Mother's Day, Ocean Park & Home!

Sunday, Mother’s Day, was another highlight with a great church family that has a strong missions emphasis. We had some in depth Bible teaching from Habakkuk for Sunday School. It was so nice to hear Bible pages rustling as people turned from one passage to another. The music was terrific – pastor and his wife sang a duet about mothers. The moms were given a carnation and a chocolate!

Then we continued north, once again along the coast. Roger found an evening service in Ocean Park, ½ way up the tiny finger shaped peninsula by Long Beach. We got there in time and sat and waited. Roger finally called the pastor – they had cancelled services that evening because it was Mother’s Day! But the pastor came over and we had a good visit. He was very enthusiastic and excited about people getting saved. We spent the night on the church parking lot, and headed home the next day.

Arrived about 4 p.m. Glad to be home! It was a good trip, but there’s no place like home.

This trip was marked by high winds and rough roads, as well as great church services and fellowship with other believers. We had a number of evenings we worked on a puzzle together. It was a restful time.

Rural CA and Oregon

In CA we saw fields flooded with water - and were wondering what grew there. Now we hear that CA is under a drought and they are a main grower of rice. About 90% of the state is short water.

Driving through OR, we noticed large, white fields of blooming flowers - some type of crop. Then we saw fields of deep red, almost purple. Again, no idea what it is! One field had a sign that read "radish seeds". And 1,000s of shorn sheep - with many lambs. Lastly, a large free range chicken farm with hundreds of chickens roaming!

The Pacific Ocean and a Covered Bridge

Friday morning we were able to help the pastor out a little by doing some cleaning in the former parsonage that will soon be used for a family coming up from Mexico for a break. 

The highway up the coast is narrow, curvy, hilly and heavily wooded with very old growth (and construction!). But once in a while you break out right by the ocean and it's so majestic!

We didn't realize we were driving right by the tree that a car can drive through (not an R.V.!!) So we stopped there and got some pictures. Pretty amazing how old that tree must be - possibly over 2,400 years old.

After many miles of strenuous driving, we decided to not stay on the coastal highway all the way home. We angled over to Grant's Pass in OR, and spent the night in a quiet rest area.

Saturday we put about 200 miles on heading north before cutting over to the coast again. This time the road was much "driver friendly".

One sign we couldn't pass up was the covered bridge! So, we not only went to see it, we drove through it - one lane traffic only!

We're spending the night in Tillamook, OR, looking forward to a great Sunday again.

Manteca, CA - prayer revival services and Ft. Bragg, CA - National Day of Prayer

Wednesday saw us heading north through CA. Since it was prayer meeting night, we looked online for a church to attend and found one in Manteca, CA. The building was full – they were having revival meetings with the topic being prayer. It was their fourth night and we were told every night was booked full – at least 150 attending – all ages. The singing was almost heavenly and we were strongly encouraged to "up" our prayer life.

The pastor invited us to park the RV at the church for the night, which we gladly did! Like several churches we've visited in our travels, they had connections for RVs.

Thursday we continued on our trip homeward bound. We had decided to drive up the coastal highway, so needed to “jog” over to the ocean. The road was hilly, windy and narrow, but smooth. At one point we passed a buffalo farm – with buffalo meat advertised. We got into town about 4:30 and Roger looked to find a place that was remembering the National Day of Prayer. In Ft. Bragg, we found a church and drove over. There were not too many of us, but we prayed together for our beloved country. We also participated in the D.C. prayer service that was broadcast. 

After the service ended, the local pastor and his wife invited us to come to their house for enchiladas. What a pleasant surprise! They were so good! Then we were invited to stay parked at the church with an electric plug-in. How blessed can one be?