Youth Choir Tour 2008

The Youth Choir summer tour of West Texas and New Mexico was an amazing experience. Our group of 22 singers and 4 adults left FUMC Rowlett at 6AM on Sunday, June 15th. Our first stop was the 10:30AM service at FUMC Wichita Falls - visit their website to view video of our music. Then it was on to Dumas, north of Amarillo, for a full performance of our musical, "Life on the Edge" and an overnight stay at FUMC Dumas, home church of our own Barry Dowell.

On Monday, we drove to New Mexico, stopping in the Carson National Forest at the Palisades for a picnic lunch and gorgeous views. We arrived in Angel Fire where we were hosted by United Church of Angel Fire, the church attended by Nancy Bowdre's parents. Our evening was spent in nearby Red River, with dinner at a Mexican restaurant (ask Morgan about the nachos!) and fun at a recreation center with the world's oldest indoor golf course located in an attic.

Tuesday found our group hiking, some of us around a nearby lake and others up a mountain over 10,000 feet above sea level. We learned to take more water and paper bags next time. That evening we performed our musical at FUMC Cimarron. We found the members of this church to be extremely responsive to our message and they had a lovely reception for us afterwards. It was a meaningful experience for our choir and uplifted our tired spirits.

Wednesday found us on the Rio Grande River in 5 guided rafts. This was one of the highlights of our trip as we spent 3 hours paddling through calm waters as well as rapids. Pictures of our group can be viewed at Southern Exposure Photo.
The rest of our day was spent in beautiful Taos, shopping, eating enormous quesadillas at Guadalajara Grill, and the scary Gorge Bridge over the Rio Grande. That night we had wonderful worship in the church, led by Alyson, with Eagle Nest Lake and the Sangre de Christo mountains surrounding us as a reminder of God's grace.

Thursday meant back to the vans to leave Angel Fire on a very narrow road, Ginna's first glimpse of an alpaca, a visit to Las Vegas (the one in New Mexico!), and arriving in Amarillo just as a tornado was touching down on the other side of town. We quickly got everyone inside our host church of St. Paul United Methodist Church and waited out the weather. Thankfully, all were safe and the storm cleared enough that we could go to the Palo Duro canyon to eat a yummy steak dinner, complete with Colin's rolls, and watch the musical play "Texas".

Friday morning started with a visit to Cadillac Ranch where everyone got to practice their spray painting techniques on the cars halfway submerged in a field outside of Amarillo. Then the long drive back to Rowlett, and home to our families and our own showers. It was a great trip and confirmed what we already knew - that we have talented, fun, responsible, crazy kids in our Youth Choir who are willing to stay up all night to play the game Risk.

Special thanks to Barry & Ginna Dowell, and all who contributed food, gas money, and prayers for safe travel. Can't wait until next year!

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