TRAVELS – Page 6 – Skelton Sketches

Thankful

Posted on October 16, 2015April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend with a quick trip out to the prairies

to connect with a multitude of Skelton offspring.

Here are four generations of Skelton men…

The progenitor of them all came along with us! What a treat, to see the towns along the way through his eyes, including the church where he was married some 60 years ago!

The weather was idyllic for travel and the mountains are festive with their gold trimmings.

Larch trees are new to us. They are deciduous conifers, meaning they resemble a standard evergreen with needles and cones, but they turn yellow and lose all their needles in the fall. In the process whole monochromatic mountainsides are dramatically transformed.

And of course the other deciduous trees do their part,
bringing glory to even this pine-beetle ravaged swath of mountainside.

For fall color and for family I am grateful, and not to be taken for granted is safe travel. We made a short detour to take in beautiful Lake Louise

and were reminded of our visit here last November. This was our final sight-seeing stop before the crash that jolted us into some very big life changes. It is as though Lake Louise bookmarks in my mind the end of a chapter in our lives.

So much has changed for us in a year’s time.

And though we don’t know what this next chapter will bring, we are thankful for all the way the Lord has led and kept us, and for the family he has blessed us with!

–LS

Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His Name, make known HIs deeds among the peoples…Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Is.12:4,5

Beauty coming and going…

Posted on July 30, 2015April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

The prairies are beautiful at this time of year…

As are the little people who live there…

As are the mountain vistas we pass coming and going…

It isn’t very nice to have family so far away from us,

but it does give us the excuse to traverse some beautiful landscapes.

And now safely home once again, we are grateful for travelling mercies,

for work accomplished

and for good memories made with family.

(… a lesson in whistling by Grandad)

–LS

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; … so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. Ps.65:5-6,8 ESV

Road Trip and Tandem Rally

Posted on July 16, 2015April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

We traveled back to the coast last week for what has become an annual event for us

—The Northwest Tandem Rally!

Having moved away since we had registered meant we had a longer drive to get there than anticipated. Bellingham, Washington used to be relatively close to home—not any more.

But the 9+ hour drive to and fro was scenic…

…even spectacular!

[This is Diablo Lake. The surreal color is the result of glacial silt suspended in the water and reflecting its surroundings.]

And the Rally itself was a grand one with 400 other tandem teams joining us for 4 days of rides in and around Bellingham, Washington!

That’s my captain in the front as 400 bikes gather to kick off the Rally with a 4th of July ride, a 61-miler for those who chose the long route!

How do you capture 400 tandem bikes in a picture? I couldn’t. But Jim put together a little video of snippets from the rally which will give you the flavor of the thing without the sore muscles!

Join us for the ride!

Though there’s nothing quite like riding a tandem bike in the company of other tandem bikes (think FAST and FAR), the very best part is the few special couples you get to know a bit and look forward to seeing for years to come. It’s a pretty special bunch of couples that have figured out how to ride together and enjoy it!