Friday, March 17, 2017

Pat and I have returned from a pleasant trip out to see our son Philip, with a side trip to the original Disneyland in southern California.  We had a great time.

Some pictures of our adventures.

At the entrance to Disneyland Park, the dream-child of Walt Disney himself.  It opened in 1955, and many of the original attractions are still entertaining guests.

In the California Adventure, this area called “Cars Land” was our favorite. It made you feel like you were right in the town of Radiator Springs.

We met ‘Mater

Our stay at Disneyland was in the beautiful Grand Californian Hotel. On several evenings, we were delighted to become acquainted with this excellent musician, Jamie. She played effortlessly and with great skill. She took requests, too, and for us she played a magnificent version of “As the Deer”.   And while making beautiful music, her lovely personality engaged in conversation. She became one of our highlights of Disneyland. Thank you, Jamie.

We spent our SoCal Saturday with Pat’s brother Raymond and his family.  It was a pleasant time to visit and catch up on one another’s lives.  We went to Sofia’s soccer practice/scrimmage.  We visited the Walt Disney Theater in downtown LA.  Ray and Sandra are both University of Southern California grads, so they showed us around the impressive USC campus a little bit.  It was fun just to be together and share a couple meals.  Ray, like his dad, is a dentist.  Sandra works in the TV business as an editor.

Here with Pat you see Sandra with Ray and daughters Sofia and Mila.

On Sunday, we made the short drive over to Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim.  As we entered the massive building, we wondered if we would feel out of place.  But after the service, we both knew we had “been in church” that day.  We were blessed at ECC.

Here is a view of the team during worship.

The sermon that day was given by Gene Appel, and it stirred our hearts.  His topic was “The God I wish you knew…” We were greatly blessed by ECC.

We spent a week with Philip in Portland, Oregon.  On our few day trips we walked up (slowly, with a few breaks…the hill is steep!) to Washington Park, and also drove out to the Columbia River Gorge.  Pat used one day to cook up some of Philip’s favorite dishes to pack away in his freezer.  Most of our days we stayed in Portland, but our rental car enabled us to venture out a bit farther on the weekend than the bus or train could take us.

Here we are in Fort Stevens State Park, near Astoria.  Pat and Philip are on the beach at the Pacific. It was a nice and sunny, and not too chilly day. There is a famous shipwreck on the beach.  We saw the rusting remains of the Peter Iredale. which ran aground here in October of 1906

Also on the highest point in Astoria, we took in the view from the top of the Astoria Column. Yes, that’s about 170 feet up a spiral staircase.

East of Portland, we took Historic Highway 30 along the Columbia River. The view from Vista House was shrouded in fog that misty day.

This winding road with its works-of-art old bridges takes us past many famous waterfalls.

Here is the most famous Oregon waterfall, Multnomah.

Our best Oregon times were spent with Philip. He took us to this locally famous restaurant– Jakes– for a fabulous dinner.

Although Philip spent his days at his work at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), we had evenings and the weekend to share.

The return trip was a bit extended last Tuesday.  Our flights routed through Chicago, and ORD experienced severe delays and cancellations on that day.  We departed Portland, Oregon early Tuesday morning, but did not arrive at home until Wednesday evening.  There was a long delay at our connection in Salt Lake City.  In Chicago, we had 3 cancellations, with the last one announced after midnight.  ORD  provided stranded passengers like us a cot for a few hours rest.  We were able to fly out on a re-scheduled flight after lunch on Wednesday!  We can say with experience, that ORD is a deserted place after midnight, but at 4 am, the place is bustling again!

We are now adjusting back to the Eastern Time Zone.

Now that we’re back home in Indiana, we are catching up on the stack of mail, and getting back into the groove of farm life.  The machines have been fully prepared by Brandon and John, and we wait now for warmer and drier days to begin spring field work.  The sprayer and the nitrogen applicators will get going as soon as the soil conditions allow.

In other good news, Ross is walking on his own now, sans scooter or crutches.  His recovery from his ankle surgery back in December is going well, and about as was predicted by his doctor.  It’s good to see him back on his feet (literally) once again.