Goodbye AZ...hello freezing!

Hello!

Well, we've been on the road for 4 days now, and are getting into a rhythm, which feels good. But, before I get into life on the road...here's a little glimpse of our "goodbyes" in Tucson.

Hiking a little off the beaten path in Ventana Canyon on New Year's Eve with Lori and Melissa...
Melissa fearing for my life... :)


Teamwork!


Lori hosts a bunch of Somalian refugees. I say a "bunch" because it started out as 2 or so...but now it can be up to 8 or 10 that come with us to hang out on any given day. Before we left, we had them all over for a movie party at our house...Back to the Future III was the featured film. :)


The Shunkos and Giambellucas over for breakfast...


At the Shorts for dinner and card games (7 up, 7 down)...


Our last Sunday in Tucson, Ryan led an all-worship service at our church. It was a really beautiful and moving service filled with great music and worship. Afterwards, we carried on tradition and went to lunch at Son's...


It would've been easier to leave Tucson had it been May and 110 outside, but given that it was January and 65-70, it was hard to leave the beautiful weather knowing that we were going to be going into the cold and snow...and returning in May when it's 110! :)

First news first....Ryan spent 4 days in the studio before joining Cameron and I on the tour....AND....he finished all of his recording for the record!! Wahooo!! This recording process has been going on for 2 years, so this is a major accomplishment...hopefully the finished product will soon be in our hands...and in yours! :)

The first show of the tour was in Albuquerque, NM at Winnings Coffee Co. It was a cool grassroots kind of place right near UNM that typically closes at 5pm when students aren't on campus, but said they'd re-open at 7pm and serve drinks if RH wanted to come and play a concert! 50 people came and were totally engaged throughout the show...it was a lot of fun.


We spend a lot of time in the car talking...Cameron gave me "1001 questions" for my birthday, so we've been having fun with those conversation starters. And, I'm also reading aloud to Ryan and Cameron (with their encouragement) "The Schwarzbein Principle"...a book about eating whole foods. We've been cooking our meals for this tour in the hotel rooms, and packing them for the road, which as been GREAT! So far we've had salad with salmon and crackers, turkey stroganoff (sp?), peanut butter honey and apple sandwiches, taco salad, etc...it's amazing how much we enjoy food when we make it, as opposed to going to restaurants every single morning, noon and night. Now...we can actually enjoy the food at restaurants again because it's like a special treat!

The mundane tasks of life on the road...
pumping gas...


waiting in line for the bathroom at gas stations...


Our second show stop was in Kansas City, MO at the Main Street Cafe, a christian coffee shop/outreach for troubled teens. It was a really cool venue in an old warehouse building with white christmas lights and vintage couches everywhere.
Here's a photo of us in the venue eating dinner...bbq from Gates...a local Kansas City fine dining experience.


Cameron's family lives in Kansas City, so we stayed with them. On Sunday afternoon we went to the International House of Prayer. It's a 24/7 prayer and worship center...we really wish every city had one of these b/c you can go at any time...something that is nice and flexible for us travelers.


Sunday evening we spent over at Cameron's aunt and uncle's house eating, and singing...it was a really fun evening filled with lots of sing-a-longs. (Cameron's dad, aunt, uncle, and cousin are in a band; friends that were over are singers; and then Ryan and Cameron of course). I was a great clapper for all of their songs! :)