Vacation in Oregon

I wanted to give an update of my vacation to Oregon with my college roommate Janene. I hadn't seen Janene in 5 years, so when she suggested getting together and doing something I jumped at the chance.

Wednesday 8-20
My dad's birthday, I flew out of Madison arriving in Missoula, Montana around 2 in the afternoon their time. I thought I missed my plane (see post below). Janene and I jumped in the car and headed to Oregon right away. We spent the next 7 hours driving and talking the whole way. We spent the night in The Dalles about 30 min. from Multnomah Falls, our destination for the next day.

Thurdsay 8-21
We sleep in a little and then head toward the Columbia River Gorge area to see Multnomah Falls. We stop along the way to see Horsetail Falls and then continue to Multnomah. We hiked about a mile to the observation deck at the top of the falls and then continued hiking up the trail aways. There had been some sort of a landslide and the trail was blocked, so we turned around and headed back down to the gift shop area. We also stopped at Wahkeena Falls and hiked another 1/2 mile there up to the bridge and back. We stopped in Portland for about an hour and then traveled to Ft. Stevens near Astoria for the night.



Friday 8-22
This day we headed up the coast to Long Beach, WA for the International Kite Festival. That was really neat to see and the kites were very colorfull. We walked around the downtown area for a while to before heading down the Oregon coast. We stopped in Cannon Beach, which was beautiful. The beach was wide and sandy with large rocks jutting up from the oceam. We also stopped in Tillamook at their famouse cheese factory. I know, I had to travel all the way to Oregon to see a cheese factory. For dinner we ate at the Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City, OR. The restrant is located right on the beach and had a spectacular view of the ocean. I really enjoyed eating there. We stayed the night in South Beach State Park in a Yurt. We could hear the ocean and sea lions most of the night.



















Saturday 8-23
We woke up a little early and headed into Newport for the day. We walked around the Historic Bayarea, watched California Sea Lions, visited a wax museum, Ripley's Believe it or Not, the Undersea Gardens, held live starfish and touched an sea annenomie. All this before lunch. We ate a picnic lunch at Yaquina Head National Park. We climbed to the top of lighthouse, walked along the beach, saw harbor seals, and walked through the visitors center. We then headed to the first lighthouse in Newport, which is suppose to be haunted, but I don't believe it. Dinner was early this day as we ate at Mo's which is famouse for it's clam chowder. If you know me at all, you know that I am not a big fish/sea food eater, but Mo's clam chowder was wonderful. I really liked it. After dinner I went for a dip in the Pacific Ocean. Needless to say it was freezeing and I basically ran in, dunked underwater, and ran back out.




















Sunday 8-24
This was another travel day. It was an 11 hour drive back to Missoula, so we took off early and drove most of the day. We talked, took pictures at a couple rest stops, saw Mt. Hood, and laughed at some funny signs in WA. My favorit was the sign that read "Don't Litter, It Will Hurt You", and "Don't Throw, Men Below". That one was near a bridge that was being worked on.

Monday 8-25
I flew home. I had a great time on my vacation and was glad to see my dear friend after such a long time.

Did I Miss My Plane?

I love to fly. I love just about everything about flying. I like take off, landing, and looking out the window to see the earth far below looking very small. What I don't like is the small seats and trying to catch connecting flights. On my flight out to Montana I flew to Denver and then on to Missoula. The flight to Denver was adventurous. I had the very last seat in the airplane, right next to the bathroom. The whole flight I was getting bumped by people using the bathroom. I couldn't recline my seat at all, forcing my self to sit in the uncomfortable upright position. The plane lands and I look at my ticket for my connecting flight. It leaves at 12. I then look at my watch and see the time in 11:40. Being at the very back of the plane, I was one of the very last people off the plane. If you have ever flown to Denver, you know that the airport is very long and your connecting flight is always at the opposite end of the terminal. I'm walking as fast as I can with out actually running to get to my terminal and on my plane. I make it there at 11:50 and I look around. No one is boarding the plane. I check the board to make sure I'm at the right place and that the flight is on time. Everything looks correct, but no one is boarding. I look around confused for a while and then it dawns on me. I'm in Denver, CO; it's an hour earlier! How blond can I be! I felt so stupid, I had a whole hour to wait until the plane took off. It's times like this that I wonder about my intellect.

Are you part of the remnant?

In our world today, there are many who claim themselves to be Christians, though many are so in name only. I have been reminded of this the past week in the class I am taking at the UW-Whitewater. Some of my classmates claim to be Christians, and yet by the stories they tell of their weekends and summer I have my doubts. They seek the pleasures of this work and not God. They serve themselves and only attend church on holidays and never open the Bible. Then while reading in Romans I stumbled upon one of my favorite verses. Paul wrote in Romans 11:5 "Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Paul was referring to the time that Elijah was complaining to God that he was the only prophet and follower of God left. God's rebuttal, there were seven thousand who still believed and had not bowed to Baal. Just as in Paul and Elijah's time, there were those who claim something in name but not in deed or action. Yet, God's remnant remains. He always has those who believe and follow His ways. He is never without those who truly believe. A comforting thought went you are surrounded by those who don't believe at work or school.