Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thursday, November 27, 2008, THANKSGIVING DAY. Are you giving thanks today?

We awoke this morning to the clouds below us and blue sky above! Presently the sky is clear and blue, and the temperature is about 60 degrees! It is truly a day in which to give thanks! Look at the pictures. Isn't it beautiful? All the world is a wonder. Created by our GREAT GOD and his WONDERFUL SON!

Today we will have our Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner with new friends from Thousand Trails. Each of the campgrounds have such a dinner. They cook the turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes and gravy, along with coffee or ice tea, for the low of price of $5.75 each. Then, each of the families brings a vegetable, salad, rolls and desserts. Melva is making a huge pan of sweet potatoes like my mother used to make, with butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows. There are two sittings, and we have opted for the early one at 2:00 pm.

When we bought this 5th wheel, it had no television, so we are going to leave here this evening and park at the Wal-Mart to see if we can find a good buy on a flat screen to put in. Where we are located presently we get about 5 channels with our antenna. We purchased a 13" at Goodwill for $15 and it is working okay. It has a built-in VCR, so we are able to view the videos we brought along, only they are so small that it is hard to see from the recliners in the rear of the 5th wheel. We then purchased a VCR/DVD player and have it hooked up to play DVD's, so we have all of the entertainment we need.

Tomorrow we will be checking into Minden Lake, near Nicolaus, CA, in the center of the Sacramento valley, about 17 miles south of Marysville/Yuba City. We will spend 4 days there and then travel on to Morgan Hill, CA which is about 20 miles south of San Jose where we will spend four nights.

The lakes around here are covered with large white geese and Canadian Honkers. There are deer all over this campground, and also wild turkeys, and of course, large gray squirrels.

Well, I will close this for now. We will be leaving in a little while for our community thanksgiving. May continue to bless you and provide for you now and forevermore as you serve and trust in Him.

On the Road Again!

Jim and Melva are on the road again! We left Madras, Oregon about 2:30 pm on Thursday, November 20, 2008. When we were on Highway 97, just outside of Sunriver, it began to snow. It snowed hard until we were past LaPine. From there until we stopped at the Indian casino in Chiloquin, we ran in and out of snow. It snowed hard at times, but it never did drop below freezing, so we kept on traveling in the slush. We spent the night in the RV area provided free by the casino. It dropped down to about 24 degrees during the night, but we were quite okay in our newly acquired Montana.

Last year we traveled in a 36' Alpha 5th wheel, but it was entirely too heavy for our 1995 Dodge (especially as we continued to load it down with purchases), so we sold it about one week before we left, and purchased a 32', 2002 Montana, which is just right for the truck, and plenty large enough for our travels. We are enjoying it. It has two slides and it does not include a washing machine, so it is nearly 5000 pounds lighter.

We reached Redding, CA shortly after noon on Friday, so we stopped for two nights at Bear Mountain RV Resort. It was quiet, because it is about 8 miles off of Interstate 5, in the hills. It is a nice place to spend a day or two. The weather was great. The water was good (and that is not always so in many RV campgrounds), and there was an area where Stitches (our 3 year old Jack Russell) could go for walks, off her leash.

On Sunday we traveled down Highway 99 E to Chico where we stopped to enjoy church at a large Baptist congregation, Pleasant Valley Baptist Church. The service was great. They sang hymns we knew, actually had a piano, a choir, and two special numbers before an excellent sermon by the pastor who has been at that church for 21 years.

Traveling on, we checked into Thousand Trails Minden Lake at Nicolaus, California where we didn't even unhook, because we left the next morning to purchase a few items at the WalMart in Marysville, CA before traveling to our present position at Thousand Trails Lake of the Springs two miles north of Oregon House, CA. We will be here for Thanksgiving and will join with the other Thousand Trails families who are here. We will leave Thursday evening so that we can be at the wonderful "after Thanksgiving Day" sales.

By Friday afternoon we will be at Minden Lake again and spend four days there before traveling on south. Our destination is southern California and then on into Baja California to spend at least one month. As opportunity avails (internet being available), I will post our blog and pictures of where we are.

The pictures on this page show our present position, on top of a hill at Lake of the Springs. We wish each of you a wonderful Thanksgiving and our prayer is that you will not only be thankful for the dinner, but for the blessings of God in your life throughout the past year.

Tragedy in Chiquimulilla

I just returned home last night from Guatemala. We had a good trip, visiting wonderful friends, seeing dear children whom I love, and successfully completing the closets of the third duples.

On Friday, the 15th of August, we were in Chiquimulilla visiting Anibal and his wonderful school, Evangelico Collegio Shaddai. This is a wonderful school full of beautiful children. At noon we were at our hotel, Los Arcos resting for a while. I decided to return to the school so that I would be there to see Gaby and Luisa, as well as Gaby's sisters. When I got close to the school I found a very large crowd. Two cars had wrecked in front of the school. A scooter was also involved. One of the cars had been sideswiped, and the one who hit it had ended up across the street on the sidewalk right in front of Anibal's (my friend) store and home.

Two pri-school children had been on their way home with the parent of one of them when this accident had occurred. They were all struck. One of the 5 year-old girls was killed, the other injured, and the mother will require several surgeries to restore her legs and other injuries. It was a terrible blow to the school and to my friends. The mother who was injured was the cousin of Gaby, my young friend, so they were at the hospital and I did not get to see here anymore. So, I was greeted by Luisa and gave here the presents I had brought.

On Friday evening, Ruby, the young lady whom I led to Christ when she was 17, came by with her mother and Anibal so that I could have an hour with her. She is doing well. She now is working as a teller at the bank and is making 1800 Quetzales per month, or about $225, a good amount for a young worker.

The next morning we found out that our ride would not be there until 11:00 a.m., as his van had broken down and he was renting one to come and get us.

We then traveled to Antigua, the ancient capitol city of Guatemala where we had a wonderful end to our travels.

Our next adventure of any length will be traveling to Colorado Springs for our granddaughter's wedding. I will post a time or two between now and them.

Our adventure for the winter will come soon. We are planning to spend a month or two in Baja.

More later.

Monjas, Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Wow, here it is Monday the 11th of August. We have been in Guatemala for one week today. It seems much longer. Today was hot and steamy again. Temperature has not been too bad, but because we have been having rain, thunder and lightning each night, it has been very humid.

Last night was the first night that they have had their evening worship time on the property. I was the preacher for the night! What a wonderful time it was. The worship group was great, and the music went on for over an hour. I preached about 25 minutes, but it had to be translated into Spanish, so it took twice that amount of time. But no one, except the very young, seemed to mind.

Today we were back at building and painting cabinets and shelves in the third duplex. It is very difficult work, not because of the work itself, but because of the lack of good tools and sufficient power. We were trying to cut plywood, and you had to push it very slowly so that it wouldn't stop the table saw. Here in Monjas, you can not get over 60 amps delivered to your home, so we are trying to run all kinds of power equipment on insufficient power.

Yesterday was one of our most fun times. We took all of the girls and their houseparents for ice cream, about 60 of them. The total cost was less than 70 dollars. It was a riot! I will include some pictures from this.

Today Brendan went with the girls to take part in a VBS they were putting on for one of the local churches. He was dressed up in clown makeup and had a great time. On Saturday he and Brittany went with Cindi to a youth meeting in a church a few miles away. They had a great time. Brendan said the music was great, but loud. I said if a US teenager thought the music was loud, it must have been really loud!

We have been eating with the children one meal per day. It is amazing how small amount of food that they receive. But, most of them didn't have three meals a day before they came here, so they are very content with the food.

Well, I will close for now and get this online tomorrow.

Monjas, Saturday, August 9, 2008

Sorry that I have not posted. It is more difficult than I had thought. I have to have access to the Administration building, but we work each evening until about 5:00 and then go right to dinner, so I have trouble sending.

It is Saturday morning. We have nearly completed the closets in one side of the duplex. Hopefully we will finish the other this week. We will be leaving on Thursday about noon, traveling to Chiquimulilla for two nights. We have been having a great time! Food is different, and the other four have had a bit of tourista, but I have not had it.

It has been quite hot and very humid. Last night we had a torrential rainstorm. It lasted for about 20-30 minutes and you could hardly see across the street it was raining so hard. Lightning and thunder to accompany it.

Today we are having lunch at a restaurant where there is a swimming pool for us to sit around. It is supposed to be a very nice place, so it will be fun.

We have made it to the market each day, but Tuesday was the fun day. It is the big market day, and vendors come from all around.

I will try to add so photos now and write more later.

Monjas, Guatemala

It is Tuesday, August 5, 2008 and it is warm and humid in Monjas, Guatemala.

We arose this morning about 6:00 am, showered, fixed our “continental breakfast” which consisted of Corn Flakes with bananas, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and coffee.

After breakfast we went to the market. Today is the main market day and Brendan wanted to find a hat so he wouldn’t get so sunburned. There were a lot of people and stalls at the market, but we did not find a hat he wanted, so we will have to check again.

I tried the ATM, but it wouldn’t give me any money, so we had Cyndi Cope, the director for the mission teams, exchange money for us.

We got to the home about 9:00 am. We thought the lumber would not be there, so we had taken our time. However, this am they were early, and the materials were awaiting us to build the storage cabinets in the closets of the new home.

Brendan Giese and Bethany Moore cut pipe to be used in constructing a temporary meeting place for special events at the home, and then they used the router to round off the corners of the materials we would be using for the closets.

After a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, broccoli soup and cookies Brendan and Bethany went to the school to do some art work with the kids. Bethany was a state winner in charcoal drawings, so the school students are learning to do charcoal drawings. Ron and Richard returned to the home to work on the closets. I went to the school to take pictures then to write this and get it on the internet.

I am including the pictures below. If you would like to become a part of the support for this wonderful work of the Lord’s you can. Tomorrow I will post an address and how you can become involved.

Sorry I didn't get this posted last night. I got it all set and told it to upload, and the blogspot was down for repair.

Try as I can, I can't seem to get photos to upload this morning. I will try again tomorrow

Sombra de Sus Alas

Here we are in Monjas, Guatemala. We had great flights. Continental was not only on time, but early. They fed us well.

We arrived in the City about 11:30 and by 3:00 pm we were in Monjas.

The past hour we have been having dinner with the girls. We had refried beans with cream, fresh fruit bowl, corn tortillas, and fried bananas.

I got to be in the home with Itzel who is 15 and a special young lady to me, plus Kayla who is 12 and so smart!

It looks as if it is going to rain. But, then this is the rainy season, so a thunder storm and rain in a possibility.

Tomorrow I will post pictures. We begin in the morning building closets for the new home.

It is warm and humid, but especially green, as they have had much rain this year. More tomorrow.

Guatemala here I come!

My wife and I left Madras this morning about 9:00 a.m. and traveled to Portland. We left early because our transmission would not shift into overdrive for some reason. Melva will take it into AAMCO tomorrow to have them fix it before she goes home.

I am presently in the Portland, Oregon airport awaiting 12:30 a.m. when our Continental flight 208 departs for Guatemala City.

We will leave the City about noon tomorrow and travel to Monjas in the south east section of Guatemala. The community is Monjas. You can google it and find the orphanage south of town. We will be there for 10 days working on the orphanage during the day and having fun with the girls during the evenings. We will stay in the village.

Each day I will try to post while I am there, posting faces of the little girls. If you are a prayer, pray for this orphanage. There are about 60 girls and they are WONDERFUL!

We will then travel to Chiquimulilla in the state of Santa Rosa, near the south west corner of the country. There we will be visiting a Christian school and lots of children who mean so much to me. I took a group of high school students here about four years ago. We worked with the children for a week, and it was one of the high points of my life. There is a 21 year old young lady here that I led to Jesus. Her name is Ruby. She calls me Papa #2. I will see her. I will also be visiting with Gaby and Luisa. They are two 14 year old young ladies who write to me, once in a while. I led Luisa to the Lord when she was 10. We will also be visiting with the principal, Anibal Westendorf and his wife, what wonderful people.

Then we will go to Antigua for two nights. This is the ancient capitol of Guatemala and has many wonderful sights to observe.

Traveling with me are: Ron, my cousin, Richard one of his co-w0rkers, Brendan Ron's grandson, and Bethany who is a relative of the family Ron's wife works for. This will be a wonderful two weeks for each of us. Stop by from time to time. We will return the 18th of August.

Until tomorrow (or whenever I can post next).

Home at Last

It has been hot these past two days, in the mid 80's. Next week it is supposed to get into the 90's, far different than SE Alaska!

We are taking our 5th wheel to Bend/Sunriver Thousand Trails resort next week. We will be there for four nights as we plan, with Darell and Merry Johnson, from Oregon City, our winter trip to Baja. We are planning on leaving sometime, yet to be determined, after Christmas, taking a month or more to get to Tijuana. We will then travel down Baja as far as Mulege and back to Santa Rosalia where we will take the ferry across the Gulf of California to Los Mochis and north from there to SE Arizona. Times, places and attractions are to still be determined.

I should have my August trip to Guatemala fully planned in a couple of more days. Then I will post the details. Basically I am going to Monjas in south central Guatemala to work at an orphanage for girls for 10 days, then to Chiquimulilla on the SW coast where I have worked on a Christian school before. We will be there only two nights, to visit with friends. Then to Antigua for a couple of nights so those going with me can have time to shop a little. Then home.

Have a great week!

Vancouver, BC

Empire Room (dining room) on Carnival Spirit
Cafe Nouveau, dining by reservation only
Carnival Spirit
Main Lobby of The Spirit
July 2, 2008

Wow, the learning curve is steep. However, I learned today how to label my photos! I also learned how to edit posts. Now, if I could just master the art of beautiful writing.

We arrived in Vancouver, BC harbor right on time, docking before 7:00 a.m. The process of debarkation was long, and the port of Vancouver personnel were so confused and flustered that the transfer process was the low spot on the whole trip.

We traveled by bus from Vancouver, BC to Seattle-Tacoma airport, called the shuttle to take us to our Dodge, loaded our belongings, and finally, about 3:30 p.m. we got on the freeway headed south. Of course, at that time of the day the traffic was quite intense.

After stopping in Chehalis, WA, at my cousin's home (he is going to Guatemala with me in August), we traveled on to Troutdale, OR, turned toward home and made it to Sandy where we decided to stop for a bite to eat. It had been a long day.

While in Sandy a thunder storm hit, rain, lightning, and thunder. So, we had to cover our suitcases for the trip on home, to Madras. However, after we got it all done the rain quit and was non-existent the rest of the trip.

When we arrived at home, our little dog, Stitches, was a little shy. It was like she was trying to tell us, "You abandoned me, now you want me, What's Up!

It is now Thursday the 3rd of July at 11:00 a.m. and I want to get this posted.

In my next posts I will be describing the trip to Guatemala to work at Sombra de Sus Alas, an orphanage for girls.

Ketchikan, Alaska

Ketchikan, Alaska
Flying over Misty Fjords in a Beaver float plane
Known as "The Wall" in Misty Fjords - 2000 vertical foot granite mountain
Misty Fjords National Monument lake
July 1, 2008

What a wonderful day in Ketchikan! It was more than 70 degrees, bright blue sky and sunshine! In one of the rainiest communities in Alaska it was a beautiful day!

Arrival was right on time and we ashore by about 11:30 a.m. There were already three other cruise ships docked when we arrived. About 10,000 people descending on Ketchikan’s population of less than 25,000. Wow, what a mob!

I decided that it was time we took one of the trip opportunities, so I booked us on Taquan Air for flightseeing in the Misty Fjords National Monument. We had a 1 ½ hour trip. On the flight we flew over the mountains and saw a pair of mountain goats. We flew over the “WALL” and saw a 2000’ water-fall. The pilot landed us on a small mountain lake and we got out on the pontoons for a few minutes.

On the return flight we saw eagles and seals. One of the best things about the trip was that it was in a Beaver aircraft, with a Pratt & Whitney rotary engine, the most stable and dependable of Alaska Bush planes. Landing on water is so different from landing on an airstrip.

Melva did some shopping while I returned to the ship and spent the rest of our time in time in the beautiful weather of Ketchikan.

We had to be aboard by 7:00 p.m., and the ship departed right on time at 7:30 p.m. About one hour south of Ketchikan, in full flight the pilot of the ship was taken off to a small boat that was paralleling us. He was a south-east Alaska pilot, and since we were headed for Canadian waters, he had to be replaced by a Canadian pilot who will come aboard tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are to travel completely through the day, no stops, arriving in Vancouver early Wednesday morning, where we will take a bus transfer to Sea-Tac airport to retrieve our car and drive home.

June 30, 2008

We departed from Skagway right on time, 4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 29. We traveled south, through Lynn Canal, into Chatam Strait, paralleling Admiralty Island the whole distance north to south. We went through open ocean for a short time when we reached Christian Sound, around the south end of Kuiu Island and into Sumner Strait.

Melva and I sat on deck 9 for a long time, watching the beautiful forested island slip by. About 9:00 p.m. we succumbed to tiredness and hit the sheets.

Near the lighthouse, just south of Haines, I saw several whales blowing their spouts. None sounded, so I knew they were there from the water spouts, but did not actually see them. We did, however see lots of fish jumping. They looked like Jack Salmon, mostly 15 to 24 inches.

Presently we are traveling south on the east side of Prince of Wales Island, and are in Clarence Strait. Arrival time is 11:30 a.m. at Ketchikan, which is located on the southwest end of Revillagigedo Island. This will be our last stop in Southeast Alaska.

Traveling through the Inland Passage is very smooth, like being on a large lake. When we went through Christian Sound, however, it awoke me as the ship was rocking from the influence of the Pacific Ocean.

Skagway, Alaska

Shrimp fresh from the harbor near Skagway - at the Hather's
Mainstreet shop in Skagway
Lynn Canal lighthouse (forgot the name of it)
Skagway main street.


We had a wonderful dinner last night! Steak, potatoes, bread, etc. Afterward we had a special dessert the waitress, busboy and others who sang “Happy Anniversary” to us.

A uneventful night was spent traveling from Juneau to Skagway. There was no open sea, and the canal was quite calm, so we both slept soundly. We arrived in Skagway about 6:45 a.m. and were docked within 30 minutes.

After breakfast we headed downtown to beat the rush to the stores. Melva had to get her “freebies.”

About 9:45 a.m. we headed for the home of Don and Betty Hather, friends of ours from Tok, Alaska. Don and I had taught school together, Melva was the librarian, and Betty worked in the business office of the school district. Don was the very successful wrestling coach. They had gone out in the bay and gotten a bucket full of fresh shrimp which they prepared for us, along with great hamburgers. I also had a quick tour of Skagway with Don on their Honda scooters.

We arrived back at the ship about 2:15 p.m. It seemed to be a relaxing day, but it is surprising how tired we are. We will be departing about 4:30 p.m. bound for Ketchikan. We will travel through the night and one half of a day tomorrow to arrive at 11:30 a.m. It should be a great trip, hopefully seeing some wildlife.

Juneau

Jim aboard The Spirit
Melva in the stateroom
Melva under the Carnival Spirit sign
College Fjord
traveling directly north
We are off the ship for a time. We arrived in Juneau early this morning. When we got up, around a.m. we were docked.

The night was a bit rough. As we went north, out of Sitka and into the entrance to Icy Straight and on north to Juneau, the Gulf of Alaska was rough, but the channels were fine. I got up around 3:00 a.m. to watch as we went through the Straight.

I am presently sitting in Heritage Coffee House in Juneau. They have free internet, so I am able to post. The ship's internet is EXPENSIVE!! The first post I made, just logging in and making the quick post, and checking email cost over $20, so I decided to find a free place. The library is closed, so I found this place. If you are ever in Juneau, the Coffee Mocha is great and the internet free.

We will be in Juneau until 10:30 tonight. Then we will push off for Skagway. We will be having a barbecue at the home of Don and Betty Hather, good friends of ours from our Tok, AK days. Don was the wrestling coach and PE teacher, and one of the best friends we had the whole time we were in Alaska. Hopefully we are eating barbecued Salmon. He has the best recipe for it I have ever eaten.

Food on the ship is endless. They have great food and many restaurants to eat at. You just go in and order what you want. No bill to sign or pay.

The steward visits our room at least twice a day, so Melva loves that! Speaking of Melva, she is off getting more "free" stuff from the shops. Coupons we are given on the boat.

If you read my blog, please respond, I would love to know who is out there who might be reading this.

Wow! What a trip across the Gulf of Alaska! The winds reached nearly 50 MPH in gusts! As a result, the wave troughs were 10-20 feet, and the boat rocked and rolled. The captain slowed the ship down to about 15-18 knots, so it took us longer than scheduled. I must admit that I got a little nauseous.

When we left Whittier we sailed due north in College Fjord to view several glaciers, all named after colleges; Harvard, Yale and others. It was spectacular! I got up at 4:15 a.m. so that I could take them all in. We stopped a short distance from the glaciers for one hour so that everyone who wanted to could view them and take pictures.

The ship then retraced our route through Port Wells and Wells Passage into Prince William Sound. When we hit Prince William Sound, we traveled across the sound and out the Hitchinbrook Entrance into the Gulf of Alaska. Draw a straight line from there to Sitka Sound and you would have our route.

As we traveled across the Gulf of Alaska we were attending a song and dance revue by the entertainment group. I was struggling, as the room was swaying back and forth. I don’t know why the entertainers weren’t bothered by it, but they didn’t appear to be.

We arrived in Sitka Sound Friday, June 27th at about 8:00 a.m. Since this is a shallow water harbor, the captain anchored the ship out about ½ mile from the town and we were shuttled in by the lifeboats, 125 persons at a time. It took a long time.

Sitka is a beautiful town. We shopped. I bought a large map of Alaska so that I could follow our route, and I also bought a hat and Melva and I bought Alaska coats. We also took photos which I will include. But, most important, Melva collected a “free” charm for her charm bracelet. We returned to the boat about 1:00 p.m. and had lunch. Melva is sitting in the lobby doing some woman things, and I am in the stateroom typing this blog.

June 26, 2008

June 26, 2008

It’s really my parents fault I travel so much. Before I was conceived they couldn’t wait to get out of the Great Plains region of America. In the late 1930’s they hitchhiked from Western Nebraska to Seattle, Washington, working in different harvests as they went. When they reached Seattle, it was too wet for them, so they went south. Therefore my sisters and I were born in or around Los Angeles, California. But, we only stayed a short time. In 1942 our family moved to Oregon where we lived in the Willamette Valley most of my life.

My own particular travels began early in my marriage, though we traveled with my parents and sisters, camping, fishing and visiting relatives when I was a child. My wife, children and I have camped in a tent, tent trailer, a small camping trailer, gradually moving up in size, until the present. Now my wife of 50 years and I travel in a 1995 Dodge Dually with a Cummins diesel engine and a 34 foot Alfa 5th wheel trailer tied on behind. We spend winters in southern California or Arizona. As members of Thousand Trails Campgrounds, our options are numerous.

With travels to England, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy in Europe, as well as Canada and Mexico on the North American Continent and Guatemala in Central America, we have seen many wonderful places. Living in Alaska for 14 years privileged us to see much of the north lands.

As we neared our 50th wedding anniversary, our wonderful daughter, Charity and her husband Craig, along with our son Tim and his wife Denise, who live in Madras, Oregon decided they needed to do something special for us. Therefore, they provided a Continental Airlines flight to Anchorage, Alaska where we spent 10 days with our daughter, her husband and two sons, in Wasilla, Alaska. The second part of our journey is a Carnival cruise from Whittier, Alaska to Vancouver, BC where we will be shuttled to Sea-Tac airport, retrieve our pick up, and return to Madras, Oregon where we presently reside.

On the agenda is four days camping at Thousand Trails Bend/Sunriver campground, followed August 4th with a two week working trip to Monjas, Guatemala.

After Christmas of 2008 we will be heading for Baja California to spend a couple of months in the sunshine, warm after all of our years in Alaska.

This morning we have been cruising College Fjord on the 959 foot Spirit, weighing in at approximately 86,000 gross tons with a crew of about 500 and 2000+ clients. Our cruising speed is approximately 22 knots and we are headed to Sitka where we will dock Friday, June 27th.

It is 10:00 a.m. We are in Prince William Sound, and have just completed a boat evacuation drill.

Newbie

Here we go! At age 69 7/12 I decided to write! I've always loved to write, but never seemed to have enough time. Now that I am retired I have decided I have the time.