Diverse Paths to Service

"What's the Cabrini Shrine?" All I have to do is read a random road sign and ask a question and John signals for the exit. This time, we were in Golden, CO, where we found ourselves at a hilltop sanctuary dedicated to Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, patron of immigrants. Frances immigrated from Italy in 1889 to minister to persons of foreign cultures as part of Daughters of the Sacred Heart. Although she traveled all over and established 67 schools, hospitals and orphanages in the US, Europe and Latin America, she held a special place in her heart for the immigrant children of Denver, many of whom were orphaned when their fathers died in the silver mines. In 1909, Sister Cabrini purchased some land above Mont Vernon Canyon as a summer camp for orphan girls. Today, the stone girls' home still stands, along with a chapel, grotto and hilltop shrine to Cabrini's work. In 1946, she was canonized, the first naturalized North American to become a saint.

The hilltop shrine is 343 steps up and includes a gardens, a massive statue of Jesus, stone monuments to the Ten Commandments (the one below reads: Thou shall have no other Gods before me) and the original stones that Sister Cabrini placed on the summit in the shape of the sacred heart.

I almost forgot, here is the other path to service that we came upon after having visited the shrine. Both are equally holy on road trips.

Next stop: The Great Plains.

The Rockies

Friday took us across the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide after a restful night at a campground in Grand Junction. We're driving Interstate 70, which is much less traveled than I-80 and more picturesque. It took us through the Eisenhower Tunnel at a summit of more than 11,000 feet. When we descended, we stopped several times along the way to admire the views along the raging Colorado River.

Here I am making a peanut butter sandwich in the galley. 

(In case you're reading this, Mark Miller, I thought of you.)

The river is very high right now, but it's the rock formations and vistas that are most awesome.

John aims his binoculars on the old passenger train from Georgetown, which traverses the steep canyon on trestles some fifty feet above the river. Georgetown is one of several towns built around the silver mines that once dominated the eastern slopes of the Rockies.