Friday, June 27. 2008

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"