One of the joys of this trip has been making new friends and meeting up with those I have only previously known online.
So east of San Francisco in the town of Manteca we had the real pleasure of meeting up with Micah Burke and his wife Shaina. I’ve known Micah for a number of years from James White‘s #prosapologian IRC room. Micah and Shaina opened up their home to us and embraced the kids. We had a great evening together of backyard baseball, dinner and movie watching.
Micah and me
dinner with Micah and Shaina
After our time with Micah we drove on to Allan Haley, a fellow blogger from Stand Firm. Allan is another person I have only known online and yet he and his wife Bobbie opened up their home to us. Allan is also owner of the Nevada City Winery and so we left after a few days with a small case of samples 
The wines were excellent, but I particularly enjoyed the Cab Sauv and Sirah (Shiraz). But more than that we enjoyed Allan and Bobbie’s wonderful hospitality.
The Haleys and the Oulds
From Allan we moved to Utah and Bill and Tammy McKeever. Bill is a director of Mormonism Research Ministry. This was a link made through the clone and we are so grateful for it. Bill and Tammy and their son Jamin were incredibly welcoming and it was fantastic getting to know them and the family of their daughter Kristen. The kids also loved Kristen and Mike’s kids.
Ouldlets and new friends
Sundry McKeevers
Jamin and me
Bill and me, exquisitely colour-coordinated
We’re very grateful to God for these new and enriched friendships. There is something special about Christian fellowship experienced this way and we’re tremendously thankful to experience it.