"End of the Spear" and "Beyond the Gates of Splendor" Postscripts

Ever since I found out about the flying car that Steve Saint invented (http://mavericklsa.com/), I have had a renewed interest in the story of Steve's father, Nate Saint, and the other 4 missionaries that were martyred on Jan. 7, 1956 (the year of my birth) by the Auca Indians, as they were called when I was a child. Now we know they were members of the Waodani tribe in Ecuador. I recently watched the documentary about this story, called, "Beyond the Gates of Splendor", and the reenactment, called, "End of the Spear". I decided to do a little research on my own, and came across a few articles that I found interesting. These were all written by Steve Saint. If you haven't watched "End of the Spear", or if it has been a while since you have seen it, I highly encourage you to watch it again after reading this. It will give greater insight into the movie.

THE STORY OF THE ANGELS

A number of years ago Olive Fleming Liefeld and her second husband, Walt, visited the site in the Ecuadorian jungle where Olive's first husband, Pete, had been speared to death, along with Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Jim Elliot and my father, Nate Saint.

Flying into a remote jungle airstrip, they were met by my father's sister, Rachel. Aunt Rachel and several members of the Waodani tribe led Olive and her husband down to the sandbar my dad named Palm Beach.

Seeing for the first time the place where her husband had been killed brought questions back to Olive's mind; questions that had gone unanswered for over thirty years. Answering her questions, with Aunt Rachel translating, was Dawa, wife of one of the attackers who was present during the attack. Dawa, still a teenager at the time, hid in the dense cane bordering the far side of the river, opposite Palm Beach, afraid to actually watch or take a more aggressive role.

As Dawa recognized Olive's interest in what had happened that memorable day, a day that shocked and transfixed much of the world, both Christian and nonChristian, she began to volunteer information that she thought might be of interest.

In the middle of her commentary she pointed to a place above the jungle canopy bordering the ridge just south of Palm Beach. "That is where we heard the Cowodi (foreigners) singing," she stated matter-of-factly. As Aunt Rachel translated, Olive stopped her, "What does she mean she heard foreigners singing above the trees?"

Dawa said they were dressed in cloth like she saw a group of Cowodi do who sang in a church she visited with Rachel in the U. S.

Olive, Walt and Aunt Rachel wondered if it could possibly have been a choir of angels. What a wonderful and humbling tribute that would have been from a gracious God who had just had five sons killed, their spear riddled bodies dumped unceremoniously in the river by the beach where they had just two days before had an exciting and completely friendly first contact with two women and one man from the same village where their killers lived.

Olive wanted to include this account of angel visitation in her book, Unfolding Destinies, so she asked me to ask the three surviving Waodani warriors who had been part of that fateful killing party for verification. The opportunity came when I flew to Ecuador to help members of the tribe bury Aunt Rachel after she died of cancer.

One by one, each of the three men told me that they saw what appeared to be lights in the same place where Dawa had said she saw the heavenly choir. They were further away, which might explain that what they saw was different. But all of them said they heard singing. Nevertheless, they were somewhat tentative in their description.

Very recently when a project was initiated to make a feature film and a docudrama about the Auca Story, the script writers wanted to include the angels singing over the Palm Beach martyrs. As I reviewed the script I felt uncomfortable including any detailed reenactment of something that I was sure had taken place but which had only been vaguely described.

In January, 2002, I was asked to take the documentary film team to Ecuador to interview the Waodani who are the other half of the story. In the interviews with four of the five remaining Waodani survivors who took part in the Palm Beach attack in which my dad and his four friends were killed, I tried to elicit more definition to what I had been told previously, but without success.

The day after wrapping up the filmed interviews with the Waodani, the film group and I were joined by two friends of ours, Kevin McAfee and Steven Curtis Chapman. They had flown out to join us to do filming for Steven's upcoming tour which will feature the Auca Story, as well as to film some footage for the documentary. Steven and I were sitting in the cooking house talking while Kimo, one of the warriors I had just interviewed, was trying to communicate with a member of the film team.

I was startled to hear music coming from the thatched long-house immediately behind us. Then I realized that Kevin was just checking out the sound equipment he had brought.

Suddenly Kimo turned towards the music and listened intently. After a minute he commented, "Manami ihindabopa," ("Just like I heard it").

I didn't understand what he was referring to until I put together the obvious fact he was referring to the music and remembered that I had recently asked him about what he had heard at Palm Beach.

Kimo resumed his sign language conversation. Suddenly he turned towards the music once again and very specifically affirmed, "I have heard that before, long ago. That is what I heard, just like that, when your father died."

I explained to Steven Curtis Chapman what Kimo was saying, then called to Kevin to hold the music at that spot. It was clear that Kimo was referring especially to one motif in the music as being what he remembered.

I invited Kimo to enter the long-house with us. Unfortunately, Kevin could not tell us specifically where on the CD the music Kimo was referring to was located. Kevin started playing various pieces on the soundtrack. I couldn't remember enough of what it sounded like to identify it. As the fifth or sixth piece started to play, Steven Curtis Chapman commented, "I think this might be it." Almost simultaneously Kimo declared, "I saw lights like stars and that is what I heard." Then he added, "When I heard that long ago, I didn't know what it was. I was afraid. Hearing it I knew we had done a bad thing there. Now, no longer living angry and hating, I see it well that you have in returning brought this back to us." (They don't have a word for instrumental music that I know of). Then he got up and left the long-house.

Kevin pulled out the CD to find the title of the piece Kimo had identified. "You won't believe this!" Kevin exclaimed. "Look," and he pointed at the CD; "It is cut #8."

Jesus told us, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations." My father and his four friends joined the ranks of thousands of "God followers" who have given their lives to fulfill that commission.

The title of the soundtrack Kimo recognized as being what he heard after killing my dad and Jim, Pete, Roger and Ed, a piece written by Ron Owen especially for the documentary film (being made to tell the story of God's plan to reach a tribe of people off in the Amazon jungle who were insignificant in almost every way except that God loved them and wanted them to know they could become His children through the sacrifice of Iota, "God's only child, a son.") is "Every Tribe, Every Nation."

God has entrusted "His very good carvings" to us! But only the uninitiated or extremely unobservant are wont to believe that He doesn't still have His hand in seeing that His message reaches every tribe, every nation, every tongue and every people.

I have never questioned God's right to use my father's life. Dad turned his life over to God as a young boy. I have never asked for an apology from the men who killed him, and I have never received one. I never hated them or held anger against them so there was no forgiveness needed. I just accepted my dad was gone and with Jesus. It never occurred to me that I should forgive them for something which, though they meant for evil, God very clearly intended for good.

But as a father, I have agonized over what I have thought must have been going through Dad's mind as he lay dying out in the middle of nowhere, betrayed by the very people he and his friends had so carefully and methodically befriended. His failure would leave Marjorie (my sweet mom) a widow. He would never teach his two little boys to fly. His little girl would never sit on Daddy's lap to hear another original bedtime story. He would never again fly sick Indians to the new hospital he and Roger had been working so hard to complete. His passion for sharing the message that had set him free with people who had never heard was suddenly ended.

I have imagined all these years that this must have been the pain of Dad's last conscious minutes of life. But now I believe that I was wrong. If Dawa, Kimo, Yowe, and Mincaye heard an angelic choir from the world beyond, I have no doubt that Jim, Ed, Pete, Roger and Dad were made even more aware of their presence. They didn't die alone. Now I do believe that God sent a reception committee to sing for them and to escort them into His presence.

As I listened to music, just written, which Kimo clearly asserted he had heard at Palm Beach, my heart swelled with a sense of well-being. God took what five men could not keep and exchanged it for something they cannot lose. It's our turn now to make the same deal and give our lives away!

THE SONG

I think this is the song that the Waodani and missionaries heard the angels sing. I'm thinking probably the last part of the song. http://s0.ilike.com/play#Steven+Curtis+Chapman:With+One+Voice:48246215:s6898012.9500399.9599630.0.2.121%2Cstd_f0fd9f7212b643d180dc3c2f47f90b53 I think you have one chance per browser to listen to this song and then you have to buy it. So you could listen on Firefox and Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.

Here are the lyrics: http://christianlyricsonline.com/artists/steven-curtis-chapman/steven_curtis_chapman_with_one_voice.html

56 HENRY

In the making of "Beyond the Gates," an incredible docudrama about the death of five missionaries at the hands of "savage" Amazon jungle people, a little airplane plays a major role. The wife of the pilot calls it "the modern missionary mule" as she describes how that little airplane revolutionized the effort of taking physical and spiritual comfort to people deep in the jungle. That sweet "wife" is my mother, and the pilot, Nate Saint, who was killed when I was just a boy was my hero and my Dad.

The docudrama, however, is just a companion piece to a full-fledged feature film intended for release in theaters. As detailed plans were being made for the feature film, it became clear that a replica plane would need to be re-created to play the role of N5156H or "56 Henry". That is how my Dad's plane was affectionately known by the people who flew in it to their homes in the jungle, or to the hospital for lifesaving attention that was unavailable within the jungle. To those people and thousands of Indians living in what was often referred to as "the Green Hell", that little Piper Family Cruiser was much more than a machine. It was a friend. 56 Henry and its sandy haired pilot in his grease stained khakis were a popular duo in the Ecuadorian jungles beyond the reach of roads, medicine, and news from the outside world.

When Dad and his friends, Roger Youderian, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCully were speared to death on the little beach where they had just made the first friendly contact with the dreaded people known as "Aucas", 56 Henry was killed too. His wings and fabric were hacked with the very same machetes that the five young missionaries had dropped to the people as tokens of friendship.

Finding an exact replica was a tough but exciting order to fill. And I was asked to fill it.

The Piper aircraft company only built 237 of their model PA-14, known as the Family Cruiser. Proud PA-14 owners extolled the virtues of the Family Cruiser, and they would not sell. Finally, through a Northwest Airlines mechanic, who knew a small town pastor who knew an old friend of a proud owner who had died and left his PA-14 orphaned, I found one for sale in Northern Minnesota.

I met N4225H in a little hanger on the edge of the Great North Woods, which shares only the size of its trees with the Amazon rain forest. The air temperature was just above zero and both of our blood was thick and sluggish. All I knew for sure on our first date, that cold night at the end of 2002, was that 25H had no operable radios and we were a long adventure from her new home at the Indigenous People's Technology and Education Center in central Florida. A borrowed road atlas would serve to tell us where we were, an inexpensive fishing GPS would tell us where to go, and our eyes would provide our only weather forecast.

I made a list of what it would take to transform 4225H into 56 Henry. It would need major renovation, a new engine, instruments, modern radios, navigation equipment, and clothes. It was painted in its original white with red trim. But 56 Henry had been painted a bright "Cub" yellow to make it show up better in case of a forced landing in the endless green of the Amazon jungle. We had our work cut out for us.

Then it dawned on me. "What good would it do to spend months of time and tens of thousands of dollars to convert 25H into 56 Henry with the wrong registration number emblazoned on both of its wings and its tail?" Registration numbers on airplanes are not like license numbers on a car. On the contrary, they are very personal and unique. In an airplane, the pilot identifies himself by his plane's registration number in every radio transmission. "Chicago Center, 5156Hotel, request". "56Hotel, Chicago Center, say request."

I called the FAA to learn what had become of 56 Henry's "N number". A nice lady explained what I already knew, "The original plane that carried that "N number" was destroyed in South America in 1956." "Now N5156H belongs to a flying club owner named Joan, in Salem, Oregon."

There was no way that a stranger in Salem, Oregon, much less an entire flying club, was going to give me back my Dad's registration number 46 years after the fact. And besides, the FAA would have to approve it.

I lay awake at night imagining what opening line I would use. But I simply could not think of a good way to ask Joan for her personal "N number". Finally, I just called. After a couple days of phone tag, in which I was the only one calling, a receptionist put me through. "Hi, Joan? This is Steve Saint calling from Florida. You don't know me...."

That is as far as I got. The voice on the other end cut in, "Are you Nate Saint's son?" (No way! Out of 300 million people in the country, I call a total stranger on the opposite end of the country and she knows who I am.)

When I acknowledged that I was Nate Saint's son, Joan took over the conversation. "When my sister and I were little girls our parents wanted to be missionaries. It never worked out, but every year it seemed, almost like a family tradition, they would read us a book titled Through Gates of Splendor."

"Well, I got interested in missionary aviation and learned to fly. I joined a flying club and now I'm the president and my husband and I own it. About ten days ago, a new member joined and I asked him if he would like to read the book. He started to look at the pictures and blurted out, "Hey, the airplane in this book has our "N number"!"

"Can you believe it?" Joan queried. "I have read that book since I was a little girl and never realized that we had your Dad's "N number"!" (YES!!! YES, YES, oh YEEEESSSS!!!) The conversation was definitely moving in the right direction. Now I had my opening, but Joan was not finished with her story.

"I called my sister. Guess what? I asked her, "Remember that missionary story Mom and Dad used to read us? Well, you won't believe this but I just found out that one of our club planes has Nate Saint's registration number on it.""

Her sister responded, "You think that is a coincidence, wait til I tell you what just happened to me! Last night I went to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert and met Nate's son, Steve, and Mincaye, one of the men that killed Nate." Joan explained to me that she thought her sister was mistaken. How could she have met me? And surely she couldn't have met a member of the tribe. Why would an Amazon warrior be here in the U.S. and why would he and I have been at a concert in Washington State?

Joan and her sister were stunned. (Talk about stunned, I was speechless and amazed.) "Then it occurred to me that maybe you were a pilot, so I asked my sister. "Do you have any idea if Nate's son is a pilot too?""

"Oh sure, in the middle of the concert, they played a video as Steven Curtis sang about this story. It showed Steve Saint flying and living with the same people that killed his dad."

"That is when it occurred to me," Joan told me, "that you probably want your Dad's "N number". So, my sister and I have been trying to figure out how to get your address and now you've called. I imagine that is why you've called too, isn't it?" Joan told me that she would give me the "N number", and I sent her some video footage of 56 Henry in an old film titled "Through Gates of Splendor."

After a great deal of building at I-TEC, I took 4225H to Ohio to be painted by Missionary Maintenance Service (MMS). Several weeks later, my wife, Ginny, and I flew to Ohio to pick it up. At the hangar, they opened the doors and, "TADAA!" There in front of me was not the PA-14 that I had left with them, but "56 Henry" itself. I had not seen that old friend since the dramatic day in January of 1956, when I watched my hero fly away for the last time.

On our way back to Florida, Ginny and I decided to stop at the little airport near where my Mom lives. I called her on my cell phone. Ginny reminded me, "Remember what Mom said in the Documentary? "One thought entered my mind as I watched him (Nate) leaving, I wonder if I'll ever see that little airplane again"... and I never did.""

As Ginny and I taxied up to the fence where Mom was standing, I watched her face. She was concentrating all of her attention, trying to see Ginny and me. But, suddenly I saw her expression change. Her focus changed from Ginny and me to the little yellow airplane that we were in - and she did see 56 Henry again.

God really does write great stories, doesn't He?

MINCAYE'S PASSPORT

When my son Jessie was graduating from high school, he and Stephanie wanted me to bring grandfather Mincaye up for the graduation…which is totally impossible. He had no passport and no visa, and those people, I mean, I’m an Ecuadorian citizen...and I have been trying to renew my Ecuadorian passport. I’ve had an attorney working on it for a year and a half. And so, to get that passport, you have to have served in the Ecuadorian military…you have to go through a lot of rigamarole and red tape to do it…and so, it was impossible and we had one day to do it [get Mincaye’s passport]. I was just gonna make a token effort and get turned down.

And when we went down to the U.S. Embassy and I was filling out the form, they wanted to know your full name. And Mincaye’s full name is Mincaye…they want to know where your bank account is. The only bank Mincaye knows is where he pulls his canoe up…they want to know what your profession is, and there was nothing, address, telephone number. The only thing I could find to fill out on the whole thing was occupation, so I put “hunter/ gatherer.” And we were number ga-zillion. The consulate was just packed with people… I heard somebody [worker behind the bulletproof glass] say, “Hey, get a load of this. Occupation hunter/gatherer.” …So we went up and said, “Did you call for the hunter gatherers?” He said, “What’s your number? Oh, no, you won’t even get an interview today.”…but the Consulate was walking by…and he said, “I’ll take this interview.” So the Consulate himself sat down and started asking me questions. He said, “You know, I was in the Peace Corps here years ago. I read about some people who killed some missionaries…Everybody is always worried about what happened to the people on this side, but I always wondered what happened to those people that killed the missionaries.” And I said, “Well, one of them is looking at you through the bullet proof glass.”…He asked, “Why do you want to take the man who killed your father to the states?” You know, looking for some exploitation or something…And he said, “I’ll tell you what, I’m going to have to stick my neck out a long way to do this…but if you’ll come back this afternoon when the consulate closes, I’ll give you a one-time visa on the condition that you travel with him.” …That was ten o’clock in the morning and we had until three o’clock in the afternoon when the consulate closed. And [we] got all those papers, really, years worth of paperwork in five hours and got back there and got a visa and came to the States.

THE READER'S DIGEST CONDENSED VERSION OF THE STORY, AND MINCAYE SPEAKS TO AMERICAN AUDIENCES

I have also found an interesting website with video of the story and many other videos, including one of Mincaye speaking to an audience with Steve Saint interpreting.

If you want the Reader's Digest Condensed Version of the story, you can watch "Beyond the Gates of Splendor" Parts one and two. The entire docudrama is also available on this website, which is very good. It is 96 min. long, available through Hulu and titled "Beyond the Gates of Splendor". http://www.videosurf.com/video/now-i-see-it-well-steve-saint-and-mincaye-30831023 This link takes you to the Mincaye speech, but the links to the other videos are on the right.

Christmas 2009 Roadtrip Part 7

And so the lovely maidens arrived at the Palm Springs Thousand Trails campground once again after dark. It was a nice campground and there were many active retirees staying there. They were even having a pickle ball tournament in the morning. Pickle ball is a cross between tennis and ping pong, played on an asphalt court about half the size of a tennis court with a whiffle ball about the size of a baseball, and wooden paddles about twice the size of ping pong paddles with the short handles like ping pong paddles.

The lovely maidens even arrived at this campground before the spa/pool closed, so they high-tailed it over there to soak in the warm water of the spa for a few minutes before heading off to bed.

In the morning when Joanne opened the curtains, she thought she saw her dad working on the motor home parked next to theirs. She could only see his back at this point, and he was wearing the same kind of clothes her dad wears on his days off, including the shoes. His hair was cut and combed the same as her dad's. The only difference was that he was about 4 inches taller than her dad. So Joanne went over and introduced herself and discovered that his name was Sam Hughes, and lived in the Portland area. Raisa took Joanne's picture with Sam to demonstrate the similarities.

After touring the motor homes that were for sale at the campground, and deciding they could not afford any of them, the lovely maidens were once again on their way back home. They decided to return to the Reagan Library once again to get some more pictures of things they wish they had gotten pictures of the first time, and to purchase some books for friends that were 50% off when they were there before. The photo ops were in places they did not have to pay admission for, and when they visited the gift shop, they discovered that the sale had ended the day before. It was just as well, since if they had purchased the items had they been on sale, they would not have had enough money to buy gas to make it back home.

While the lovely maidens were taking pictures outside the gate to the Reagan Library, suddenly they heard the voice of Ronald Reagan through a speaker saying, "Allright, ladies! Stop taking pictures and come in and see me!" They had a good laugh over it and when they were finished getting all the pictures they wanted, they headed to the library. While they were taking more pictures outside the library, the security officer that was manning the security desk came up to the lovely maidens and said, "I understand Ronald Reagan's ghost can be heard sometimes at the gate." Joanne replied, "Oh, was that you?" "Was what me?" was the reply!

They travelled all day, and their destination for the night was Morgan Hill, a Thousand Trails campground southeast of San Jose. As Joanne became sleepy, she had Raisa drive while she took a nap on the bed in the back of the motor home. At about 10:30 pm, and 15 minutes from the Morgan Hill campground, Raisa exited the highway to let Joanne drive. She pulled into a mall parking lot with limited road access. In other words, it was a trap into which one could enter, but not escape to turn left onto the road, which is what the lovely maidens needed to do. Since Joanne did not see the trap into which they had entered, she did not know how to escape it to get to the campground. She drove through the parking lot in the dark until she realized there was no outlet where she was going. Then she decided to cross the 4 or 5 lanes of the street to turn left out of the entrance to the gas station. When she was 2 lanes from the center of the road, and already committed to turning left, she discovered there was a curbed median separating the 2 directions of the road, so she had no choice but to turn left into the far left lane of traffic in which the movement was to the right. Fortunately, there was very little traffic since it was so late and she managed to do an illegal U-Turn in the 4 or 5 street lanes in which traffic was supposed to be travelling right from where they turned. They travelled another block and were able to get turned around and headed on their way. This unfortunate incident ate up about a half hour of their time, and subsequently they were 15 minutes too late to the campground to be admitted, since newcomers are admitted only until 11:00 pm.

The ranger told Raisa when she called while they were on their way, that he would let them park in the parking lot, but failed to inform them that they would need to call him upon their arrival. The lovely maidens tried for 15 minutes to figure out how to get into the parking lot, and then decided they would probably need to call the ranger to let them into the park. The ranger was not happy and was not afraid to let the lovely maidens know it! This was the only negative experience the maidens had with a Thousand Trails or Naco ranger, and they decided it was best for the sake of the park that someone in authority be told about their experience with the ranger. So when they tattled on the night duty ranger to the morning duty ranger, they were satisfied to find out that this guy had a habit of behaving rudely and things would change.

So once again the lovely maidens found themselves on the highway on their last day of travel together. When they reached Willits, Joanne discovered that one of the tires was low, so she found a Les Schwab Tire Center using her trusty iphone map application, and had the tire inflated some more.

The lovely maidens finally arrived at Joanne's house in Brookings after dark, and unpacked as much of Joanne's stuff as she needed for the night. Raisa slept in the motor home, since she is allergic to cats and since that is Joanne's spare bedroom. In the middle of the night, the shrieking carbon monoxide alarm went off AGAIN, and again, Raisa didn't know how to get it to quit. She apparently didn't think it would ever happen again. But this time, Joanne was in her house in bed, and so she just waited for it to quit, which it eventually did.

The next day, Raisa packed her car and headed for home while Joanne went back to work. Joanne was proud of Raisa that she was able to make it home in one day, since her disability from her career in nursing makes it difficult for her to drive. It is a 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive from Brookings to Roseburg, and Raisa used to only be able to drive 45 minutes at a time.

The lovely maidens had such an enjoyable time on their trip that it was difficult for both of them to adjust to regular life, and they wish they were on a permanent roadtrip. They thank you for reading their story and wish you as much fun and adventure as they had on their roadtrip.

The End.

Christmas 2009 Roadtrip Part 1

And it came to pass in those days that a decree came out from Arizona that Joanne's niece, Ashley, should be married on the 2nd of January, 2010. And so, due to the dreaded criminal-like treatment peace-loving Americans receive from the TSA, Joanne decided to avoid aforementioned treatment, instead embarking on a 2 week long road trip in her 23 foot motor home to attend the wedding of Ashley and Frank.





In the process of describing the planned trip to her friend, Raisa, who lives in Roseburg, OR, the question of when we would be leaving arose. A fine companion was Raisa, as well as secretary, navigator and photographer (while Joanne was driving).





Being cautious and prevention-oriented, Joanne spent a month making the motor home roadworthy. In so doing, it was discovered that the water pump needed to be replaced, so she had that done. The microwave door was dragging on the plastic moulding below it when it was opening and closing, so she had that raised a little. Unfortunately, the repairman failed to test the microwave after doing the repair, and just before leaving, Joanne discovered that it did not work, so she brought hers along, as well as her toaster oven, in case the oven didn't work either. Later it was discovered that the microwave would work if one held the door closed tight. But who wants to hold the door the whole time something is cooking?



Joanne also knew that the refrigerator did not work, and had that checked as well. She was advised that it was completely kaput (a little German lingo there) and would need to spend $1300 to have it replaced. She wisely decided that $1300 would be better spent on something else, so decided to use the motor home refrigerator and freezer as a cooler. Since she is so astute, Joanne realized that if she just put bags of ice in the refrigerator, eventually there would be bags of water dripping, then eventually pouring onto the floor around the refrigerator. So she devised a scheme to prevent this undesired outcome: Tupperware and/or Rubbermaid-like containers to contain the ice and the water that the ice eventually becomes. Almost daily, the lovely maidens found it necessary to purchase more ice to replace the melted ice.




After spending half the day packing the motor home, the departure occurred on December 19, early afternoon. The lovely maidens had no want for food, as there was enough food packed for nearly 2 months. This relieved Joanne's parents in the unlikely case of becoming stranded for whatever reason.



The lovely maidens traveled south on Hwy. 101, and were able to see "Big Tree" in the Redwoods. They decided to take a short walk on a path there which was labeled as a loop, and approximately 1/2 mile long. After much walking, and definitely longer than 1/2 mile, they decided that the trail really was not a loop, and hoped they didn't get lost in the Redwood forest. The trail eventually came out to the road, and after many more steps, and the intuition and agreement that the motor home was in a specific direction from where the trail met the road, they made their way back to the motor home, about an hour later than they wanted to.



Since Joanne is a member of Naco-Thousand Trails (through her parents), the maidens were able to stay at their campgrounds for free. Their first night was spent at Russian River, in the Napa Valley. There was not a single night that they arrived at their camping destination before dark, so they were not able to see their surroundings until the light of the next day.



Upon their arrival at Russian River, Raisa thought she heard some activity being made by the refrigerator and suggested they turn it on to see if it would work after all. So against her better judgment, Joanne succumbed to the peer pressure and turned the refrigerator on. The maidens heard a lot of noise being produced by the refrigerator and thought they were going to be saved from the necessity of buying ice every day. After about an hour, Joanne wanted to get something out of the refrigerator, and upon opening the door, was practically asphyxiated from the monumentally horrendous (and every other strong and nasty, negative adjective you can think of!) odor of ammonia, which is what a kaput refrigerator emits when it is running. The monumentally horrendous odor of ammonia then triggered the shrieking of the carbon monoxide alarm. At this time, it was about 10:00pm, and the only way to remove both problems was to open all the windows and door, thus disturbing the neighboring campers. Fortunately for the lovely maidens, there was only one neighboring RV, and the occupants did not emerge from their vehicle. It took about 45 minutes to an hour for the alarm to disengage, and of course, it was necessary for the refrigerator doors to remain open until the odor dissipated, which took a couple of hours or so. The lovely maidens immediately switched off the refrigerator, and did not ever attempt to restart it.


There was another incident later in the trip when the carbon monoxide alarm shrieked in the middle of the night. Since it was next to Raisa's bed, it was incumbent upon her to silence the alarm, something she had been instructed about, but not thinking she would ever need to do so, she did not pay close attention to the instructions. She didn't remember what to do, so she tried to rouse Joanne, who was sound asleep and didn't hear anything since she sleeps with earplugs in her ears. Raisa shook Joanne to awaken her to no avail, since Joanne is used to sleeping with her cats, who walk all over her during the night, so Raisa just waited for the alarm to disengage, which took 45 minutes to an hour. The whole time, Joanne never woke up!


The second day the plan was to visit a tech museum in San Jose, but due to the size of the motor home, there were no parking spaces available, so that idea was scrapped. It was just as well, since they didn't arrive at the next campground, Morgan Hill, until after dark as well.



The next day, the maidens embarked upon their journey at an earlier hour than before, since they had to travel a few hours to the Hearst Castle, where they participated in 2 tours, one during the day, the other in the evening. Joanne was looking forward to seeing the painting that was used for this year's Madonna and Child Christmas stamp, but the maidens were too busy snapping pictures that they didn't keep up with the tour guide, and missed the painting. The castle was very beautiful, and the ceilings were quite ornate. Each room had a different sculpted ceiling. The Christmas decorations were gorgeous, creating a festive atmosphere. The evening tour even had actors playing the parts of guests to the castle during the time of Mr. Hearst's residence there. Mr. Hearst always had guests, for whom it was a great honor to be invited. If one ever declined an invitation, they were never invited again. Two people who were invited, but declined the invitations were Shirley Temple, because her mom thought it inappropriate, and Kathryn Hepburn, who at the age of 17 didn't know why she would want to go to a ranch. She later said refusing the invitation was one of her deepest regrets.



To be continued...

Christmas 2009 Roadtrip Part 6

And so it came to pass that in the fullness of time, the lovely maidens found it necessary to continue their journey, so they bid the Busses "Auf Wiedersehen" and were on their way. Spending time with the Busses was a wonderful way to spend the last day of 2009, which will be remembered with great fondness.





The last leg of their journey to the ultimate destination to attend the wedding of Joanne's niece, Ashley, lasted two hours. They were greeted by most of the Jim Wilson family (Joanne's brother), consisting of Jim, his wife Gail, daughter Rachel, and her daughter, Hannah. (Hmm... this is beginning to sound like the introduction to the Jetson's.) Oh, and let's not forget their dog, Blossom, and the chickens, who Jim calls his girls. But they didn't greet the lovely maidens at the door.





That evening was New Year's Eve, and the lovely maidens prepared fondue for the group that had gathered at the Wilson residence in preparation for the wedding. Having fondue for New Year's Eve is a tradition the lovely maidens have maintained since Joanne called Myrtle Creek her home after Raisa moved to Roseburg in the late 90's. It would have been criminal to have broken with tradition, so the lovely maidens treated the Wilson guests to their tradition. Many of those present had never had fondue before, so it was a new experience for them.





On New Year's Day, most of the residents and guests at the Wilson residence made their way to the resort where the wedding was to be held to prepare for the event. Those who stayed behind were the lovely maidens, and Rachel and Hannah. Rachel provided taxi service for the lovely maidens when they needed to frequent a place of business for one reason or another, and Hannah became Raisa's kitchen assistant.





Raisa had been commissioned to make and decorate the 6 inch cake topper for the wedding, which was to adorn the stand that had previously been prepared for the cupcakes which were to be served to the wedding guests. Raisa worked on the cake all day. The first step in preparing a wedding cake is to make a test cake. That was 3 layers. Next came the real cake. However, the cake mix for the real cake only made 2 layers, and the cake required 3 layers, so another cake mix was prepared. This provided 3 layers for the real cake and 5 leftover layers, including the test cake. So while Raisa decorated the real cake, Joanne washed dishes and frosted the other 2 cakes. It would be a misnomer to say she decorated the other 2 cakes, since their final appearance was quite pathetic.





Joanne had been looking forward to watching the Rose Bowl game on TV on New Year's Day, since her nephew, Justin, was at the game serving as a cheerleader for the Oregon Ducks. Her plans were thwarted when Jim advised her that she had a coolant leak. He had not even been told of the previous adventures on this topic. So Rachel chauffeured Joanne to the store to buy some more Stop Leak. This time, she bought two bottles, just in case. Before she added the Stop Leak to the engine, the coolant was just dripping slowly out. After adding the Stop Leak and starting the engine, it started pouring out! She became very frustrated! Joanne let the engine run for about 10 minutes, all the while watching the coolant pour out of the bottom of the engine, then shut off the motor, not knowing what else to do, and because of lack of anyone at the house who knew anything about such business. Miraculously, the leak stopped and to this day has not leaked again.





Joanne was able to see the end of the game, but never saw her nephew doing his job of cheer leading.





The next day was the wedding day, Jan. 2nd, the day Ashley and Frank had been looking forward to for so long! As a joke, the lovely maidens and Rachel presented the bride with one of the pathetic looking cakes in a cake box, and asked her what she thought. Please view the video of this exchange, since it tells the whole story. Ashley really thought it was the real cake topper, and wondered why she hadn't just had her seven year old niece, Hannah, make the cake. She was greatly relieved when she was presented with the real cake. Had her going there for a while, though. And the real cake looked even better after seeing the pathetic one.





The wedding was outdoors at a golf resort in Mesa, Arizona, and the weather was beautiful, sunny and about 70 degrees. After the wedding ceremony, the reception was held in a large hall at the resort and it was decorated beautifully by the bride and her mom. They were asked what company they commissioned to decorate, and Gail said, "We decorated it!"





They had a buffet dinner, and Jim's former boss, Elvis, was sitting at the lovely maidens' table. He is an elderly gentleman, who doesn't put on airs. The roast beef was still pretty pink, and Elvis remarked, "This cow is still bellerin'!" The server at the lovely maidens' table was very efficient, and it wasn't a minute after asking them what they would like to drink that the beverage was served! It was quite a lengthy party, which the bride and groom had wanted, and as the partying continued, the lovely maidens decided to call it a night. As they were leaving, they thanked their server, and she commented on how wonderful the cake topper smelled as she and her fellow servers were preparing to serve the cupcakes to the guests. Raisa told her to cut herself a piece, but she said she couldn't do that, so Raisa cut one for her and gave it to her. She was so grateful and gave both lovely maidens a hug.





Originally, the plan was to have the lovely maidens spend the night in the motel suite that Joanne's parents had rented. However, there was no place close to park the motor home, and to transport all the belongings they would need for the night would have required several trips, each about a mile in length. So the lovely maidens decided to sleep in the motor home in the parking lot, and just use the shower at the motel room in the morning.





As the lovely maidens were winding down after the wedding, Raisa commented to Joanne about one of the cabinets in the motor home by asking, "Does that cabinet look crooked to you?" Joanne looked at it, and pushed on it and discovered it had come loose from the wall and the ceiling. The only thing holding it in place were the electrical wires that ran through it. Joanne agreed that it did look crooked, but lacked the hardware to fix it. In the morning, they called upon one of the maintenance men at the resort to bring his drill to shore the thing back up. However, Joanne found it necessary to advise him how to do it, since he was trying to put new screws in the old holes which were completely stripped. Fortunately, Joanne's dad had given her a cordless drill that she charged in her parents' motel room that morning, and let the maintenance man use some of the drill bits to drill new holes for the new screws. It was enough to hold the cabinet in place for the time being, but Joanne decided to get some L brackets to finish the job, which they purchased on their way out of town.





After bidding Joanne's family adieu, the lovely maidens embarked upon their grueling journey home, to be completed in 3 days. Before they had reached the outskirts of Phoenix, they suddenly heard a loud, "Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!" and smelled burning rubber. They were in the 3rd lane from the right at the time, and this time when Joanne put on her right turn signal, for the first time in the city, the traffic behind them slowed and allowed them to move into the right shoulder. In the past, when the right turn signal was applied, as many as 4 cars would pass them on the right, at one time causing them to miss their exit. They even tested the turn signals to see if they were working, wondering if that was why the drivers of the cars would not let them in the right lane when they applied the right turn signal. The moral of this story is that for those of you who have not driven a large vehicle, it is much more difficult to tell if a car is in the lane beside you than it is in a car, so please be courteous and allow the trucks and motor homes to change lanes ahead of you. You will then be able to pass them on the correct side of the vehicle.





Upon stopping, they discovered that the tread had come off the inside right back dual tire, and the mud flap had bent so that it was on top of the tires instead of hanging down behind them. Raisa once again called the road service. In 15 minutes a very nice man appeared from the service to change the tire. While they were waiting, Joanne attached two L brackets to the loose cabinet using the cordless drill, and Raisa vacuumed the floor, using the cordless vacuum. There is no way either of the lovely maidens would have had the strength to have changed the tire, since the muscular brute who helped the maidens required the use of an extra long tire iron to loosen the lug nuts. The lovely maidens were thankful that the tire that needed attention was on the shoulder, rather than traffic side of the motor home, and since it was about 80 degrees outside, they were thankful that the service technician was able to do the job in the shade of the motor home.





They were fortunate to still be in the metropolitan area and at the next exit was a Walmart, where they were able to buy a replacement tire. Upon voicing their request to replace the spare tire for their motor home, 3 separate times they were told that Walmart did not service motor homes. 3 separate times they were required to advise the service people that they only needed a spare, which was on the back of the motor home and they would not have to put it on the motor home axle. So after this adventure, the lovely maidens were once again on their way, this evening to Palm Desert.





To be continued...

Christmas 2009 Roadtrip Part 5

Along the way to the Yavapai Observation Station, the lovely maidens conversed with many fellow tourists, and met a family from Australia, the teenage daughter of whom had the courage to wear one of the funniest hats the maidens had ever seen. Please view the pictures to appreciate this act of courage. They also walked behind two teenage boys for a while, whose pants were two sizes too big and they were having to hike them up every 10 steps or so. The lovely maidens wondered why they didn't at least have belts.





As the lovely maidens grew tired of walking, they began to ask those they met walking towards them how far the Yavapai Station was, and they received the same answer every time, "About 3/4 of a mile." This went on for a good quarter of a mile, until they reached the sign that said, "Yavapai Observation Station .75 mile". Then they knew all those people were either pulling their legs, or had no sense of distance.





Once they reached their destination, they were greatly anticipating the promised view of the Colorado River flowing through the Grand Canyon. However, their hopes were quickly dashed when all they could see were a few small visible spots of water.





The lovely maidens rode the free shuttle back to the Grand Canyon Village so Joanne could find the penny squisher before they had to reboard the train. Their only regret in visiting the Grand Canyon was that they did not spend the night there. Three hours at the Grand Canyon is only a teaser for such a magnificent place.





The sunset on the train ride back to Williams was one of the most beautiful either lovely maiden had ever seen before. Upon their arrival back to Williams, they encountered about a million ankle-biters all dressed in their pajamas, waiting to board the Polar Express train. This is an experience the Grand Canyon Railroad does for kids that reenacts the Polar Express story. They take them to the North Pole and other places in the story and serve them hot chocolate and cookies. They don't really go anywhere (but don't tell the kids that!). The train just pulls forward, stops, then goes backward, stops, then forward and stops, and so forth. Since it is dark, it creates the illusion for the kids that they are going somewhere and they all really enjoy it.





And so it came to pass that the next day the lovely maidens pulled up stakes and vacated the deluxe campground which they had enjoyed for two nights. Before leaving they filled the motor home water tank so they would have extra weight since they must needs travel through the mountain passes and it was undesirable for them to consider applying chains to their tires. The motor home did not slide through the snow at all, so they found it unnecessary to apply the chains, to their great relief. However, had it become necessary, Joanne had a plan: she would stand outside the motor home and pretend not to know what to do so that some nice gentleman might offer to apply the chains for her. It was a relief for her that this plan became unnecessary as well.



The final destination for this day was Payson, Arizona, where Joanne's former German professor at Biola lives. In the fall of 1977 Dr. Reinhard and Priscilla Buss led a group from Biola to Europe for a semester of studies. Joanne was privileged to have been a part of that group. Dr. Buss, being the ultimate tour guide, advised the lovely maidens of worthwhile places to stop to view the scenery along the way to their residence. They spent about an hour in Sedona, not nearly enough time to see all there is to be seen in such a beautiful place. Unfortunately, there was a lot of fog that day, and most of the rock formations were blurred by the fog. However, some views that they wanted to take pictures of cleared off a little so they could get the pictures, then the fog rolled in immediately afterwards. They considered this a gift from God. Raisa was the main photographer in Sedona as Joanne drove to the next viewpoint.



The lovely maidens found the chapel built into the rock, and as they approached the entrance to the same, they passed a crossroad. About 20 feet past the crossroad was a sign that said, "RVs and buses prohibited past this point". The placement of said sign proved to be illogical, since neither before nor after the sign was sufficient room for RVs or buses to reverse course. So the lovely maidens continued on their prohibited way. Fortunately for the maidens, there was a parking attendant at the entrance to the parking lot behind the chapel, who opened a small roped-off area in which these prohibited vehicles could attempt to reverse course. The parking attendant advised the lovely maidens that he would not direct their course direction, so Raisa took on the job, as she normally did upon entry to the various campgrounds the lovely maidens frequented. The lovely maidens had previously devised a method of teamwork for backing up the motor home, which they implemented at this point. Raisa stands behind the motor home while Joanne drives, and with her headset, Joanne receives instruction from Raisa over their cellphones as to which course of action to take. As this interchange was occurring at the entrance to the chapel, various individuals were walking to and from the chapel, and though these people could not see Raisa, she could hear them commenting in this fashion, "Wow! Look at her maneuver that thing!" So although Joanne would love to take credit for her great maneuvering skills, she is totally indebted to Raisa's wonderful instructions for said maneuvering.

The lovely maidens were unable to view the interior of the chapel since the only place they were allowed to park offerred merely 5 minute parking. So they snapped their photos, rolled their videos and were on their way in probably 10 minutes. So they fudged a little on the time...at least they didn't get a parking ticket.



As the lovely maidens followed the instructions Dr. Buss had given them to their residence, they drove right past the McDonald's restaurant where they were supposed to turn. When they drove completely out of town, they knew they had gone too far, but it was impossible to turn around, since it was a divided highway and the next place to turn around was about 3 miles out of town. When they got back into town, the townspeople had miraculously built a fully functioning McDonald's restaurant in the time it took them to turn around! Apparently, both of the lovely maidens were looking at the same side of the road and missed the McDonald's as they passed it coming into town the first time.



Of course, it was dark (again!) when they arrived at the Buss residence, and they were greeted by the two beautiful people that Joanne appreciated so much, since they helped her dream to travel to Europe come true. She also grew to love them as surrogate parents while on the trip in Europe. They had a German supper prepared for the lovely maidens upon their arrival. The foursome enjoyed a lovely evening of reminiscing, story and photo sharing, and hearty laughter. The Busses made the maidens feel so welcome and at home that they hated leaving the next day.

Dr. Buss made the mistake of mentioning he had the slide show that her 1977 group produced of the overseas program upon their return from Europe. Joanne begged him to show it to them, so in the morning he granted her wish. Since the 1977 trip, other slides have been added so it is an overview of the overseas program in general. (Dr. Buss's job was to take groups from Biola almost every year for a semester and teach them German, history and other general studies classes, while also touring many of the historical sites in Europe. He and Priscilla (his assistant wife, as he called her) did this for about 30 years.) The slide show brought back many wonderful memories for Joanne. Many of the slides were photos Joanne had taken. The Busses have a room in their home in which they display photos of the various groups they took to Europe. It was wonderful for Joanne to see her group's photos on their wall.



After the slide show, the Busses took the lovely maidens to their favorite Chinese buffet restaurant, where they were treated to some of the best Chinese buffet food they had ever tasted. Then it was off for some sight-seeing. One of Priscilla's dreams was to live near a lake, and so the purchase of their property fulfilled that dream, since they live across the street from a little lake. They took the lovely maidens around the lake, and also to the airport, where there is a small neighborhood of large houses, each of which has a hangar in which to park the occupant's small aircraft. The street signs in this neighborhood are all next to the ground, as they would be on the taxiways at an airport. The airplanes have the right-of-way, should one ever encounter the same. It was unfortunate that at the time of their visit, no planes were visible, neither in their hangars, nor on the taxiways.

To be continued...

Christmas 2009 Roadtrip Part 4

When the lovely maidens returned from their day out to Sam's Town, the casino where the motor home was parked, they wandered around for ten minutes trying to remember where the motor home was parked. Raisa, thankfully, was able to save the day by recalling accurately where it was.



Several times the lovely maidens found it necessary to do laundry while on their trip, and so for a day or so the motor home looked like a Chinese laundromat with the drying rack full of clothes and portable clothesline hung across the walking space of the motor home.



Before leaving their campsite in Las Vegas, the lovely maidens wanted to bid their neighbors goodbye, and they ended up spending an hour talking with the Carranzas. They were thrilled when Frances prayed for them before they left. The lovely maidens found it hard to leave their new friends and hope they will meet again in this life.



As they were on their way out of the campground, the lovely maidens were looking for, but unable to find the dumpstation so they could dump their wastewater. They discovered after asking a ranger that one must use the sewer hookup at one's campsite. So they pulled into a campsite next to an RV with slide-outs. Since Joanne was looking down while walking to get the dumping job done, she didn't see the slide-out and rammed her head into it twice. Raisa then put her hand on the slide-out to keep her from hitting it a third time, since it was apparent that Joanne didn't learn after one incident.



Before the lovely maidens left Las Vegas, they decided it would be wise to have the radiator flushed and new antifreeze added, since they were headed to the Grand Canyon, where the forecast was 13 degrees at night, and they only had water in the radiator. They found a small garage that Joanne thought would not be able to help them right away, so as they were attempting to turn the motor home around in the miniscule parking lot, the owner of the garage (a middle-aged Chinese man with broken English) came out and asked what they needed. Joanne told him and he said, "Oh, I can do that right now!" The owner's name was Chung, and the lovely maidens soon learned to appreciate him. In addition to flushing the radiator, Chung also checked the oil, the battery and the alternator. And in due time the lovely maidens were on their way.



And it came to pass that once again the lovely maidens arrived after dark and after the RV park office closed for the night (but you already know that because of the spoiler added in Chapter One) in Williams, AZ at the Grand Canyon Railroad RV park. This was a most deluxe campground with beautiful bathroom and laundry facilities, the maidens' criteria for declaring a campground "deluxe". There was snow on the ground, and it was VERY COLD!



In the morning, the lovely maidens boarded the train that would transport them to the Grand Canyon, a first time visit for both of them. The train ride was fun, albeit slow, but it was part of the experience for the day. There were actors on the train who held a train robbery, as well as talked to the passengers. Each car had a host who acted as a tour guide.



The Grand Canyon was spectacular! It was breathtaking for the lovely maidens to be surrounded by such an awesome display of the might and power of their Almighty God! The Grand Canyon was formed, as Joanne believes because of her biblical training and extensive study of the book of Genesis, by large amounts of water flowing under pressure during the flood of Noah. She cannot believe that the little trickle of water that flows at the bottom of the Canyon carved out the structure over millions of years. If this was so, every river would look like the Grand Canyon. We could also get into an extensive discussion about the age of the earth at this point, but back to the story of the lovely maidens...



The lovely maidens found it hard to breathe while walking since they were at approximately 8000 feet above sea level. When they arrived at the Canyon, the lovely maidens dragged thir backpack on wheels filled with enough food for a week and extra supplies they might possibly need along the rim (even though they only had 3 hours to spend at the Canyon before being required to reboard the train to head back) and took hundreds of pictures between the two of them. There was no such thing as a bad view, so it was slow-going to get to their final destination of Yavapai Observation Station, where they were told they would be able to see the Colorado River flowing through the Canyon.

To be continued...

Christmas 2009 Roadtrip Part 3

And so the lovely maidens were on their way, once again arriving after dark to their set destination of Las Vegas. They made the Las Vegas Thousand Trails RV park their home for 3 days, visiting the ornate casinos and viewing free shows. Their favorite show was at a casino just a mile from the RV Park where they had an indoor light and water show, similar to the Bellagio, but the water was only 5 feet from them and there were colored lights that lit the water sprays. It was quite exciting!







The lovely maidens took public transportation in Las Vegas, and the first trip to the Strip took them 2 hours, due to needing to buy a 3 day pass at a major depot, which was out of the way for the most direct route to the Strip. While at the depot, a gentleman started talking to the lovely maidens (it was Christmas Day), and the conversation turned to spiritual things. They found out he was a Christian, was working with a local homeless shelter, and was on his way on the same bus as they were to the Strip to solicit funds for the shelter.







When they boarded the bus, the impatient bus driver snatched the passes from the lovely maidens' hands and inserted them into the card reader, telling them to hurry up, since she didn't have all day. The maidens found seats on the top floor of the double-decker bus, since they wanted to get a good view of the city, and their new friend, James, stayed below. Joanne figured out early on that the bus driver had gotten her driver's license from a Cracker Jack box by the way she jerked the bus around and slammed on the brakes. They had not gone 5 blocks before they heard the horn honk 3 times. Joanne wanted to go down there and take over the job of driving, but since she didn't know her way around the city, she thought better of it.







A few minutes later, James came up to the top, sat down across the aisle from the lovely maidens and announced that the driver was having a conversation with the traffic. He heard her swearing up a storm, and confirmed that it was their driver that was responsible for the horn honks they heard. Whenever her voice came on the intercom, it was to yell at someone for whatever it was she didn't like. The lovely maidens were relieved when they could disembark from that bus!







Once the lovely maidens arrived at the Strip, they enjoyed watching the gondolas at the Venetian, marveled at the Eiffel Tower at the Paris, caught the back side of the volcano show at the Mirage on video, thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas music and water show at the Bellagio, and were awed by the extreme extravagance of the casinos on the Strip. (Not to mention, took hundreds of pictures!)







After 2 days of the Strip, they had had enough of the opulence and degradation that was evident there, so decided to go to Hoover Dam. However, they misunderstood the sign that said buses and trucks couldn't go to the dam. So they turned around and went back. Later, when they left Las Vegas for good, they mistakenly went over the dam and found out that they could go. There is a checkpoint where everyone must stop for security reasons and have their vehicle inspected, apparently for bombs, which is most likely why trucks and buses can't go that way. But since by the time they arrived at the dam, it was dark, and they couldn't really see it anyway. However, they were grateful they were traveling into Arizona, rather than from Arizona into Nevada, because there was 3 or 4 times as much traffic going that direction, and the traffic going the opposite direction had come to a stand-still.







As they were getting ready to leave to visit Hoover Dam, a new motor home arrived to stay next to their campsite. Before they had even finished parking it, the driver jumped out and hurried over to the lovely maidens' campsite to tell them they were going to be their new neighbors! They were the nicest people, full time RVers from the San Bernardino area, and the lovely maidens visited with them for a few minutes before leaving on their adventure for the day. Their names were Mr. Pete (Pete says, "Heavy on the Mister!") and Frances Carranza and their Min-Pin dog, Mechie, which being interpreted from Spanish means "Nosey".







Since the lovely maidens didn't go to Hoover Dam, they parked the motor home at the casino down the street and took the casino's free shuttle bus to the Freemont Experience, a much more reasonable place to eat, the lovely maidens discovered, than at the Strip. This is where one can get a half chicken dinner for $5, as opposed to $35, as on the Strip. The Freemont Experience has a canopy of lights covering the street in a convex fashion for several blocks. They do light shows with music every hour on the hour, but that day they were just videos of people singing, and it was not as impressive as it had been the last time Joanne was there when they had some kind of animation set to music.







The lovely maidens missed the last shuttle back to the casino where the motor home was parked because they stopped to have some pizza. So they used their 3 day passes with the public transportation system to travel there instead. Joanne discovered that she could input the address or name of the place they wanted to go into the map application of her iphone, and it would give the bus route and bus number, as well as track their current location. It was a handy discovery! After the lovely maidens boarded the bus, a lady they had met in one of the casinos also got on the bus. This lady was pretty funny and when they met her, she was racking up all kinds of winnings on a slot machine, so they watched her play for a while.







To be continued...