Summer of Travel, Part 12

Beale Street, Memphis, TN, at sunset

After several weeks at home to catch up on work, finish up the summer semester and gear up for the fall semester, it was nice to take a mini-vacation to Memphis. Living Waters For The World called a Haiti Network Leadership meeting for Monday, but living out on the west coast it was impossible for me to simply fly in on Monday morning and arrive in time for the meeting. While I checked flights for Sunday, it was $400 cheaper to fly in on Saturday.

Our meeting spot was originally set for the Peabody Hotel, right in the heart of Memphis. It was a bit daunting to walk around Beale Street by myself on a Saturday night, but it was nonetheless beautiful and full of blues music! In fact, the band across the street from my hotel played until 2:00am! Thankfully, my body was on pacific time, and that was only midnight for me! One of my dear friends, Bill Mendenhall, arrived first on Sunday, and we began the festivities of celebrating friendship! Soon after Executive Director of Solar Under The Sun, Chris McRae arrived, and we enjoyed a night at the ball park courtesy of Bill. The Memphis Redbirds hit home run after home run to win the game with ease. Of course, we celebrated with a big plate of ribs and catfish at Blues City Cafe! Highly recommended!

Three Amigos!

Following the night on the town and the arrival of the last two members of the committee, we finally got down to business. Lunch at Huey's was another highlight! (Clearly, Memphis is known for food!) After the meeting adjourned, there were still many hours until my flight left. How lucky am I to have a friend who would stay behind with me, take me to GRACELAND, and risk driving back in rush hour traffic? Check one off the bucket list! I thought of my granny the entire afternoon. She loved Elvis, and I wish so much she could have been with us! What a great, great few days. There are no better words to describe how blessed I am to be part of such a crew of faithful servants.

Summer of Travel, Part 11

Though it was sad to say goodbye to Dad, we had another visitor waiting to fly out! Diana Grace, Herndon UMC alum, is a honorary member of the Broadhurst family! She visited for a few days to get out of town before beginning her sophomore year at Christopher Newport University, and boy, did we have fun!

As I've said before, there is never a lack of anything to do in Vegas, and this was the case during Diana's visit. Because the dry heat was overwhelming, we spent the days by the pool and the nights out on the town. I was so honored and blessed to have Diana visit for a few days. So many say they will never lose touch and promise to visit often, but busy lives, work schedules and school assignments take precedence. I am thankful Diana carved the time out of her schedule to spend a long weekend with us! We feel so special!

Night 1 - Recycled Percussion, Tropicana

Night 2 - Jabbawockeez, Monte Carlo

Night 2 - Bellagio admiring

Night 3 - Beatles Love, Cirque Du Soleil, Mirage 

Summer of Travel, Part 10

These three pictures deserved their own post, as they truly do describe the special times of the summer!

Time with Dad = Priceless

Dodger Stadium = Historic

A Summer of Baseball:
Angel Stadium, LA Angels
PNC Park, Pittsburgh Pirates
AT&T Field, San Francisco Giants
Dodger Stadium, LA Dodgers

Next summer goals - San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox :)

Summer of Travel, Part 9

Dad-Daughter's Big Adventure to the west coast continued at Dodger Stadium! We both love baseball, and we were thankful to receive club seats from our friends David & Kathleen Haworth. What a treat it was to spend the day at a historic ball park. Again, I was in heaven...

Once we finally found the correct entrance, we were able to walk thru the "Hall Of Fame" in Dodger Stadium. Yes, that's Kirk Gibson celebrating his walk-off home run in the World Series.

 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. I love daytime games!

This was right after we sang "Take Me Out To The Ball Game"...twice! Though the Dodgers lost, we made lifelong memories.

 Walking back through the "Hall of Fame," Sandy Koufax and the Dodger-mobile awaited. Such great fun! We are so thankful for our family who made this game possible for us!

On the drive back through Baker, CA, we ran into aliens!

They seemed friendly enough!

As we drove back, we had a radiant moon on one side...

An amazing sunset on the other...

And rain clouds straight ahead!

Summer of Travel, Part 8

Not long after arriving back in Las Vegas, hubby took off on his own trip, and my dad came to town for a bit of father-daughter bonding. Vegas is a wonderful place for visitors; there's never a lack of anything to do. During the summer, however, the temperature tends to stay above 100 degrees. Sitting by the pool or getting out of town is the only way to combat the heat. Take a look at these pictures as they tell the first part of Dad & Daughter's Summer Vacation!

Going out at nighttime is best to explore Vegas. When the sun goes down, the lights come on, and it feels like Christmas all year around!

Spending the days at a private pool are also good! This week, I happened to be house-sitting, too! Enjoying a life of luxury is occasionally okay, right? 

We took in a Las Vegas 51's game on Sunday night....

...But it was so hot, we only lasted a few innings!

Off we went to Los Angeles to beat the heat, visit with a few of Dad's colleagues and enjoy an evening in Pasadena!

 A beautiful, quaint, quiet city. Old Town Pasadena is full of little shops and restaurants... 

And great local beer!

It was a beautiful stroll back to the hotel...

And the next morning, we realized we were staying right next to the Rose Bowl! Too bad college football season hadn't started!

Summer of Travel, Part 7

What is a trip to Orlando without a stop by DisneyWorld!

The only times I have been to DisneyWorld have been as a student in a youth group (read about that here), as a Youth Pastor chaperoning a youth group, or with family members. Each time was very enjoyable and left lasting memories! However, this time, I was able to experience DisneyWorld as a party of ONE! By midday, I had been through almost every single ride in the Magic Kingdom. Space mountain, check! Buzz Lightyear, check! Winnie the Pooh, check! Tea Cups, check! And so on, and so forth!  By early afternoon, I was having a volcano roll in Japan and exploring Epcot! After a week of standing in a booth, my endurance was waning, and by four o'clock, I was ready to call it a day. On the way back to the monorail, Spaceship Earth had NO line. It was the first time I had ridden inside the big golf ball and it was fantastic....well, except getting stuck in the pitch dark for 20 minutes!

After a great day at DisneyWorld, AGB squared had one more night together...to celebrate friendship and Emily choosing Jef-with-one-f on the Bachelorette Finale! It was truly a day made JUST for Ashley! :) Before heading home, I made a quick road trip to Tampa to catch up with the Jones family! What a blast from the past, as Carl was my own former youth pastor. Amazing how student-pastor relationships can turn into friendships.

I am so very thankful for a family who allows me to travel, for friends to have fun with along the way, and for those who travel with me in spirit so I never have to be alone!