Getting Ready to Leave is Stressful

This blog is being written on Monday, January 4, 2016. Our internet is inconsistent so I’m not sure when it will be posted but blogging is on again. I know, not many people blog anymore unless it is for a business or something. But it is the easiest way to let people know what we are doing if they are interested.

I was thinking about this blog last week and wondering what one word might summarize the last two to three weeks. The word that comes to mind is “stress.” And the stress can be broken down to about three words: computer, diverticulitis, and weather. Oh, add Christmas celebrations to the list also.

We had been planning for several months to leave on Monday, December 21. All our preparations and planning was aimed to this date. But first, we had to do two major things with the church. One was the Senior Adult Potluck on the 18^th. This was a special Christmas meal that required several hours of decorating the night before. We didn’t do this alone. Arlyn and Barbara were prime movers and we just helped them. It was a great Christmas potluck, beautifully decorated in a Victorian style. They also surprised me with a birthday cake and a dedicated song. I was thoroughly embarrassed! Add a little stress.

The second thing we did was host our share of the Staff Open House the afternoon and evening of Sunday the 20^th. This is kind of like a progressive meal. Our portion was the dessert. We made (mostly Ginger made) bread pudding Saturday. After church Sunday we made toppings for the bread pudding. I made butter rum and butter vanilla. We also had hot caramel, cream, and ice cream with raisins and chocolate chips. Your choice. Have fun. Yum. We had about 60-65 people come through our door. Then of course, we cleaned up and returned the borrowed tables and chaffing pans. By the way, Pastor Doug had appetizers and Rachel had the main course. Add a little stress.

Ok, so we are working to make these occasions great but early in the week I felt a pain on my left side. It didn’t go away so I figured I had a kidney infection. Better go to urgent care and get some medication for it. Well, I didn’t diagnose it very well. After lab tests and a CT scan they determined I had diverticulitis. I was prescribed 10 days’ worth of the worst tasting pills I have ever had. After getting sick on them I deducted I should space them out through the day and eat food with them. I was not in great pain but we wondered if we should leave on schedule – or leave at all. Add quite a bit of stress.

Just to make this more dramatic my computer decided to begin acting out. First it was no connection to the internet, then the screen going blank, then the method I had for fixing the screen no longer worked. Of course, I needed my computer to finish up things before leaving. I managed to salvage what I really need by booting it up in Safe Mode. The end result: I got a new computer for my birthday. Then put the programs on it that I needed (Thanks, Phil). The biggest problem is that it has Window 10 and the programs are 2016. I am used to using Windows 7 and my programs were 2007. Big change. Big learning curve. I got what I needed for the moment and took both computers to son-in-law Korak to update documents, email, etc. Add more stress.

So Monday the 21^st comes. We were going to leave late in the day, travel to Grants Pass and park in Mike and JoAnn’s front yard. Then leave early Tuesday going down either I-5 or 101 depending on the weather. But it was very rainy and windy and I was still undecided about my newly discovered medical condition. Add more stress.

We waited until Tuesday to leave. The RV was loaded (probably should put that in caps; it definitely was LOADED) so all we did was get in and go. We departed Salem at 7:25 and arrived at the Olive Pit in Corning, California at 4:30. Long day, lots of stops (we only missed 2 or 3 rest areas!), off and on rain but no snow. As you can see, we went down I-5. The next day was easier. We took our time to get to Lost Hills, California and the next day on to Los Angeles. We parked (“camped”) in Marina Christian Fellowship’s back parking lot. This is the church our kids attend. We arrived about 2:00 Christmas Eve.

We had electric but no other hookups. Nice and cozy – and cold at night. The kids were at Korak’s parent’s house for Christmas eve so we had an enjoyable evening unwinding and attending a really good Christmas Eve Service at the church. Christmas day we had a great Korak-made breakfast and then open gifts with the family. Much fun.

As soon as we setup in the church lot all my tension went away. What a relief just to be there. I’ve decided I don’t like driving the RV on LA freeways. It’s not the traffic so much as the bumpy ride. We rattle and bounce over the broken and uneven pavement. (No, Jim, they did NOT repave the right lane!) But we made it with no major incidents, only one close call when a semi driver figured he had the right of way when entering the freeway from the entrance ramp. He won, I braked hard.

The eleven days in LA were all kids and grandkids. It was lots of fun; lots of going here and there. We said goodbye after church on the 3^rd and headed east on the I-10. We had to leave that day because the church rents the parking area and surrounding buildings to the Los Angeles School District and the Charter school using the facilities started the next day.

Sunday afternoon we pulled into the Fountain of Youth RV Spa on the east side of the Salton Sea. We will be here for a week enjoying the hot water pools (they have about six), reading, and resting. Then off to Catalina. Sorry there are no pictures. Maybe next time. So until the next blog – blessings.

Fun with the kids

This is probably volume one of “Fun with the kids” but maybe I can come up with other titles later on. Jana, Josiah, Lilly, and Jeyanthi arrived last Wednesday evening at the Portland airport. Ginger was with them and they all were returning from their vacation in Texas. Since then we have enjoyed a house full of grandkids.

Today we spent a few wonderful hours in the sun at Wallace Marine Park in West Salem. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River. The pictures of the Josiah and Lilly on their bikes are taken on an old Union Pacific Railroad Bridge over the river that has been converted to a pedestrian bridge.

A couple of silly kids – Jey and Lilly.

Fun in the Willamette River

We found this Sunflower growing out of a crack in the sidewalk. There must be a sermon illustration in this.

Blessings.

Numbers

We’ve been home six days and I have my garden irrigation finished – just in time for the rain today! Though it won’t rain very much. Been with friends in four different group meetings plus church Sunday. Joyce and I took Ginger to the airport yesterday morning so she could join Korak, Jana, and the kids in Texas for a week of vacation. They will all be back here next Wednesday. Can’t wait. We still need to wash and clean the RV and the pickup as well as get the house ready for kids to eat and sleep and play.

So here’s some facts and figures from our trip for those who like such things.

3,888 = total miles traveled in 26 days

2,858 = miles towing the RV

337 = total gallons of diesel burned

11.57 = miles per gallon

12 = number of RV parks we camped in

$4.39.9 / gallon = most we paid for fuel (at a run-down Texaco in Tonopah, NV. Didn’t buy much)

$3.89.9 / gallon = least we paid for fuel

That’s about it. So blessings on you. I’ll try to post while the kids are here – with pictures.

 

 

Reflections on the Utah Adventure

We are home. Arrived at 7:00 on Friday the 6th. After we left Hurricane, Utah Sunday, it west on I-15, skirt around Las Vegas, and north on highway 95 to I-80 at Reno. In Reno (actually in Sparks) we met with Ron and Nikki (and daughters Erin and Elizabeth) for a great breakfast and lots of  “catching up conversation.” Ron was my youth pastor in Grants Pass.

We stayed two nights in Corning, CA just to rest from our vacation (!) and catch up sorting all the tourist brochures we had collected. It was close to 100* on Wednesday and was going to be 103* on Thursday. We got out of there.

Last night we were in the wonderful front yard “camp ground” of our friends Mike and JoAnn in Grants Pass. It was good to visit with them, with Joyce’s brother and his wife, and with some other former church people.

Here are a few reflections on our adventure to Utah.

We traveled 3,888 miles – I think. I’ll do a better calculation in a day or so. I’ll also figure fuel mileage and that sort of thing for those who like numbers. We were gone 25 days.

Weather? Fantastic. Mostly cool. Mostly sunny. There were some clouds and a little rain. This was in Moab with thunder storms in the distance. The rain didn’t bother us. The last few days it began to be hot but we survived it okay. In fact we only used the RV air conditioner the last 2 or 3 days. We couldn’t have asked for better weather.

My favorite camping place was Fruita Campground in Capitol Reef National Park. It was dry camping but was a very nice, quiet place to stay.

My favorite Park was Arches because of the size and diversity of landscape. There were short hikes for people like me and long hikes for those able to do so. And a person could see a lot without even hiking. Bryce ran a close second because it was so beautiful – much more so than any other place. But it was mostly viewpoints unless you wanted to hike down into the canyon. That, of course, meant hiking back up.

For the record Bryce Canyon is not really a canyon. It is the edge of a plateau. Zion National Park should be called Zion Canyon because it is one. The Virgin River runs into it at the top end, through it, and then on to (someplace).

We did lots of up-hill-down-hill driving. Of course that is to be expected in the mountains.  I have decided I don’t like pulling the fifth wheel along high mountain roads with steep drop offs and no guard rails. We did our share of that and I sweat quite a bit! One place was called the Hogback on Scenic Highway 12 in Utah. Just enough flat on top to put two lanes of highway (narrow lanes, I might add). Then drop off on both sides for about 10,000 feet – more or less. Honestly, I have no idea how far down it was because I wasn’t looking.

The Lord was gracious to us. Everything went well and worked well. We saw some amazing creation. God set things up to leave some wondrous beauty for us to behold. What an imagination God had/has!

One last thing… here’s the picture of my drenching as the wall of water is coming. This on the Colorado River raft trip. See the camera in my hand? All ready to take a picture but all I could think was, “I wonder how bad this is going to be.” Of course this picture was taken by a professional on the bank. The next picture after this one showed ALL white water with a  little blue raft showing through.

There is lots to do around the farm now. Got to get out there and put in my garden irrigation system.

Blessings.

 

Zion National Park

Saturday we drove the 23 miles from the town of Hurricane to Zion National Park. They do not let private vehicles drive the scenic part of the Park. We were told all parking was taken at the visitor’s center so we parked in the town of Springdale, rode the shuttle to the Park entrance, walked in, and caught the Park shuttle for or tour. I really enjoyed not driving. We got off at each scenic stop, stayed as long as we wanted and caught the next shuttle which came in less than 10 minutes. Each stop had a covered place to sit and wait.

So here are some views of Zion. This is the Great White Throne to the right with the Organ in the center foreground.

This is the Court of the Three Patriarchs – left to right, Abraham Peak, Isaac Peak, and Jacob Peak. Jacob is the white mountain in back of Mt. Moroni. If all this sounds religious it is because they were named by church guys – Mormon church guys who came and settled this area. In fact, Brigham Young sent people out to settle the land, establish communities, and spread the (Mormon) Word. The very name “Zion” is because the canyon looked to them like a place of eternal rest and solitude.

It is interesting, as you tour the exhibits or watch the orientation movie they very frankly refer to the “Mormon settlers” who came to do this or that or who settled here and this is his cabin or his picture or his orchard. Do we hear that in other places? We do hear about the Whitman Mission or the Methodist Missionaries but in general the settlers who came west were simply pioneers – no reference to their brand of religion. Just an observation.

(I wonder why the freedom from religion people haven’t raised a fuss over this?)

At the end of the scenic drive (I think it was 13 miles) you can keep walking on a nice paved walkway for another mile. This is The Narrows where the walls of the canyon begin to come together. To go any further you have to wade in the Virgin River. Some people do – for another 5 or 6 miles until they can almost touch both sides. That is if the water level is low enough. If you are wondering, I didn’t!

There is even an arch on the side of one of these mountains. See it almost in the middle of the picture? The green above and below it are trees. It is amazing where trees will grow.

Like Arches and Bryce there are so many more pictures to show but not enough space to post them all here.

Joyce commented that we should have started with Zion and worked our way up. As magnificent as this place is, It was a little disappointing after seeing Bryce and Arches. But I understand it is an entirely different kind of place and certainly amazing. Awesome even.

We are on our way home. At the present (Sunday evening) we are in Beatty, Utah simply because it is a place to spend the night on the way to the Reno area.

Blessings.

 

Friday, May 30

We departed Bryce this morning. I opted to go around to the south rather than go through Zion or take the northern route. (One way or another we had to get to the western side of Zion because that is the way home!) The southern route looped down through Arizona and we stopped to see Pipe Springs National Monument on the way. It is a natural spring the Paiute Indians used for years – until the white man arrived. Mormon settlers built a “fort” over it, the US government tried to regulate the land and it was all a big mess. Anyway, it is in a Paiute reservation now.

We are in Hurricane, Utah now at Willowwind RV Park. Tomorrow it is Zion!

I think the wi-fi connection is going to be slow so I posted the last several days in segments. And not too much for each day. Enjoy.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Thursday was an overcast day. I think that made for better pictures – it certainly was cooler than it could have been. We drove through the Park rather than take the shuttle. Parking was only a problem in one spot. We drove to the end of the road – about 17 miles. The best views are near the beginning. At the end of the road you can see some odd rock formations but it is mostly views of the distance.

Bryce is awesome. I’ll simply post some pictures. You can ogle them and wish you were there. Or maybe you have been.

See those people hiking down there? See the trails winding along way in the distance? I could have done that. Only problem is I would have had to hike back UP. It seems the escalator wasn’t working that day.

Beauty beyond imagination. And to top the day I went to a rodeo. It was very “small town” but kind of fun.

Wednesday, May 28

Our trip to Bryce National Park was a lot of up and down. We topped one summit at 9,600 feet but it was an easy climb. We started from a high elevation but I don’t know what it was.

On the way we stopped at Anasazi State Park. Anasazi is a name for the people who lived in this area from about 100 AD to 1200 AD. This is a Navajo name for them. They are also known by other names. This is one of their houses. They also had baked earth houses above ground.

We arrived at Ruby’s Inn RV Park late in the day. It is close to the visitor’s center so I drove up to get some literature and we planned for the next day.