Well we’ve officially finished the USA tour we’ve been on with ‘Five Star Streets’ and ‘Saving Sparrow’. We’ve roughly chalked up around 10,000 miles (or 16,000KM) of driving. Here’s a roough map of where we’ve gone:
Here’s our latest and probably final update for the USA tour 2009:
Our friend, Bill, in New York has a sign company called ”Peconic Sign Company’ and sent us through some decals for our trailer. We were really impressed how they turned out. We’ve already had people check out our website due to the trailer alone. Check out the photos below:
When we last left off, we were just finishing our stint in Southern California. I now write from Calgary, Alberta where the weather and scenery has changed yet again.
We left LA on a sunny mid morning, making our way (slowly, ever so slowly) to San Francisco, where we would meet our old friends David and Kim Lehmann in the ghetto. Quite literally. BJ and Dan, the two Aussies and the self-proclaimed bravest of the bunch, were hesitant to get out of the car when we arrived.
After a delightful respite at the Lehmans, we made our way to Salem, Oregon where we would have our next show. Three hours into the drive, we pulled off at Corning, CA to make a pit stop. After lunch, Nick and I made our way back to the vehicle. Nick stopped in the street and stared at the trailer.
“Does the trailer look lopsided to you?” He asked. I, being totally trailer savvy, arched my neck to scrutinize the angle of the tires.
“Nah. It’s just the road or something. Maybe we’re parked on a little hill.”
Thankfully, he did NOT take my advice, got on his knees and palms to look underneath the hitch. Much to our chagrin, the trailer was busting at the seams. We found out later it was a manufacturing issue and something called a fly leaf nut was screwed on too tight.
I guess it wasn’t the pavement.
After a few hours of delay, we made our way back on the road to Salem. The landscape changed yet again and all of a sudden, we were surrounded by thick pine forests and rocky uprisings, looming high into the late afternoon sky. We arrived late into Salem to one of the most lovely YWAM (Youth With A Mission) bases we’ve seen. They actually have a zip line that runs across the campus and frequently, we saw kids flying freely over the center’s buildings.
We had an amazing show the next day, playing to the young and old. Jessica and I realized that we were quickly selling out of our cds. People were enjoying the music! We were able to encourage a few young people that evening, getting them excited about the Ship tour we are doing and how they can be involved.
Because of our trailer fiasco, we were late in setting out for the Canadian border. We hoped to get to Kelowna, British Columbia by evening. Last time we were on tour, we were made to get out of our vehicles to approach the border. Nick got yelled at, Mike high-fived an officer and we walked away virtually unscathed. We prayed as we approached this night, for the same grace.
We got to the border and the minute the officer heard that there were three Americans, three Canadians and two Australians, she took more interest. She asked us a slew of questions through the window and then finding out we were selling CD’s, filled out a little yellow slip. I knew that didn’t mean we were going to be driving straight through. Sure enough, we had to pull over and walk into the office.
There is something to say about border patrol. It’s a very intimidating process, shuffling into a brightly lit building with six officers watching you from the safety of their glass booths. There is nothing ‘welcoming’ about the office and immediately, you feel the guilty just being there. Like it is a crime to have been summoned to “pull over your vehicle” and everyone’s suspicious.
Fortunately, we were given a huge measure of grace and didn’t have to pay the thousands of dollars in tax for the CD’s we were bringing in. We muttered our thanks and quickly hustled back into the Suburban before the officers changed their minds.
We pulled into our friend Rebecca’s house, only 20 miles from the crossing, to a feast that will always be remembered. We were happy to be in Canada, the land of Tim Hortons, the metric system and very different accents.
We awoke in Chilliwack, BC and found ourselves surrounded by beautiful mountains and thousands of chickens. The Krahns have a lovely home and a large chicken farm in which they supply their area with eggs. We ate our breakfast outside in the morning sun while kittens played at our feet and a large husky chewed on a tennis ball in the grass.
The drive from Chilliwack to Kelowna is some of the more beautiful scenery I’ve ever witnessed. We drove through the Canadian Rockies and deep gorges and ravines plunged on every side. Glacial peaks shone in the sun in the distance and I kept my eyes peeled for black bears in the valley.
Kelowna is a beautiful town, nestled in a valley on a lake in the middle of the mountains. The city is divided into two sections across the lake from the other. Our show was on the East side in the downtown area.
We met some familiar friends in town, most of whom work for a Disney site called Club Penguin. They monitor this site, meant for kids who have a desire to be a penguin and live in a penguin land. It’s a very cool job, though the Club has mystified our team. We spent a whole evening at Denny’s, prodding our friends about the ins and outs of the Club. Our friends seem to be the “security” for the site, monitoring penguin’s conversations and whereabouts. For more info, please google it. It’s fascinating.
We played at a place called The Habitat, a really cool venue where we performed for YWAMers and metal heads. We had awesome opportunities and saw a lot of familiar faces!
We then made our way to Calgary, where we are now, loving being with Jessica’s family and friends. We will continue to keep you updated!
This is the latest ‘Let Justice Sing’ tour update. We’ll be putting out regular updates so check back soon for more!
We are sitting on a plane, the lights are dimmed and all I can think about are the restaurants I will be eating at in a few short hours. Restaurants, Dr. Pepper, Starbucks, free wireless – truly, what is better than North America?
That was only a week and a half ago and I have to say, America has not dissapointed. We arrived in Kalispell, Montana on the 30th of August, welcomed by our friends parent’s, their adorable puppy, blue skies and towering mountains. We had finally made it. After settling in to the Murray’s picturesque mountain home, we ate steak from their grill and watched the sun set from the porch. The smell of Pine was everywhere and I thought I’d strayed into a dream. This was only the first few hours.
Nick and I had a day to ourselves before everyone arrived and we decided to drive up to Glacier National Park. Nick, I must say, did an excellent job navigating the road after driving on the left hand side of the road for so long. He was an old pro. We toured along the lake, breathing in the fresh air and beholding the peaks of the Rockies in front of us. Nick attempted a “dip” in the glacier stream and quickly made his way out on to the beach, much to the amusement of some local onlookers.
Everyone in the band arrived in the next few days and we prepared for our first show in Kalispell. We had no idea what to expect. Would people like our music? Would they like us? Would we actually sound good on stage? Those answers were quickly answered as fans gushed about the music and the message after the show. We sold CD’s, raised money for Papua New Guinea and had people interested. There are now people in Montana who are playing Five Star Streets and Saving Sparrow in thier CD players, maybe even humming along.
We stayed a week in the Big Sky state and on the last day of our stay, the boys decided to see how they would fare on a hike up the mountains in the Park. We girls decided to let the boys have their fun while we went to Big Fork and did the girliest thing possible – had lunch at a tea cottage and looked at pottery. When we regrouped at the end of the day, we found the boys almost stunned with amazement. Their adventure included a full day of snow (a new thing for the Aussies on our team), mountain goats on their trail, watching a grizzly bear and her cubs and fishing in a glacier lake. Not to mention that after dinner, they were all able to shoot a rifle off the porch. I’m not kidding. I even tried it myself.
And that’s something about America. It’s boggling that you can walk into Kmart, buy some ammo and then, heck, let’s get a gun. On our recent drive through Las Vegas, we actually saw a billboard with a semi automatic rifle with the flippant suggestion: “Just try one.” Try what, a gun? Just give it a go? Jaws dropped and we discussed the prevalence of firearms in America and the fact that you can barely get a mobile phone in Australia without giving up your rights to your home, automobile and first born son.
After Montana, we headed to Salt Lake City. The scenery along our drive changed slowly from rolling hills and green mountains to pale, treeless ranges and dusty farms. We arrived in Salt Lake to our friend’s sister’s home and yet another genuine, American barbecue. We hadn’t eaten at one restaurant yet, I realized. We made our way to our hotel and let our travels melt away in the comfy beds at Holiday Inn.
Oh yeah, hotels are totally different, too. We got to our room and for real, the television was as long and wide as our compact car back home. You know your t.v.’s big when it reflects the entire room on its’ screen. They also serve you breakfast at hotels in America! And not just cereal in boxes, no. We had eggs, cereal, yogurt, more cereal, cinnamon buns, bagels, croissants, gravy – I was totally overwhelmed and could only eat cereal.
When we made our way to the venue the next morning, we were introduced to Dave, one of the coolest Youth Pastors ever. He made sure we had lattes from their cafe before we set up and then decided to take us to lunch at Sam’s club. Sam’s is a magical place where you can get a hotdog and a drink for $1.50. We were expecting little dogs, a can of soda.
Wrong.
The lady at the counter handed me one of the biggest hot dogs I’ve ever seen and then handed my a cup larger than my purse. What the heck could I possibly drink this much of? Not to mention it was 4x the size of my bladder. But, hey, we were in America and I filled it to the brim with Dr. Pepper (I think I drank around 1/4 of the liquid and then shook for the next 3 hours from a sugar high).
We played for a great youth group that night, had them jumping and encouraged them to make a difference. It was awesome. But then we went out for pizza. Now, there is a small chain of pizza companies named Eagle Boys in Australia that claims to have the largest “large” pizza when compared with America. Sorry, Boys. We have found a suitable competitor. We ordered not one, but two large pizzas from The Pie in SLC, both 23′ in diameter. I’m being totally truthful when I say it was the size of our Suburban’s tire. We ate it for the next two days. Cold.
The next day, we said goodbye to Salt Lake and arrived late the next evening in San Bernardino, California to our manager Jacky’s home. Boy were we glad to arrive. Just when the 10 hour drive started to wear us all thin, we started singing old sunday school songs to lighten our moods and hearts. We also started a very serious competition of the Name Game where we discovered that Dan, our bass player, hates to lose.
We had our fourth show last night and afterward, ate our very first Mexican food in America. I, though hungry, decided to order healthy and asked for the Taco Salad. Big mistake. Out came a large mixing bowl-size tostada shell filled with everything. Seriously. There was not one thing missing in there from the 18,000 food groups in America. Needless to say, I ate barely half (I was then offered a fried zucchini, which I tried and loved and then felt very, very bad).
Our troops have headed off to Disney Land today, taking in all that California has to offer. Tomorrow, we head up to San Francisco to see some old friends before our next and fifth show in Salem, Oregon. Stay tuned, friends, to hear more about what we’re eating…errr…up to!
Sara and Nick are crazy missionaries in the land of kangaroos, vegemite, and hot Christmases. They’ve been working with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) since 2004. They don’t receive a salary for what they do and rely on wonderful people, like yourself, to live and do ministry in the land they call Oz. RTO (Reef to Outback), the YWAM centre Nick and Sara work at, has a large focus on Australian youth and the people of Papua New Guniea.
Read our November 2010 newsletter by clicking here