Saturday, July 11, 2009

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

Our trip was just over 2000 miles from our home in Yukon, Oklahoma, to Portland. After celebrating Anika's birthday we left Dalhart on Wednesday morning and headed west. From the time we sighted Raton Pass in northern New Mexico until we got to Portland we were in sight of mountains or foothills of the mountains. Some of the mountains were snow-covered, such as at Monarch Pass in Colorado. Others were not so high, but were rugged and beautiful in their own way.






















On the western edge of Colorado we stopped at Colorado National Monument, a ruggedly fascinating landscape of mountains eroded into fantastic shapes with deep canyons. In the Visitor's Center we saw a presentation that stated with absolute certainty that these formations began to evolve 2 billion years ago. When I get to heaven I want to ask God how all these scientific statements (truth?? theories??) fit into our Biblical account of creation. The geological formation is extremely interesting to study with numerous layers of sediment from inland seas that developed and receded several times over the 2 billion years.



After leaving the Monument we soon crossed the stateline into Utah. The landscape became a barren moonscape. It was desolate and empty, at least that's the way it seemed to us as we sat in the car on I-70 going westward. No towns or villages, no trees, no people except those traveling east or west on the interstate highway. The foothills of the northern mountains were barren and uninviting. But we eventually turned north and headed to Salt Lake City where Frank let me stop and visit a great quilt shop. I loved the shop and bought Laura's birthday present there. I might have to try it out before I give it to her!



The next day we continued northwest and drove through southern Idaho toward Oregon. In the afternoon we reached the Columbia River and traveled on I-84 westward along the river. It is an awesome work of nature. On the opposite shore is the state of Washington. On both banks of the river are many huge windmills generating electricity, more than we've seen anywhere else including Oklahoma. As we got further west we could see Mt. Hood in the distance and we entered a forest of evergreens. It really is a beautiful part of the country. In the coming week I will write more about Portland and the surrounding area.



Tomorrow we begin our ministry at the Clark County Holiness Camp in Vancouver, Washington. We need to get back into missionary mode as we prepare to share the needs of Ukraine. We appreciate your prayers as we try to help folks find what God wants them to do with regard to the needs of the world around them as well as around the rest of the world.

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