North, Del Norte, Du Nord, Het Noorden

Whatever way you might interpret where we have traveled to thus far... we, Transparent, have taken the northbound friend of ours, the 5 freeway, up to Sac-town or properly known as our state's capital, Sacramento, CA.

First, here is a little snapshot of what we've been up to all summer!!

To give you the latest update from my last post, July 4th was a really unique day for me that I think I'll be able to remember as a day of relaxation, reflection, and observation. Let me explain. But first, this picture alone should speak louder than words. 

I have discovered a new passion and that is jogging.  So I took a run down sunset cliffs on a beautiful sunny day finding myself not to take a breather until I reached my destination in Ocean Beach.  My end point being the one and only... OB Smoothie Bar. (I give full credit to this new obsession of mine to my girlfriend because she got me hooked on this

fruity/healthy concoction known as the Acai Bowl.) 

Take a look and tell me how good/"independence day" friendly that looks on a day like that. 

   

  

Here is a picture from the fireworks show over the harbor at night where one of my favorite people, the one and only, Meaghan Maples joined me as we strolled the town. I could see at least 5 shows going off from where I was at. It was pretty sweet. 

From San Diego, we journeyed to the desert once again. We landed in Yucca Valley on Saturday night and met some Point Loma alumni who work at the church now and became our friends. We stayed at an older couples house and ironically, the power went out in the house right before we arrived. The power eventually went on late at night but it was pretty spooky since it was such a huge empty house to us with the howling wind blowing in at us through the windows.    

Driving in the desert.

We met up with Regeneration, the other Point Loma summer travel band, in Palm Springs for a few days. Oh the stories that we created from that small trip will live on for forever. We ate like kings and queens and were blessed to live in a sick house with a pool. We went to a steak and shrimp restaurant one night that was super fun because they cooked the food in front of you and made volcanoes out of onions. 

 

Even Amo, Me, Jordan Frye, Meaghan Maples.    

Here is the group after our feast...

So here we are, Oroville, CA. It's probably 45 minutes out of downtown Sacramento. I feel like it has been different everywhere we visit because each town has new people with different lifestyles and we experience new challenges and excitement all the time. This summer, northern california has experienced some gnarly fires and one fire is about 15 miles away and the other is about 20. We have pretty much been smoked out of most of the activities they had planned for us but I believe that God works in specific ways for a purpose.  We have loved serving the community by preparing cots for displaced fire victims, setting up chairs in the church sanctuary, sorting clothes, making sack lunches/dinners for firefighters, and helping at a pregnancy clinic in town.  We've done things that we did not plan for but I think God works more when we come in with surrendered expectations of what we imagine things could look like. When we've allowed our hands and feet to speak louder than our sound systems or preconceived thoughts, we've seen people's hearts begin to beat again . 

The cots for the fire victims. 

        

Justin a peace sign while we make food for the firefighters.

Thank you so much for checking this thing out from time to time. I love reading your comments so comment away as much as you want! 

Here are some goofy pictures that we've taken over the weeks: 

     

Two Children. one big, one small.       

   

Shelby in her gas station glasses.                         

This is how Palm Springs sports their stunner shades. 

All I have to say about this is that P Springs has some 

very eclectic shops and We took advantage of them.

We're off to Suttercreek in the morning. And our 4th camp on sunday! 

Goodnight!

Garrett