And Home Again

The last time I wrote we were camped along the Columbia River just north of Vancouver. Josiah loved to watch the big ships go by. We were directly across the river from Columbia City which is just a couple miles north of St. Helens where we lived for 9 years -- and where Jana graduated from high school. A little nostalgia there.

Our trip to the property near Chimacum was slow. We don't travel very far with two little ones without letting them out to run around. We arrived at Will and Anna's property in a slight drizzle Monday late afternoon. Had to put it into 4-wheel drive to get in (to get out also, although it was much drier by then). The weather was great the next 3 days and we had lots of fun visiting and eating. Will brought halibut, king salmon, and red salmon down with him which he barbecued for us. Yum! Absolutely delectable. We all eat too much -- but what is too much when it tastes so good? The next day he barbecued some moose. Again, yum. Soooooo good. The last evening we roasted hot dogs over the fire. They were good but sure a come down from the fish and moose.

Besides Will and Anna, the other people that made our mini reunion so much fun: my sisters Beth and Doris; Doris's husband Bing and daughter Betty, and Beth's son Roy and his wife Twila. Anna's sister and husband and son were also there for a short time. We have scheduled a Mumau family reunion for next summer. More info later.

Oh, where is Chimacum? About 15 miles from Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. And for all our friends who live up that way and didn't notice when we drove by... I apologize. There just wasn't time to stop. We'll try later, but that later might have to be next summer.

We left Chimacum Thursday about noon and got to Sunriver late afternoon on Friday. Jana's husband Korak arrived at the house they had rented at almost the same time we did. We had dropped off the RV at a friend's house for a night of storage and stayed with Jana and Korak one night. Loved the hot tub! On Saturday we left for home. But we didn't arrive here until Sunday. When we went by Farewell Bend Campground there was a vacant campsite that beckoned to us and we couldn't refuse. So we attended church in Medford on the way through.

Jana, Korak and the kids will arrive here any minute and stay until Thursday. Then Joyce and I will get ready for kids camp next week. So you know what our week will be like. The next blog will either be from camp if I have a connection or from Newport in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned.

For those who like stats: We traveled 2300 miles the last three weeks, got 11.2 miles per gallon and spent a fortune on diesel. So that is our world. What's in yours?

Having Too Much Fun!

We had a great time at the beach and then off to central Oregon for a week. We stayed at a relative's cabin (house) near La Pine and did some of the tourist things in the area like the High Desert Museum. I went to the RV Rally in Redmond two days and Joyce and the kids went with me one day. Our friends, Mike and Joann joined us and it was a lot of fun.

The kids are a delight but also can tire out these old grandparents. I remember now why young people have the children. This morning we attended church in Madras and are presently at a campground along the Columbia River on our
way to Will and Anna's property on the Olympic Peninsula. We'll get there tomorrow and stay about three days.

The top picture is our campfire at Honeyman State Park. The bottom is Josiah, Jana and I on a dune buggy ride.

So that's what's been happening in my world. What's in yours?

On Vacation

I'm not sure if a retired person really calls time away from home a vacation but I guess that word serves okay. After we returned from Mexico it took three days for us to regain our strength and rest. It seems like we were in a rest-deprived fog. In fact, I had to read the last blog to see what I said. After that, we spent a frantic 4 or 5 days getting ready for the next leg of our summer journey. On Tuesday the 10th we hooked up the RV (the first time since returning from Alaska!) and headed for Salem. We picked up Jana and the kids at Ginger's house and camped at Silver Falls State Park for 2 nights -- hiking down to the falls and generally having a good time. Josiah loves smores made over a campfire.

Then it was off to the coast. We camped one night at Beverly Beach State Park near Newport and are now camped in the church backyard. When we arrived here Thursday, I led a memorial service for the man who had terminal cancer. He had died the previous week. I had the new pastor assist me. Someone estimated that there were about 250 people in attendance -- in a church that barely holds 150. Tomorrow I will do a symbolic "changing of the shepherd" to the new pastor and in the afternoon it is off to Honeyman State Park near Florance. After that we will go to a relative's cabin near La Pine.

Somewhere in there I will probably be able to update again but I suspect the computer connections will be rather sparse.

We are having a great time with Lilly and Josiah. We have done the Aquarium, 2 lighthouses, the beach, the tide pools, a store called Pirate's Plunder, and tried to fly a kite (not enough wind). Until about 6 hours ago the weather in Newport was a balmy 68 to 70 degrees with nice sunshine. Then it clouded up and may rain a little -- or not. Next time I'll try to attach some pictures of the kids -- maybe even of Jana! Maybe even of grandpa and grandma!

But until then that's what is happening in my world. What's in yours?

Ensenada Pictures

Our deck and security fence. The present sanctuary can be seen in the distance. One of the next projects for some group is to take out the big warehouse door on the right and put in a nice entry door with some windows.

This is the wheel chair ramp we added on this trip. Is it too steep? Sorry. It's the best we could do. The building on the left is the parsonage above. The door you can see at the end of the ramp goes into the men's restroom.

This is the view from the gate into the old compound. On the right is the sanctuary, straight ahead is the two-room classroom building, on the right out of the picture is the parsonage building.

Ensenada, Mexico

We're back! Joyce and I (and the Grants Pass group) arrived back in town about 2:00 this afternoon. The trip was great -- tiring, dirty, hot -- but great. Let me back up a bit and explain that this project began about 4 years ago. The Oregon Conference of the Free Methodist Church is helping a small church in a poor section of Ensenada, Mexico expand into a center to serve the neighborhood they are located in. The Conference has purchased (for them) a warehouse next door to the church and individuals and churches in Oregon are transforming it into a larger church building and community center. Grants Pass got involved 3 years ago when I and two other men went down with another church to check it out. Since then we have sheet rocked a small 2-room classroom building, helped remodel the upstairs of a small building for a parsonage, turned the downstairs (the old parsonage) into an office, tool room, and restrooms. We also built an entry porch -- a big deck -- onto the front of the warehouse.

In the past we have taken 12-16 people. This year we had 22 -- a big group considering the limited facilities we had. This included 10 teens. We cooked in a classroom, ate outdoors, the guys slept in the sanctuary, and the ladies in the other classroom and office. It worked okay and we all got along well. The work we did was finish the deck (yea!!!!) by adding safety railing and a handicap ramp. We also put up a security fence and repaired the stairway up to the parsonage. Oh, we also painted the deck. All of this done with no advance drawings, I might add. We just made up plans on the spot and did it. For me, it was it was a new experience because I was NOT in charge. Sometimes it was hard to keep from taking over but I was in charge of building the ramp so that helped keep me occupied.

Last weekend I went to Annual Conference Friday and Saturday, then left for Mexico early Sunday morning. We stayed Sunday night at the church in Los Angeles that Jana attends. Yes, we got to see Josiah and Lilly for a few minutes! We arrived in Ensenada about noon on Monday. No trouble crossing the border going down or coming back. Yesterday we attended the church there (this was the Pastor's last Sunday because he is moving to another church, but this will not be a problem for the project). We stopped for fish tacos going out of town, drove all night except for about 3 hours of sleep in a rest area. Did I say, "sleep?" Have you ever tried to sleep in a van with 10 other people? That one ranks right up there with the worst night I've ever had! But the trip was still good!

And so, that's been my world for the last couple weeks. What's in yours?

What an Ending!

We are home in Grants Pass now -- got in about 9:30 Sunday evening. But this past week... wow! Let me tell you about it. We had a great time Tuesday having breakfast with some friends and touring the Hatfield Marine Science Center. It was a gorgeous day and we walked around outside talking. Then my phone rang. Then it rang again. The first call was from the window people. They wanted to come Wednesday to install the new windows. Okay, no problem. The second call was from the carpet people. They wanted to come Thursday! Thursday!! I tried to talk him into waiting until next week when the house would be empty but they wanted to schedule it NOW. So we packed up and moved into the spare room in the garage. There we sat, me in my recliner working on my sermon, and Joyce on a foam pad reading a book in a little room stuffed with stuff. The carpet people didn't get there until noon so they had to continue their work the next day. But by 3:00 Friday. It looked great. Really great! Since we had to take our bed down we used the air mattress and foam pads and camped out in the living room. It was fun, it really was.

Saturday evening we packed the pickup. When I say packed, you have to read that as "stuffed full to overflowing and then poked back in." We finished packing a few things after church, cleaned the last of the places that needed cleaning, visited a church member who has cancer, and left town about 2:45. The people gave us a little thank you gift and had a cake with a sombrero on it -- sending us off to Mexico (which is next week).

Just for the record, let me say again: these are such great, loving, generous people. We thoroughly enjoyed our 7 months in Newport and will miss seeing everyone. Fortunately we will get to see them once a month for awhile as we go back to Newport to work with the new pastor.

And now, for the next chapter in our lives. We don't know what that will be, except that next week we will go to Mexico with the Grants Pass Church and most of July will be spent with Jana, Josiah, and Lilly. Because of the trip next week, I will have to miss adding a note to the blog, so the next one will be the first part of July when we get back.

And that's what's in my world. What's in yours?

Washing, Communion, and Baptism

It just keeps getting better, more blessings, more fun. Since this is Sunday, you can guess I'm referring to our worship today. We began a new start time today -- 10:30. Most of the people remembered. But it seemed we were very disorganized. The chorus CDs weren't cued and things like that which drive me nuts! But it was still a good worship. I preached about the time Jesus "cleansed" the temple by driving out those who were desecrating it. At the end we dismissed -- er, I mean we adjourned -- to finish the service at Longview Hills Clubhouse. Now, I need to explain. Quite a few of our people live in this modular home estate about a mile from the church -- across the highway and up the hill. They have a hot tub and we had people to be baptised. What a better place. So at the end of our church service we journeyed up the hill and had a hot tub service. Since there is not a whole lot of us (17 at this service, a few more at the church) we met in the hot tub room. I concluded the sermon there by reminding everyone that in the Old Testament they used ritual hand washing to indicate a heart and life that was right with God. So I washed the hands of anyone who had stuff in their lives that they were asking God to cleanse. It was a ritual washing but I think rather meaningful.

Then we participated in the sacrament of communion. Then... the baptism. Three people were baptised -- one was a teen boy and another a young adult lady. The third was a lady who just recently came to saving faith in Jesus. An interesting side note is that she used to live in Grants Pass and visited our church there in the middle 90s. She didn't attend long and we don't remember her (she doesn't remember us either). It was a great time! Love it!!

One picture is of the hand washing and the other of Austin just after being baptised.

at the parsonage. Got two pickup loads of old lumber and yard debris hauled off, power washed the outside (mildew collects easily here), cut a big hole in the living room carpet and put the piece in the room in the garage (office or spare bedroom), pulled the carpet in the smelly bedroom and discovered quite a few soft spots in the underlayment (moisture from ... oh no, not a dog!!!!). So the guys pulled that up and will replace it this week. The ladies re-stained some bad places on the kitchen cabinets and we did a few other odd jobs. The new carpet will be ordered tomorrow and will be installed when we clear out.

We have a man in ICU in the hospital. He had surgery on Tuesday and has a lot of recovery ahead of him. So, in addition to visiting him we have a lot of "getting ready to leave" stuff to do this week.

And that's what's in my world. What's in yours?

Progress and Plans

Progress is good. So are plans. We have both. It is happening. Regarding the work on the parsonage... new windows have been picked out and ordered. New carpet is picked out and will be ordered this week. The windows will be installed about the time we move out and the carpet right afterward. The kitchen cabinets need a little work and Larry and I are going to do that Wednesday. We have a work day scheduled for Saturday to do some general clean-up and a little painting. If we can save considerable money by removing the old carpet ourselves we will also do that Saturday (and if we have enough people). We might also power wash the outside of house. There will be a little painting outside to be done but that can wait until later.

I preached yesterday and will two more times. This coming week will be busy getting ready for a baptism we are going to have next Sunday. More about that next time. Joyce and I are anxious to get on with the next phase of our lives but are also going to miss these wonderful people. So we are a little mixed in our emotions. We face a busy summer so that will keep us focusing ahead, instead of looking back.

Wannna see the dead whale? I kind of thought it would be the highlight of your week!!! That is Joyce way off to the right and two of our friends are walking toward her.

Well, that's my world. What's in yours?