From purple mountain’s majesty to shining sea

Life

January 30, 2010

"The Plain Side"

Loren Beachy The Goshen News Sat Jan 30, 2010, 04:13 PM EST

DEC. 27, 2009 — “Hey sweetness, this breakfast burrito sure is tasty. What is it like, not having a breakfast burrito?”

Ivan is asking for trouble again. He makes comments something like this to amuse himself, cause us grief and shorten the days for us all.

We are on a California Amtrak train from Emeryville, Calif., en route to Merced, Calif. There, we plan to catch a bus to that beautiful national park, Yosemite.

My four traveling companions have just returned from the food car, where they purchased something for breakfast. For some reason or other, I decided not to get something right away.

Now these friends of mine are just having a blast rubbing in the fact that they have food and I don’t.

The pen is mightier than the breakfast burrito, boys.

California is a beautiful place containing a wide variety of landscapes. This morning we pass through vast fields of fertile farmland.

After boarding the bus in Merced, the country soon becomes hilly and more rugged as we head toward Yosemite. This road winds through the California hills, providing some panoramic views of green hills and valleys. Approaching our destination, the road follows a winding river with clear water, tumbling over and around rocks of many sizes. Mountains of trees and rocks rise on either side of us. I’m telling you, this is country!

Snow starts appearing farther back into the mountains. Waterfalls dot the mountainside. We are almost there.

Some hiking is enjoyed after we arrive in Yosemite Valley. We take the short trail to Lower Yosemite Falls and taste the water. It’s cold and clear.

DEC. 28, 2009 — One good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast later, four of us tackle the mountain again. This time we want a better view of Upper Yosemite Falls. Glenn stays behind to visit the gift shop.

Our bus is scheduled to leave Yosemite Lodge at 10 a.m., so we want to be prompt in getting up the trail and back down.

The trail is fairly easy to hike, though it rises a lot. Much of trail has green foliage overhead. We are rewarded with a beautiful view of Yosemite Valley after arriving at a look-out point. We continue on.

On the last leg of the hike up the mountain, Myron and Freeman are held up. Freeman thinks he sees a bear. It ends up being only a rock or some inanimate object. Oh well, it provided some extra excitement, at least.

After getting a fairly decent view of the Upper Falls, we decide it’s time to head back down. The trail we are on supposedly continues all the way up to the top of the falls. That one has “next time” written all over it.

After taking the bus back to Merced, we board a train bound for Bakersfield. An interesting thing occurs.

The train is quite full, probably more so than any we’ve been on so far. We see it might be difficult to find seats for five of us all together, so we split up. I spot a pair of seats with no one in them, but according to the items on one of the seats, it appears one is taken and one is available. I make myself at home.

Soon though, two boys appear and inform me I am in their seats. My apologies. I end up being thankful for it.

I mosey up the aisle and find an empty seat next to a lady of 60. She is reading a book titled, “The Shack.” Though I have not read the book, I am somewhat familiar with it and know it is a Christian story. When I comment on the book to her, it leads to quite a conversation.

She is a Christian lady named Mary who lives in California. Some of her life history is shared, how she grew up with an alcoholic father, accepted Christ at an early age, and with her husband, formerly ran a ministry smuggling Bibles into the Soviet Union.

Mary seems to rejoice after learning that we, as Amish, also believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to Earth to save us from our sins.

Before we part ways, we agreed to pray for each other. She also asks me to pray for her daughters. Mary seems discouraged with the state of the world and says it is becoming more and more of a “world without God.”

DEC. 29, 2009 — Today we hit the beach in Santa Barbara, Calif. It feels like the temperature is around 70 degrees and the sun is shining nicely.

As we are standing on the beach in the sun, wearing swimming trunks, Ivan muses that at home in northern Indiana our loved ones are probably shoveling snow. A measure of delight is taken in this thought as evidenced by Ivan’s belly laugh. Later we call the weather number and learn is 25 degrees at home. Tee hee!

Next destination ... Grand Canyon.

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