California Vacation ... third leg.

Yes, I left off last time at The Claim Jumper. We arrived in Fresno around 3:00 PM and had not had lunch. We Google texted the Claim Jumper, keyed the address into the GPS and before we knew it, we were pulling into the Claim Jumper restaurant. When you walk into the restaurant, there is a counter loaded with their deserts. There deserts are huge. This was one of those days that I just wanted to start with the desert first and then work backwards, but I restrained myself. As I am writing this note, I don’t remember what I ordered that day for lunch, but I know at the conclusion of our meal, we ordered one piece of chocolate cake. This cake had six large layers. It was a massive piece of cake. We all grabbed a fork and dove in. It was a wonderful way to break up the day’s trip.

Well, after lunch we pointed the GPS toward Mariposa, CA. We drove another two hours and arrived at the Best Western of Mariposa. It was a clean hotel located near Yosemite. By this time, my kids were a little spoiled. We walked into the room (we had two that night) that we had booked for two days and within two minutes all three of them were in our room complaining about the accommodations. Sarah could not believe that we were staying at a hotel where the door to the room opened to the outside. When I was a kid, that’s all I knew. Hotel (ie. motel) doors opened to the outside. The boys, (Stuart and Samuel) were upset because the television was old and did not have inputs that allowed an X-Box to be played on it. We were in crisis.

I convinced them to go on a walk with Patty and me and let’s scout out Mariposa. It was a small town with little or no activity. When I booked the room, I thought that I was booking a room that had views to the river, but I was wrong. Mariposa had a creek that looked over-grown and had limited accessibility. We did a walking tour and covered the town in fifteen to twenty minutes and then, I made the decision to check-out in the morning and move on. The owner of the establishment was kind. He was Indian and reminded me of the many, many days working with off-shore software developers as we launched SecureGive. He tried to change my mind, but could not. When we woke up the next morning, I took a quick look at the hotel’s complimentary breakfast and decided that we needed to eat somewhere else.

We pulled out of the Best Western and drove through town. We drove a restaurant called The Happy Diner and noticed that the parking lot had a lot of cars. It was not fancy at all. It was probably built in the 1950s or 60s. The folks were nice and the food was terrific. Now, I don’t want this blog to be all about restaurants and eating establishments but the Happy Diner was a bright spot in the town of Mariposa, CA.

We drove that day around forty-five minutes and arrived at the entry way of Yosemite National park. We paid the $20 entrance fee and within a few miles had our first stop at Bridal Veil Falls. The first thing noticed was that Yosemite had a lot more people than Sequoia or Kings Canyon. The parking lot was packed with people. The restrooms had long lines and it seemed like a theme park instead of a national park. We followed the crowd up to the falls. It was beautiful. The power of the water was strong and the force of it hitting the rocks at the bottom created a mist that covered the viewing stations. There were people from all over America and many foreign countries gazing at this natural wonder. We left there and drove to the center of Yosemite Village and marveled at the post card-like scenery. It was amazing. Just the day before we are over-whelmed by the size of sequoia trees and now we are mesmerized by the size of the granite mountain in the front of us. The scientists tell you how these were formed thousands of years ago, but I know that God spoke and the worlds were formed. God spoke and Yosemite came into being. Today the hills declare the glory of God and the mountains speak of His power.

We parked the car at the visitor’s center and got on a tour bus and drove toward Nevada falls. We climbed nearly a mile up the mountain to see these falls. When I say, “up the mountain” I mean it. It was a trek. We are in good shape over-all, but this walk made us huff and puff. Like I said, you see the falls after nearly a mile. The trail continued another a mile or so for those who wanted to feel the waters as it hit the bottom of the falls, but we chose to gaze at it’s beauty and then walked down the path that we had just climbed. It was a lot faster going down then climbing up. Once we made it down, Patty, Sarah and Samuel went over put their feet into the ice cold waters of river that formed from the falls. I can appreciate the river without having to put my feet into the cold water. I like it when the ocean is around 82 degrees; these waters were probably around 50 degrees. Too cold for me. We left the falls, pulled out the peanut butter and jelly and had a picnic. Now, my family all loves creamy, but I am a crunchy peanut butter man. I have always been adamant about JIF, but recently I tried the Wal Mart brand and to my surprise, it’s pretty good. On this particular day, it was the WalMart brand.

We headed toward the south entrance of Yosemite after lunch. If you have never been to a national park, you need to realize that going from one place to another may take you an hour or two. We saw great views and scenic valleys as we drove. At the south entrance of Yosemite is a town called Fish Camp, CA. It was there we found the Tenaya Lodge. The Tenaya Lodge is a four diamond AAA Resort and was just what the doctor ordered. All five of us checked into one room because one room at the Tenaya Lodge costs more than two rooms at the Best Western. The property was amazing. We were worn out and quickly discovered the hot tub. After an hour or so at the hot tub, we turned in for the night.

When the sun rose the next morning, Stuart, Samuel and I were walking mountainous trails in hopes of finding that perfect fishing spot. We had purchased a California fishing license the day before and just knew that we were going to land some trout. It was 48 degrees again that morning. It felt more like fall than it did the first week in July. As we walked down into the woods toward the stream, I kept one eye on the trail and another one looking for bears. I did not see any. We found a picture-perfect spot and started to fish. The water looked as though it flowed from the faucet out of our house. It was clear. We had a can of corn and we shared that for bait. We moved up and down that stream with no luck. It really did not matter. We were in the midst of beauty and I had both of my boys with me on an adventure.

After a couple of hours, we decided to drive to another spot. We had wandered down the stream quite a ways and the journey back to the car was longer than we expected. At one point, we were concerned that we were headed the right way. We kept going and eventually found the car. We stopped by the general store in Fish Camp, CA and I talked to the proprietor. He told me that it was illegal to fish with corn in California. What? That’s what we use in Georgia’s trout streams. He sold me some trout bait (whew it stunk) and we went to another stream. This one was off the main road and had rushing waters. This looked like a legitimate stream. I had high hopes. After an hour of casting, I decided not to cast for fish, but to open my eyes and look for them. As I said the water was clear and all you had to do was look to find fish. Well, we did not find any. Stuart went on up the stream and Samuel and I worked the lower part. Neither one of us had any luck fishing, but we made great memories.

We packed up and headed back to the Tenaya Lodge where we found the girls laying out at the pool. We had negotiated a late check-out and it was time to leave. We hated leaving this spot, but our budget knew that it was best. We made a quick stop in Oakhurst for lunch at a Mexican Restaurant. California Mexican food is not like Tex-Mex (we love that) or like Augusta-Mex. The sauces are different. I am not a fan. In fact, we tried one other Mexican restaurant on the trip and then made an official ban, no more Mexican food until we land in Georgia. After lunch, we programmed the GPS for downtown San Francisco. Here we go.

California Vacation ... second stop.

We arrived in Visalia a little tired and hungry. We checked into the Marriot and had two rooms. As you know, five people in a room for the two previous nights were fine, but it’s good to have a little privacy. The Marriott was awesome. It was the best of the thirteen hotels that we stayed at. We drove through the streets of downtown Visalia that evening. It was neat. Visalia has a renovated downtown with several restaurants, unique shops and a movie theater. We ended up at the Brewery (for food only). The food was good and the wait staff was kind.

I knew about Visalia because Jack Bauer on 24 had gone to Visalia during one of the seasons and secondly, Patty serves two churches in Visalia through SecureGive. On Monday, we stopped by Gateway Church to say hello. The church was much larger than I envisioned. We said hello to the office staff and then drove over to Visalia’s First Assembly of God. The moment that we walked in we felt like family. The receptionists, the assistants, the executive pastor and the youth pastor all made us feel welcomed. Their facility was very impressive. They have over 2000 on a typical Sunday. It was funny that during our conversation Phil Luna, the Executive Pastor, said, “Oh by the way, our Pin Pad is not working.” So, I had an opportunity to help them out. I replaced their Pin Pad and added a driver that they were missing. It took me about an hour to diagnose the problems. As I was working on this unit with a Phillips head screwdriver in my hand, I laughed at myself. As that moment I was three thousand miles away working on a computer. Does it ever stop? You know, I did not sign up for that kind of work when I entered the seminary, but for whatever reason the Lord has allowed me to use a geeky part of my brain to help people. They were very appreciative of a fully functioning Pin pad and I left feeling glad that I could help in a small way.

We left First Assembly and had lunch down the street at Tahoe Joes. It had incredible architecture! We loved the design of the restaurant, but did not enjoy the food. It was so-so. You know when you see a great place, you expect great food. Tahoe Joes did not live up to our expectations. After lunch we headed to Sequoia National Park.

The temperature in Visalia was hot and in the mid to upper 90s. As we drove toward Sequoia, the temperature started to drop. We arrived at the entrance of the National Park, paid the $20 entrance fee and headed into the park. A few miles into the park, I had an ah-hah moment that will always be with me. In fact, in retrospect it was the most significant moment of the trips. We were driving around curvy roads and then we saw it or saw them. Giant Sequoia trees! WOW! I have never seen one. They are incredible. Seriously now, I felt like I was a part of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” and I was the one who was shrunk. Looking at these massive trees reminded me that God is so much bigger than we imagine. I have seen pictures of Sequoias, but pictures do not do justice. They are huge.

Our car was loaded down as we drove into the mountains. With each turn, I watched the gas hand go down faster and faster. I quietly started to fret. I asked Patty to look for a gas station on the map and there was one about 30 miles away or so. No problem. Well, I think that must have been thirty miles as the crow flies, but around mountainous roads, it seemed a lot longer. I got real stressed. I tried to remain calm and in my mind I was thinking that I could hitch-hike to the station and back to the SUV. I thought that if they did not have a gas can, I would buy gallons of milk and use those containers. I had a plan. The fuel light was blazing and I was praying for God to have mercy on my stupidity. I reasoned with God saying, “God, I had a 1/3 of a tank left. I thought that I had enough.” In some ways, it was like the parable of the 5 foolish virgins and the 5 wise virgins in the New Testament. (You will hear a sermon on that passage on November 15, 2009). Five of these folks were prepared. They had enough oil. Five were foolish … they ran out. At that moment, I did not know which category I would land in … those with enough gas or those out of gas. The Lord had mercy and we made it to the station and I was glad to pay $3.39 a gallon.

I did have a few minutes of awe and wonder during my low-gas stress episode. We stopped and walked down to see the Sherman Tree. It’s the largest tree in the world. This Sequoia was massive. I was admiring this wonderful tree and then I got a little mad. This is the largest tree in the world and they named it, “The Sherman Tree.” As a Southerner, I was offended. Do you remember General Sherman? From September 2 until the second week in November 1864, he occupied the city of Atlanta. During this time, he ordered the destruction of Railroad yards, workshops and warehouses, culminating in the destruction of 35% of the city. He marched through the South torching everything in his path. As I looked at this tree, I thought about Sherman and realized that winning has its privileges and maybe I am a sore loser, but maybe they should have named this tree something else. I knew that I had to come to terms with this quickly because we were scheduled to see the second largest tree in the world the next day. Do you know the name of that tree? The Grant tree. Yes, another Yankee General. Where’s Robert E. Lee’s tree?

After seeing the Sherman tree, we drove to Moro Rock. Totally awesome! We climbed up the 400 plus steps of this rock to see an incredible view. They say that on a clear day you can see the Pacific Ocean four hours away. They say that but we could not see it, but regardless, the view was impressive.

After climbing Moro Rock, we headed to the camp site. This was very interesting. We rented a tent cabin in the Grant Grove section of Sequoia National Park. This cabin did not have electricity, but it did offer community restrooms. It was very different than the Marriott that we stayed at the night before. The rooms had plywood floors with lapboard sides. The roof was made of canvas. It did not have any insulation. It did have beds but again the sheets were not 400 thread count … maybe 100 thread count.

When the sun went down, the temperature dropped. By sunrise the next morning, it was 48 degrees. Brrrrr! I know that Ecclesiastes 4:11 says,” Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?” I was appreciative of Patty’s attempt to keep me warm during the night, but in all honesty, I could have used another blanket.

We got up early, had breakfast, went to see the Grant Tree and then headed to Kings Canyon National Park. This National Park joins Sequoia National Park. One would think that it would be similar, but it’s totally different. I have not see the Grand Canyon, but I would imagine that it would be like Kings Canyon but of course “grander”. We took a tour inside a cave a Kings Canyon. It was neat to hear the story. The tour guide was a great example of a person operating out of his giftedness. He said everything that needed to be said, but he did not have the ability to connect with people. He was young and very mono-toned. It was painful.

We left Kings Canyon and headed toward Yosemite. I knew that we had to go through Fresno, CA. Do you know what Fresno has? A Claim Jumper Restaurant. Stay tuned for further details.

California Vacation ... first stop.

The Family Vacation

Several months ago, Patty and I started dreaming about our summer vacation. Over the years, we have worked to have time away with our three children. These special trips have produced great memories that will go with us throughout our lifetime. We have had some unique experiences like climbing Dunn River Falls in Jamaica, snorkeling in Burmuda, salmon fishing in Alaska and the traditional beach vacation in Hilton Head. In the spring of this year, I started the hunt. Where should we go? What could we do? I dreamed about a quiet week in St. John or St. Thomas sitting by the beach doing nothing. Patty, on the other hand, kept saying that she had to be in California for a business trip and that we should take the kids along and have a West Coast vacation. I fought that thought for weeks, but I eventually gave in and began searching out experiences in California. We knew that the conference was the third week in July so we looked for a place to rent leading up to the conference. Traveling to California can be a major expense, but we had collected enough frequent flier miles for all five of us to fly to California. That sounded great, but then I was reminded that you could not fly when you wanted to. In fact, the only dates that were available were July 3^rd through July 21^st. Whoa … you mean that we will be on the road for nearly three weeks. Whew. That’s a long time.

Oh well, we got the tickets and began planning the trip. I started looking for places to stay on VacationRentals.com. We used this site early this year and it was great, but this time I could not land on a specific place. I searched and searched all up and down the state but nothing felt right for us. Either we could not afford it or it just was not the location that we needed. So, we decided to go the hotel route. We mixed it up from AAA.com, HiltonHonors.com, to Hotwire.com and Priceline.com.

We left Augusta on the evening of July 2, 2009. Our first stop was about five miles from our house. Yes, we stopped at Zaxby’s and had dinner. Then, we traveled on to the Sheraton Gateway near the Atlanta airport. If I remember correctly, we used Hotwire.com for this room and it was $65.00 per room. That night we had two rooms. Throughout the trip, we mixed it up from one to two rooms according to the price and features of the hotel.

Our flight left Atanta at 6:00 AM on Friday, July 3^rd. I love flying American Airlines out of Atlanta because their terminal is to the left of the ticketing counter. In other words, you don’t have to get on a tram to go to a concourse. It makes life a little easier. We stopped briefly in Dallas and then on to Orange County. When we stepped off of the plane, it was 9:00 AM Pacific time and a beautiful 72 degrees. WOW. This is why people live in California.

We made it to the car rental place and they did not have the van available that we rented. They upgraded us to a brand new Buick Enclave. It did not have as much room as a van, but overall it was very nice. The first thing that we did was to pull out the trusted GPS. We typed in Hollywood and followed the directions to tinsel town. We drove through the well known streets like Rodeo Drive, Wilshire Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Melrose Place and so forth. We had lunch at Houston’s and had a nice server named Michelle. Our kids will tell you that her name was Melissa, but that’s another story.

During lunch I kindly asked her if Los Angeles had a China Town and did it compare to China Town in New York or San Francisco. It was a innocent question, but my kids have not let me forget it. You see, the server was Asian. They felt like that I assumed that she would know about China Town because of her accent. No, I felt like she would know about it because she lived there. They declare that her name was Melissa and believe that I called her Michelle because of Michelle Kwan. Now, who do you believe?

We drove through the streets of Hollywood and then made our way to Venice Beach. This is the place where all of the people with unique personalities hang out. It was crowded and very interesting. Tattoos, body piercing, skate boards and open air weight lifting areas lined the shore. They even had a place where you could get a prescription for medical marijuana. There must be an epidemic of glaucoma in Los Angeles because there were a number of people using well-medicated.

We left Venice Beach and headed to Aracadia, CA. We checked into the Embassy Suites and had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant down the street. In retrospect, this was one of the best hotels of the trip. We loaded up and went to the Rose Bowl for Amerifest 2009. It was a DCI / Fourth of July event. If you don’t know what DCI means … Drum Corp International. I love DCI (little know fact).

One Sunday, we went to Mosaic Church’s 11:00AM service in Pasadena. A former Stevens Creeker, Steve Saccone spoke. We are very, very, very proud of Stephen and his work in Los Angeles. By the way, Stephen has a new book coming out in the fall, Relational Intelligence. We spent the afternoon at his house with his wife, Cheri and son Hudson and another former Creeker, Tyfanni Chaney. Tyfanni was on staff for several years before moving west.

We loaded up the car and headed north to Visalia and to Sequoia National Park. Stay tuned.

Kokomo, IN Paper spotlights The Creek

I have been laughing at the mis-print on this week's story on The Creek. Did you know that we had 200,000 in attendance? Really it's supposed to be 2,000.

A new way to offer at church

n New electronic kiosks work like ATM machines.

By K.O. Jackson
Tribune business writer

Pastor Marty Baker is the lead pastor of the Stevens Creek Church in Augusta, Ga. The church was founded in 1987 in a living room.

He realizes in difficult economic times, after people pay their bills, they often have very little money to give to a church.

He also realizes — from personal experiences — people don’t like carrying cash or check books: They’ve grown accustomed to paying for items by swiping an ATM card.

But there were no ATMs in churches.

In a way, there are now.

Four years ago, Baker created the for-profit SecureGive LLC. The kiosk company partners with churches, schools and charities across the nation to provide easy-to-use software that assists in collecting donations online or on site through a giving kiosk.

Baker said using the machine is like using an ATM. Since installing it in their Evangelical church, they have seen a double-digit increase in giving.

Last year, the church electronically collected almost a $500,000. Baker’s church offers four Sunday services and has more than 200,000 parishioners.

“I knew there had to be people out there like me who don’t like carrying cash and checks but would like to give but can’t. This makes it easier for them to donate and it’s really caught on across America,” said Baker, adding the mechanism is in place in more than 100 locations.

The machine has a touch screen and the user enters their telephone number. They then have a choice of eight categories in which to donate and the bank card is swiped.

“In terms of giving, the economy has really hurt some churches and non-profits. But we’ve seen with SecureGive, some of them have had their income go up,” said Baker. “I think when people see the need to give and help other people in tough times, they are very generous. SecureGive gives them an easier way to give.”

• K.O. Jackson is the Tribune’s business writer. He can be reached at (765) 854-6739 or via e-mail kirven.jackson@kokomotribune.com