We had a few stops over the past few days that were surprise
visits to the donors. Luckily, they were
kind enough to open their doors to us without notice. The first was Wilma in Santa Cruz. She is a lovely 93 year old woman although
her age would shock you if you saw her.
She is spry and active…and a lady ahead of her era. The story linking her to Yarnell is a
fascinating one. On June 30, 2013, Wilma
was on a bus traveling from her home in Santa Cruz to Prescott to visit her
dear friend Joan. When passing through
Yarnell, she encountered thick black smoke coming from the mountains to her
left. She thought about that scene for
the duration of the drive. When arriving
to Prescott she was informed of the fatalities of 19 young firefighters known
as the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew.
Shocked and distressed, Wilma shared with Joan that she had just driven
through the smoke from that fire. Her
disbelief and heavy heart created a call to action. While in Prescott, she made a donation to the
families who lost loved ones. It was an
honor to embrace her today and express gratitude for her thoughtfulness and
sympathy for the visual from that fateful day that remains in the forefront of
her memory. God bless you Wilma.
 |
| Wilma and Juliann |
 |
| Wilma and Juliann |
After leaving Wilma's house, we took advantage of the gorgeous Santa Cruz weather and explored the town a bit. There was beauty to be had everywhere you looked.
 |
| Juliann |
 |
| Juliann |
 |
| Morghen |
 |
| Juliann |
 |
| Tate, Shiloh, Juliann, Choice, and Ryder |
We even spent awhile at The Hook watching the surfers ride the waves. The kids were fascinated by their skills.
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Tate, Juliann, and Choice |
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Tate, Choice, and Juliann |
Our next pop-in visit was in San Francisco. We knocked on
the door around dinnertime, on a Sunday, while it was raining. You couldn’t have picked a more inconvenient
time for visitors. Bless her heart, a
lovely lady named Arden opened her door.
She and her husband, Larry, reached out and donated to the Granite
Mountain families shortly after the fire in 2013. Even though our visit was brief, we were
grateful to be able to thank her for being one of the extraordinary ones. She understands the value of charity and
supporting those who sacrifice.
 |
| Shiloh, Ryder, Arden, Choice, Juliann, and Tate |
 |
| Choice, Ryder, Shiloh, Juliann, and Choice |
Before leaving San Francisco, we had a couple of must see places. The first, of course, was the home where the sitcom Full House was filmed...
 |
| Shiloh and Juliann |
 |
| Morghen, Shiloh, and Juliann |
And...the Golden Gate Bridge!
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Choice, Juliann, and Tate |
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Morghen, Choice, and Tate |
 |
| Golden Gate Bridge |
Our last short visit in California was in the city of Bakersfield. When looking through names of donors and
creating our route across the United States, Bakersfield immediately popped out
at me. I was blown away by the
generosity of this town. In Bakersfield
alone, there were 129 different donations made toward the recovery of the
Yarnell Hill Fire. I sat humbly,
contemplating the good nature of this town and how they lovingly served our
community during our time of need. I
wanted to recognize them and tell their elected officials of the magnificence
of their great city. To accomplish this
task, we paid a visit to the City Hall.
We were blessed to meet Mayor Hall’s assistant, who sweetly received the
cards, bands, and shirts we brought for them.
This expression of compassion from the city of Bakersfield sets the bar
high for the rest of us. May we all
strive to spread the better as they have done.
Many thanks to the residents there.
 |
| Ryder, Tate, Shiloh, Choice, Juliann, and Mayor Hall's Assistant |
 |
| Tate, Choice, Juliann, Shiloh, and Ryder |
 |
| Tate, Choice, Juliann, Shiloh, and Ryder |
Following Bakersfield we wrapped up the California leg of our trip with two beautiful places. The first was driving through the Lake Tahoe area...
 |
| Juliann |
And the second, was an incredible trip to Yosemite National Park. Words can not do justice to the majesty of this park. We hiked three different trails with the kids and they were quite the little troopers. In fact, they would've loved to keep hiking when I told them it was time to hit the road.
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Juliann, Choice, and Tate |
 |
| Juliann |
 |
| Tate, Ryder, and Choice |
 |
| Choice, Shiloh, Tate, and Ryder |
 |
| Ryder, Juliann, Tate, Shiloh, and Choice |
 |
| Juliann |
 |
| Shiloh, Ryder, Tate, and Choice |
 |
| Ryder |
 |
| Choice and Morghen |
 |
| Ryder and Shiloh |
 |
| Ryder and Shiloh |
 |
| Choice, Tate, Shiloh, Ryder, and Juliann |
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Tate, and Choice |
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Tate, and Choice |
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Tate, and Choice |
 |
| Shiloh, Ryder, Choice, and Tate |
 |
| Juliann |
 |
| Tate, Shiloh, Ryder, Juliann, and Choice |
 |
| Shiloh, Tate, Juliann, Choice, and Ryder |
 |
| Choice, Morghen, and Tate |
 |
| Tate, Morghen, Juliann, and Choice |
 |
| Shiloh, Tate, Juliann, Choice, and Ryder |
 |
| Choice and Shiloh |
 |
| Choice, Tate, Shiloh, Ryder, and Juliann |
 |
| Morghen |
 |
| Juliann |
 |
| Choice, Ryder, Juliann, and Shiloh |
 |
| Morghen, Tate, Ryder, Choice, Shiloh, and Juliann |
 |
| Juliann, Shiloh, Ryder, Choice, Morghen, and Tate |
 |
| Juliann |
 |
| Tate, Choice, Shiloh, Juliann, and Ryder |
 |
| Choice |
 |
| Choice, Tate, Shiloh, Ryder, and Juliann |
 |
| Tate and Choice |
 |
| Choice and Juliann |
 |
| Choice, Tate, Ryder, and Shiloh |
 |
| Shiloh |
 |
| Ryder |
 |
| Choice, Juliann, Ryder, and Shiloh |
 |
| Choice, Juliann, Shiloh, Ryder, and Tate |
 |
| Ryder and Shiloh |
 |
| Shiloh, Tate, Choice, and Ryder |
 |
| Shiloh, Tate, Choice, and Ryder |
 |
| Our visitor at Yosemite |
 |
| Choice, Juliann, Shiloh, Ryder, and Tate |
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Tate, and Choice |
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Choice, and Tate |
 |
| Ryder, Shiloh, Choice, and Tate |
 |
| Ryder, Choice, Shiloh, Juliann, and Tate |
 |
| Our visitor at Yosemite |
 |
| Juliann, Ryder, Shiloh, Tate, and Choice |
We are heading back to Arizona to pick up the bus. Keep your "eye" out for the next upcoming adventure.
 |
| Choice |
This is wonderful! I'm so glad you're able to visit all these places and those precious people that reached out to you. The kids are getting so big! Bakersfield is close to where Justin and I are living, we're in Fresno. I wish I would've known you were close by! Tell the kids hello for me:)
ReplyDelete