July 15-21; Hello Canada!

Friday, July 15th-
Destination: backpacking at Winchester Lookout
Today, the guys were still in Bellingham with Michael and would be there for another 2 days. Another backpacking adventure would fill this day! The three traveled out to Winchester Mountain. They embarked on this hiking and camping trip and would continue embarking these next two days. On their hike up to Winchester Lookout, there was so much fog that it totally cut off the view from the lookout! They reached the top but didn't get the reward of an amazing 360 view. But they still had a lot of fun and found this little shelter building up at the top and even raised the American flag on the flagpole by the shelter! They had a good time goofing off and hanging out on their hike today!


Saturday, July 16th-
Destination: back from backpacking

After their cold night last night in the shelter on top of Winchester Mountain, the guys began their descent back to the foot. Clouds still engulfed the shelter so that they never got to see the view at its full potential, but it was still beautiful in its own way! They made it back down and climbed back in Michael's jeep to get back to his house. Once home, the guys prepared for tomorrow's departure. They packed up and got a good night's rest.




Sunday, July 17th-
Destination: across the border

This morning, Jonathan and Leo packed up all their things and were reunited with the bus that they had only temporarily abandoned while they spent the week at Mike's house. Once they got that settled, they joined Michael at his church in Bellingham. The guys really enjoyed the service. After being on the road all summer, they have missed out on worshiping with a whole bunch of fellow believers. At church this morning, they got to sing praise to our God and hear His Word preached! What a blessing that I tend to take for granted. They were really thankful and moved by the church service. After the sermon, the guys said their goodbyes to Mike. Jonathan and Leo had a great time in Bellingham, Washington with him and were so thankful to him for letting them stay for a week! From there, the two had a 45 minute drive to get into Canada! A new country! They had no problem getting across which was an answer to prayer from the Prayer Needs tab!! So praise the Lord for that blessing. They drove into Squamish, BC for some mountain biking. In the midst of their biking it began to absolutely POUR down. Like, monsoon. They were quite soaked but made the best of it! Afterwards they met a guy named Nick and offered to drive him to Whistler, BC- where the guys were headed! It was really neat that they met him, that he needed a ride, and that they were all headed to the same place! God knows and plans everything- even this encounter that may seem like a coincidence. They were able to share with him, so pray for Nick's heart. They dropped him off in Whistler and the guys continued to drive a little ways to find a spot to park the bus for the night.

Monday, July 18th-
Destination: Whistler, BC

 WHISTLER!! So two years ago, Leo came here for some mountain biking. This place is "totally sick" (surfer-dude voice). In all seriousness, it's awesome. Whistler is another well known mountain biking capital of the world. Jonathan and Leo had a fantastic time here today! They spent the majority of the day biking and finding new trails and perfecting their technical skills. Last time Leo was here, he broke his shoulder after a nasty fall when his bike caught a hidden stump at the top of a jump on the side of the trail. Thankfully this time there were zero injuries! They did go back and find the place Leo had fallen a couple of years ago and took some pictures with it. After a full day of biking, the guys drove northwest to get closer to tomorrow's destination and parked on the side of the road to sleep.




Tuesday, July 19th-
Destination: road

Today was chock full with driving. Lots of road. They were pointed toward Revelstoke, BC. They literally spent the entire day driving. Once they finally got to Revelstoke, it was late at night so they parked and slept; ready for tomorrow.







Wednesday, July 20th-
Destination: Revelstoke, British Columbia

Today Jonathan and Leo were doing different things. All morning, Leo struggled to get his dirt bike working. Not sure what's wrong with it, but after a few hours of trying to get it running right, it just wasn't getting anywhere, so he made his way back to the bus where Jonathan was. Today Jonathan had an interview actually, which is sort of funny with him being in a completely different country and time zone while interviewing! Thankfully they found WiFi for him to use, which came to be a benefit to me because that meant Leo and I could talk! A little while later, the guys drove through Glacier National Park into Banff, Alberta. Once there, they stopped at Lake Moraine. This is an absolutely gorgeous lake. The water is a beautiful blue, mountains surround the lake, and it is truly a lovely sight. They took about 20 minutes to just take it all in and look at its beauty. I think that is a really important part of the trip. If you just go, go, go all the time, busying yourself with activities, you miss out. Simply looking with our eyes on God's fascinating creation feeds the soul.

Thursday, July 21st-
Destination: back in the U-S-of-A

After sleeping just outside of Calgary, Alberta last night in Canada, the guys woke up to make an appearance back on American soil. The two drove back across the border, again with no problems, and on into Glacier National Park in Montana (completely different place from Glacier National Park in Canada.. weird I know). They hiked here in Glacier from 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and said it was really beautiful! They drove a little ways to find a spot for the night.