Sunday

We woke up this morning to the sound of the Bitterroot River racing over the rocks just outside the camper door. We took our time getting ready, but eventually got everything torn down in time to head over to what used to be the Hamilton Wesleyan Church, but was recently renamed the Mt. View Wesleyan Church. This is the church where I grew up. Many of the people there had a huge hand in the shaping of my adult life. I have only been there a small handful of times, other than a summer internship since 1991.

We had warned no one we were coming, so it was a blast to see the reactions on some of our old friends' faces as we walked in the doors of the small church. We created such a stir that services started late.

When the Pastor got up for his announcements, he welcomed us and Herb Bounds, a long time friend of my folks, yelled from the back "It's nice to have them here, but could they please go and send back Jon and Esther?! We miss them more!" Everyone laughed.

They're working hard to get the church updated. They've put in nice new carpet, chairs, sound system, projector and more.

After service a few of them men helped me repair the jack that I had bent to a 45 degree angle going over a curb in Rapid City (long story that I really don't want to type yet, I'm still mad at myself) in the back yard of the church.

We visited with several families whom I had not seen in a long time, and, of course, they all knew Kiley from her travels with her folks as well as her attachment to me. I think they enjoy talking to her more. :-)

From there, we went out to eat with the David, Rhonda, Bruce King and their two youngest kids. Bruce was my CYC leader for years and had much to do with some of my early value system. David is a few years older than I am and I've admired his faithfulness to Hamilton Wesleyan. He and his wife have been good friends to my folks. Leo and Susan also joined us. I don't know them well, but she worked for my folks for a long time during their last years in Hamilton.

We drove around town and took pictures of my old stomping grounds. I was amazed that the boys were actually interested in where I grew up. We couldn't get up to see our old house, but were able to see it through binoculars across a field. It's been well cared for and they even added more space onto my old bedroom!

From there, we headed West. We had heard about a large Indoor Water Park in Kellog, ID, so we excitedly headed there. Once there though, we discovered that it was VERY expensive to stay. (I explained it to the boys as, "We could stay here and play for one night or we could by an XBox 360 and keep it." -- that kind of put things in perspective.).

So, disappointed, we headed on West and found a nice little campground in the cool evening winds of Post Falls, ID. We arrived just in time for a light picnic dinner and went to bed.

We'll head towards the Columbia River Gorge on Monday, but at a much slower pace.