Family and Friends in Oregon and Washington

This trip was a great blessing to me.  It could not have been better!  

I drove my car to Oregon and Washington.  I arrive Monday afternoon at Boring, Oregon and enjoyed being with Frances’ sister, Nancy Askew and her husband, Arlan at their “farm.”  They always make room for me and make me feel at home.  

Tuesday I was delighted to be with my widowed brother in law Ed Solomon (not pictured) and my two remaining sisters, Joanne 83 years old (left) and Carol who is 90 (right) and many of their offspring and other relatives at our New Year’s celebration at Joanne’s grandson, Jonathan’s home in Gresham.  

Of course Perfume, the skunk, and Felipe showed up for all the little kids.  

And I was given many nice gifts including enough chocolate and other candies to last me a life-time, I think.  

Then Wednesday I enjoyed an afternoon with my friend, Heidi Griessmann, driving up the famous Columbia gorge for lunch.  

The many white frozen waterfalls were a sight to see.  And I got to see a great bald eagle flying over the river where we ate lunch at Cascade Locks.  I especially loved playing her piano at her new home in Troutdale.  “Tickling the ivories,” as we used to refer to playing the piano, has always been a restful and quieting time for me.  

Thursday morning I drove to McMinnville and met with my dear friends, Duane and Dorothy Driver.  We ate dinner at the great space museum of the “Spruce Goose” where the huge wooden plane built and flown by Howard Hughes is displayed.  Duane may be offered the job as chaplain for that large enterprise.  

From there I visited my sister and husband, Joanne and Don Stradley on their “llama farm” near Yamhill and had dinner with them.  Joanne cooked up some delicious dumplings... 

while Don and I went down the hill to the barn to feed their four llamas and break the ice for their water.





Friday I was off to Seattle, Washington.  My time in Washington was a blessing from start to finish.  I first stopped to visit our son, Mike, at his work in Seattle.  He showed me once again all around the large “carpet and drape cleaning and restoring” business which he manages and introduced me to many of the employees that obviously are pleased to work under his care.  The last time I asked, he had over 50 people serving under him.  He is certainly a gentleman in the full meaning of the word.  I have always been impressed with how kindly he treats people… even those that he briefly meets… especially those that have “Down’s Syndrome” or other deficiencies.  

Mike called his wife, Mary, to meet us for noon dinner at a restaurant.  However their dog, Ziggy, was acting strangely as though he were ill.  She was going to leave him and come anyway, but I insisted that we take him to the vet so that they would not be worrying about him while we were trying to have dinner.  So we drove to Mike and Mary’s house to take Ziggy to the vet.  There was no doubt about it… he could hardly stand on his feet and was acting sick.  Look at that sad face!

However when Mike placed on a leash to go see the vet, Ziggy perked up instantly and seemed just fine.  He was just like a little kid who hears the word “doctor” and gets well instantly… ha!  So after waiting for a “dog doctor” at the vet for about 20 minutes and since all symptoms had totally disappeared, we left without paying a dime and took him home again.  I enjoyed a nice afternoon dinner out together with Mike and Mary.  

That same night I drove to Kenmore to see my brother Mel’s widow, Ruth Alice.  I caught two of her sons, David and Ben, and my niece Heidi, plus my great niece and her fiancé… all were visiting her and we had a great time playing the grand piano, talking and eating a home cooked meal.  Ruth Alice is 86 and moves slowly, but she stokes the wood stove and shuffles about with a walker doing everything that needs to be done… and is always pleasant.  I should mention that her son, Ben, lives nearby and helps her keep up her garden and is in general a big help to her.  At her insistence I stayed there that night, Friday.  

Saturday I drove to Gig Harbor to visit my nephew Steve Hiatt and his wife, Carol in their beautiful mansion overlooking the Puget Sound.  They are delightful Christians.  We must have talked for hours.  They served me a whole Dungeness crab on my plate for lunch… delicious!  

From there I drove to Silverdale to stay in a hotel Saturday night.  I found a large, beautiful basket of fruit and sweets in my room waiting for me… left there by Pastors Conrad and Clair Lampan (left).  

That was Saturday evening and I was invited to have dinner at their parsonage.  They have two delightful children, Ester who is 7 years old and Elijah who is 3.  I enjoyed fellowship with them and playing with the kids.  Then I went over to the church and set up and my Hawaiian guitar to be ready for the Sunday service.  

On Sunday morning I was left for a little while to pray in Pastor Conrad’s study.  I was surprised to see a nicely framed photo of my wife, Frances, hanging on his study wall by the Argentine flag.  Conrad is from Argentina and when he was a teenager he lived with us for a time in Buenos Aires.  It was during a rather difficult time in his life and Frances and I always treated him just like our own sons.  

Both our son, Mike, and my nephew, Steve, showed up for the Sunday morning service.  The people in the Silverdale Assembly of God church all felt they knew me already since Pastor Conrad had spoken many times of me during their 3 years as pastors there.  Perfume and Felipe did their thing, of course, and I played my instrument and ministered. There was a blessed time around the altar at the close… and after all was said and done… out rolled a cart with a big, beautiful birthday cake with my name on it!  What a send off!  I am invited back to do a whole week of meetings sometime in the future should the Lord desire.  I left Silverdale, Washington Sunday at 3:30 PM after having lunch with the pastor Conrad Lampan and family. 

Sunday night I stopped in a motel in Salem, Oregon.  The final leg of my trip on Monday was a special blessing.  I stopped in Grants Pass to lunch and fuel up and started for the Siskiyou mountains around 1 PM.  The sky was overcast, but the roads were clear of ice and snow over the Siskiyou Mountain pass.  I stopped to sleep 30 minutes in a rest area north of Redding, then hit the road again.  

I was listening to a beautiful Gaither CD (Christmas gift from I forgot who) and the sun was setting.  That sunset was literally an ever-changing display of God’s incredible artwork for more than an hour!  I sang “How Great Thou Art” and other hymns along with the Gaither gang.  I praised God in English and Spanish and in a heavenly language.  I was literally flooded with God’s presence in my car as I drove!  Time seemed to fly and I arrived at home Monday at 8:45 PM… exactly 840 miles south of my departure from Silverdale, Washington the afternoon before. 

My only regret is that my nephew Dan Hiatt, who just received his masters degree from Northwest University, and his wife Nancy who live near Seattle were vacationing in Canada, so I missed them this time around.

My goodness!  I have rambled all over all over the northwest with this story.  

The final word is “God is so good!  All the time!”

Ralph