...kinda.
I guess we've kept all of you in the dark for long enough about what we are doing and where we are. I really have no excuse other than I've been a lazy blogger, but here you go.
We got hired as temp staff at a place called Timberline Ranch, which is basically a...well, here's the link: www.timberlineranch.com
Stef is working in the kitchen and I am on maintenance, both full time. The experience is still new to us both, and the work is much appreciated. We are making lots of good friends with the other staff here, and we even get to go on weekly motorbike rides with my boss (!). I shall take some pictures of our respective jobs soon and get them posted.
Our time here is very brief, and we are still planning on being home around the same time as if we had continued the tour. Our reasons for accepting the positions here are a little in-depth for this blog, but ask us sometime and we`ll tell you all about it, because it really is a pretty incredible story of provision and timing.
Anyways, there is your update. Our travel back home will take us 2 days if all goes according to plan...but we know how well that has worked in the past for us. Until next time!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Thinking in Vancouver...
Well, this is decidedly unrelated to motorcycle adventures, but Stefanie felt it was worth blogging about.
We were in downtown Vancouver yesterday to go and see the HSBC Celebration of Light. We didn't actually see the show on account of dumping rain, so what makes this event post-worthy was the journey back home.
Right at this marked location:
View Larger Map
...in the pouring rain, we saw a homeless man curled up on a bench. He was trying to get cover from the rain, but the only thing available to him was a down sleeping bag. Anyone with more than about 10 minutes of camping experience knows that a sleeping bag like that gives him very little protection.
Although the scene was heart-wrenching, it wasn't that which made me as angry as I was. No, I was ticked at the fact that just across the water, up on a hill, there were people sitting in multi-million dollar homes. Sometimes there are several tens of thousands of dollars worth of automobiles sitting in the driveways of those homes. I am not against having things, not in the least. I am totally shocked at how a society like our own can have such drastic separation of wealth mere kilometers apart. You don't need to go to other countries to see this. It is in your own back yard.
I am mad because we don't care. If we did, people wouldn't have to take cover under sleeping bags just to try and stay dry. You wouldn't see men in wheel chairs, completely unable to support themselves, bowing their heads against the cold in those winter nights.
I don't buy into the notion that these people made choices that landed them where they are. Sure, some of them probably did and continue to do so. However, if we are to love them as Christ did, we are to not assume the worst of them. We are to help in any way we can. We aren't to make excuses for our apathy, nor are we to add provisos to John 15:12..."My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." There is nothing else there...the only thing we can do with this verse is understand how heavy it is, not how we can try and weasel our way out of it.
How did Christ love us? Well, for most of us, that is obvious. He was crucified. I'll tell you right now, I fall short of this command, so terribly short. If I am not willing to be crucified for the sake of the most wicked, unloving, unclean and hate-filled person on this planet, I have not fulfilled that commandment. How pathetic am I then, if I cannot show even the slightest sign of compassion as I walk past the poor? What does that say about me as a person when I just carry on my life as if I have higher priorities?
I could go on, and I'm sure you can add to it. Basic message: love the poor. I don't care how you do it, nor do I care when. Love them, because that is loving Christ. If you hate them and say you love God, you are a liar, just like me.
We were in downtown Vancouver yesterday to go and see the HSBC Celebration of Light. We didn't actually see the show on account of dumping rain, so what makes this event post-worthy was the journey back home.
Right at this marked location:
View Larger Map
...in the pouring rain, we saw a homeless man curled up on a bench. He was trying to get cover from the rain, but the only thing available to him was a down sleeping bag. Anyone with more than about 10 minutes of camping experience knows that a sleeping bag like that gives him very little protection.
Although the scene was heart-wrenching, it wasn't that which made me as angry as I was. No, I was ticked at the fact that just across the water, up on a hill, there were people sitting in multi-million dollar homes. Sometimes there are several tens of thousands of dollars worth of automobiles sitting in the driveways of those homes. I am not against having things, not in the least. I am totally shocked at how a society like our own can have such drastic separation of wealth mere kilometers apart. You don't need to go to other countries to see this. It is in your own back yard.
I am mad because we don't care. If we did, people wouldn't have to take cover under sleeping bags just to try and stay dry. You wouldn't see men in wheel chairs, completely unable to support themselves, bowing their heads against the cold in those winter nights.
I don't buy into the notion that these people made choices that landed them where they are. Sure, some of them probably did and continue to do so. However, if we are to love them as Christ did, we are to not assume the worst of them. We are to help in any way we can. We aren't to make excuses for our apathy, nor are we to add provisos to John 15:12..."My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." There is nothing else there...the only thing we can do with this verse is understand how heavy it is, not how we can try and weasel our way out of it.
How did Christ love us? Well, for most of us, that is obvious. He was crucified. I'll tell you right now, I fall short of this command, so terribly short. If I am not willing to be crucified for the sake of the most wicked, unloving, unclean and hate-filled person on this planet, I have not fulfilled that commandment. How pathetic am I then, if I cannot show even the slightest sign of compassion as I walk past the poor? What does that say about me as a person when I just carry on my life as if I have higher priorities?
I could go on, and I'm sure you can add to it. Basic message: love the poor. I don't care how you do it, nor do I care when. Love them, because that is loving Christ. If you hate them and say you love God, you are a liar, just like me.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Update Extravaganza Pt. 10
Onward! We were headed for a campground called Circle Creek, just north of Cannon Beach, OR to stay for the night.
We passed this place on the way...but unfortunately we were too late to get in...would have been awesome though. We were probably nearly a kilometer away when I took this picture, if that tells you how big the hangar is.
We arrived in Circle Creek, got the tent set up and a fire going. basically a big field with fire pits...nothing special. We even got to wake up to this big thunderstorm that absolutely drenched everything. Little did we know it was to be a precursor for the rest of that day.
Tent fly open...difficult to see how wet it is, but let me assure you...it was ridiculous. Sounded like we had a tin roof over our heads.
There aren't any more pictures from here on, because we spent the rest of that day in the pouring rain. We got soaked and dried off maybe 5 or 6 times that day, and finally decided after being drenched all the way through (and I do mean all the way) to grab a hotel room in Everett, WA. We must have looked a sorry sight...making puddles in the lobby, dressed to the gills in very wet rain/motorcycle gear. Even my leather boots let water in...those were some ugly looking socks!
Either way, the lady at the desk was nice enough. She gave us a King's suite for 80 bucks! Of course at that point, I was ready to take a tarp with some twine for about that much. We were gonna try and make it all the way to Vancouver that day, but we got tired fast from the high speed, low visibility, heavy traffic and bike-unsettling construction. Oh well, it was a nice room, and we got our stuff mostly dry before we completed our journey to Vancouver.
We passed this place on the way...but unfortunately we were too late to get in...would have been awesome though. We were probably nearly a kilometer away when I took this picture, if that tells you how big the hangar is.
We arrived in Circle Creek, got the tent set up and a fire going. basically a big field with fire pits...nothing special. We even got to wake up to this big thunderstorm that absolutely drenched everything. Little did we know it was to be a precursor for the rest of that day.
Tent fly open...difficult to see how wet it is, but let me assure you...it was ridiculous. Sounded like we had a tin roof over our heads.
There aren't any more pictures from here on, because we spent the rest of that day in the pouring rain. We got soaked and dried off maybe 5 or 6 times that day, and finally decided after being drenched all the way through (and I do mean all the way) to grab a hotel room in Everett, WA. We must have looked a sorry sight...making puddles in the lobby, dressed to the gills in very wet rain/motorcycle gear. Even my leather boots let water in...those were some ugly looking socks!
Either way, the lady at the desk was nice enough. She gave us a King's suite for 80 bucks! Of course at that point, I was ready to take a tarp with some twine for about that much. We were gonna try and make it all the way to Vancouver that day, but we got tired fast from the high speed, low visibility, heavy traffic and bike-unsettling construction. Oh well, it was a nice room, and we got our stuff mostly dry before we completed our journey to Vancouver.
Update Extravaganza Pt. 9
Food update!
I was a little jealous of Stef's meal...
...but then mine came. Reminded me of the Flintstones.
Good old fashioned malt. Man, hadn't had one of these in a LONG time!
We pretty much knew as soon as we read the signs, this was the place to be eating.
I was a little jealous of Stef's meal...
...but then mine came. Reminded me of the Flintstones.
Good old fashioned malt. Man, hadn't had one of these in a LONG time!
We pretty much knew as soon as we read the signs, this was the place to be eating.
Update Extravaganza Pt. 8
I figured Furious D would kill me if I didn't put these photos up. This is a 1976 Honda CB750, modified nicely. This guy and his girl (on a new Kawasaki Versys) were headed from Abbotsford to the desert via the coast. Hope they are enjoying 110 degrees...
Notice the kickstart...that'd suck on a wet rainy day, but a cool touch too.
Notice the kickstart...that'd suck on a wet rainy day, but a cool touch too.
Update Extravaganza Pt. 7
Some obligatory coast shots in Oregon...
This sign was at a motel at a crab fishing harbor...
This sign was at a motel at a crab fishing harbor...
Monday, July 13, 2009
Update Extravaganza Pt. 6
This was a nice spot to take a break from the awesome roads. We are talking 25 mph corners one after the other, following this river for a long ways through central Oregon.
More of this spot. Really was nice, honest.
Looking down on it from the pullout on the side of the road.
The route from Park City 'till now. You've seen pictures all the way up until the coast. The route is pretty exact, so if you have questions about various locations, let us know. Feel free to zoom in and use the different views (satellite, terrain, etc) to see what we drove through.
View Larger Map
More photos to come, after I get them off of the camera. Stay tuned!
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