Our trip west to see supporters

Garry has not been out to Salmon Arm for three years (two years ago we only went to Saskatchewan,  and I don't know why he didn't go last year) so he was looking to make the trip this year to see Jack.  A couple days before leaving on the 27th, we finally nailed down the details. 

It was my first trip out to Salmon Arm with Garry,  once he went with Max and one December he drove out alone.  We left at noon, with the family still gathered at our house for lunch.

 The first night we spent in a hotel in Moose Jaw,  and left early the next morning to drive the rest of the way to Salmon Arm.  Driving through the Rockies was amazing. 

The weather was sunny until dark and Salmon Arm,  where it was snowing,  but we managed to find Jack's house. Our lack of working cell phones meant we relied heavily on restaurant wifi on the trip!

We enjoyed Jack, Trish and Tyler's welcome and after a good night's rest Garry spoke about missions for a few minutes at Jack's church.

We got to see our Philadelphia Eagles win and get in the playoffs in the afternoon before we got to meet some of the people that hope to come with Jack in March.  Since we can't build the addition onto the church this year in Dnepro,  we will build a small house in the village (from the foundation,  not a remodel) and have a VBS for the village children. 

Garry decided we had an extra day when Jack invited him to go ice fishing and snowmobiling Monday.  I enjoyed a restful day until Garry got back around two o'clock and told me to pack up as the forecast sounded bad in the mountain passes overnight.

 We did go visit Neil and  Bonnie before driving east as darkness was falling and some snowflakes.  I had not been to Neil's farm before. It's a pretty place.

 The trip over the mountains was fairly uneventful,  although pretty stressful for the driver (Garry) since there was some snow and icy sections and so we were happy to stop on the eastern side of Calgary for the night around midnight. 

The next morning we planned out the last day of 2019, aiming to get to Fort Qu'Appelle before the new year.

Since we were driving right past Brooks Alberta we met up with friends at the McDonald's and chatted for more than an hour. Time well spent,  since we hadn't seen them in a couple years.

We thought we might make it to Matt's by early evening, but we had decided to make a detour up western Saskatchewan to visit Melvin and Velma Wiens. We hoped to get there by two or three o'clock but it was nearly five when we got there. Luckily she had decided to make us dinner, which was very welcome, and delicious. Lasagna,  salad and apple pie ala mode. Mel provided us with a map to get to Regina, and we got to Matthew and Kari's about 10:30pm. They were at friends to celebrate the new year,  but came home just before midnight.  I heard them come in, but Garry was fast asleep. 

New year's day was enjoyed by all, I made the traditional olliebollen with apple and raisins and Kari made borscht for lunch. Then they took us on a tour of the area. Garry got to enjoy listening to the girls practice their instruments,  piano, violin and guitar,  and played the game of life with them. Hopefully we'll make it to a service at their new church next visit.

Thursday morning we left around ten am, and got back to Steinbach by five o'clock for a visit with Doug and Marcie,  who plan to join the BC guys in March in the village.