Friends and Family Tour, Week 2

In my last blog I promised some pictures of Chief Miwaleta Campground. Here is one. Mike and Joann's RV is on the left, ours is on the right.

We left that blog with Joyce and I at Ginger's in Salem. Monday I rebuilt her closet so it is a little more user friendly. The old clothes bar was mounted so close to the shelf that she had to turn coat hangers on their sides to get them on or off. On the left one third of the closet, I cut the shelf out and installed two bars, one high and one low. In the rest of the closet, I put in a new bar with a larger space between it and the shelf. There were a few other "daddy projects" like changing the furnace filter, fixing her door bell (new batteries), and securing the cat perches so they won't fall off. Joyce did some weeding outside and being my go-fer.

We had a good MEG Board meeting Tuesday taking care of some routine business and interviewing a man about becoming a minister in our conference. That evening we went to the home of my niece, Kandy for a delicious crock pot stew dinner. It was very special to be in her new-to-her home and we had a great time visiting. Wednesday we had breakfast with our friend JoAnn at Neufelds in Sublimity and then it was off to Washington (the state, that is). Do you have your map handy? You'll want to look at the Olympic Peninsula, the Seattle area, and north.

We arrived at Ron and Joan's house near Hoodsport on the Hood Canal in a light drizzle. I guess that is to be expected since this IS the northwest and this IS autumn. I new Joan when we were both in the same church as kids in Eugene. Her mom was our junior boys Sunday school teacher and her little sister was my girl friend for awhile. I was a candle lighter in Ron and Joan's wedding but through the years we had mostly lost track of each other. There were a few contacts, especially after her sister (not the girl friend -- another sister!) moved to St. Helens to partner with a local chiropractor. Her mom showed up in church one day to say hi. I was shocked but delighted to see her after so many years. Anyway, a couple years ago Ron and Joan were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and trying to find all the people who had been in their wedding party. We simply reconnected and once again enjoy our friendship. They live on a hill overlooking Lake Kokanee -- well, trees block most of view but you can see it from their deck. Thursday morning Joan and I hiked down to the lake in a light rain. It isn't far horizontally but is about 600 feet vertically. Wow! The hike was worth the view. Beautiful! You can tell which picture that one is!

From Hoodsport we drove to Gig Harbor -- a little over an hour away. We parked ourselves at the Gig Harbor RV Resort (nice place but it is interesting what is referred to as a "resort"). Our friends from college and seminary, John and Jan, live in Gig Harbor. He and I were room mates for 2 years at Seattle Pacific College, and he, Jan, and a bunch of us all attended Rainier Avenue Free Methodist Church. He and Jan graduated a year ahead of me and they married the same summer as Joyce and I -- 1966 for the record. Then we were at Asbury Seminary at the same time. John is a United Methodist minister and retired last year. Through the years we kept in touch with each other -- mostly via Christmas letters and a few visits. We enjoyed a nice lunch together and visited for a few hours.

Friday we drove to Auburn and parked in front of Bess and Rick's house. They live in a mobile home estate and can get permission for an RV to park on the street in front of their house for a day or so. Joyce and Bess were best friends in high school. I think Joyce sort of tolerated Rick as he courted Bess. Well, they married; Joyce and I married; and eventually we ended up in Seattle at the same time. Joyce and I lived in Seattle during my senior year of college. For my birthday that year, Joyce decided to have a party for me -- Rick and Bess, Joyce and I. She directed me to their house where we had a great
meal, cake, balloons, etc. and then we went to my all-time favorite movie, "Dr. Zhivago." Anyway, we got to their house about 2:00, talked a lot, then they took us to Anthony's, a really nice seafood place on the Des Moines marina. It was a beautiful warm evening with a beautiful dappled sky. Rick and Bess both retired from Boeing and are now into photography. They do very nice work and are trying to teach Joyce and me. I'm not sure you'll ever see the results of their efforts in our work but we can always try and hope. This is one of the products.

We left their place at noon on Saturday to meet Milt and Patty at an Allenby's in Kent. They were part of the group that attended Rainier Avenue and they sang at our wedding. One Christmas a couple years earlier I stayed at college during the break in order to work. They closed the dorms during that 2-3 week period. Milt and 3 friends lived in an old, yellow two story house near campus and invited me to stay with them. I slept on the couch. Everyone had their own schedules going and coming and everyone did their own meals. The kitchen table was piled high with dirty dishes and utensils. When you wanted to eat, you dug through the pile until you found what you wanted, washed it, used it, and left it for the next person. Simple plan. Milt and Patty are educators in the public school system and are looking forward to retirement. We enjoyed a few hours of visiting and then it was onward north.

We camped at Lake Goodwin RV Park near Smokey Point Saturday evening. We didn't get a lakeside site (too expensive) but walked down to the dock and took lots of pictures. It was a lovely, warm evening. By the way, the rain stopped Friday and we've had beautiful weather since. Tomorrow is also supposed to be nice also, then... typical Washington again. Sunday morning we attended worship at Arlington Free Methodist Church. The pastor, Verlin Elmore, and I have known each other for many years through our meetings at various pastor's conventions. After church we met a group of Joyce's relatives and then traveled on to her sister's in Bellingham. More about that next week when I can post some pictures. So ends week two. Friends and family are precious. memories are cherished. Create them; relive them.

Friends and Family Tour

The fall adventure has begun. We left home Thursday at 12:45 with Mike and Joann right behind us. They also have a fifth wheel RV. We only traveled about 40 miles to a brand new campground named after Chief Miwaleta -- whoever he was. It is part of the Douglas County Park system and sets on the bank of Galesville Reservoir -- a flood control lake on Cow Creek. The campground is small but we had sites overlooking the lake for a real nice view. We found out they had only been open 3 weeks which explained the tables and camp stoves not being level. The host said they simply dropped them off the day before the camp opened. We leveled our own table but the park people know they still have some work to do. The lake has dead trees in the water along the banks -- upright trees, that is. I'm not sure why. It makes the lake look like it is guarded by white spears. Maybe a picture next time.

On the way there we stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant called Heaven On Earth. It has really good food and lots of it, but is a little high priced. Joyce bought a WHOLE no-sugar-added berry pie. We are still enjoying it!!! We stayed with Mike and Joann until Saturday then they went back home and we headed north. Right now we are at Ginger's. This morning we went to church at Salem Alliance. It is BIG -- three services and lots of programs, ministries, and Bible studies. Tomorrow I'll work on some "daddy projects" like redoing the clothes hanger system in her master closet, fixing the door bell, and renailing some lattice. Mostly simple things.

Our weather has changed. We had been having it hot and dry. On Friday it changed to cool and cloudy. Today it rained. Of course, we are continually moving north and this weather is to be expected. We packed lots of warm clothes even though it was 90 degrees when I was doing it. I think I will miss the summer. That is my favorite time of the year. What is yours? Use the poll on the right to register your favorite.

We have the RV parked at Aldersgate so we drive back and forth -- about 8 miles one way. But the "RV Park" is cheap -- simply a donation. Tuesday I have a MEG Board meeting and then Wednesday we leave for Washington. We expect to see approximately 15-20 friends and family in 7 different places before we get home. So stay tuned and keep your Washington State map handy!

John 19:30

Thursday was the day. We got up early and tackled the last bit of painting before it got too hot. The day before I had scraped and wire brushed the barge rafters (the rafters at each gable end) and primed the the ones over the garage and at the north end. The ones on the south were in the sun and too hot to paint. So Thursday morning we got an early start and primed the south end. Then we put the final paint on the other two. I was thinking I would have to finish Friday morning but decided to try to paint the south end with the final coat. It was late morning but it worked! We finished. It is done! Finis! Over.

That is what Jesus said. It is finished. Then he died. I felt like dying. Up and down the ladder. Up and down the ladder. Up and down the la.... well, you get the idea. And standing on ladder steps isn't easy. And reaching out behind me at the top of the ladder wasn't fun. So I was tired. The next day we cleaned up and put away all the paint stuff. And decided to play.

Sunday we worshipped at North Valley Assembly of God. I know Pastor Curt and wanted to hear him preach. After church we kept on going... to the coast. We didn't want to stay in Grants Pass anyway because it was supposed to be 97 degrees Sunday and 102 Monday. The coast would definitely be cooler... and more fun. We stayed at the Motel 6 in Coos Bay. Would you believe they have a hot tub at this Motel 6? We didn't do much exciting... it was just good to get away. This morning we were going to go see the final cleanup of the New Carissa but it was too foggy. The New Carissa is a ship wreck just north of the jetty at Coos Bay. It wrecked a few years ago and a company is removing it piece by piece. Anyway, since we couldn't do that we drove to Bandon for brunch and nosed around in the little shops.

Our friend, Liz lives in Bandon. She was on our worship team at Allen Creek, then moved to Bandon to be the principal of the grade school. We decided to surprise her and stopped by the school for a short visit. She is now married to a man who owns a shop that makes beautiful things out of myrtlewood, redwood, and Alaska birch. So on our way out of town we stopped at his shop, got a tour of the factory, and Joyce bought some myrtlewood beads to make ear rings -- or something.

We drove on toward Brookings, stopping at a beach to walk and comb. You know... beach combing. Since it was almost supper time when we got to Brookings, we decided to look up our friend John. He is the manager at a bank branch and was also in our church in Grants Pass. We had dinner with him, enjoyed a nice visit, and headed for home.

Korak and I pressure washing the deck. He is doing the work, I'm giving advise. Isn't that what fathers-in-law are supposed to do?


He had onlookers. If you fed them Popsicles they were easy to get along with. We couldn't get much work out of them but they did offer encouragement.

I don't have a good "before" picture but this is a "during" picture. You can get an idea of the old color from the garage. We changed it a lot. Now it looks clean and fresh.

This is what we have been up to. This week we'll leave for Salem and points north. More about that next week. Stay tuned.

Can You Say, "Paint?"

I think Joyce and I have used the word "paint" at least a zillion times (well, more or less) in the last two weeks. First it was "what color will we paint it?" So off we went to gather color chips. One thing we knew, we didn't want green and we preferred to stay away from blue. Our old color was a blue-grey and we wanted a change. So after looking at all the new houses in our area, comparing color chips, and consulting with our color advisor (daughter Jana) we finally choose... green. It is called cactus garden. The trim around the windows was to be a lighter shade but after looking at it on the house, it was sort of blah. So we switched to a darker shade. It is called wreath. Guess what it looks like? So now we live in a replica of the Sherwood forest. The gutters, end rafters on the gables (they're called barge rafters), the garage door and the front door are all white. Or at least they will be when we finish.

After deciding the color of paint, then it was getting it ready for paint. While Korak was here we pressure washed the house and masked most of the windows. Jana and family left Monday, Roy and Twyla arrived Tuesday. He and I finished preparing the house for paint -- a little more masking, moving the RV, covering the neighbor's RV, taking down light fixtures, caulking holes and cracks, and (I hate this part...) scraping, wire brushing and priming (i.e. paint) the bad places. There were lots of bad places. The whole south side should have been painted two years ago so it needed a lot of help.

Then it was actually doing it. Bright and early Tuesday morning Roy starting spray painting. Roy, you remember, is my nephew who lives in the Eugene area. My sister, Beth is his mother. About half way around the house he said we needed more paint so I made a flying (but sane) trip to Fred Meyer for another gallon. As it turned out, we put on 6 1/2 gallons. Notice I said "we" even though Roy was doing all the painting. He said it would take 2 hours and 2 hours later he was finished... with the house. Then it was on to the underside of the deck roof. That was white and I had 2 1/2 gallons for that. About half way through he said we needed more. So I made a flying (but sane) trip to Bi-Mart (I figured white paint was white paint). When that project was finished we went down the street to Mike and Joann's. Remember the shed I built last year? Not painted yet. So we (there it is again, we) put on four gallons of white primer. And then it was clean up everything and eat pizza for dinner.

Roy and Twyla left Wednesday. Then Joyce and I began the endless task of painting the trim. Finally we have the window trim done and the door trim is finished except for the garage door. The gutters are painted but they will need a second coat. The barge rafters are still waiting their turn. I plan to have all this done this week so we can play next week. But it goes on and on and on and on. When the painting is finished, we get to clean up all the stuff, put the deck back in order, and resume normal living. I hate painting.

I'll post house pictures next week when the project is finished. See with what confidence I say that!

As you have noted, our lives have been consumed by paint. Except for the memorial service I conducted Saturday afternoon. This was for a guy who attended our church years and years ago. This morning I had a graveside service. This was in response to a call from the funeral home. This man lived in the Portland area but had relatives in our area. Sunday, we went to the "relaxed" service at First Christian Church. That means they meet downstairs in the fellowship room, sing choruses, and eat goodies. Good service; good goodies. Oh! In the middle of all this Joyce worked Friday at the daycare and is frantically getting crafts ready for October.

So now, wait with baited anticipation (or is it bated anticipation?) for the pictures of our newly painted house. How many times did I use the word, paint? I don't know. I didn't count them. But its not as may times as Joyce and I have used it. What a life. When the most exciting thing is a freshly painted house. Can you top that?

The Party's Over

Today Jana, Korak, Josiah, and Lilly left for home. It sure is quiet around here. The party's over and I'm tired. We had a great time camping, going places, playing, and working. Josiah learned to ride his bike, his first tooth came out, and he got to attend his first kid's camp. This week he will begin 1st grade. It hardly seems possible that a little over 6 years ago he was laying in a preemie incubator fighting for his life. God is good.

We celebrated Lilly's 3rd birthday (it is actually tomorrow) and Joyce's ?? birthday on Saturday. Of course it was primarily a party for Lilly but we could only find adults to attend. The weekend was a little chilly and windy so we opted to not set up the water slide. Lilly didn't care, neither did Joyce. We missed the picture of Joyce an Lilly wearing their crowns but this shows them enjoying a toy Lilly received. I know I'm somewhat prejudiced but she is developing into a wonderful little lady. She has her obstinate moments but she is a precious little girl with quite a vocabulary. We were walking through Target and I had her in the child seat of the cart. We strolled down the toy aisle and she spotted a big plastic tea pot. She picked it up, looked at me and said in a perfect British accent, "would you like a spot of tea?" I just burst out laughing. God is good.

While Korak was here (he arrived Wednesday evening) I put him to work. We reinstalled the fluorescent light in the garage and added an outlet for the garage door opener. He crawled under the house -- I don't do that anymore -- and ran a string to hold up the insulation that was beginning to sag. Then we prepared the house for paint. We pressure washed, scrapped some bad areas, and applied primer. We even put Josiah to work. Before I would let him leave today, we cleared the deck, washed to deck ceiling, and covered the windows with heavy paper. We now live in a dark house! My nephew, Roy is coming and Wednesday he

will give the house a new look with his paint sprayer. I'm tired and we are only through labor day. Too much labor, I guess.

Sunday we all attended worship at Jerome Prairie Bible Church. For lunch we drove out to Galice. They have a deck overlooking the Rogue River and you can sit there and watch the rafters drift by. But it was too cold and breezy for the deck so we ended up sitting inside.

Thanks for taking the opinion poll. And thanks for your vote of confidence. We'll do another one pretty soon. Well, time for bed. I've got a big week ahead of me? How 'bout you?

God Is Good

It's Sunday evening and I'd better get back to my regular blogging routine. Since getting back home on Wednesday we have been recovering -- washing mounds of laundry, getting the garden back in shape, moving the lawn, etc. By the way, the new grass is doing great; I've mowed it twice and the sprinkler system does a good job of hitting all of it.

Joyce and Jana took the kids out to a small farm. It is the property of a lady Joyce works with but they have a horse, sheep, chickens, etc for the kids to pet, feed, and so on. We also got their wadding pool set up and so they can splash around in the water. It is a "pirate ship pool" we bought for Josiah about 3 years ago but we have put it away each time they leave and it still works. It has a cannon, flag, treasure chest, sword, and I don't remember what all. But I do remember it has a jillion (more or less) valves for inflating! The kids also loved going to the river to feed the ducks leftover bread. Then they were able to wade in the river at a spot where it is not very deep.

Today we went to Allen Creek Church. It was Galen and Rylee's last Sunday. He grew up in this church and became the youth leader while he was still in high school. That was about 6 years ago. Along the way, he got married, became the full-time youth pastor, and determined the Lord was calling him into youth work. He is now a Conference Ministerial Candidate and is leaving to study at a Bible school in Vancouver, BC. I was asked to say a few a words and pray a blessing for he and Rylee.

After church we took the kids to the Railroad Park in Medford. It is run by some model railroaders. They have some old cabooses to walk through and some small trains that they give rides on. It is very well done -- and all free. They ask for donations but the only thing they charge for is the sno-cones and hot dogs. Afterward we went to Marie Calendars for dinner. Kids eat free. That was the attraction. Pretty good.

And so now we're home watching the closing of the Olympics. Korak arrives this week. We will all be glad to see him -- especially the kids (well, maybe Jana, too). Our world is pretty full right now. God is really good.

Oh, a new thing... since this is the season for opinion polls, how about taking my opinion poll. It is on the right. Just click on a circle. Thanks.

Camp and Camping

During the past seven days we have gone from Family Camp at Aldersgate to camping at Detroit Lake State Park. Family Camp has been a tradition in our family since the girls were babies. This is an annual event sponsored by the Oregon Conference of Free Methodist Churches at Aldersgate Conference and Retreat Center near Salem. The dates have varied, the length has changed, the focus has shifted, but it has always been there. We have lived in tents, borrowed RVs, an A-frame cabin, our own 15 foot trailer, a newer trailer and finally our fifth wheel. Years and years ago we made a little enclave with our trailer and Harper's trailer parked door to door with a tarp strung between (remember the name Harper; it will come up later in this blog). People from the church would gravitate to our RVs and it became a hangout at camp. Years pass, kids grow up and move away. Jana had not been at Family Camp since she lived with us about 17 years ago (wow! that sounds like a long time). She wanted to attend again and give Josiah and Lilly the chance to be there.


So we did. It began Thursday evening and ended Sunday afternoon. She actually met some friends she knew from years ago and the kids loved the experience. Josiah loved the slip n slide but best of all, he learned to ride his bike without training wheels. The only negative to the event was the heat -- temperatures hovered around 100 and just sucked the energy out of you. Fortunately our RV's air conditioner worked great which made sleeping bearable but the tabernacle where the evening service was held was not -- just a bunch of big fans. Well, better than nothing. We survived.


Sunday afternoon we traveled about 40 miles up the Santiam River to Detroit Lake State Park Campground. We had a great site right on the lake -- but far enough away that we didn't have to worry about the kids. There was an old root on the beach that made a great setting for pictures -- as you can tell. Joyce posed Lilly and she became quite the model.


On the Wednesday and Thursday before Family Camp began, we moved Ginger into her new (new to her) mobile home. It all went well and everything was moved in about 5 hours. We used the rest of the time to help her unpack and do some maintenance things on the house. While we were at Detroit Lake we wanted to see her one more time so we decided to meet at a fun little restaurant not far from where we were camped. It has a display of live birds right next to where the patrons sit -- separated by glass of course. But alas, the restaurant was closed and the only other place we could find was Pappa Al's, a little mom-n-pop cafe that apparently has had some semi-famous people eat there -- as attested to by their signatures on the wall. Well, the food was good and we enjoyed getting together again. Auntie Ginger is really good with the kids.

Anyway, our camping was great. Probably the highlight was Josiah's tube ride. Remember the Harper I mentioned earlier? Our family and their family were really good friends and our kids grew up together -- at least while we were in Newberg. Harpers have two children, a daughter Rhonda who is a missionary in Japan and Brian who lives near Salem and has a cabin on Detroit Lake. He came over with his boat (and family) to take us for a ride. His kids like to ride a large inner tube-like thing that he tows behind his boat. He asked Josiah if he wanted to ride. Of course, the answer was of course! After some instructions he got on and the smile never left his face. He even smiled when the thing flipped and he went into the lake. His mom and I were a little worried but the life vest bobbed him to the surface and he wanted back on. I think this kid is having too much fun!!!
We came home today (Wednesday). Last night it began to rain and this morning we broke camp in the rain. Not too pleasant but we certainly need the moisture. We drove to Belnap Hot Springs and swam in the warm waters for awhile -- in the rain. Kinda fun to be in nice warm water with little, cold drops falling on your head. Here at home it is not raining yet but there are clouds and they might produce something wet. We need it here, too. Hope your summer is going great. See you in the next blog.

Fir Point Camp and Pictures

I noticed I started the last blog by declaring, "I'm tired." Well I felt that way all week but today hasn't been too bad. We just spent the week at Fir Point Camp which is the camp for Free Methodist kids in southern Oregon -- actually some come from northern Oregon, too. Joyce and I presented the Bible story each day. The camp used Group Publisher's Power Lab material so it made the Bible lesson easy and interesting. The campers were divided into two groups so we had two presentations each day. Jana, Josiah, and Lilly arrived at camp Monday so we had Jana's help also -- plus our grand kids there. It's amazing how tired we were after only "working" two hours each day. I think I'm getting older!!

Okay. Let's brag a little. Here are some pictures of Lilly and Josiah at camp. Josiah was too young to be an official camper but he did join a cabin group for the morning rotation and a few of the other activities. Lilly liked the singing and loved to dance to the music.

Enough of that. Before they go home at the end of the month there will be plenty of opportunities to post more pictures. I didn't blog last weekend because we just barely had an internet connection. The week before was spent getting ready for camp, getting a sermon ready for tomorrow (I preach in Eugene), and getting the garden ready to leave for 5 days. Last Sunday Joyce and I attended worship at Rivers of Life Four Square Church, came home to finish packing, and left for camp. We took the fifth wheel to live in and that made things a lot easier.

Today was sort of a recovery day. I returned the items we borrowed for camp, did some shopping and finished the day with a picnic at Whitehorse Park with some friends who were camped out there. Nice. Restful. Fun.