Day 13 of Choir Tour 2013

Today we woke up early! How early  you ask? Pretty darn early! In the morning we took a small tour around PLU,CLU’s sister university. We then ate breakfast in their facilities. Afterwords we took to driving. So we drove….and drove….and drove… and slept… and drove. We drove through Portland…we drove to rice hill (a fabulous icecreamery, kind of a hole in the wall spot, but worth the money) and finally we arrived at Calvary Lutheran church for the day. We then got dinner and practiced for our home concert. Hope to see you there!

Taking a nice ice cream break from all the driving

Who doesn't love ice cream?

Day 12 of Choir Tour

Today we woke up at our savior Lutheran church and we sang two of our songs at their worship service. Afterwards we headed towards Seattle for a mystery day. We started out going to the top of the space needle and taking pictures of the lovely view! Then we headed to go on a duck tour where we explored the city of Seattle and learned new and cool things about it. Afterwards we walked around in pikes place and visited the gum wall where we all had the chance the put our gum! Then we went to dinner at the Fisherman's which had great food and a great view. When we finished our dinner we drove down to trinity Lutheran Church where we showered had devotions and then went to bed! Only 2 days left! 

The view from Space Neddle

On our duck tour

The gum wall that we participated in

The first Starbucks

No caption needed

As promised, here are photos from the rafters. Sorry for the delay!!

The rafting roup

Getting ready

The group with the wonderful counseor Jeff

The group hanging out

Nothing like relaxing after a long day rafting

Hello again! Our youth group just spent the last week at the Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp in Montana. There we split into two groups...one for sailing and one for rafting. We had four counselors who guided us during our time there. Their names were Logan, Amanda, Jeff, and Kristin. The rafters had a wonderful time out on the North Fork river, seeing a bear, a moose, and a few bald eagles on their journey down. The trip also included many water fights and games; we all just had a great time. The sailors learned how to sail and they stayed on islands along the way. Sleeping on the boat and looking up at the stars was very special and memorable. Our food consisted of dry foods such as oatmeal, pita bread sandwiches, and different things like chicken curry, pasta, and chili macaroni for dinner.When the two groups reunited after the trips, we all went on the high ropes course which challenged many of us. For others it was simple and easy. The next day we all went rafting together and we went through some intense rapids and after that we headed back to camp. We prepared to leave for the next day and drove out to a laundromat to clean our clothes. We then met up with two of our counselors Amanda and Jeff for dinner at a delicious pizza place and we said our goodbyes to them. We went back to the camp and packed up the bus getting ready to leave and we woke up at 4:00 and headed on our way. After driving through Montana, Idaho, and all of Washington we finally made it to Issaquah where we went to dinner and then were treated to ice cream by............We went back to the church and did devotions and then went to bed. This past week was very eventful and unforgettable!

Parker steering the sailboat

A picture of one of our sailboats

Jessica, Natalie, Parker, Shelby, and Cole posing for the camera

Our counselor and sail guide Amanda

A group picture of all the sailors

Sailors making their dinner

Our counselor and guide Logan

Jessica, Janna, Natalie, Kayla, and Maddy sitting on the front of the sailboat

Natalie on the high ropes course

Maddy doing the leap of faith on the high ropes course

A group picture of all the rafters before their time up on the high ropes course

Kayla making her way across this course

Kari and Roni in front of the idaho sign

There will be rafting pictures to come!

This was day 4 of choir tour 2013! We woke up at 7:00, thank goodness, and loaded up the bus and left by 7:30 for the grand Tetons. We stopped to take a picture and then it started pouring! So we all ran back to the bus for some dry shelter! Then we headed towards Yellowstone national park where we saw old faithful and learned the lovely story of how Pastor Larry proposed to Chris there. After that we drove to another location in Yellowstone and hiked to a beautiful waterfall. Afterwards we made our way to Bozeman, Montana. We went out and ate dinner and had a lovely indoor shower. We had devotions and the went to bed! It was such a great day! 

Our group photo at the Grand Tetons

Seeing buffalo on our drive to Yellowstone Park 

Group photo at Colter Bay

Natalie and Shelby choosing the perfect rocks for skipping

Old Faithful

The beautiful river we drove by

The drop of the waterfall we hiked to

The view at the bottom of our hike

Our group photo in front of the Montana sign

Today we woke up at 6:30. We packed up the bus and we were on our way to Jackson hole Wyoming at around 7:00. Our first stop of the day was at a McDonald's for a quick breakfast and after eating there we headed to garden city to eat lunch at a delicious pizza place! Along with the pizza we ordered some raspberry shakes which were to die for. Literally I died a little inside. After eating we walked around the town a little and looked in some of the shops. We went back on the bus and drove through a beautiful canyon which had a river and green trees and beautiful mountains. When arriving in Jackson hole Wyoming we decided to spend an hour in town looking around and shopping in the variety of stores including clothing stores, book stores, etc. Afterwards we arrived at Shepherd of the mountains Lutheran church where we were provided with a wonderfully cooked meal and great hospitality. We got to know the people of their congregation while eating delicious burgers and hot dogs and later Sr.L.L. sang for them. Their pastor gave us special prayer pebbles and talked with us and then we took our lovely cold showers(; we gathered for devotions and then went to bed!

Playing Cards

Group photo above Bear Lake

Entering Idaho

...and now Wyoming

Just a sample of some of our wonderful views

Singing for Shepherd of the Mountains

Parker and Sam preforming

Today was our second day of Choir Tour 2013! We drove from Las Vegas all the way Salt Lake City Utah which was almost 400 miles! We started the day by waking up at 6:00 and packing up the bus. By 6:35 we were ready in the bus to leave! Our bus ride started with friendship bracelet making and ended with multiple games of cards. We stopped for breakfast at virgin river buffet, and my was it mighty tasty! We then traveled through the Virgin River Gorge twas the most beautiful eye candy of the day. About 7 hours later we arrived at our destination. We had eaten our dinner at the lovely Cowboy Grub where we finished off with several delicious pies. As soon as we got back we had our first indoor showers. They were great! At the end of the day we wrapped up with a bible study. We were very lucky to have a cool day with lots of rain storms along the way. A SWELL DAY INDEED!!!

One of many card games

The sophomores at the Arizona border

Virgin River Gorge

The juniors at the Utah border

Day 1 of Choir Tour 2013

     Good morning thousand oaks! today was our first day on our 2013 choir tour. We have driven over 300 miles to our first destination: LAS VEGAS!
     Our first stop was Barstow Station. We spent an hour there where we all ate  lunches and looked around in the gift shops. After leaving from Barstow station, we filled out slips of our interests and hobbies for our secret pals. Secret pals is almost like a secret santa. Everyday you give your chosen person and gift or something to tell them that you are thinking about them. We received our secret pals by drawing the slips and seeing who we got. Our next stop was buffalo bills casino to get ice cream, yet there was no ice cream to be found. We then decided to continue our journey and make it to Christ Lutheran Church where we later snacked on redvines and rice krispies.
      Shortly after, our choir got together and practiced some of our songs that we will be performing throughout our trip. We fine dined at Denny's where we had an array of options from pancakes, to chicken quesadillas. After coming back to Christ Lutheran Church,we enjoyed our refreshing cold shower under the stars (; . We congregated, sang, and ended our evening with prayer. What a great day! Can't wait for more. Keep in touch with our daily blogs!!! (: LOVE YOU ALL<3
                           -From: everyone in Sr.L.L.

Loading up the bus

Kari, Roni, and Kristen ready to leave on their first choir tour

Shelby Merrill in his natural habitat while packing the bus up

Our tour shirt design

A group photo in front of the bus before departure

Typical bus rides

Hayley reading Kayla's book

Our freshman standing in front of the Nevada border sign

One of the first hotels we saw entering Las Vegas

Evening devotion

Evening devotion

Evening devotion

Evening devotion