God Made This World So Beautiful For You + Me

​And as one blue sky day after another lies to rest in sunset hues over the hills, our time in California is coming to an end. We have replacements, as I’m sure many of you know, whose names are Joel and Kaleigh Koehn. They will come all the way from Fleetwood, Pennsylvania and we will welcome their arrival in Oakley on July twenty-eight. We plan to overlap with them for a few days before beginning our journey home.

 

Away back to April I shall go to begin where my last letter ended. We did our Reno, Nevada route with Troy and Kayla for the last time. We were supposed to meet Troy’s in Truckee by lunchtime, but an unplanned dental appointment made us late. When we finally got on the road, we realized we’d forgotten some of our clothes and food. (Kayla and I had all the meals planned for the two days we were going to be there.) So, we turned around and headed back to the house. (About an hour.) It was pouring rain, and traffic was constant. So, our day didn’t start very well.

Something was going on in Reno that weekend and Troy could not find an Airbnb available there. We ended up spending the night in North Lake Tahoe instead, and I’m quite certain it was a big fat stroke of luck for us, as the weatherman was predicting large amounts of snow over the days we were there. Indeed it did snow. Magical, giant, soft flurries for hours on end. We kept warm by the fire and sipped lots of coffee. Nevertheless, the weather did not stop two men on a mission. Brent and Troy put out over 15,000 tracts in two days. One man told Brent that Reno is the most wicked city in the country. Much worse than Las Vegas. Surely a little gospel spread here and there wouldn’t hurt in a city like that.

We ended up getting snowed in for another day there in North Lake. The roads back to the Bay Area were closed, plus our van wasn’t even gonna make it out of the driveway. Troy’s were in their pickup, so they ended up being able to go home. The cabin felt a little quiet without them, but we made some soup, hung out in the hot tub, and watched it snow. The next morning the sun was shining with radiant beauty and the entire white world was sparkling. The snow was melting fast and the roads were cleared, so we packed up and headed home. I can not begin to describe the awesome scenery we tried to take in on our way home around the lake. (Awesome as in amazing, breathtaking, astonishing, magnificent, and spectacular.) Brent and I agreed that North Lake Tahoe covered in snow is one of the most amazing sights we’ve ever beheld. (We usually go to South Lake Tahoe as this is where we have a tract route. We had never been to North Lake.) The evergreen trees were laden with tall stacks of white snow, the sky was blue and full of pure mountain sunshine, the lake was an indescribable shade of the most vibrant blue, and the whole world was dazzling. The streams were gurgling and gushing, filled to the brim with snowmelt. Waterfalls were cascading down smooth rock mountain sides, the mountains guarding the edge of the lake were draped in snow, and I believe we are rich in life because we have seen such sights and are known by the mighty God who created it all.

This water color is not exaggerated, just sayin’.🤭

Titus, Kayla, and Emma came to visit us in the last part of April. Now all of my siblings have been here to visit.🤍 We packed their five-day stay full to the brim. We took them along on our Napa Valley route. (That was our last time doing that route.🥲) We picked delightful bunches of cherries at one of the nearby cherry orchards and spent a day in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Point Reyes. The day we went out to Point Reyes was full of sunshine and warmth. We stopped at the darling little Marin French Cheese Company for some fresh cheese samples and an enormous ice cream cone. Once we arrived at Point Reyes, we took our picnic lunch up on a steep green hill and tried to brace ourselves there lest we should slide down to the crashing waves around 300 feet below. There isn’t really a good place for a picnic at Point Reyes, but one must make do as the thoroughly astonishing scenery around needs to be enjoyed for more than just a moment. So, we sat on the hill, ate our croissant sandwiches, watched sea lions on the rocks below, and tried to take in the view around us. After our picnic, we hiked down to the lighthouse. I’ve written about this place before, but lest you should forget I shall recount it once more. We have spotted whales numerous times here, so we kept our eyes on the shining seas as we climbed down the 313 steps to the lighthouse. We ended up seeing lots of whales on our way home along the sea but they were only spouting and not breaching. We stopped at our favorite coffee shop in the quaint little town of Point Reyes Station. It is inside an old feed barn. Point Reyes is always a good time. And for any Cali locals who haven’t been there, it is well worth your time.

Thanks for coming Titus and Kayla. 

Point Reyes Lighthouse.

We randomly went to Princeton one Sunday morning. They have a beautiful new church and lots of room to grow looked like. Our friends Chris and Amy Geisbrect invited us for lunch along with Craig and Beth Geisbrect. Lovely day. After a most satisfying lunch, we sat outside under a laden cherry tree and ate cherries. We ran over to Shawn’s to put the boys down for naps before evening church at Glenn. The young couples from West Valley, Glenn, and Princeton put on a late Easter program. The singing was fantastic. We enjoyed a night lunch at Shawn’s with the Mitch Toews family before hitting the road for home.

Princeton came our way the first Sunday in May for Sunday service. Allyn and Joyce Johnston and Carl and Judith Geisbrect came, and Joyce said they were going to bring the entire lunch. So, I sat back and guiltily relaxed. Enjoyed the day very much as well as the decadent meal of tacos with Joyce’s fresh ground flour tortillas. We went down to the water after lunch and walked out on the pier.

 

We were invited to the park in Orland one evening to be with Drew and Rayna. They just finished their term in Chicago and came out here to visit their siblings before heading home. Drew’s sister Brianna and Austin are houseparents in Paradise and Rayna’s sister Kristen is married to Dallas Peaster from Ballico. So fun being with Drew’s again and a bunch of friends from Glenn.

 

One afternoon we finally walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. Another one of those things that we can’t believe we didn’t do sooner. Elliot rode his bike and Ezra rode his scooter. It was quite windy, so we didn’t make it all the way across. Sea lions were swimming below the bridge and a hundred or more kite surfers were bobbing about. White sailboats dotted the sparkling bay, ferry boats were cruising the tourists around, and the SF skyline was brilliantly defined against the blue sky. Looking out on one side of the bridge you see the SF skyline, Sausalito nestled in the hills above the sea, Alcatraz and Angel Island, and Fort Point. (Fort Point is a 19th-century brick fort.) On the other side of the bridge, you see the doorway to the mighty Pacific Ocean. You see the Marin Headlands, which are rugged coastal bluffs/mountains, and the faithful Point Bonita Lighthouse that has been showing ships the way through the strait since 1855. You can also see Ocean Beach, Marshall Beach, Baker Beach, and The Presidio. (The Presidio is a 1,500-acre national park site and historic landmark at the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula.) On a really clear day, you can also see the rocky Farallon Islands lying 27 miles off the coast. These rocky islands are a protected wildlife refuge.

As of 2024, the Golden Gate Bridge has suicide prevention safety nets.  The roadway of the bridge is 220 feet above the water and the two main towers of the bridge soar 746 feet above the water. The main steel suspension cables are long enough to wrap around the world three times.  It is arguably the most iconic bridge in the world with the most outstanding bridge views in the world.

 

We found ourselves in Sausalito for supper at our favorite place. Taste of Rome. A cappuccino and wood fired pizza. After supper, we headed to Baker Beach to watch the sunset. We ended up watching the sunset from the top of the Sand Ladder. The Sand Ladder consists of 200 steps made of logs or railroad ties held together by heavy-duty cables and the steps are mostly covered in sand. It’s one way to get down from the coastal bluffs to the water. The other way to get down to Baker Beach is by hiking part of the Batteries to Bluffs trail. The trail ends at a set of steep stairs that lead you down to the beach. It’s all so unique and entirely different than the Florida coast I grew up on. Anyway, back to the sunset. The sun had grown old and golden in the westerly sky by the time we arrived, and the last few rays of sunshine were warming the windows of a million San Francisco homes. Watching a giant orange ball sink into the sea never grows old, but I wish most ardently that every one of you could see a sunset from this exact location.

The Sand Ladder. (It’s a lot steeper than it looks in the picture.)

May nine Elliot turned four—a much-anticipated day. We gave him a bike for his birthday and he hopped on and took off. No training wheels needed. The short four years of his life flashed before my eyes as he flashed by on his big boy bike and I felt rather sad. He wanted to invite Curt and Lois for supper, so that’s what we did. So glad they could come and help us celebrate Brent and Elliot. We have spent numerous evenings over at Curt’s lately picking raspberries. There have been loads of berries every time we’ve gone, and there is something so delightful about picking and eating raspberries straight from the vines. One evening Lois made us a delectable meal of firecracker salmon over brown rice. We feel blessed to have such friends here.

We were invited to Logan and Karen’s for Mother’s Day. Butter chicken and naan were enjoyed outside under the shade trees. And Brent had run out of tracts again, so the Glenn congregation kindly helped us rainbow a bunch more that evening.

 

Brent now has 45 routes and around 1,600 stops. Some weeks he has been working Monday-Friday doing tracts, trying to get over each route before we head home. We decided it was time for a little break, so we took off over the weekend for Pismo Beach. The road through Big Sur was finally reopened not long ago after being closed for a few years, so we were excited about getting to see that part of Hwy 1 after all. (We have been to the Bixby Bridge and McWay Falls, but the road was closed beyond that.) The newly opened part of Hwy 1.

As you leave the Bay Area and head off down Hwy 1 toward Monterey, the water begins to change. By the time you arrive in Carmel by the Sea, the water has turned to an unimaginable shade of blue. The rocky coastline is a breathtaking collision of land and sea, defined by towering bluffs, dramatic sea cliffs, and thundering waves that crash into the rocks and leave a frothing white foam. As we drove I marveled at the beauty of the nearly vertical bluffs that rose directly from the ocean. The sea arches that were carved by the crashing waves feature little windows in the rock. Eventually, wave erosion wears away the base of the arch, the arch will fall away, and all that will be left is a sea stack. We saw many sea stacks as well. Morro Rock. (Above.)

Keyhole Arch.

There are rocky coves and pristine beaches that are accessible by little wooden steps and there are quaint wooden bridges that cross little creek beds here and there. Makes one feel as though they were driving through a storybook. We passed by Calla Lilly Valley and got to see the Calla Lilies blooming. 

Calla Lilly Valley.

Some sunny beaches were covered in huge sleeping sea lions sunning themselves and completely unaware of the world passing by. We crossed the iconic Bixby Bridge and made a quick stop at McWay Falls. McWay Falls is mesmerizing. It feels as though you are looking at a calendar picture. It’s funny how people just stand there and kind of gawk at the scene before them.

McWay Falls.

I don’t have enough time to tell you of all the beaches, parks, landmarks, and cute little towns we passed through. Late afternoon, we arrived in Pismo at our motel that sat on the edge of a sea cliff and offered unreal views of the Pacific Ocean. A flight of stairs clung to the cliff and led to the beach below. We spent two nights there and the boys had the time of their lives chasing seagulls and playing in the sand. I found four whole sand dollars and had fun exploring the sea caves along the shoreline. And at night when we fell asleep, we could hear the ceaseless call of the sea far below.

 

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Brian and Deb’s. Bryce and Savannah came as well, since Branson was graduating. (Brian and Deb’s son.) Friday evening was the school program. It was outdoors at the Winton/Ballico school. So many people there, and a large class of graduates. Saturday was the play day, in the evening we went to Jo and Kellie Reagers for an outdoor steak supper, and for Sunday lunch we were at Brian’s with a large group of company. Monday, Brent and Bryce made breakfast on the Blackstone and we spent a low-key day there at Brian’s. Jo, Kellie, and their boys came over to hang out. Definitely will miss being at Deb’s as she feels like a mom to me and we’ve known them since forever. Always feels so special to be there with my family when I used to hang out there in my youth days.

 

Jeremy and Vicki, our friends from Livingston, came to spend a Saturday with us. Brent and I made brunch for them and then we headed up into the mountains to Tilden Park. The kids once again enjoyed the steam train, the vintage carousel, and the petting zoo. A lovely day wherein you donned a sweater and not long later took it off. Ended up at Skipolini’s in downtown Oakley for supper on the patio. It’s always fun when local friends take time to drive over here and hang out with us.

That Sunday, we had no plans so we headed into San Francisco for the day. We wanted to eat lunch at a Mexican place we’ve heard about several times that supposedly has the best burritos ever. It’s in the Mission District of SF. When we arrived we saw the line was down the sidewalk, around the corner, and steadily growing. So we gave that one up and ate at a Peruvian restaurant next door instead. After lunch, we hiked the Batteries to Bluffs Trail which offers dramatic scenery as it runs along the rugged bluffs above the sea between the Golden Gate Bridge and Baker Beach. The day was crystal clear, with warm blue skies and a slight sea breeze. (Typical San Francisco. In our experience, it’s rarely foggy and cloudy.) The trail consisted of a little dirt path, many stairs, and breathtaking vista points. A nice little Sunday romp by the sea. And to think, we’ve been here almost two years and never done this hike. I try not to think what all else is lurking just around the corner in complete spellbinding beauty but has not yet been discovered by me.

Batteries to Bluffs Trail

Baker Beach

Most of the highlights I recounted were on the weekends, but the weekdays are just normal days. The boys and I have spent quite a bit of time at home lately. Brent has been gone a lot. On the road, stuck in traffic, servicing his routes. The boys keep me very busy, as they are coming up with new ways everyday to keep me sanctified. I am getting excited about getting them back home on the farm where they have room to run wild and free and aren’t confined to a small place in town. I’m quite certain they get bored and then end up coming up with way too many bad ideas. 

Ok, thanks for reading and as always, keeps us in your prayers.