We were to leave San Francisco by Greyhound Bus. Evan Prosser offered to help take us down there, which was kind as he had a meeting to go to which this would make him late for. We asked Evan to help us check over and secure the place we were staying in as the owners (friends of his) were not due back for a couple more days yet and Phyliss was still looking after her husband.
The Greyhound Bus System and terminals are at a point now where the operators are having to advertise, on TV etc, that they are working to improve it - enough said!
We used the bus system a number of times inter- and within states in the USA and would strongly recommend that unless God told you to travel by it in the USA, seek him for flights which are sometimes not much dearer and can even be cheaper.
Travelling up to Seattle we left San Francisco going through up-state California, Oregon, and started to arrive in Washington State just after sunrise. The sunset that night was spectacular.
We had an unusual travelling companion. Every now and then we got a whiff of an unexpected smell from a lady sitting next to us. Then we realised that she was travelling with a wee dog in a specially made carry bag. She took it outside whenever the bus stopped.
The other reason to look at other means of travel is that you arrive absolutely shot after these long bus journeys. Neither Michael nor I are shorter people, and there is little room for legs or arms while on the bus!
So we spent the first few days in Seattle in a mental fog!
Seattle is like a more beautiful version of somewhere around Wellington/Marlborough Sounds (New Zealand). There are ferries constantly going out into a ginormus sound to service the communities on islands and shores away from the main city. The people are much like Canadians (the border is very close) and generally kind and hospitable.
We were in the central of the city in a cheap motel chain we were to end up using a bit. And initially we only had a few witnessing openings. It was at first a bit like we were regaining strength after the bus trip and what was a very full on time in San Francisco.
We had a bit of a look around the town. Saw the very first Starbucks, the street art from the pig festival, and glorious sunsets.
The street art was quite unusual. A competition had been run, and the contestants had each been given a moulded statue of a pig to do up.
The results were all over the place. As we were to find that surprisingly, there were a lot of Samoan people living in the area - they must have been wondering what the 'pahlangi' (white people) were up to. For Samoans, pigs are a highly prized cultural item, particularly when cooked! And not normally an object of art ... Michael adds other than when served on a platter, and then only as a very short-lived piece of artwork!
On the day before we were due to fly to Minneapolis we travelled out to stay in a cheap room near the airport. We went into the airport and looked on the accommodation board for somewhere near by that was reasonably priced. God graciously made a place stand out. Once we had settled in we caught a bus back into Seattle.
We walked for quite a way, grabbed some lunch, and kept walking. It was some sort of holiday and there were a lot of people walking along the harbourside promenade.
Looking back it seems as if the Lord was having us kill time towards getting us somewhere at a specific time.
And that was to go up to a place where there were a number of museum and theme based activities near the local sky tower. There is also a monorail that runs back into the cities main retail district.
At the foot of the sky tower Paul struck up a conversation with a man form the subcontinent of India, who wanted his picture taken.
Witnessing directly to him about the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ that he could enter into, it came out that the man had good friends in India who had even taken him to evangelistic meetings where he had seen people spontaneously healed of obvious diseases right in from of him in the Name of the Lord Jesus the only true Son of God!
In the end he took a Paradise for Free from Paul after a really good time of sharing. There was a real sense that it was one of those powerfully ordained meetings that God sets up. The man was leaving for Bombay again the next morning.
On the bus back to the airport area for the night Michael was able to share with Christian ladies who had just come back from a Christian retreat and were heading back to other parts of America. Michael spent time sharing with them and then when we were making our way for a shuttle from the airport to our accommodation for the night, we were able to give them some booklets as well praise God!
Back where we were staying for the night there was a Dennys in the car park area. We went in there after 10pm for dinner, and then a whole lot of Samoans followed us in. And some were really people who were setting their lives to follow Christ as best as they knew how!
Michael spent some time with them and then all of us together before we left the eatery. It was a real blessing from the Lord Jesus to meet people seeking to know the Lord Jesus. They had all come in after various Christian meetings and the father was heading back to American Samoa very soon.
So after what God had turned into a rich time in Seattle area we made our way on to Minneapolis the next day.
More Seattle Pictures: Seattle