Our Trip Home

Hearst Castle

Our last few days in LA were great. Friday evening Joyce and I went on a date while the kids were at Awanas. We went to Islands for dinner and then a movie -- Robin Hood. Saturday Korak fixed a really nice breakfast for us. Then I took Josiah for a haircut. His hair was getting pretty long and his mom wanted it cut before summer. However, he would only go the barber if grandpa took him. So off we went and he got it cut fairly short. When we got home I realized we didn't get any pictures after the haircut. Well, take my word for it, it looks nice.

Sunday was church -- twice. As it turned out the two services were entirely different so it was fun staying for both. The worship leader shared during the first service and Pastor Kevin preached in the second. In the afternoon Joyce and I stayed home while the family went to a cousin's birthday party. Monday, Kevin and I went to lunch. It is always fun to visit with him. He is an amazing Pastor. Evening dinner was extra nice and we had a couple friends come over to share our "last evening." Then we packed the car. Packed is a pretty good word for it because we brought back a bike for Lilly and a scooter for Josiah (he already has a bike here) so they have things to play with when they are here this summer. We also brought back lots of lemons from their tree to share plus baby clothes for a friend. Oh... also a tent for camping this summer.

We left Tuesday early heading for Hearst Castle on highway one in northern California. Pictures follow somewhere but I'm having trouble with how Blogspot posts pictures (as you could tell from the last blog). They have four tours but we only took the basic one which is recommended for people who have never been there before. It is an amazing place. It kind of proves that if you have enough money you can build anything. It is on the top of a hill with a jillion steps, lots of marble statues, tile everywhere and mostly made of concrete -- with a lot of wood also.

One is a marble statue and one isn't.

If you were a visitor of William Randolf Hearst this might be the bed you would have slept in. A lot of movie stars did.

This is where you would eat along with all the other guests. Mr. Hearst sat in the middle with the newest guests closest to him. I guess when you got to the end of the table you knew it was time to go home.

And finally, the indoor pool where you could take a dip before lunch. The water was heated in Mr. Hearst's day.

We stayed in a motel Tuesday night and made it back to Grants Pass late Wednesday afternoon. Then we left early Thursday morning for the Portland area to attend my Aunt Vera's memorial service. She was the last of my mom's brothers/sisters and died at the age of 99. While we were "up north" we also made contact with Joyce's niece. She was down visiting colleges with her daughter Katlyn. These are the people we stayed with while we were in Wrangell, Alaska. Our visit was short, but good.

I got my garden replanted Saturday. Replanted because some seeds didn't sprout and my tomato plants froze while we were in Lebanon. I think being an absentee farmer doesn't work very well. Joyce has been fighting a cold so this morning I stayed home to be with her. Doesn't that sound altruistic? I'm such a good husband!!! Actually I did something this morning that I've wanted to do for 40 years -- skip church and watch the Indianapolis 500 Race. I don't even feel guilty.

Our plans are to be home -- our GP home -- for a couple weeks before we go back to Lebanon and various other experiences. Trust you have had a great Memorial Day weekend. Blessings.

Busy Having Fun

Greetings from LA. It’s time to sit down and blog a little. I am so behind in computer work. I think it has been non-stop go and almost non-stop projects since we got here – with one little interlude I’ll explain later. We got back to Grants Pass Sunday late afternoon on the 9th, loaded the car, and left early Monday morning. I didn’t want to travel in the rain because I had the old air conditioner in the trunk but the lid wouldn’t close. To protect the trunk from rain we put down a piece of plastic and some old towels and blankets, then put more plastic behind the air conditioner and taped it to the side of the car with blue painter’s tape. Of course the trunk lid was pulled down as far as it would go and held with bungees. To make a long story short (and this could be long), it rained almost the entire way down. It rained while we grabbed a quick nap in a rest area, it rained while we ate lunch, it POURED (like in torrential) as we drove thru Sacramento, and it just continued to rain. If there was a big black cloud on the horizon, it wasn’t off to the west or east, it was straight ahead right over the freeway. As we approached the Grapevine it begin to slacken and finally quite for the last 2 or 3 hours of the drive. But – believe it or not – very little water in the trunk and the carpeting wasn’t even damp!

Interruptions! I’m having too much for this blogging stuff. I started this sitting in Starbucks enjoying a Decaf Grande Latte with a shot of cherry. That was after I read through 37 emails. But then noon time came and I promised Joyce we would go to lunch so off went the computer and off we went to an In N Out Burger for bit of LA culture. The one we went to is right by the landing path at the airport so big planes come screaming in every few minutes just high enough that you can’t touch them – but almost. It’s an experience. There were about 200 people either eating in the place or waiting in the drive thru line. By the way, today is nice sunny day. We have had some of those but have also had rain and cold. I did get to wear my shorts for a couple days.

As I implied, we have been rather busy. We cleaned the end of the back room – this is our bedroom but is also used for storage, etc. We put up the shelves we brought from home – the ones Joyce had in her craft room. We cleaned the patio which is next to the back room. All this made a van full to take to Goodwill. Plus a bunch for garbage. I bought Josiah a small tackle box to use as a tool box. Of course, this had to be filled with tools. Then he and I commenced to build a go-kart. Gravity driven, that is. That took most of Saturday. Much of the hammering was too hard for him but he wanted to build something. Actually he wanted to build a Viking ship! The only one I could find was already built and cost $300. So opted for a go-kart. He has more hills around here than water, anyway.

The pictures here are during his initial run. It needs better seat and some paint. I hope to get to those before we leave – if I don’t run out of time.

Of course there had to be time mixed in here for eating out, shopping, and running to Home Depot. Lots of Home Depot runs! That was last week. Oh yes, and time to be sick. Yeah, I picked up a bug and it hit Sunday afternoon. For awhile I was going at both ends. Not a pretty sight around here. We went to church Sunday and I felt okay – maybe not tip-top, but okay. We went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch (I’m of the opinion that their pizza would make anyone sick) and I went home early. Some of Korak’s family came over in the evening to have a party. I was in the back room having my own party! But Monday I was okay – rather dragged out though. That’s my one little interlude to the nonstop going. Actually, I was kind of nonstop there for… oh, never mind. You don’t want to know.

This week we shopped for a new bed for Lilly. I don’t mean we bought it, we just helped Jana shop. But then there was the putting together, the rearranging of the bedroom, the reconfiguration of the closet, putting the boat together. Oh yeah, the boat.

Joyce brought Lilly a box full of Barbies to play with. Actually, Jana's old Barbies, so she didn't get left out of all this.

We brought Josiah a model speed boat to glue together. Well, we found out it was a little beyond his skills, plus we left the good glue at home so had to settle for super glue. Actually he did a lot of the work. I helped guide the glue and did the really little stuff. It is now done but needs paint. That will get done – if I don’t run out of time (I said that once already, didn’t I?). Or his dad can help him with it.

Yes, I do have wifi access here. That makes it easier than going to McDonalds. Just no time to do it. Barely enough time to keep up with emails. But we’re having fun!!!

Josiah got a bike! Josiah got a bike!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Josiah's cousin, Nikea, was born 5 days before he was so they celebrated together Sunday evening.
 
 
 
   
And we'll close with a couple views of the church Jana and Korak and kids attend. It is Marina Christian Fellowship (Free Methodist) in Culver City. It sits at a "Y" in the road. Each Sunday they set out coffee and donuts plus relevant literature. It makes a nice place to visit.
 

Happy Mother's Day

To all you mothers, Happy Mom's Day. I feel like I have quite a few moms because it took a village to raise me. Some of my moms have passed on, including my own, but others are still working on me. Thank you. Ginger is here to spend time with her mother. She took us out to dinner tonight at a realy yummy barbecue place in Albany. She'll spend the night with us and go home after church.

I am posting this on Saturday because I might not have time tomorrow. Out stint in Lebanon ends after church tomorrow. We drop the RV off at Beth’s and set out for home quickly. We want to leave as early as possible Monday morning. Leave? Yes! To see grandchildren, daughter, and son-in-law in Los Angeles. During the quick turnaround in Grants Pass we have to do laundry, pack our bags, mow the lawn, do some banking at the ATM, load the car and who knows what else. Loading the car will not be easy. We are taking the old air conditioner to Korak. It will fit in the trunk but not all the way, so the lid won’t close. We are also taking a shelving unit which we took out of Joyce’s “back room.” Plus some stuff for the kids. We’ll be pretty well loaded.


Trevor got home from Bakersfield Wednesday and Shanette on Friday. It was a good thing they were there. It seems they were the solid rocks in the midst of chaos, uncertainty, and indecision. The funeral service for Shanette’s cousin went well and the time spent with the family was good. Thank you for your prayers and concern for them.

Joyce and Shanette set up and decorated for a bridal shower this morning. Followed, of course, by the shower itself. Joyce was in charge of games. Shanette was grateful for her help. Other than that, the week has been fairly calm. I met with a couple people about the church. The conference board meeting in Salem went well. We will be ordaining two young men as ministers this summer.

I don’t know when I will be able to blog again. I don’t have the connection card (or air card) any more. It was real handy to get on the internet in almost any location. But it was also expensive and I don’t really need it now. I may be able to use Jana’s computer to post or I may be able to use McDonald’s internet. We’ll see how slow it is. So until next time… whenever that is, blessings.

In Lebanon Now

It seems like this is becoming a “post every two weeks” blog. Well, my mantra is becoming, “I’m retired; I can do whatever I want.” Yeah. Right. Well anyway we have been keeping busy and out of trouble – no arrests or anything like that. The BIG thing that has been occupying our lives is the sorting, tossing, and reboxing. Joyce has done a marvelous job on her craft room. I am still working on the office but I’ve made a lot of progress. I have two file cabinets (eight file drawers) full of stuff. I can’t see why a retired person needs that many files. So I have been tossing and tossing and tossing. That is emotional. These are files I have saved for years. I have time and energy invested in them. Some are old sermon research files that I started in seminary. They are outdated now and most of them I haven’t used in years because research on the internet is easier, contains more information and is more up to date. But I remember Joyce and me setting up those files. She helped me file a lot of papers and as I look through them, I think, “Wow, this is good stuff. This information is great.” Then I think, “But wait, when am I going to use it? Never! So dump it.” And I do. Some of the files are old class notes that I saved for research. Of course, I have emotional attachment to those. Getting rid of all those files requires a kind of hard heart or a shutting off of the emotions. I’m not good at that. But we’re doing it. We have filled our own recycle container (like a large garbage can) 4 times and our neighbors at least twice. Wednesday we took a large pickup load of stuff to the dump. This was junk from the house, garage, and shed. Since we were going, we threw some tires on top that our neighbor, Mary, wanted to get rid of.

Another allday activity is reflected in these pictures. Can you tell the difference in the house between pic 1 and pic 2.

Do you see the difference? The airconditioner in the wall is missing! We took it out, got a piece of T-111 siding, Joyce painted it three times and we got it nailed in -- all in one big, loooong day.

We are now in Lebanon. We came up Friday, stopped at Beth’s to get the RV and have lunch with her, and got here in time to send Joyce off with the gals to Ladies Retreat. She and Ginger shared a room and we also had about 10 others from here. They had a good time and got home this afternoon.

I preached today, primarily because Trevor and Shanette are in Bakersfield, CA. Shanette’s cousin was murdered Tuesday morning in her home so they went down to help the family. All the details aren’t clear yet but the police arrested a guy yesterday for the killing. Maybe when they get back we’ll get some more information. Tomorrow they are conducting the funeral for the lady. Of course all this is hard on the whole family and Trevor and Shanette need lots of prayer.

So we are here now to do what we can. I have some meetings this week and I’ll also meet with some of the people. When Trevor gets back we’ll talk about the church here, but basically what I hear, everything is going well.

Here is our fancy camping spot in the church parking lot. It doesn't have very many amenities but it doesn't cost much either.