Thursday night Marvin and I stayed at the Ray's pretty good grocery store bar and grill in Walterville OR. Parking lot's in the middle of the night can become an interesting place to meet people in OR...that's not her story. Not bad accomodations, we were parked right by route 126 heading into Springfield and the traffic wasn't too bad zipping by our window most of the night. For being such an enviromentally concious people these Oregonians sure drive fast and like their SUV's and 4 wheel drive pick ups, reminded me a lot of downtown LaBelle on a Saturday night
Since we don't have a restroom in our RV that we use (water=weight=more=expense) we rely on the nearby church, gas stations, or in this case the local "watering hole"...I walked over to the place at around 8pm to do my business and the place was closed, I guess Tina the owner thought 8pm was a nice time to go home.
I told Marvin, "shoot Marv, a person couldn't get drunk in this town if they wanted to, who ever heard of a tavern closing at 8pm?" Long story short I walked over to Ray's pretty good groceries and Tracy the mgr. let us freshen up I went back to the RV and heated some water in the Mr. Coffee grabbed a bucket and along with two cups of cold water (cool the hot stuff down) took a sponge bath...it was good to =feel clean again.
Michael in the mean time was enjoying the good life with his family back at the hotel; we did link up with them the next day for showers. Anyway, early Friday morning after a very long ride the day before, we were in position to head to Florence, and the Pacific Ocean, and that's exactly what we did, Marvin was moving so fast I thought he had attached an electric motor to his bike, I could hardly keep up with the guy.
As I rode I kept replaying the places we had been, the people we had met, the challenges that we had overcome in the fabulous journey of a life time, and through it all, I was reminded time and time again of God's care and provision. I'll stop my preaching and stick to the story.
We made it through the low lands of Oregon's west coast and it's beautiful canal and hilly settings, finally pulling into the Florence city limits at 3pm, and after making our way to the Christian Church we then got directions to the nearest beach. After a 5 mile ride up hill and into thewind (very cool and brisk out of the North) we topped the hill over looking the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Ocean, (say that with me...the PACIFIC OCEAN!!!) this Florida boy and his buddies were privy to a sight that made this old Rust Riders heart skip a beat, a beauty of a body of water, (one more time) the Pacific Ocean, my what Lewis and Clark must have felt when they first laid eyes on this mamoth body of water ANYWAY.
We made our way to a beach that was made up of dunes and dead wood, looking very much like the opening scene of the Planet of the Apes, a desert with large tree trunks in it that resembled fallen dinosaurs. The 1/4 mile beach with it's ups and downs of sand dunes didn't deter Michael, Marvin, or me, we picked up our bikes, took off our shoes and headed to water, I suppose on the east coast of Florida they may have mistaken us for Turtles (helmets in tact) trying to get back to the water, when in fact we were merely completing our journey of a life time. The wind was hard, the sand was blowing, the ocean was rough, our bodies were aching from the nearly 4,000 mile trip, and all of that faded when we touched the water.
Wish that all of you could have been with us, but in a sense you were, your prayers, your notes of encouragement, your donations made it possible. For me, I'm so grateful to Jeannie Simala, Tammy Farrell and the leadership team at New Day Christian Church, and for a church in general like the New Day Family.
Speaking for Marvin, a big thank you to Pam for letting him come out and ride with Scott. To Susan thanks for giving us time with Michael, and all the best in his retirement. And I'm especially grateful to the "Redhead" for letting her hubby go out and play! Thanks RJ you're one incrediable woman.
Marvin heads out to Baton Rouge on Monday afternoon, Michael and his family will take the RV and make their way home to Florida, and Lord willing I'll catch a plane to Florida late Monday night out of Portland, via Chicago and Charlotte and on to Fort Myers...I look forward to sharing a bit Sunday morning....I hope you'll join me, as we meet around the Lord's table and celebrate his goodness.
What has God taught me. A couple of things: That in life just like in a bike ride, we need each other, and secondly we must never give up, because one day we will stand before the Father and hear him say, "well done and all the world's cares and heart aches will fade away and then we shall realize, that it was worth it all...
From Florence OR with Love...Scott, Marvin, Michael "The Rust Riders"
Friday, June 27, 2008
THEY MADE IT!!!!
We are having a computer problem getting pictures from Oregon to Florida, so they are not available as of yet.
However our 3 awesome riders completed the journey - and arrived safely on the shores of Oregon.
Way to GO GUYS!!!!!
We are having a computer problem getting pictures from Oregon to Florida, so they are not available as of yet.
However our 3 awesome riders completed the journey - and arrived safely on the shores of Oregon.
Way to GO GUYS!!!!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Mitchell to Redmon OR...It hardly seems possible that the trip is coming to an end, as it is we hope to be putting our front tires in the Pacific Ocean this Saturday at around 1Pm PT. In the mean time the ride continues...We stayed in Mitchell OR on Tuesday night (don't miss the announcement Sunday Morning) and thanks to the folks there we were well taken care of. Even met Henry, the local dog for the town, Henry weighs in a 800 pounds and is in fact a brown bear. We got to feed him frozen cookies and he put them away like M&M's one little bite at a time, no wonder he weighs so much.
Left Mitchell and made our way toward Redmon, somewhere along the line Marvin and I went the wrong way, and Michael obviously never found us the last 20 miles of the ride, but as we've been shown time and time again, God was watching over us. We went through Butte Platte and saw a Christian Church (like New Day CC) and after talking to Chris Blair the preacher and telling him where we were going, he got on the phone to Redmon and helped us with our nightly accommodation. You guessed it, we were guest of the Christian church, and once again we had showers (hot) and restrooms, plus they even had a TV...color TV, it's been nearly 5 weeks since I've watched anything, so when it came on, I marvelled for 3 minutes at the commercials, heaven knows what I would have done if there was anything on of content.
We ate a nearby restaurant and we got there courtesy of the Redmon CC church van...they gave us the keys to get around. How cool is that?
Michael's wife comes in today at Portland and will drive down to meet us near Eugene...he's excited to see his family, actually Marvin and I are very envious. Well it's getting late and I need to hit the road, Marvin is waiting on me.
What has God taught me today? I believe he's reminding me about his abundant grace, that's another way of saying his pouring out of favor on my life, and this trip. But his favor doesn't mean you're on the mountain all the time during life's experiences it just means that in valley's or on peaks as a Christian we are daily living in God's grace. You think about that one, and thank God for it, after all his grace is truly amazing. The Rust Rider...Scott
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
We started the day in John Day RV park located in John Day OR, near the John Day River, there’s even a Fossil center that’s a part of the National Park system…which is named??? You guessed it, John Day, now here’s the catch, John Day never came within a 100 miles of this place…it seems that he was able to get a river named after him along the Columbia river years ago and every thing down stream after that was named after him. Good thing his last name wasn’t boring. Can you imagine, “Welcome to the Boring Fossil Center!” or “Here at The Boring High School.” Enough about Mr. John Boring…I mean Day. Speaking of Day…
The ride today was another beautiful ride; this area of the world has many interesting rock formations and will truly cause any believer to sing “How Great Thou Art!” Speaking of great, we pulled into Mitchell OR today, a town of about 150 people, several wandering deer, a large cat that belongs to the town, and a bear in a cage called “dog.” We were looking for a place to hang our RV hats and were delighted to find free electric hook ups in a local park (5 trees, a mountain stream and a swing set). They have 3 plug-ins for RV’s and you can stay free for 3 days, so if you’re willing to drive a little out of your way, guess what? You can stay in Mitchell OR for nothing. This place is so small they have “welcome and good bye” all on the same street sign.
We also met Hugh and Skeeter the owners of a nearby B&B, we sat on their porch and had a nice visit. We ask about cleaning up and they offered their showers and tub in their B&B for free, how nice was that? We ate supper at the Little Green Café that sits next to the Oregon Hotel (Hugh and Skeeter’s place) the food was good and a bit pricey but when you’re the only eatery within 65 miles you can get the asking price.
The ride today was a little less than 80 miles with a great deal of up hill peddle pumping thrown in for good measure, however the last 9 miles was all down hill, and what a rush it was. 42 MPH down hill with a minimal cross wind, until the last 2 miles and then the winds picked up, then it was 52 MPH across the road side wise, the rush turned into panic. It was the only time in my biking life I wish I would have had a drag chute to slow me down...YIKES! Michael continues to drive and get us where we need to be, and Marvin keeps moving on down the road, I’m so blessed to have these guys with me, and the others who helped make this trip a success.
What did God teach me today? Black birds along the road would fly out of the cat tails when we would drive by, they would chirp, and swoop down on us. I guess they thought they were protecting their turf. Lesson? As we travel through life on the way to accomplishing our goals, we will have folks fly in out of no where, squawk, balk, and maybe even trying to dump on us, but we can’t let them detour from being more like Christ. We must keep our eyes fixed on the prize of the high calling of Christ Jesus, and just because others are losing there head is no reason for us to join their ranks. Proverbs 3 comes to mind.
That’s it…on toward Redmon or Sisters OR for Wed. Keep us in your prayers as the Big Ride starts to wind down.
Scott “The Rust Rider”
The ride today was another beautiful ride; this area of the world has many interesting rock formations and will truly cause any believer to sing “How Great Thou Art!” Speaking of great, we pulled into Mitchell OR today, a town of about 150 people, several wandering deer, a large cat that belongs to the town, and a bear in a cage called “dog.” We were looking for a place to hang our RV hats and were delighted to find free electric hook ups in a local park (5 trees, a mountain stream and a swing set). They have 3 plug-ins for RV’s and you can stay free for 3 days, so if you’re willing to drive a little out of your way, guess what? You can stay in Mitchell OR for nothing. This place is so small they have “welcome and good bye” all on the same street sign.
We also met Hugh and Skeeter the owners of a nearby B&B, we sat on their porch and had a nice visit. We ask about cleaning up and they offered their showers and tub in their B&B for free, how nice was that? We ate supper at the Little Green Café that sits next to the Oregon Hotel (Hugh and Skeeter’s place) the food was good and a bit pricey but when you’re the only eatery within 65 miles you can get the asking price.
The ride today was a little less than 80 miles with a great deal of up hill peddle pumping thrown in for good measure, however the last 9 miles was all down hill, and what a rush it was. 42 MPH down hill with a minimal cross wind, until the last 2 miles and then the winds picked up, then it was 52 MPH across the road side wise, the rush turned into panic. It was the only time in my biking life I wish I would have had a drag chute to slow me down...YIKES! Michael continues to drive and get us where we need to be, and Marvin keeps moving on down the road, I’m so blessed to have these guys with me, and the others who helped make this trip a success.
What did God teach me today? Black birds along the road would fly out of the cat tails when we would drive by, they would chirp, and swoop down on us. I guess they thought they were protecting their turf. Lesson? As we travel through life on the way to accomplishing our goals, we will have folks fly in out of no where, squawk, balk, and maybe even trying to dump on us, but we can’t let them detour from being more like Christ. We must keep our eyes fixed on the prize of the high calling of Christ Jesus, and just because others are losing there head is no reason for us to join their ranks. Proverbs 3 comes to mind.
That’s it…on toward Redmon or Sisters OR for Wed. Keep us in your prayers as the Big Ride starts to wind down.
Scott “The Rust Rider”
Monday, June 23, 2008
Stayed in at very nice RV park in Meridian ID on Sunday, went to the 10 mile Christian Church, ate and then dropped Robert (our driver) off at Boise airport. We then made our way to our staging area for the final week of our journey which placed us in another RV park in Baker City, OR (Monday) where we began our ride to where I now write from, John Day, OR. This area looks like Wyoming spread out.
High lights of the last few days have been the on going scenery, and of course the people we meet along the way. Some of you asked about the fellow with the pug nose and hat in the picture on Saturday. His name is Jacob Kittleberger from Vienna Austria who now lives in OR. He was walking along the side of the road (going up hill) pushing his bike with a large cooler strapped down on the back of his "fat tire" bike. I stopped, got off and decided to walk up the hill and talk with the man, who seemed quite content to be out in the middle of nowhere with pajamas a broad brim hat and house slippers pushing his bike uphill. Come to find out he was riding his bike 24 miles to go to the world famous fiddle festive in Cambridge and then would return early the next morning at 3am to make his way back to his home in Council. Seems that Jacob had lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fl, and had brokered cars from America back to Austria, and some where along the line decided to move to Idaho and had been in the Northwest for the last 15 years.
When I asked him "what's next" he responded "I'm going to visit China in the next couple of years." I asked, "Where's your home" he responded, "where ever I am." When I asked "how do you make ends meet" he simply responded, "God provides," and then he looked at me and said, "you should try it sometime." YIKES! I got a thousand sermons in that little statement...and with that I end with this blog and a reminder from my friend Jacob Kittleberger who some time some where today will be riding or pushing his bike into life..."God provides...you should try it sometime!" Forgive me Lord for always trying to figure it all out and simply be content that you keep your promises and I have to be in a position to experience them. That's it for now...drop us a note on the blog...The Rust Rider....Scott
High lights of the last few days have been the on going scenery, and of course the people we meet along the way. Some of you asked about the fellow with the pug nose and hat in the picture on Saturday. His name is Jacob Kittleberger from Vienna Austria who now lives in OR. He was walking along the side of the road (going up hill) pushing his bike with a large cooler strapped down on the back of his "fat tire" bike. I stopped, got off and decided to walk up the hill and talk with the man, who seemed quite content to be out in the middle of nowhere with pajamas a broad brim hat and house slippers pushing his bike uphill. Come to find out he was riding his bike 24 miles to go to the world famous fiddle festive in Cambridge and then would return early the next morning at 3am to make his way back to his home in Council. Seems that Jacob had lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fl, and had brokered cars from America back to Austria, and some where along the line decided to move to Idaho and had been in the Northwest for the last 15 years.
When I asked him "what's next" he responded "I'm going to visit China in the next couple of years." I asked, "Where's your home" he responded, "where ever I am." When I asked "how do you make ends meet" he simply responded, "God provides," and then he looked at me and said, "you should try it sometime." YIKES! I got a thousand sermons in that little statement...and with that I end with this blog and a reminder from my friend Jacob Kittleberger who some time some where today will be riding or pushing his bike into life..."God provides...you should try it sometime!" Forgive me Lord for always trying to figure it all out and simply be content that you keep your promises and I have to be in a position to experience them. That's it for now...drop us a note on the blog...The Rust Rider....Scott
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