Bike Across America, Part IV: Stuck in Van Horn

Stuck in Van Horn! We’ve had to park our bikes this week in Illinois (Dave has to work overtime), so, on our virtual

Ride across America!!! (thunder, lightning crash, epic music)

we’re spending a few extra days in the one-road, desert town of Van Horn, TX:

Van Horn, TX; population 2435. Click pic for source.

Ever been stuck? I’m learning sign language when I’m not biking, and here’s the sign for “stuck“

First this...

then this ( from http://www.lifeprint.com)

Looks painful.

It can mean “trapped”, too.

Ever felt stuck or trapped?

Maybe not in a real desert, but sometimes my soul can feel pretty parched and my faith dried up with doubt and worry, like I’m stranded in “a dry and weary land, where no water is.” (Psalm 63)

But there’s ALWAYS God.

And sometimes He speaks to me more in the desert than by a stream.

I hear him more clearly in the heat, than in the shade.

In the dry times, God BECOMES my stream in the desert…

Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.  ~~ Isaiah 35:6

Glenn Spring Stream Pool, Chihuahuan Desert, click pic for source

O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; ~~ Psalm 63 KJV

I need you every hour...

Let’s Pray: Oh, Father, I need Thee every hour, every minute.  Thank you for loving me and guiding me through hard times, even carrying me when needed.

Oh, Father, when my soul is burning up with anger and frustration, may the “burning sand become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. [ May] gladness and joy…overtake [me], and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Isaiah 35:7b, 10

In Jesus’ name, Amen!!

“The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.” ~~ Isaiah 35:1

Feeling stuck?  Click the pic below to meet the great Un-sticker of your soul.

photo credit: Matt Champlin. Click on link below to see more of his awe-inspiring photos of God's awe-inspiring handiwork

Photo above by Matt Champlin ~~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattchamplin/4565531214/in/set-72057594092009327/

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Bike Across America, Part III: Vanhorn, TX

Welcome!

Quick, put on your helmet, and join my husband and I on our virtual bike tour of Texas as we …. (dramatic music)

Bike Across America!

We left the oasis of Balmorhea by first light to beat the Texas sun. (If you’ve been following this series, you know this is just pretend.  We really left our Midwestern neighborhood and rode the bluffs and valley roads along the Illinois)  Here’s a cell phone pic of our real ride in the early am.

See my husband, Dave riding toward me and the moon still up in the sky to the left? It was a beautiful morning.

But, on our virtual ride along Route 10 in Texas, heading to San Diego, there’s no pretty river in sight, nor shade, for that matter, and,  instead of oaks and maples lining the road, it’s desert brush and sand as far the weary eye can see.

After 38 miles of pedaling, we ride into the one-road town of Van Horn, population 2,435…

Van Horn, TX; population 2435. Click pic for source.

Kind of a humble welcome, considering the eloquent intro in the visitor’s guide:

“The story of Van Horn, Texas, is the story of the frontier…of independence, opportunity, and wide open spaces…”

Not to mention the lovely picture on their website:

from http://www.vanhorntexas.org/

Click on the purple letters to join us for a  walk along the main street of Van Horn We’ll be looking for a place to park our bikes, and fill our empty stomachs.

We quickly find  a local sit-down.  It’s cozy and cool as we flip through a traveler’s guide together and sip our cokes.  The guide tells us the mountain in the photo above is “El Capitan” in the Guadalupe Mountain Range, 63 miles to the North.

Here’s an 1899 view of it.  See the carriage, front lower left?

El Capitan, taken by U.S. Geological Survey, 1899. Guadalupe Peak to the right is "the highest point in Texas" according to Wikipedia. Click pic for source and information

and a more modern view:

click pic to see more pics of the area from photographer, Treye Rice

Here’s a map showing the Guadalupe Mountain range and Highway 10, the road we’re virtually traveling:

click pic for source and more info.

And here’s some of the wide open spaces we heard tell of in the travel brochure:

Texas hill country, Treye Rice, click pic for source

Mountains and “wide open spaces”, a nice combination AND a nice reminder of these cool sips of refreshment from God’s Word, perfect verses for the road-weary Christian:

“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”  ~~ Psalm 40:2

Three Mile (left) and Five Mile Mountain (right), near Van Horn, TX. Click pic for source.

“In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.”  ~~ Isaiah 40:3-4

"All men are like grass..." from Enchanted Rock State Park, TX. Treye Rice, photographer, click pic to see more

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” ~~Isaiah 40:6b-8

Do you know the One who made the mountains?  Click pic below for a quick introduction:

Turkey Peak, another lovely photo by Treye Rice. See below for source.

To see more of Treye Rice’s photos from Texas and other parts of the world, click HERE

Ride Across America II: Balmorhea TX

Balmorhea TX.  Ever heard tell of it? (said with Texas drawl)  Me neither.  But that’s where me and my bike-riding husband are at this point in our virtual…

“Ride Across America” (dramatic music)

We do the miles around our midwestern town and plot our progress on a Google map. 🙂

We started in Florida in March (pretend) and, after a 72 mile ride yesterday (real), we’re in Balmorhea,  pronounced: Bal more AY

Balmorhea is a tiny little town.  BUT, Balmorheans can boast of one thing that not many a small town in Texas can lay claim to:

an oasis!

Balmorhea State Park, click pic for source and info

People come from miles around to swim, fish and even scuba dive in the vast watering hole at Balmorhea State Park.  See?

Shade and water — ahhhhh…– refreshing after a long ride.

Why don’tcha sit a spell with me here in the shade of God’s love, and take a long, cool sip of His Word:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ ” ~~ Psalm 91:1-2

“Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.  My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”  ~~ Psalm 63:7-8

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.”  ~~ Jeremiah 17:7-8

Do you know the Lord?  Click on the pic below for a quick introduction.  You’ll be glad you dove in:

Picture stolen, er, happily borrowed from:  http://deansmarine.com/jax/