Ocean, trees, missionaries and miracles

Our first trip north!  We left on Sunday and did not return until Saturday.  We traveled north to Mendocino, then Fort Bragg, then up highway 1 to Fortuna (a winding and steep road Sister Cawley will never go on again), then up to Eureka, down to Willits, then on to Ukiah and over to Lakeport and Clearlake.  Lots of miles but the scenery all along the way was breathtaking.  From Eureka to Willits we drove the Avenue of the Giants which should be on everyone's bucket list.  

But the best part of the journey was being with the missionaries and taking care of their needs.  We experienced so many miracles every day to the point where Sister Cawley exclaimed, "I can't take it! So many miracles!" Heavenly Father truly takes care of his missionaries.  Just to name a few:  1) we were having trouble finding good new housing in a particular area.  We put into Google Maps an address for an apartment we wanted to go visit.  We were guided to a new apartment complex that was better than anything we saw on the internet.  That's when we realized that the address we were guided to was not the address we put into Google Maps.  2) Sister Cawley was shopping at Costco and felt prompted to buy certain items.  The very next missionary apartment we visited needed those exact items.  3) In a similar experience, Sister Cawley noted in one apartment a bed protector in a closet still in its original packaging, unopened. It was not needed so she took it with her. The very next apartment we visited needed a bed protector.  4) We did a drive by of a home for rent and called the number and left a message.  While stopped for lunch, Sister Cawley had a prompting to check her phone.  Sure enough it was on silent mode.  No sooner did she turn the silent mode off when the phone rang with a call from the person renting the house.  Just 5 minutes later and we would have been out of cell service range (this area is notorious for bad cell service).  We could go on mentioning many other tender mercies.  Needless to say, they are humbling and testify to the veracity and importance of this, the Lord's work.  

Glass Beach at Fort Bragg

Mendocino

Olallieberry Jam from Mendocino - so good!

A gift we gave each missionary

Elders Largey and Hall with their gift

Sisters Doner and Johnson with their gift

Sisters Moon, Haroldson, MacKay and Jones with their gift

Sisters Mitchell and Sargent - in the Eureka Hobbit House (a basement apartment out in the woods that looks like something from TLOTR)

Grandfather tree

Standing next to the Grandfather tree

Not the real thing - just a carving along the 101

Redwoods are large and tall - we look like Hobbits

The Redwoods are huge and beautiful!