Holidays and Family Time

Our blog has been rather quiet for a while, as we've been spending time with family in St. Louis, Ohio, and Jacksonville. We're staying put in Jacksonville through January, catching up with friends and family, counting our blessings, and planning our travels for 2010. To all of you who follow our blog, best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and may 2010 bring you good health and happiness. From Buddy, Drew and Linda.

Deja Vu View

It's Fall again, and we're workamping at KOA. Sound familiar? But this time we're in the St. Louis area, not Tennessee. We happened upon this workamper job while visiting family and agreed to stay until the KOA closes for the season Nov. 1. The Fall colors are beautiful and we don't even have to leave the park to enjoy them.

Precious Moments

Yes, we've had some great moments visiting with the grandkids in the St. Louis area since August 12, but this post is about the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Missouri. On a trip to the RV dealer in Carthage, MO, to have some work done on the motor home, we took the opportunity to drop in at Precious Moments for a tour. Inspired by Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in Rome, Precious Moments artist and creator, Samuel J. Butcher, designed and constructed the Precious Moments Chapel as his way of sharing the joy of his faith with the world. Each of the dozens of murals were hand painted by him. The mural “Hallelujah Square” celebrates the lives of real children whose lives ended too soon, but whose stories continue to bring a message of love, hope and peace.

Let's Hear it for the Boys

We just completed our volunteer work at the United Methodist Boys Ranch located on the South end of Tenkiller Lake near Gore, OK. We've been away from good wireless speeds, so I've gotten a little behind on my blogs. Drew and I worked in the residence buildings, painting and repairing. The Boys Ranch is for "at-promise" teens and pre-teens experiencing problems which prevent them from living at home or in foster care. There is an on-site school for the boys in the residence program. After "graduating" from the residence program, those youth in the independent living program are allowed to attend public schools. An unusual component of the Ranch is the Animal Therapy Program where the boys learn to care for animals (horses, cows, chickens!) and their skills are showcased when they host an annual rodeo. You can read more about this wonderful place at: www.circleofcare.org/site/03residential/umboysranch.html. Donations always welcome!

Oklahoma--OK!

In truth, Guthrie, OK, is more than just okay. It boasts the largest contiguous district on the National Register of Historic Places, with over 400 blocks and 2100 buildings. The old downtown area's brick beauties once housed banks, bars, bordellos, and more. It's an interesting area. You can stroll down the streets and read the histories from the brass standards mounted on the sidewalks. Or you can go inside, as we did, and partake of the current proprietors' offerings.

Cattlemen's Cafe Cuisine

Steaks and stockyards--highlights of Oklahoma City. Cattle auctions are still held weekly at Stockyards City in the heart of Oklahoma City. For decades, when cattlemen and cowboys (tourists too!) come to town, they stop at Cattlemen's Cafe, which is the state's busiest restaurant. Operating since 1910 and expanded numerous times, Cattlemen's is THE place for steaks. Desserts too. Yessir, we agree. Yum.

Do you know the way. . .

. . .to Santa Fe? We do. And it's a wonderful town full of culture and artistry. Palace of the Governors is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the U.S., dating back to 1610. Native American artisans abound and display their work under it's portico and in the neighboring plazas. The architecture in this olde town area is mostly adobe style and is filled with cafes, galleries and museums. The perfect place for an afternoon stroll.

The Ultimate Artist

The Painted Desert in Eastern Arizona near Holbrook has more colors than a giant box of Crayolas. And nature did it all. The hues change with the sun's position, providing interest throughout the daylight hours. Another beautiful reflection of God's handiwork. . .

A Grand Time

The Grand Canyon is appropriately named: 277 river miles long, 18 miles wide, a mile deep, rock nearly 2 billion years old in the bottom of the canyon. The park's free shuttle system is really convenient and allowed us to ride to some of the overlooks or hike along the 12-mile rim trail to others. The views are awesome, but not for those with tendencies toward vertigo.

Viva Las Vegas

On our way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped over in Las Vegas at Arizona Charlie's. What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. No pictures. No comment.

Byway Highway

Scenic Highway 12 is officially designated as "All American Road" and it's 112 miles provides some of the prettiest this country has to offer. The contrast of hues from the red rock, to the deep green evergreens, to the brilliant blue skies dotted with pure white clouds is breathtaking.

We do Hoodoos

What are hoodoos? They are carved pinnacles of stone, and Bryce Canyon National Park has spectatular ones of varied shapes and colors. To me, the Canyon looks like thousands of chess figures standing tall awaiting their move. Although the park road is a mere 18 miles long, it's strategically placed overlooks pack some amazing panoramas. We walked part of the 11-mile Rim Trail which affords views of the Canyon from almost every angle.

Whittled Wilderness

Gravity and water from the Green River and the Colorado River carved hundreds of canyons, mesas, buttes, arches, and spires in the Colorado Plateau. Canyonlands National Park preserved this vast wilderness of rock and it remains fairly untrammeled today. While most of its roads are unpaved and its trails primitive, there are numerous overlooks and short hikes that offer incredible vistas.

Golden Arches

The arches are actually red unless you catch Arches National Park at sunrise or sunset. This area boasts one of the world's greatest densities of natural arches--over 2,000 catalogued. Landscape Arch (shown) is the longest, measuring 306 feet across. Not only are the arches fascinating, but so are the spires, pinnacles, and precariously-balanced rocks that look ready to topple. Drew and I had lots of fun using our imagination on the never-ending rock formations, much like you do when cloud glazing. We decided the Park could name a gazillion such formations rather than just the handful they have, like Three Gossips (shown) and Balanced Rock. But then, of course, you'd need months to make your way through the Park!

Temple Square

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 35 acres in downtown Salt Lake City contain some wonderful sites rich in history and a campus of beautiful gardens. The domed-shaped Tabernacle was completed in 1875 and was an amazing engineering achievement in that the 150-foot span had no center supports. The acoustics are incredible. Our host stood on stage and tore strips of paper to demonstrate how the ripping sound carries throughout the building as if there was a microphone. The Tabernacle houses an organ with close to 12,000 pipes. Salt Lake Temple is the largest of the 120 LDS temples world wide. Brigham Young personally selected the Salt Lake City site and the Temple was dedicated in 1893. The beautiful Victorian Gothic Assembly Hall was constructed using mostly discarded granite stone from the Temple and was completed in 1882. Church headquarters are housed in a skyscraper towering above the city with views in all directions.

Practice Makes Perfect

When you hear singing as awesome as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, you don't really think they'd need much practice. We had the privilege of sitting in on Thursday night rehearsals and were thoroughly fascinated. Because of the Choir's popularity, most performances are now in the Conference Center rather than the now-too-small Tabernacle. The Choir has 360 volunteer members and was formed in 1847. Their first radio broadcast Music and the Spoken Word took place in 1929 and is the longest continually running program in the world. I tried the video feature for the first time on my digital camera and was able to capture some of the singing as well as photos. We're enjoying being able to hear again and again the wonderful music.

Large and Lovely

Flathead Lake, southwest of Glacier National Park, is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. It is 28 miles long and up to 15 miles wide, comprising more than 188 square miles of clear, strikingly blue water. With temperatures in the 80's this Fourth of July weekend, Flathead Lake and Flathead River (where we are camped) got lots of action, yet hardly seemed busy.

Going-to-the-Sun

No, we're not bee-lining it back to Florida. We're in Montana's Glacier National Park. Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only way through the heart of the Park. It's 53 miles long, took 12 years to build, and was completed in 1932. Quite frankly, I thought I was on Going-to-my-Death Road as we neared Logan's Pass, the highest point. Looking out my window at a vertical drop of 6,000+ feet made my palms sweaty. Glacier National is a beautiful park and the scenery was well worth the occasional anxiety.

Multnomah Falls

The drive East from Portland is Columbia River Gorge-ous (pardon the pun!). The Oregon Scenic Route is 80 miles long and follows the river the whole way. The Columbia River is the fourth largest in North America, is over 1200 miles long, and produces the most hydroelectric power. One of the highlights of the drive along the Gorge is Multnomah Falls with its 620 foot drop. The stone bridge was crafted by Italian stone masons in 1914. Now with Multnomah Falls, we've seen the tallest (Yosemite Falls) and the second tallest waterfalls in the U.S.

A Moose of a Goose

The world's largest wooden airplane, the Spruce Goose, resides in li'l ole McMinnville, Oregon. The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum was the vision of Capt. Michael King Smith, an award-winning pilot and a remarkable young man. The Spruce Goose was designed during World War II to transport troops and cargo across the Atlantic. Because materials like steel and aluminum were critical to the war effort, the "flying boat" was made of laminated wood. The plane took so long to design and build that the war had already ended. The only time it ever flew, it was piloted by Howard Hughes on a test flight and was airborne for just one minute! It was built, housed, and displayed by different groups (including Disney Corp.) in the Long Beach, California, area until 1990 when custody was awarded to Evergreen. Although the restoration and current facility were not complete by 1993 when Capt. Michael King Smith died in an auto accident at age 29, his family and Evergreen Aviation continued to support the project until the vision became reality.

Majestic Mt. Hood

The drive out Highway 26 from Portland to Mt. Hood National Forest provides glimpses of Mt. Hood around every curve. Rising over 11,000 feet, it's actually hard to hide. Beautiful Mt. Hood has snow year-round and you can find snowboarders and skiers there all summer long. Lifts run from Timberline where there is a wonderful old lodge built in 1937 as part of Roosevelt's WPA efforts. The view from the 6,000-foot elevation is spectacular, encompassing most of the Cascade mountain chain. Especially for us Florida flatlanders, it's pretty impressive.

Picturesque Portland Parks

Washington Park's 400 acres in the West hills of Portland is one of the most beautiful settings anywhere. On a clear day like we had today, you can see Mt. Hood, downtown Portland, and the Willamette River. To the North, you can see across the Columbia River into Washington and over to Mt. St. Helens. We spent the afternoon strolling among the 7,000 rose bushes at the International Rose Test Garden, through the tranquil and authentic Portland Japanese Garden, and on the grounds of Pittock Mansion 1000 feet above the city's skyline. Another picture-perfect day. . .

Seaside Scenes

It's hard to pick out just a few pictures from all the gorgeous scenes we've experienced. And it's almost impossible to take a bad picture. But here are a few of our favorites as we bid the Oregon coast adieu.