The Long Drive Home Part 2

Really nothing to report. :) Got coffee and pumpkin coffee cake at Coal Creek Coffee in Laramie--good but not great. The coffee shop I wanted to go to was closed on Sundays.

Little funny--when we checked in last night, the girl at the front desk asked what we were going to do while we were in town. I asked her what there was to do. She said we could visit the Lincoln statue. She claimed it was on the highest point in Laramie and that it was the highest Lincoln statue in the U.S.

Umm...okay.

We did not make the effort to visit the statue, however, I believe we passed in on the drive out. (Photo taken out Tim's window on I-80)

Funny enough, we stopped in Lincoln, NE for the night.

I Googled, "What food is Lincoln, NE known for?" It's Runza--a baked yeast-dough pocket sandwich filled with seasoned ground beef, cabbage, onions, and spices. It's history? German-Russian Roots: The concept traces back to Central and Eastern European immigrants—specifically Volga Germans who lived in Russia before moving to the American Midwest in the late 1800s. They brought a stuffed bread roll known as a bierock or kraut pirok.

The Restaurant Chain (Runza): Sally Everett and her brother opened the first Runza drive-in restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1949. She trademarked the name, and the regional fast-food chain has since grown to more than 80 locations across Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Colorado. (courtesy of AI)

I really liked it. Tim wasn't a big fan because of the onion.

This region (Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Wyoming, and parts of Colorado and Washington) is also known to eat chili and cinnamon rolls together--this originated in school lunches for the most part. I couldn't make myself order chili when it's 90° outside, so we just got a cinnamon roll--just okay.

Whew--I know that was thrilling. We'll be home tomorrow. As absolutely glorious as this trip has been, we're both ready to get back.

The Long Drive Home

We made the decision not to go to the Tetons. We're both disappointed, but the weather is just not cooperating. Rain is forecasted for the next five days. We want to be home by Wednesday, so we're not going to wait it out.

We had great coffee and a "breakfast cookie" at Twin Beans in Twin Falls, Idaho. Breakfast cookie is in quotations because our server deemed it a breakfast cookie. :) I'd love to be able to recreate it. It was more like a muffie...spicy pumpkin with chocolate chips.

We drove across much of Idaho and Wyoming today. This is what the sky looked like most of the time.

We were under a severe thunderstorm alert with the addition of high winds. Tim really had to concentrate and keep both hands on the wheel today. The rain was minimal but the wind was strong. As we pulled into Laramie, we were treated to a little segment of a rainbow.

We ate dinner at Born in a Barn--we couldn't resist. In fact, if they had not been out of t-shirts, I think Tim would have purchased one. What we did purchase was a top-notch Philly cheesesteak and green chile cheeseburger (and split them). The tots were just about perfect, too.

Tomorrow we'll put in another day in the car to get a little closer to home. 

Tyler Staten

So we set off today in the usual way--finding a local coffee shop. But here's the thing. Portland is known for it's coffee shops. If fact, many (myself included) might say that Portland is the epi-center of the third wave coffee movement. So there are hundreds, if not thousands of coffee shops in Portland. I knew of Stumptown, an icon that has become so big that you can find their coffee at your local Target...it may have been roasted in early August, but...

Maybe the biggest best known Instragram worthy I don't know... the leader in coffee--the one you can find in many of the smaller coffee shopshere in Portland, is Coava. That's where I thought I wanted to go. But Tim found a "best of" list from a local, and there were loads of choices...Coava, Keeper, Good Coffee, Albina Press, Heart to name a few. I had it narrowed down to Coava and Heart--Coava because it's Coava and Heart because...well, because this guy named Tyler Staten mentioned it in one of his sermons.

Long story longer...

Tyler Staten is the pastor at Bridgetown Church in Portland. I listen to the Bridgetown podcast of their weekly message almost every week. I particularly enjoy when Tyler teaches. He's vulnerable. He's honest about the messiness of life and practicing the way of Jesus. His life stories are poignant and down to earth. And he's a real guy who's suffered real things. He's talks about his family by name and readily admits to his brokeness and failures. He also gets theologically deep sometimes. The only thing I know of him is what he shares, but he just seems to walk his talk.

Back to morning coffee. I said to Tim, "I think I want to go to Heart."

"What made you pick that one?"

I laughed. "Well, because I remember that Tyler Staten mentioned it in one of his sermons...that it was a few blocks from the church where he pastors."

Mind you, Tim has no idea who Tyler Staten is. He's not a podcast listener or a reader, really, but his answer (as it is to most of my requests) was, "Okay."

We walked into the shop, and I went straight to the pastry case and coffee menu. Tim, as usual, took a look around. He happened to notice a dad having a conversation with a boy. Later he told me, "It looked like a mentoring situation, or a father-son bonding time kinda thing."

I ordered my coffee and cinnamon twist and turned to put a lid on my coffee cup. I noticed the guy and the boy, too. The dad was in cycling clothes. I looked up at his face and thought, That looks just like Tyler Staten and I know he is a cyclist. And then he started speaking to the boy. Yep. It was absolutely Tyler Staten. He has an unmistakable voice. Before I lost my nerve, I walked up to him and said, "I'd know that voice anywhere. You're Tyler Staten."

"Yes," he said,"And what's your name?"

"My name is Amy. I listen to your sermons on the Bridgetown podcast all the time, and I love your heart for Jesus."

"Amy, this is my son, Hank."

I turned to Hank, "Nice to meet you, Hank," then back to Tyler, "I'm sure you get accosted often, so I'll let you get back to your day."

"Well thank you, Amy, and bless you, sister."

I thought about asking if I could take a picture with him, but I thought it would be intrusive (and maybe a little weird). I walked out saying to Tim, "I just met Tyler Staten! He's the pastor I was just telling you about who mentioned Heart coffee in one of his sermons!"

In the short interaction I had with him, I'll say it again, he seemed to be the same guy I listen to on the podcast. I think it's dangerous to put any person on a pedestal, and I wouldn't consider Tyler Staten a celebrity pastor, but he sure is a good teacher who, from all accounts seems to follow hard after Jesus. And I think that's pretty cool.

Oh. The coffee was pretty awesome, too.

After our coffee stop, we spent most of the rest of the day on the road. We were hoping to see the Tetons tomorrow (I guess it's already tomorrow) and stay a day,  but the weather forecast does not look good. If the forecast doesn't change for tomorrow, we'll probably put in a good day's drive and try to get home by Monday.

Portland

 

These guys right here. They're the reason we came to Portland. There are a lot of cool things to see and do, but the best thing to do is see these guys--Evan, Tyler, and Rowan--our nephews and great nephew. If their schedule had not allowed us to see them, we would have turned for home after the Avenue of the Giants. Instead, we made our way up to Portland. It wasn't as much time as we would have liked, but it was sweet. Tomorrow we head for home with a stop in the Tetons.

Crater Lake

No words (other than these I've just written).

Trees

Today, we drove and walked among the coastal Redwoods--Sequoia sempervirens. That could (and maybe should) be my entire post. I took 125 photos. I'm going to narrow it down to ten. Tim took at least that many. I made him narrow it down to ten as well...actually it ended up being twelve for me and eight for Tim...I'm the blog writer and editor. :)

But first...coffee...second best coffee of the trip--Black Oak Coffee Roasters in Ukiah, CA. I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season. Like the coffee from 11th Hour, this cup was perfectly balanced--not too heavy on any one spice, even a hint of pumpkin, and coffee forward. Tim had an iced horchata latte and agreed it was the second best of the trip. (We're still dreaming of 11th Hour coffee in Santa Cruz.)

And now the stars of the show:

There is something special about roaming around these ancient, gentle giants...although they are not so gentle when they fall. The calm. The steadiness. The steadfastness. It's comforting and awe-inspiring all at the same time. It's a reminder to me that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Bookending our day with food. I just might say my fish and chips were best I've ever had. Tim really enjoyed his oyster po' boy.

The waitress was great. When she sat Tim's plate of food on the table, she looked at his sweet potato tots and said, "Oh, those aren't right. Try one and tell me if they're bad." I think Tim's face said it all. She brought him a second basket of perfectly cooked sweet potato tots. :)

I think I may have underestimated the time we would spend driving and walking through the Redwood forests. The Avenue of the Giants is scenic byway 254 that runs alongside highway 101. We also skirted along the coast of northern California but really didn't stop for photos. I snapped a couple as we drove. The fog was rolling in and gave a nice hazy look to them.

Coming back inland, we were back in the Redwoods in the Jedidiah Smith Grove. We pulled into Grants Pass around 8:30 p.m.

Tomorrow, Crater Lake!