Wow! Things happen faster than I can keep up! Monday, May 4, was a travel day through Oregon on the desert side of the Cascades, usually dry. It rained almost all day. At one point, the temperature was dropping and the rain was beginning to look slushy on the windshield, so I was afraid I was in for a snowstorm. Just then a friend from Virginia called, and she prayed with me on the phone. Within 3 minutes the temperature had raised 5 degrees, within 20 minutes it
was up 9 degrees and the rain was only a sprinkle! I was unable to go to Crater Lake as I had planned, because there were drifts of snow and worse, there was fog as I entered the gate at the bottom of the mountain, so I just turned around and continued up Highway 97 to the Columbia River. I did detour for a drive through Chiloquin, then also stopped at the Loggers Museum. Many of you know that my father was a timber faller. He started when they used 2-man cross-cut saws. It was interesting to see some of the machinery I saw or heard about as a child. I spent the night at The Dalles on the Columbia River. When I have time to research, I'm going to find out what that name means.

Tuesday, May 5
Jiffy and I traveled down the Columbia Gorge to Portland, detouring to the "Historic Highway" to see Multnomah Falls and some smaller but still impressive waterfalls. I also saw a rainbow that spanned the Columbia River! I arrived at my sister Jacquie's house around 11 a.m. She fed me lunch, then we went to the Chinese Garden in Portland. That was so much fun! Jacquie read the narrative description to me as we went from place to place in the garden, and I got to take pictures instead of having to navigate. We talked until about 2:30 in the morning, or rather, I talked and she tried to keep her eyes open and politely listen, but it felt so good to share my heart with her. We went to the top of a hill overlooking Portland the next morning right after we took her son to school, and I saw a very historic and spiritually important facet of Portland. I wish I could have seen the mountains, but she will take pictures for me sometime this summer and send them to me. I had to make sure of my schedule when we got back to her house, but even though it was still early, I found out I didn't have time to travel to the ferry for Victoria, BC today. So I will only have one day to see the gardens. Jacquie and Steve prayed for me before I left, and I rejoice because I know a little more about their current prayer needs as well

I did have to rush to be able to get to the kennels in Olympia before they closed so I could stash Jiffy. I don't want the hassle associated with making him an international traveler. The down side of all this is that I didn't have time to make a connection with my best friend during highschool days. I hope she can forgive me. I spent the night at Port Angeles, and was very tired! I'll tell you about the gardens I saw today when I stop tomorrow, at Wenatchee, in the apple country of Washington.