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!

Tags: five star streets, let justice sing tour, saving sparrow, usa tour

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 8:20 am and is filed under Entry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.