Category: 2019 Journal

We had a great time at the Grand Canyon! The weather was mild, by Arizona standards, and the trip down was uneventful. We even saw an elk as we were riding to Grand Canyon village. The service on the rim of the canyon is always beautiful. I talked to two different couples who saw some of our kids at dinner and came to the service. It’s cool that our group are evangelizing in that way. We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on our kids and only a couple of complaints, so it’s a net win.

We stayed in Williams, AZ on Wednesday night. On Thursday we rode down to Albuquerque to sing at Asbury UMC. We were actually in this church once before, but not last time we came out here. I’m pretty sure it’s been about 3 Grand Canyon tours ago that we visited. They have a new music minister who is young and energetic and wants to start his own youth choir. He and Kim spent a lot of time talking about youth choir stuff, so I’m sure we’ll be in touch with him again. It will be fun to see where his group is in a few years.

The talent show last night was epic, and no, I will not tell you about any of it. It was a great stress-reliever, and lest you think that we are totally out of control, Derek was there and it was all family friendly. Mostly. Kind of.

Today we’re headed to Oklahoma City, to sing at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.

Yesterday we rode down through Colorado and Wolf Creek Pass to Pagosa Springs, CO. There was plenty of snow at the pass, so the kids got to throw snowballs for awhile before heading down to Pagosa Springs. Community UMC in Pagosa Springs was our destination for last night. The service went well and they were wonderful hosts.

This morning we left for Page, AZ, stopping in Durango, CO for lunch, and at Four Corners to sing and shop. This evening we’re in a hotel overlooking Lake Powell. On past tours we have taken a boat ride on Lake Powell up into Antelope Canyon, but we weren’t able to work that into this year’s tour.

Tomorrow we head to the Grand Canyon to sing.

On Friday we rode to Augusta, KS, to Augusta UMC, home of Heather Bartlett’s family. We visited here on our last trip to Grand Canyon 6 years ago. They were wonderful hosts, as before, providing great taco dinner and a breakfast with egg casserole and french toast. The performance on Friday night went well.

Yesterday we left early to head to Colorado Springs and then up to Denver. On past tours we have sung at the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel for services, but this year we had learned that the chapel was to be closed for renovations over the summer. Kim learned that the chapel closing was delayed so we were hoping to get to sing in the chapel for ourselves at least, but there was a wedding going on, so we got to see it from the outside but not to go in. We did see a bit of the campus and the kids got to walk around the gift shop. It’s a beautiful setting, and it makes me wish I lived out here sometimes.

From there we rode up to Denver, found a mall for dinner, and then came to the church where we are now. This morning we sing for their 10a service and then do a full service at an assistant living facility this afternoon.

Tonight we’re in a hotel, which will be a nice break. I’m looking forward to sleeping in a bed and giving my back a rest. Needs are simple on choir tour: an occasional shower, a night not spent on a floor, those are the luxuries we crave on tour. 🙂

God’s Light had a great first day of tour for 2019! The bus ride to Sikeston, MO was relatively easy, and lunch at Lambert’s went so quickly that we had about an hour to kill time in a local park before going to First United Methodist Church to set up for the service. We had a great first performance and a good dinner, even had some free time at the church in the evening.

Today we head to Augusta, KS UMC, home of Leah Bartlett’s grandparents. We visited that church a couple of years ago and had a great time, so I’m looking forward to seeing it again.