Fossils and Eggs

We have come to the conclusion that God was demonstrating his great sense of humor when he created eastern Oregon. After leaving Cascade Locks last week, we traveled up the Columbia River Gorge to Arlington. Not very far but we stopped there so we could go either of two directions -- we ended up going both. We have friends who live in Umatilla and, as it turned out she was in California but he was at home and would love to have company. So we left the 5th wheel at a campground in Arlington and soloed up to visit Ken. They have a wonderful place at the end of a dead end road overlooking the Columbia River at McNary Dam with deer walking through their yard and beautiful sunsets to the west. I could learn to live like that!!!

The next day we turned south and pulled up out of the gorge onto the high plateau of eastern Oregon (or maybe it is still central Oregon). Rolling hills. Up and down. Wheat country. Joyce and I had always heard about this part of the state but had never seen it. We stopped in Condon for some ice cream (don't tell my doctor). To give you an idea of how sparsely populated this area is... Condon is a wide spot in the road with a population of 770 but is the county seat of Gilliam County. Fossil has a population of 460 and is the seat of Wheeler County. Fossil is where we camped for two nights. What a fun place! Our campground was on a bit of grass behind the Fossil Motel and RV Park. With deer -- lots of deer -- walking through the town and the fields behind us. We used Fossil as our base to go see the three units that make up the John Day Fossil Beds. One down by Dayville, one over by Mitchell, and one up by -- well, not by anything, but between Fossil and Antelope. If you want, you can find all this on an Oregon map south of Arlington. The scenery is so fascinating and so changing. We actually have painted hills in Oregon. They are gorgeous in the afternoon sun. We have funny shaped hills and lots of odd rock formations. I think God was really feeling good when he got to Oregon... "Hey, I think I'll make these rocks look strange and see if I can get these to stand on top of each other." Well, maybe. He might have!













The intrepid hikers looking at some of the strange formations











One of the painted hills -- one with white in it.
Our campground in fossil.

From there we traveled west and ended up at Richardson Ranch just north of Madras. That is a well known place where you can dig for opals and agates and thunder eggs. They also stock lots... no, make that LOTS of beautiful rocks from all over the world. I've never seen so many different rocks in one place. We parked the RV in their yard and drove about 7 miles back up into the hills to dig for thunder eggs. We found the spot, got some instruction from another digger, and went to work. It was easy to find them. In fact, too easy because it only took us about 30 minutes to get all we wanted -- which was only about 18 or so. According to our new-found friend there is a way of telling (kind of) which ones will be interesting and beautiful when cut open so we didn't keep all we dug. We had two cut and they are "ok" -- not really great, but not too bad. All this costs money so we went a little conservative. Now to find someone with a rock saw to cut the rest of these.

We have come to the conclusion that campgrounds are supposed to be noisy. The "really nice" one in Cascade Locks was 100 yards from a train track -- with a crossing nearby which meant the engineer had the privilege of blowing his horn at all hours of the night. Same at Arlington. Fossil was quiet but then at Richardson Ranch... No train for miles. Just cows. A hundred feet away, right across the fence. Apparently they had just taken the calves away from the moms so they mooed all night. Cows are weird. They would be really quiet, then one would start in and all the rest would join like a gospel choir. And they would move from one end of the pasture to the other -- just following each other to... they didn't know where, just follow. Some of that time was right by our RV. But other than that is was quiet.

From the rock hounding we went to Aldersgate Conference Center near Salem, left the 5th wheel and soloed to Newport for the weekend. We stayed with friends, visited with Willy and Angel plus some other friends and returned to Aldersgate today. I have a board meeting tomorrow and a Pastor's prayer event tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday. Then we head for Grants Pass. All that sounds exhausting when I read it but it was really a lot of fun. Now its back to work.

And so, that is what is happening in my world. What's in yours? Love to hear from you.

Now For A Little Fun

Okay, I guess this is me in my new life. At least that is what the website said. A friend pointed out http://simpsonizeme.com/ so I had to try it. What do you think? A good likeness? Be careful how you answer that!! Go ahead. Try it yourself. See what you look like. Be brave.

Joyce and I left Grants Pass Thursday late afternoon, "camped" in the street in front of Ginger's house in Salem and then went on the Portland the next day. Ginger drove her car and Joyce rode with her. We camped at Pheasant Ridge RV Park in Wilsonville and then went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) together. They are showing a display of plasticised (sorry about the spelling) human bodies. The bodies are donated but the plasticing process makes them look, well... like plastic. You have to keep reminding yourself that they are real. They are posed in both scientific and artistic manners -- set you can see the muscles or organs, the bones or blood veins, etc. It was a good display. How awesome God created us. The infinate detail so everything would work together correctly.

Ginger drove home Saturday and Joyce and went to the End of the Oregon Trail display in Oregon City. My opinion is that it is just "okay," and probably really good for someone who knows nothing about the Oregon trail. This morning we attended church at the Gladstone Free Methodist Church (near Portland) and are now in Cascade Locks. Tomorrow we will move on toward the John Day Fossil Beds, circle around and end up back at Aldersgate Conference Center near Salem by the weekend. This our time to get away. We need it! We worked hard for four straight weeks!!!!!!! Wow!

And after today, no cell phone or internet for a few days. So our world is one of investigation again. What's happening in yours?

Moving Along

We are keeping busy! Oh, yes we are!!!! ...taking care of all the little things so wonderfully entangled with the big things. Last week we had overnight guests. My uncle, Ken Park and his son, Jim and wife Joyce were on their way north so they stopped to say hi. They live in Tucson, Arizona where we are planning to visit sometime this winter. Ken was a pastor in the Oregon Conference and then lived in Newberg for many years. So he was on his way back to visit his son and old friends. Jim and Joyce were going on to Bellingham to visit their son and family. They'll stop and see us on their way south in October.

The sorting for the One Great Yard Sale keeps moving forward. The pile on the deck is getting bigger and we filled another recycle barrel. But there is light at the end of tunnel, er... garage.

I want you to know I'm a real go getter. Joyce worked 2 days last week and will work one day this week -- at the daycare. I take her there and then go get her (get it, go get er. Oh never mind). Beside that, she has put in quite a bit time here at home getting the crafts ready. She even enlisted me to help a few times. We are trying to upgrade her "It's In The Bag" presentation. I made her some half pages with those words and some pictures as a logo. Now we are typing the directions for each craft. If you haven't guessed, she delivers the crafts in a paper grocery bag, thus the name.

The pickup was in the shop for a day last week. The "service engine soon" light would come on, go off, come on, go off. So they fixed some wires or something. Not cheap! I took my bike when I dropped of the truck so I could ride it home, then rode it back when the work was completed. I was proud of myself that I made it without feeling like I was dying.

And so we keep at the little stuff... sure seems like there is a lot of it. I've repaired a security light, fixed the barbecue, worked on the RV, cut up some scrap wood, and so on. So many little things have been let slide for so long it will take some time to get caught up. Well, those little things are my world right now. What's yours?

Sort, Recycle, and Toss

"It would be easier to sell the place as is and move," I told Joyce in the middle of cleaning 15 years of accumulation out of the garage. We are getting ready for a yard sale -- probably a massive JUNK sale. The only problem is that there is so much stuff to go thru I don't think we can have it until October. Hope the weather holds! Joyce has gone thru her craft storage room and tossed, sorted and rearranged. We are still working the garage and have part of the house to do. WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!!! The deck has a huge pile on the middle of it covered with some old blankets. That is the yard sale stuff. We have filled 3 big recycle barrels with more to go. And that isn't saying anything about the garbage. I'll probably have to make a dump run to get rid of all of it. Lots of work yet to do and we will be gone for a couple weeks later in the month. More about that when it happens.

Did you see the lunar eclipse last week? I went out and looked at it as it was just beginning. Then when it was almost total, I awakened Joyce and we went out and watched the last sliver of light disappear. I got out the binoculars and looked at the total eclipse. The moon sort of glowed, like it was translucent with an inner light. Kind of awesome. I don't remember ever seeing a total lunar eclipse before -- maybe did, but I don't remember it. I'll remember this one.

In our continuing quest to visit all the local churches, we attended Redwood Christian Church last Sunday. They have two worship services and the one we attended didn't have very many people there, but it was Labor Day weekend.

Well, I need to get back to the sorting, tossing, cleaning, and boxing. This is my world right now (deep in dust!). What's in yours?

Much, Much Too Long

Yes... it has been a long time. The last blog was posted while we were in Newport almost two weeks ago. Sorry. I'll try to get back on the Sunday or Monday routine. Well, our time in Newport was good. Beside meeting with Willy, we also met with others who are now our friends, enjoyed some cool weather, and relaxed a little after the week at camp. Willy is doing great at the church. They cleaned out all (well, nearly all) the blackberries on the property behind the church. This caused a stir among the neighbors wondering what was going on. Last Saturday they had a yard sale to get rid of some old stuff. But this was no ordinary yard sale. The church sponsored the sale for all the Agate Beach community -- doing all the advertising, etc. The only thing the neighbors had to do was set their stuff out and sell it. Willy said it went well with about 15 families joining in and voicing appreciation for the church doing that. Keep praying for Willy and the church.

Family Camp was a good time to connect with friends. We missed last year because of the Alaska thing (remember Alaska?!!!) and that was the first time we missed Family Camp in lots and lots of years. In addition to the friends AT camp we also had friends and family come to visit us. My niece, Kandy, came Thursday afternoon; our friends, Mark and Judy, came Friday afternoon; and daughter Ginger came Saturday afternoon. We left Sunday before anyone could find us (just kidding!). We did leave Sunday and stopped in Eugene to spend the evening and night with Joyce's brother and sister-in-law, Jack and Luwayne. So all in all, it was a "reach out and touch someone" week. We needed that.

Arriving home Monday, we unloaded the 5th wheel and took a nap!!! Besides the usual little things to take care of (like stacked up mail) we began to work on the "to do" list. The biggy on Joyce's list is to get crafts ready for the day care for September and October. As she sorts thru stuff we are also making a pile for a yard sale. That needs to happen early in September. This means sorting thru the garage which is a scary place! I started with two boxes close by... one for the sale and one for the dump. Lots to go. Want to come help?

Since Joyce rarely reads this blog, I'll let you in on a little secret. September 1 is her birthday. I think we are going to go eat at the Galice Resort and then take in a movie. But that's a week away; we might change our minds. In the mean time we are helping at the church yard sale tomorrow. They had so much stuff left over after the last one that they decided to do another one. Good idea.

Well, now you are caught up with what's happening in my world. What's happening in yours?

Kids, Kids, and Newport

Wow! what a fun time we had with our grand kids. After their Sunriver stint they came to Grants Pass and were with us from Monday afternoon to Friday evening. Korak helped me with some yard work, we spent a little time getting ready for Fir Point, and lots of time with the kids. Josiah got to pick blackberries (all over his fingers, face and clothes!) and got to ride his bike in the street and on the bike path. And... get this... he caught a fish!!! Yes, he did. We went to a fish farm near Cave Junction 'cause we knew he wouldn't have the patience to fish in a lake where he might have to wait hours for a nibble. The guy that runs the place was so good with him. His name was Thomas. He showed him how to cast the line out -- which we had to do for him anyway. And then showed him what to look for. Thomas's fish were hungry. And huge. Josiah's line was out about 10 minutes when the bobber went under and stayed under. Thomas said to be patient and reel slowly to sort of tire the fish out. Josiah did it pretty well even though he was anxious to see the fish. Thomas netted it, mom took videos, Joyce took pictures, dad and grandpa popped buttons, and Josiah was excited. It was the first time he had fished so of course the first fish he had ever caught. It was a 19 inch rainbow trout, about 2 1/2 pounds. He fished for another one but his dad did most of the work in catching that one. We paid by the inch so it was not an economical way to get a fish dinner but it sure was a great way to make a boy happy! It was good eating, too. We barbecued it the next day for dinner. Oh, by the way, grandpa had to clean it!!! Josiah watched but he wasn't going to touch those bloody guts.

They left Friday evening with grandpa and grandma in tears. But then it was down to the serious business of getting all our stuff ready for Fir Point Camp. This is a camp about 25 miles north of Grants Pass that a half dozen or so Free Methodist Churches rent to have a resident camp for kids from grade 3 through grade 6 and from grade 7 through grade 10. The two age group camps run simultaneously. Joyce and I taught the Bible story for the younger group. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. We had 45 kids divided into three groups so the Bible story rotated with two other events. This is the camp that I directed for a lot of years so it was interesting being there but not being in charge. The only bummer was that Joyce got sick Tuesday evening. It was like a 24-hour flu but she was weak and sore for a couple days afterward. She's fine now.

And "now" is Saturday evening. We are in Newport again to spend a little time with the new pastor. He and I will discuss, talk, plan, and pray together. My job is to "coach" him. Wednesday we will move over to Aldersgate Conference Center near Salem for Family Camp. And home on Sunday.

It just keeps on going on. And so this is my world. Isn't it fun? What's in your world? We love hearing from you.

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?