 29th, we traveled from Custer to Plankinton, South Dakota. A rather uneventful day in our travels but when we got all set up in our new overnight homestead, a good old fashioned South Dakota thunderstorm hit! It was awesome to watch!
This post is for July 30-31st. Two days of travel and sightseeing our great country in the states of
​Minnesota and Iowa!
August 1st! Wow! Another month has gone by. We are still in Davenport, Iowa and will be heading out tomorrow morning for Champaign, Indiana. Our next goal/destination we are headed for is The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY.  Today we got the Sequoia washed, oil changed and tires rotated. Gotta take care of that vehicle! It has worked hard over the last five weeks. We have put on over 7500 miles so far!
August 2nd and 3rd were days that tested us to rely on the goodness of the Lord. We left our last campground and went south towards Illinois. After about 20 min on I-74 East, we stopped at a rest area and discovered one wheel on the camper was so hot it was smoking! After several phone calls, we got a mobile mechanic to come out. It was impossible for him to fix it on site so we ordered a flatbed to bring the camper to their shop. The first flatbed couldn't do the camper because it sits too low so that meant we had to spend the night at the rest area. We were blessed to have a generator so we did have air conditioning. the flatbed came about 9am and we got it loaded and delivered to the shop. The shop doesn't open till Monday so we now have to spend the weekend in a hotel. What a two day trial! But!!!! God is good!!

We want you to know this was God bringing us off the road when we stopped at the rest area. I asked Kathy if she wanted to stop but she said she was doing ok. I was doing ok too but I really felt prompted to stop anyways. IF we did not stop, we would have lost that camper wheel at 60-70mph! That could have been tragic to say the least! Thank You Jesus for protecting Kathy and me and perhaps others on the road!
This update is for August 4th-8th. Our trial continues but also filled with blessings! We have been in the Super 8 in East Moline, IL for 5 days. The axle was ordered by B&B Trucking but the company sent the wrong one! As I write this, they have sent out their mechanic to find all parts needed so we can be back on the road by the end of the day! They are a great bunch of guys and are doing their best for us. Sunday, August 4th we found a great church called Calvary Church. It is a large church with two services and we went to the second service. The message was powerful and we plan on showing it to GCF after we come home.  Last night, Wednesday night, they have an evening time of worship and Bible study which we went to. Pastor Tim was teaching in the book of Galatians 6:1-6.
August 9th is a Hallelujah day! The camper is all done and we are no longer in the Super 8 hotel! Six days we spent there waiting for the camper to get fixed. It was not B&B's fault. The company they ordered the new axle and hubs sent the wrong one. the bearings on the front axle also needed to be replaced so they installed brand new hubs on that axle as well. We are now back on the road and slowly making our way back home!
August 10th is a travel day! Slowly heading back home in a liesurely fashion!  We had camped in Michigan yeasterday, a state we had never been in until now. So we had to cross back into Indiana and on to Ohio. 287 miles later we landed at Hickory Lakes Campground in West Salem, OH. Tomorrow we look for a church and fellowship with other brothers and sisters! Probably spend some of the afternoon doing laundry!
August 11th and 12th. August 11th is chruch day! We went to a church called Ashland Grace Church. The worship team was very good and Pastor Joshua preached a fine message from Psalm 139. After church Kathy and I went out to eat, did some shopping, went to The Goodwill store and then did one of my "favorite" things to do while camping....laundry! Still a pleasure to help my bride. Yes, we do it together!  August 12th is a travel day. we passed through our son-in-law's home town of Erie, PA. Did some sightseeing there, then on to the campground!
Tuesday, August 13th and we are camping in Davenport, NY. Yup! we found another Davenport! How about that Tom and Roxanne! We traveled 287 miles today so we have now traveled a total of 8920 miles since we left home on June 25th. Just a simple travel day and we went through a part of NY we have never been through before. Yeah, we are at the tail end of our trip and yes, we do miss all of you tremendously. Yet, we are a little sad the trip is almost over as we have seen and experienced so much these past two months. Can't wait to share when we get home!
Wednesday, August 14th brought us to Woodford, Vermont. So close to home and we were yearning to hug our grandchildren!
Being reunited with our family was better than sweet! Kaylee ran pell mell into grandma's arms and cried. and Emmett gave a big hug! We spent a few days at this campground then moved to Forest Lake Campground in Winchester and stayed there for a week with the grand kids! Just spent this time reconnecting with them and then we showed up at Grace Christian Fellowship unannounced on August 18th! It was a wonderful time worshipping our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ with our home church family! On this two month journey, we visited many churches and they we all a blessing to us but there is no place like home!