Wintersong

Old Faithful 09

2009-11-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

We went to Yellowstone and spent too much time looking at Elk, Bison, etc. and got to Old Faithful just after it "went off". Had to wait an hour in the cold, but here are a couple of videos. During the second (longer) video you can hear our conversations including our meeting Juliano and his daughter (or grand-daughter) from Naples, Italy. Like us, Old Faithful was going off as they drove up and they had to wait with us to see it. But after several tries, the large one doesn't want to load. Maybe when we get home... Or maybe it's too big. So here's a bison picture instead.

WASHINGTON, IDAHO, AND MONTANA

2009-08-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I have blogged that I can't even believe it myself. It's not that I have not thought about it almost everyday and night - oh brother where does all the time go? The TYRANNY OF THE URGENT just about says it all, but alas, here I am at my blog site and I hope I can do it some justice. Right now we are at the Holiday Inn Express in Pullman, Washington, and Steve is teaching at the Veterinary College for two weeks. We are in our second week and time is flying by. We had one week-end to travel which we did, and it was a great experience. Steve and I went south to Lewiston, Idaho (Idaho is only seven miles from Pullman, Washington). The terain in this whole area is very different and amazing. Lewiston and Clarkston Washington, a few miles west, are named after the well known explorers Lewis and Clark. My SPECIAL GUY and I headed east up Clearwater Canyon along the Lewis and Clark trail and Nez Perce Trail through the Nez Perce Reservation to Missoula Montana. WOW - The trip was beautiful! We drove up the west side of the Bitterroot Mountains and down into Missoula. On this same trail and going up to northrn Montana, Cheif Joseph took his people one thousand three hundred miles to try to get away from the U.S Army that was chasing them. But, the U.S. Army caught up with them just as they got to Canada. So, now a certain time of year you can see many, three hundred or so horses and riders following the trail to commerate this event. This (Missoula) is the town that the movie A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT was written about, and later became a film, directed by Robert Redford. It was filmed in and around the area, plus other places, and if you have seen the movie you know the cinematography was probably the most beautiful and magnificent I have ever seen in a movie. WOW AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! What can I say, God has created an amazing and gorgeous world - the trip was breathtaking! We spent the night in Missoula, Montana and on Sunday went to Coeur D' Alene , a tourist town, and had lunch at a restaurant, eating at a table on the sidewalk. That was fun, and then we walked around the downtown area. It was a beautiful sunny day and warm, but not real hot, and just about perfect. On the way here to Coeur D' Alene, I am digressing a bit, we passed where the gold rush began that brought many white men to Indian Country. Every state has a special history, just like every person has a history. Coming back to Pullman we went through another Indian Reservation and onto the golden mountains covered in wheat, barley, and lentils. This was another big change in the terrain. This is all for tonight, but tune in later to hear my SAGA and ADVENTURE at the local Wal-Mart in IDAHO, which is only seven miles from Pullman. You will laugh, and you will cry, trust me on this, it was unbelievable!!!!! By all means tune in for the next episode!!!!!

THE OREGON LANDSCAPE

2009-02-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

The Oregon Landscape is magnificent and beyond beautiful!!! Last week-end we went to the ocean and it did not disappoint! In fact we were in awe, the windswept beaches, verdant forests, giving way to sweeping rangelands, towering rock formations (even in the ocean itself) and dramatic river valleys, and streams leading the roads up and down the mountains to the ocean itself, and back to the Willamette Valley, and the college town of Corvallis. It is certainly picturesque!!! No wonder it inspired the largest voluntary land migration in recorded history!!! Steve and I have often talked about the early settlers crossing this country in covered wagons, or riding horses, or walking, and any other means to get here before it was inhabited . I read somewhere that the first settlers would drive their horse and wagons along the ocean when the tide was out, and then climb the cliffs and wait until they could go again. I also read so many of the settlers that came from the east or midwest died along the way, many froze to death in the mountains, or died from heat exposure, or many diseases. Some of the wagon trains tried to follow the streams over all the mountains to the ocean, and onto California where they were hoping to find gold. It certainly must have been a great adventure!!!

So, last weekend Steve and I went to the coast, and instead of taking months to get there, it took us about 45 minutes. We drove along the coast to Florence, Oregon as the cloud formations took different forms and the waves were so high, one of my favorite sounds - ocean waves - and it was definately worth it. We stayed at a bed & breakfast, and upon our arrival they presented us with a box of Belgian chocolates, and I mean y'all it was a BIG BOX with two layers all wrapped up in red paper with a beautiful bow. The owners know how to win a woman's heart!!!

We had dinner at a 5-star restaurant that the owners told us about and not only was it awesome and romantic, but one of the wait staff came to our table when he found out we were at OSU, he has a daughter in Veterinary College, and believe it or not she is in one of the classes Steve is teaching. Another thing so interesting is that he (the father) and his family lived in Peoria, Illinois and he grew up there. IT'S A SMALL WORLD!!!

The next day we shopped in OLD TOWN FLORENCE and I bought a couple things in my favorite shop "BONJOUR". We were so glad to see that this little town is still doing very well even though the economy is in a mess. This was on Sunday, and we started home late afternoon because we wanted to drive along the ocean as far as we could, and we took lots of pictures and we met so many nice people that weekend. It seems like out here life is much slower, and people are just so friendly. You can be crossing the street to go to the river walk here in Corvallis, or going to the bakery, and start talking and find out about someone's life. Just different - . Then we headed back to Corvallis, and decided to take a different road down the mountain - not a good idea!!! It was very dangerous , even though most of it followed a creek, some of it was covered in dirt , and let's just say we will not be taking that road back here again, even though I saw a whole herd of elk, and several eagles, - I guess that was worth it.

This week Steve has been very busy and happy with his work. I somehow pulled a muscle in my back and have been taking it very easy, but that has turned out to be a blessing too. I have been reading a lot, and resting, and today feel much better, so tomorrow I will probably get out and explore more of this little college town. Some of the books I have been reading are : my BIBLE, UNCOMMON by Tony Dungy (based on the BIBLE and the way he grew up, and being an UNCOMMON man, not a popular man, and so forth). I highly recommend this book , it talks about finding your path to significance, and what THE LORD has for you. Also ,I am reading a mystery by JAMES PATTERSON, and just starting NORA, a book about a woman who came to visit the Wild West. I want to get a Bible Study of some kind to do on my own while I am here, and also I want to read Tony Dungy's first book. The one I am reading now is his second.

Now, I am going to post some pictures that I took, and sign off for tonight. I send my love to everyone back home and pray for ya'll everyday, and miss you very much.

The LOVE OF MY LIFE - Stephen Kent Kneller - and I are having an exciting and dynamic experience and wish all of our family was here to enjoy the beauty of this area. GOD'S CREATION, JUST AS THE BIBLE SAYS, IS BEAUTIFUL BEYOND DISCRIPTION!!!!!

HELLO - GOOD BYE

2009-02-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

One week ago this morning (Sat. 1-31-09) our son Greg dropped us off at the Champaign airport in the early a.m. 6:15a.m., and we said good-by (SO HARD!!!), especially after only one hr. of sleep for me. I cried as we walked into the airport and away from Greg , although I was excited to fly to Oregon for 6 weeks. Saying good-by to all our family is so hard, and we knew our first great grandbaby Bruno would be so much more grown up when we get back home.
Steve's first week at OSU was great. Everyone at the Veterinary College gave him a big welcome, and our first week there flew by!
We are now at one of our favorite places in the good old U.S.A., THE LODGE AT SUTTLE LAKE, on the top of the Cascade Mountains. We do love it here! We arrived in the beautiful sunshine with just a little snow, (last year we had 10 to 20 feet of snow here, and when we arrived it was snowing.) This time the sun was out with just a little snow on this mountain top, so it has a whole different look and atmosphere which is just as beautiful, but different. The skiers are having fun in the surrounding snow parks that are filled with snow, which we are going to visit tomorrow.
Tonight we had dinner in the boathouse restaurant on the lake and the food was awesome!!! As we walked out of the restaurant to come back to our room the moon washed the lake and the tree lined snow covered mountains in a silver glow. SO BEAUTIFUL!! THAT WAS BREATHTAKING - GOD'S CREATION JUST SHINED. WHAT A MOMENT WITH THE MAN I LOVE!!! Hand in hand, my love and I walked back to our cozy western-native american appointed suite to find the fire burning in the fireplace. We feel so blessed to have this experience and make these memories. Time to go cuddle!

GOOD BYE - HELLO

2008-04-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

We arrived safe in Laramie, Wyoming and had a good time there. After a good night's sleep we "did the town" so to speak. Went shopping at CORRAL WEST, and met two cowgirls that were minding the store. Had fun and bought a few things,we were in at CORRAL WEST at least 2 hrs. the longest the man in my life has shopped with me since I can't remember when. If you ask him "did you have fun shopping?" he would say "no, but I found it satisfying". Need I say more? Only that his RIDGE RIDER VEST he bought saved the day today and that's all he talked about. So, in hindsight he did have fun - remember it was a cowboy and cowgirl store. After that, we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Laramie - CORONA VILLAGE - where we both ate one of our favorite Mexican meals. As we were sitting in the booth my husband said "I think we should have bought the western floor mats, so guess what, back we went to CORRAL WEST, and surprised one of our new friends, THE RODEO QUEEN with the engraved belt buckle to prove it, and purchased a few more very special items. I LOVE LARAMIE WYOMING!

Then we headed south to Ft. Collins, Colorado, and took a 2 lane highway to see the country side. As we headed out it started snowing and a storm was brewing. Steve stopped in at the Veterinary College and said hello to some of his old friends, and when he came out it was pouring down rain. Did I say when he was inside meeting friends in the Radiology Department,that it was sleeting outside for awhile? Crazy Weather. But, we are so glad we took the 2-lane highway and saw the beautiful countryside. We saw many ranches, and some ranchers, and the mountains around there were totally different than in Wyoming. Unlike the Wyoming mountains, the Colorado mountains are filled with thousands of trees, fir trees, and cedar trees, and so much forest. Thousands of perfect CHRISTMAS TREES were all around us. What a beautiful place, plus more white snow, AMAZING!!!!!

Our next destination was Loveland, Colorado which turned out to be a bust because we didn't recognize the village it had grown so much. We also wanted to go by the LOVELANDER BED AND BREAKFAST where 19 years ago we had such a good time (on Valentine's Day) but, we were told it wasn't there anymore. Later after we had left we found out that it was still there, and I think the Church we attended 19 years ago when we were there is still there to, we just couldn't find it. Nineteen years can really make a difference. In fact, at that time we had no grandchildren. Wow!

Then on to Denver, Colorado where we spent the night and woke up to snow. As we left we noticed the snow was getting worse and by the time we had driven about one hour WHAMMO- we drove right into a blizzard that lasted pretty much most of the day. It was a total WHITE OUT with cars and trucks off the road and winds up to 70 miles an hr. I was definitely praying by this time and thought we probably would have to get off or pull off for a few hrs. but remember I was not at the wheel and so we pushed through the mess. You could not see 2 feet in front of you and there were times when you couldn't see ANYTHING!!!!! NOT FUN!!!!! Finally we drove out of the snow and arrived at our destination in Kansas for the night. I think we put in 6 or 7 hrs. of driving today and are planning on driving 5 or 6 hrs. tomorrow. However, the girl behind the desk at the hotel tells us that the storm is on it's way here and will hit about midnight. We will see tomorrow when we awake. And as I am journaling in my blog I hear the wind blowing harder and harder outside. Only God knows at this point.

Colorado was beautiful with magic of it's own. What a paradise. There is the Scottish heritage of Estes Park and the Front Range, Pikes Peak, Mesa Verde, the Northwest and it's charming towns and treasures of that region , then there is Vail, and Aspen with their resorts and winter events, beauty beyond compare, shopping, and a million other activities you can think of because you are in the ROCKY MOUNTAINS!!!!! I've heard that Steamboat Springs' beauty,and Boulder's outdoor adventure, and colorful western heritage is a sight to behold also. So, Colorado - ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH - is definitely on our list for a vacation in the future - GOD Willing! There just wasn't time to do everything this trip, as it is I think we have crammed in so much that it BOGGLES the mind. Every time we get outside or in the SUV we have camera's in hand trying to capture the beauty we have seen. GOD IS GOOD, and HIS creation is amazing!
Yesterday we saw so many beautiful horses, and today lots of buffalo. We have also seen eagles in the mountains, and white snow owls, and so many special birds it is unbelievable. The bears are also just coming out of hiding and sleeping for the winter so, perfect time to leave!!!

Just like my EUROPE TRIP this WESTERN TRIP has been the trip of a lifetime!!! I hope the love of my life has had as much fun as I have!!! I am so grateful to him for all the planning and everything he has put into this trip. What can I say? - - STEVE KNELLER is the BEST!!!!! Thanks honey ( or should I say big hunk) for all the MEMORIES - I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Pictures will be added tomorrow because it is now 1:24 a.m. and I want to go to bed. So, GOOD BYE to the WEST and HELLO to the MIDWEST. Over and out, and more later y'all!

NAPA VALLEY AND BEYOND

2008-04-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

Crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains, here near Squaw Valley in California, we reminisce of the past few days; my love and I. Even though the vineyards in Napa Valley were not in bloom they were breathtaking; a site to behold. Never disappointing , Napa Valley lives up to it's reputation and we were amazed at it's beauty. The vineyards grow on the flowing hills and as we dove across the mountains we saw many flowers in bloom. As we drove through a vineyard we also saw fields of tulips in bloom, and they were beautiful, so many gorgous colors. Wisteria was in full bloom, fields of lemon yellow mustard, poppies, hot pink azalias, spirea bushes so full they fell to the ground, magnolia trees in full bloom, and grass as green as velvet. It is so hard to believe we are really here and at times you feel like you are in a movie watching it.

Reluctantly we had to leave Napa Valley and wine country and were able to head out to Placerville, hometown to Thomas Kincaid and his art career. This is a happening place and so busy we could

hardly believe it. Placerville is very picturesque and the homes are all built on the mountains and rolling hills. We visited the T.K..Gallery and viewed some of his original paintings that were valued at $300,000 dollars and up. The lady that helped us with our questions knew Tom and Nanette personally and told us about a movie being made of his early years that will probably be titled HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. The interesting thing about this is it will be a movie, or on television, but is not being advertised as being his story. It will probably come out around the holidays, or maybe before. We purchased a painting of Napa Valley and the big yellow house - where the last time we were in California 19 years ago we had lunch and it was a very special time for us but, could not find it this time because we were in a different part of the valley. We wanted a painting to remember our trip and it was perfect. It looks exactly like where we were this time, plus it has the big yellow house that is such a special memory for the two of us . God is good and as my better half says Life is good!!! After Placerville we continued the memory hunt in Davis, California. We did find the Davis Inn location where we spent our sabbatical 19 years ago, but guess what? - now it's a bank. We had lunch in a quaint resturant and then found the library, where I spent a lot of time 19 years ago, unfortunately everything else in campus town and Davis looks different. The Veterinary Collage looks much the same and it was easy to find, but they have added to it and it does look great. Steve was able to go in and spend a morning there with old friends and that was fun for him.

This morning a new friend told us about Old Town Sacramento and being curious we couldn't miss that, so, we headed out. My husband and I seem to have discovered a lot of "old towns" on this trip and that has been a great blessing. The LORD has really guided us and blessed us with many surprises. We have really looked to him and each day had our time with him and prayed and HE has totally blessed us and we know HE is the navigator of our lives.
We ended our day near Squaw Valley California to find ourselves again in a rustic, western ski village. We left Sacramento and it was 70 degrees. Here it is 40 degrees and dropping, and yes many people are skiing, and unfortunately we have seen several people on crutches and with broken bones. The goal for tomorrow is Salt Lake City, Utah, and that is a BIG ORDER. As I close for this night my thoughts and prayers are for home and all the family and people we love. As an end to this day we send this scripture to all of you with all of our love. "Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together." PSALMS 98:8.

A DEDICATION

2008-03-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Our deepest sympathy, and our love and prayers are with the Hogan family at this time of great loss. When Rod called, we were devastated, shocked, and heart-broken that this tragedy had happened to such a kind and loving Christian family. We have lots of great memories of T.J. - woodcutting weekends come to mind and our latest memory at Blaine's blessing party. When T.J. went up front that night and shared so honestly, it touched us all deeply. We caught him afterwards and told him and he gave us that big Hogan smile, and was so humble about it. As he left, he turned and said goodbye and waved to us. And we will never forget. What a guy he was. TJ always had time for everyone and always stopped to talk with us whenever we were together. May the Lord Jesus, Himself, comfort their hearts and surround them with His presence and hold them in the palm of His hand. Isaiah 61:1-3 kjv. We are truly so sorry we can't be there with them. We will continue to lift them up in our prayers. We were privileged to have known and loved T.J. Hogan. Today was a sad day and a very hard day for everyone who knew and loved T.J. , and tomorrow is the funeral. My husband and I have very heavy hearts tonight as our thoughts and prayers are with the Hogan family.

WISH YOU WERE HERE

2008-03-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

It is sat.nite and we are in Hood River, Oregon - just across the river is the state of Washington. I think it is around midnight. I wanted to put my pictures on my blog and write but, Steve fell asleep and I don't want to wake him, - and when i blog and put pictures on he still has to help me a little bit. I tried, but messed it up, so will probably do it tomorrow night or mon. We wanted to stay up on mt. hood at the ski lodge that President Roosevelt had built - it is something else!!! I tried to book a room the first of last week but they were booked with no rooms so Steve said just find us something around there. So,I got on the internet and found a place - they had some rooms left and I thought it looked nice but, when we drove up last night we couldn't believe it. We are at the COLUMBIA GORGE HOTEL and it's something else!!!It was called the "WALDORF OF THE WEST" a magnificent villa perched on a scenic cliff and has a sweeping view of the Columbia River and is known for it's very fine dining and finest accommodations in the northwest. It was built in 1921 and soon became a favorite retreat for movie stars and for presidents, and other political dignitaries. The movie star VALENTINO LOVED IT, and there are 2 rooms named after him. - The long breakfast room that looks out onto the river and gardens are magnificant and a falls that is so beautiful beyond description, and the lounge with a gorgous fireplace. Merna Loy - and Shirley Temple - Clark Gable - and his beautiful blond wife, loved to come here and vacation. It has been totally restored to its original state. It has a tiled roof - red like in Italy. It is stucco and painted a beautiful color and trimmed in hunter green or blue green. There is a door man that helps you in and a turn down service, so your room is always cleaned each day ,and at night bed turned down with flowers on your pillow and chocolates on the night stand and beautiful glass bottles filled with water from Norway - or so it says. Anyway, the grounds and gardens are magnificent and have received all kinds of awards,there are thousands of daffodils in bloom right now and all the other spring flowers, fountains, and bridges, and its all so richly done and looks so glamorous!!! This hotel provides lush, romantic ambience and the service is incredable and even though movie stars, and royalty and very important social people come here and stay, the hotel treats everyone like they are royalty. The artwork and paintings and mirrors and crystal and gold gillded mirrors and carpets and etc. are absolutely beautiful! Our room is something else and we love it. There are plantation shutters on all the windows and also on all the doors going into all the bedrooms, and our room looks out onto the gardens and entrance. I think it is a legacy of luxery that continues today. You should see the grand piano, and there is always someone playing it or some kind of music here. A touch of class!!! Today we left this morning and went up to the top of Mt.Hood,the ski area and to Roosevelts Lodge,it had snowed for 2 and one half days and was still snowing ( when it rains in the valley, it snows in the top of the mountains). There was so much snow it covered one half of the lodge and all of the entrance and they were plowing it out - it took us a long time to get up there because of the newly fallen snow, but, it was worth it!!!! There were hundreds of cars snowed in and trying to get out and the biggest john deer plow I have ever seen clearing the entrance. People were skiing and it was so amazing - we were in a cloud because it covered the lodge and it all looked like a dream or a movie. We finally got in and took forever just looking around and taking pictures and we ate on the top floor looking down on the massive fireplace - at this time outside it was almost like a blizzard and the snow covered most of the windows in the lodge - there were hundreds of people, and we met some kids about Rod, Greg, and Jeff's age and talked to them a long time, and they filled us in on a lot. We ordered chili - white bean - and hot chocolate and boy was that good!!!!! We went out finally to go on the ski lift up to the top where they come down and they had just closed them because of the blizzard - darn - we thought that would be so much fun. We were up almost as far as you could go anyway but, that would have been fun! You can't go to the top all the way unless you are a mountain climber with all the equipment to climb and then you have to have permission because you could die so easily. We had to head down and went through the government village ( that is where President Roosevelt had homes built for the men that built the lodge during the great depression and thats where they lived), now it is a fun place with shops and apartments and condo's. There were cars that were digging out from the snow, or trying to, and on the way down one SUV just like our truck had turned over - flipped - but the two boys in it were o.k. Tomorrow Steve has our day all planned out and it sounds like fun, and we go back to Corvallis tomorrow night. I think w e are going for brunch here at the hotel, and -places unknown to me, I am looking forward to more fun with the love of my life. For now I am going to get some shut eye and hope to blog more tomorrow . PSALM 4:8

A day in Portland

2008-03-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

It is about time that I get caught up on my blogging. Where does all the time go? Sunday the LOVE OF MY LIFE and I went to Portland. Who knew? What a great city Portland is - I had no idea! We went sightseeing all day and worked a lot into a short amount of time. First stop: JAPANESE GARDENS - unbelievable!!! We walked up to the top of the hill - small mountain really - and it was breathtakingly beautiful. Following are some pictures I took - while we were there about two hrs., and it was so peaceful , these gardens are in the city where all the action is, but yet on this hillside and small mountain there was complete serenity. I am so glad we stopped there. Second stop - POWELL'S BOOK STORE - a whole city block of books in this bookstore - can you even believe it all you book lover's out there? What a great experience - you could spend six weeks in this place and not see it all. It is definately a city of books!!!!! It has the red room, green room, blue room, purple room, well you get my drift. My husband actually hung out with me for three or four hrs. in a bookstore - a really big sacrifice for him - I doubt I will ever get him in another book store! We had a bite of lunch in the gold room (cafe) and roamed around checking out lots of books until he - my honey - dragged me out of there to hit the road back to Corvallis. We were in the Pearl District, that is the artist's community, and the shops were all closing - it was Sun. evening remember. The sun was setting and the light just bounced off of the buildings. We had to make a quick turn and I said STOP,STOP,STOP!!!!! There was an outdoor florist - hundreds of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen, so I got out and picked out a bouquet - very large to take back to our upstairs apartment. Then we hit the road and made it back in time for my guy to get some shut eye before Mon. morning classes he had to teach. The end of a perfect day and so much to be thankful for - we love and serve an amazing GOD - HE has created a gorgeous , beautiful, and unique world!!!!! Back to Corvallis - the university valley town that we have both come to love!!!!! More later on the travels of cowgirl Georgia - - and the Love of her Life - cowboy Steve.

NOTE: Do you see the butterfly in one of the pictures? Also in the picture of Portland- note- Mount Hood in the background. That is where we will spend next weekend GOD willing. Later y'all!!!!!

order

2008-02-21T07:23:00.001-08:00

Because Steve helped me with the pictures and actually put them up in a draft before I did the last mountain post, the post on our home in Oregon actually comes before the mountain post. If you want to see pictures of our temporary home, you will have to go down before the mountain post.. Sorry about that, we're learning this system, very slowly.

2008-02-19T22:40:00.000-08:00

Saturday we drove up to the top of the mountains and visited Sisters, a true, real, and fun western town. That night we drove into Bend, Oregon - stayed at a cozy inn - and Sunday drove back to Sisters and spent the day - what a fun time!!! These are just a few pictures I took of the week-end with lots more to come........the love of my life needs to get some shut eye, so, since he is still helping me learn how to do the picture thing, I will close for tonight. We took a few roads less traveled and I had the best time! I am looking forward to adding a few of the best pictures and writing more in this blog page tomorrow And since I have requests for pictures of the apartment I will attempt to get them in tomorrow also - the GOOD LORD WILLING. Good night ya'll!

The love of my life and I saw this setting as we left Sisters , Oregon - a true cowboy and cowgirl town.

home in corvallis

2008-02-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

You may have heard us talk about the fact that we were going to be staying in the incubator house in Corvallis. First we need to give you an overview of the "complex". The depot is the base for this housing operation. Out behind the depot are a couple of old train cars with plans to become housing units at some point. As you can see by the plaque in front of the incubator house, these historic buildings, the Incubator house from campus and the old Poultry building were moved here to be part of the complex. The incubator house is the cute little building with the high windows and the fencing on the roof. We arrived there very late on the first Sunday nite. We got in and hit the sack. Monday morning, Steve went to work and I woke up to ants...... ants!!! In Illinois, I work so hard to get rid of ants and come to Corvallis to ants!!! I called Dave the guy we dealt with. The night before he had suggested that we might be interested in the upstairs apartment in the Poultry building next door. Now with the ants, he showed it to me and as much as I liked the Incubator house, I liked the Poultry building better. So we are in the Poultry building which is the tallest of the buildings at the Depot , sitting just west of the incubator house. One thing that wasn't too appealing about the incubator house was that the bed was in the middle of the "living room" while in the poultry building, there is a separate bedroom.

These other pictures are of the kitchenette area, living room area with couch and "wall of windows" which along with the bedroom windows, look out on mountains over campus. We usually have our computers set up on the table by the TV .

Then there is the secretary and the hallway where our coats hang and our luggage is resting.

There is a view of our car out the hall window.

Also there is a view up the stairs (the least attractive part to us old folks, although nostalgic of our school days) and our front door. It's obvious that these pictures are not in any particular order. We haven't figured out yet how to easily manage lots of pictures with this site.

http://www.corvallisdepot.com/

WINTER WONDERLAND

2008-02-07T21:27:00.000-08:00

"The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork!" Psalm 19:1

Here we are in the valley, surrounded by the mountains on one side, and the Pacific Ocean on the other!!!!! It is awesome here to say the least!!!!! But, first let me log a few more details about our trip. We were in the Cascade Mountains and we came to a little town, Bend, Oregon there Swas so much snow it was just piled up in drifts all over the place, this town was a western town with real cowboys - I was so excited and just praising the LORD JESUS for bringing us this far and that we got to see this place. We filled the truck up with gas, used the facilities, stopped at a Safeway to get drinks and snacks and headed out.......... After a long climb many hrs. later we came to Sisters, Oregon!!!!! WOW, God answered my prayers and I thought I was in heaven!!!!! I have never seen so much snow - it was gorgous and beautiful beyond description - a dream come true. Sisters, Oregon is a ski resort and the place was hopping, this was about 8 p.m. There was so much snow it looked like a different planet - the snow was gorgous and it was everywhere!!!!! After much deliberation, with several people, we decided to go on down the mountain - I was praying and asking the Lord to give Steve wisdom on this decision. He had to be in Corvallis that night to get to work at 7 or 7:30 the next morning. It was hard because the people we talked to said the mountain pass was closed way up ahead. After talking to a young women that said her husband drove it that day and made it home fine we decided that was our cue to go on. So, we did and as we drove to it we noticed all the fir trees everywhere - WOW- it was very dark that night, so dark and the moon just lit up the snow and the fir trees. Anyway we were near the pass and there was 10 feet of snow on both sides of the road , fir trees 50 to 100 feet tall on both sides of the road draped in snow and it was snowing, and it snowed all the way down the mountain. The snow packed on the road was so thick and when we came by a place down the mountain where you pull over to put chains on your tires a police car was sitting there, so Steve pulled in and we talked to him - he said the fork in the road was a few miles down from where we were and we should take the right fork, not the left, because it was closed off due to all the snow. He was sent by God I believe to help us find our way that dark night. What a WINTER WONDERLAND it was!!!!!!! I have never seen any thing so beautiful and I was beyond myself with joy and more joy and thanking the LORD for answering my prayers. There were all these drive way going back into the woods where there were lodges for the winter skiing crowd and they could not get out - the snow plows could not clear it there was to much snow, so they were all snowed in. I was snapping pictures as was Steve, but it was to dark and we couldn't get them, so, we have to go back this weekend to get pictures and see it again. Believe it or not they have had lots more snow. The LORD guided us down the mountain, and I believe GOD'S ANGELS were with us and protected us. It took us 3 hrs. to get down the mountain and we will never forget it because it was a dream come true and a beautiful experience, and I thank the LORD everyday for allowing us to see it and be a part of that beautiful night. So, the pictures attached are of the trip but, I don't have pictures of the above - the most beautiful part - so, we hope to get some this week-end. More later on our arrival and the home we stayed in the first night, and the beautiful 3rd floor apartment we are in now, and will be here until we leave in late March.

"I will extol Thee, my God, oh king. And I will bless Thy name forever and ever. Every day will I bless Thee. And I will praise Thy Name forever and ever. I will speak of the glorious honor of Thy Magesty and of Thy wondrous works" Psalm 145: 1, 2 & 5

"and miles to go before I sleep"

2008-02-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

I remember one of my sons said, "Don't let your blog pressure you mom. Have fun with it." That is so true. It's 2:27 am. I am in awe of God's handiwork and the beauty that surrounds us. So enjoy these pictures chosen from the 200 I took today. As for me, I'm going to bed. I hope to be more lucid in the morrow! More to follow, y'all with lots of details later.

A DICHOTOMY

2008-01-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

The morning started with me taking pictures of Buffalo Bill as we left our hotel - who knew? - Buffalo Bill Cody hung out in Nebraska and had a fort that was fenced in next to the hotel! What a world!!!!!

Does anyone out there know how long Nebraska is - it goes on and on and on, and we drove and drove and drove - nothing eventful until low and behold guess what we saw on the high plains of Nebraska ? -The local Wal-Mart - wow, something new and different. ha ha!!! Seriously, it was a really special area - and I was so excited to see people - we got off and found out this was Sidney,and this little mound of businesses was brand new. The whole area was so clean - just like at Disney World - there were about 20 buildings here and there, and we thought everyone of them had just had their grand opening but no, most of them opened 3 or 4 years ago - how do they keep it so clean? Back on the road again the road side art was phenominal!!! I am serious - about every 50 miles there was this art on a mound or in a valley near I-80 and it was very quaint. It is very refreshing to know that in our wonderful U.S.A. there are miles and miles of country left without the typical suburban chain store sprawl - which frankly even though I was glad to see WalMart - I am sick of. When did this happen that in our country every state was so different, but now they all look the same ? Don't get me started. So, coming out of Nebraska heading west and seeing all of this desolate land with small mounds and quaint art was such a blessing.

Enter Wyoming - WOW - I- LOVE IT!!! ------------- More Tomorrow God willing.

A WINTER'S DRIVE

2008-01-30T21:21:00.000-08:00

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound's the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep. Robert Frost

Iowa: Home of rolling hills, many cattle, John Wayne’s birthplace at Winterset (http://www.johnwaynebirthplace.org/). We also went through Madison County ,but alas, Meryl Streep was nowhere to be found, and we didn’t see any covered bridges. These are a few things we saw cruising down I-80 with the temperature between 1 and 6 degrees at 12:48 CST.

Tuesday afternoon we left home and made it to Coralville, Iowa, during which time the temperature plummeted from 50 degrees at home to 0 at bedtime. Through the night the wind chill index was minus 35. We had a cozy little room at a Hampton Inn. By the time we hit the bed, I was totally exhausted – because before we left, we cleaned the whole house. Packing with a headache – migraine is no fun.

Family; Sorry we didn’t get to see everyone before we left. During the last several days we were really in a time crunch. We will be blogging with pictures and calling to keep in touch. As Willie Nelson says, we’re “on the road again”. What makes me drive further and further away from my family which I adore? As Tim McGraw and Faith Hill sing “It’s your love” that keeps me on the road with your dad.
That’s about it for now. So far, it’s been a very eventful trip as we came through 60 mile/hour winds, rain, sleet, and snow. And yes Greg, we’re trying to "Keep it between the navigational beacons." - love that song!!

On Wednesday, because we missed an exit, we ended up driving over 560 miles (a lot for us). That put us ahead of our goal. We went across Iowa and into Nebraska.. Nebraska… a more boring version of Iowa. We ended up in North Platte. A couple of interesting things in Nebraska. We’re driving along and all of a sudden near Grand Island, there’s this big archway across the interstate. It is a memorial. The Great North Platte River Road Archway (http://www.archway.org/) Then although it was getting dark (at 6:15 on the western side of the central time zone) we saw that we passed an original pony express post at Gothenburg, Nebraska. Speaking of Gothenburg, that is where my mom Beatrice taught in a one room schoolhouse. So we drug into another Hampton Inn to crash after driving further than we had planned. There is a whole world out here that God created and it is such a blessing to be able to see it!!! God is good!!!!!!!