Kevin is back in MN

He has landed at MSP airport. Ryan says he needs to shave!

Back in the US

Kevin is safely back in the US. He landed in Washington DC this morning. He is enjoying his first salad since he left! He has two more flights to get home to MN. We pick home up this evening, then off to sleep!  He'll probably update the blog on Tuesday with more stories.

Prayer tent

Well the first picture is of my interpreter Stephen.  He is a pastor in Burangua Africa (my spelling is probably off).  The second is of the prayer tent.  It was almost always busy and I have to say African Hot for the temp which felt about like 100 degree or higher.  The third pic is of our prayer totals but I know people where healed outside the prayer tent and not recorded.  Witch craft was the main curse affecting many people.  Once removed eyes could see legs grew out and sickness left their body.  I believe God grew out 80 legs in four days through my hands if not more.  Praise God He is good.  It was also a privilege to pray for the Lemba people, there were many who were not, but to pray for healing and salvation for a Israelite was awesome!   

Local kids and scenery

Here are some of the kids on there way to school.  Every child wanted their picture taken and then we would show them and  it brought such smiles to their faces and ours.  Their were only a few shops and half were run down along with trash and stripped vehicles.  Hopefully that gives the picture of the need for help.

At the clinic

The first two days the lines were shorter but then it exploded and on Wed the clinic saw 1475 people and Thursday over 2100 people.  We were in such a rural area that it took a day or more to get to and farmers were plowing fields which is done by two Ox and a one bladed plow.  A thousand people would be waiting for us when we arrived at the clinic.

 

We finally made it to Buhera Africa clinic

We made it to our home base site.  This is where we would spend the next seven days in our tents with in a big tent.  We all hardly slept that night due to jet lag and the local bar was 100 yards from us with dance music until 4 am...by the way I miss sleep!  We all got

ready for the day to set up the clinic which went well until the unnatural storm of the decade hit the camp.  Even the locals said it was not normal.  Over 3 inches in one hour and lightning struck a tree 40 feet from where we were standing.  Oh and our big white tent back at camp was blown over and made many things wet.  I just keep saying in amazement " we are in Africa" and that seems to help.

On our way to the clinic

This was a common site to see, little vendors just outside the city.  There our many without jobs and poor selling anything they can standing for 12hrs a day  selling bananas or water.

 

Made it to Zimbabwe

Everything is good but no picks can be taken in Harare so the rest will be taken in Buhera at the clinic.  The two picks are when we arrived at customs in Zimbabwe and the bus that took us to the hotel

Security in Ethiopia

MAnd you thought the US was bad.  One guy x raying bags for a lot of people!

Kevin has arrived in Zimbabwe

Here's Kevin text from this morning at 6:16am CT:

"We've just arrived in Zimbabwe...what was I thinking...I need to trust God more to make it through"

And from 7:31am CT:

"Well we are not in the hotel we were suppose to be in but on bright side only a 2-3hr bus ride instead of 10hrs tomorrow love you all is good just tired"

Leaving for Ethiopia

Well after a restless night we are an hour from getting on our 13 plus hour flight.  I am hoping for some rest and more great conversation about what God is doing in others lives around the US.  Peace to you all.

Last supper at outback before the interesting food in Africa. I am looking forward to a good night sleep before the 18 plus plane ride tomorrow.

Let the journey begin!

Kevin is at the Minneapolis airport.

Africa here I come!

Let the adventure begin. Kevin is headed to the airport with 3 bags. One to check (32lbs) one carry on bag (15lbs) and one man purse...I mean personal bag.

Day 13: our final leg - Sioux Falls to Home

This 

The boys had fun looking at Uncle Mike's Archery collection.

Total expenses for this trip:

Camp sites = $218.11

Car rental = $102.48

Entertainment = $316.40

Food = $348.23

Gas = $1391.23

Laundry = $11.25

Snacks = $28.86

Souvenirs = $90.85

RV Rental = $2855.85

Total = $5363.26

Stories and laughable moments = priceless

Day 12: found bike keys!

We arrived in Mitchell, SD and drove by the famous Corn Palace.

We were setting up for our last night at the RV park. Ryan was taking out the camp chairs for our first camp fire. He opened Kevin's chair and got super excited. "I found the bike keys!"

We'll go for a quick bike ride tonight around the campground. Then have s'mores and a good night sleep.

Tomorrow we'll visit with Heather's Auntie Donna in Sioux Falls, SD and then drive HOME!! :)

Day 12: across South Dakota

We enjoyed a relaxing visit at the cabin in Lead, SD with Michelle, Clare, and Charlie. Michelle made eggs, bacon, pancakes, and strawberries. We enjoyed our visit and special cousin time for the kids.

Tires rolled out at 12:30pm! Our goal today is to drive as far across South Dakota today.

Heather's driving the RV

Why? Can you guess?

Kevin is not feeling well. 

We are currently in Buffalo, WY trying to get to the Black Hills area (3:20 hrs away). It's 5:28pm MT.

We safely arrived at Lead, SD at Heather's cousin, Michelle's cabin.

Day 11: Good bye Yellowstone, Hello Rodeo

We travelled through Yellowstone today with two goals: see Old Faithful geyser and exit the park quickly.

Ryan was a trooper today and he slept or rested the entire time without complaining. It took about 4- 4:30 hrs to get from West Yellowstone to Cody, WY.

He was not able to get up to walk to Old Faithful, so Riley and Heather went. It was raining hard when we left the camper. We saw many people gathering around Old Faithful, so we put an extra pep in our step . We got there at 2:02 and it was predicted to erupt between 2:19 and 2:32. Quick pit stop, time to listen to a park ranger talk about geysers, watch it erupt, check out the inside of the Old Faithful Inn and back in the RV. It even hailed on us!

We talked about the different landscapes, fire and re-growth. Lake Yellowstone was beautiful as we drove through West Thumb and Lake Village.  We saw practically zero wildlife today from the road: 2 bison, 1 deer.

We arrived at Ponderosa Campground in Cody, WY. We showered, did laundry, ate a quick dinner, and got ready for the Rodeo. Ryan wanted to go so bad! Heather bought 4 tickets. After Ryan walked around in the camper, he and Dad decided to stay back. Heather asked the Camp store (where she bought the rodeo tickets) if they would buy back two tickets and they did!

We took the Rodeo bus to get there. $4 a person. They pick up at a few stops (ours was the last one) and drive you back after the rodeo. The driver asked Riley how old he was and then asked him to stay with him at the front of the bus. He told Riley about the "junior calf scramble" for 12 year olds and younger. The driver asked Riley to represent our bus and everyone practiced cheering for him.

All the kids had a "warm-up" before their big event. Riley had to touch his toes, do a push-up, make a dirt angel and rollover. He said it was easy to run out there. He was about 10ft away from grabbing the ribbon off the calves tails. He had fun!  We took lots of video of each event to share with Ryan and Kevin.

It started raining and became very windy. It was a covered stadium, but it felt like I was raining sideways for awhile.

When we got back on the bus, the driver asked where Riley was and he presented him with a t-shirt! He was very kind.

Day 11: we are on the move!

Kevin walked 4 blocks to the grocery store and bought a few items:

Heather sprayed down practically all surfaces and sanitized the dishes with 5 pots of boiling water.

Ryan rested. Riley drew and practiced tying knots outside. Tires rolled out at 12:43pm. Next stop Old Faithful Inn and Geyser. Then into Cody, WY.

Day 11: oh the Norovirus!

It started at 2am with...Ryan.  We are all tired. We are caught in the cycle...help, clean, rest, help, clean, rest.

We are still in West Yellowstone.  Check out is at 11am - an hour and half.

Our Costco size container of disinfectant wipes is almost empty.  We are wishing we could spray down everything with bleach! Like an inside car wash.

I'll post more later once we reach tonight's destination.

Day 10: Climbing and Hot

We had a leisurely morning at Rocky Mountain RV park. We did laundry, ate breakfasted, packed up, and played mini-golf.  Tires were rolling at 10:30am. Gardiner, MT looks like a really nice town.  We entered Yellowstone National Park through the North Entrance and headed to Mammoth.

Today was hot! Almost 90 quite a different from the mid 60s in Glacier. We parked the RV and looked on the grassy boulevard to find a female elk eating grass.

We walked over to the visitor center to gather some information about routes and hikes.   Then decided to walk to the Mammoth Springs and saw another elk just walking through town.

We walked a short while to get to see these hot springs, but the boys kept saying "it's so hot!"  We stopped by every tree or bush that provided shade and rested.  There are not many trees in this part of Yellowstone.

We continued our drive east towards the northern part of Yellowstone through Tower towards Canyon Village. Kevin just felt like he was climbing and climbing in the RV over the mountains.  We were as high as 9 or 10,000 ft. Both Kevin and Heather commented how the scenery and views of Yellowstone are kinda a let down after going to Glacier.  Of course it's still beautiful in it's own way.

From Canyon Village, we drove south to the South Rim Road and walked on Uncle Tom's trail down into the Canyon to see the amazing waterfall.  This walk is not for the faint-hearted as it is 328 steps down.  The steps are metal and see-through!  Going down is easier than up as you just keep climbing and climbing and climbing!

We walked to Artists Point to see the full view of the waterfall and entire canyon.  Then hopped back into the RV to drive west through Norris and then to our final destination West Yellowstone, MT.  We stayed at Hideaway RV park, a small, quiet campground that holds 15 campers.  We chatted with RV Park Hosts as it's their 4th day on the job.  The husband has been asking the wife for 10 years to retire and do this. Heather called Ponderosa Campground in Cody, WY.  They had a cancellation, so we got a site.  Our plan for Saturday is to drive from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful then east towards Cody to see Buffalo Bill Museum and the Cody Rodeo.