Trek Across North America: Week 2

Well, here we are in Livonia, Michigan, enjoying some family time with my parents and brother. Before I forget, I wanted to mention that you can see more cute pictures of Alex and Sophie (and Rusty) during our time in Montana by visiting Roxanna's blog.

The second week of our journey was spent mostly with Uncle Ken and Aunt Rae in Manson, Manitoba. The weather was extremely hot and humid (reminded me of Japan), but we had a great time anyway, and it did cool off by the end of our stay. Here are some pictures of our time there.

Rusty preached twice on Sunday -- once in town at the church his aunt and uncle attend, and the second time at this little country church. It is actually an Anglican church, but the church of Christ folks meet there every Sunday. Hard wooden pews... no electricity (read: no AC)... an outhouse for a bathroom... an old cemetery outside. I definitely felt like I had stepped back in time!

Rusty and Alex "preaching the Word"

One day, we visited the memorial garden in Manson. The town of Manson consists of this garden, an ice rink, a church of Christ, an old community center that is now Uncle Ken's woodshop, and about half a dozen houses, only half of which are lived in! Can you say, "po-dunk?"

You can tell how hot it is by Alex' red face and super-curly hair!

Another day, we visited the Antique Auto Museum in a nearby town. They had lots of really cool old cars and old farm equipment. Alex enjoyed driving the tractors and combines.

Alex and Auntie Rae playing with her snow globe

Aunt Rae's beautiful flower garden

The Canadian prairie.

We left Uncle Ken and Aunt Rae's on Thursday, July 26, and drove to Edrans, Manitoba to visit Rusty's cousin Kemmy and her family. Despite a mishap with a trailer, on loan to us from Uncle Ken (his way of making sure we HAVE to come back), we arrived safely and had a good visit.

Rusty with Kemmy and her four kids.

After a long discussion, we decided against taking the trailer (sorry, Uncle Ken, I guess you'll just have to figure out another way to get us to come back!) and repacked what we could into the van. We left Edrans at about 4:30 p.m. on Friday, July 27. 25 hours later, we arrived in Coldwater, Michigan! We drove all through the night, a decision that was made partially for time's sake (Rusty had to preach in Coldwater on Sunday morning), and partially because we were too cheap to get a motel for just a few hours. We made it safely, but it took us several days to recover! I remember when I used to pull all-nighters in college, and let me just say -- it is not as easy as it used to be. I must be getting old or something!

And that was Week 2 of our Great Adventure!