Bend, Oregon to Yelm, Washington

Scenery and stops of interest. Made some new friends. Though God certainly shows His glory through creation, His most special creation is people, and this part of the trip reminded us of that.

Last one on the planet is in Bend! We felt very nostalgic and had to stop.

Sunset at Cascade Locks, OR on the Columbia River.

Terry with Terri, our camp host at Cascade Locks. We don’t believe in coincidences but in blessed encounters. This gal turned out to not only be from Knoxville and went to the same high school and junior high as Terry, but was actually the aunt of Terry’s high school girlfriend! And to top it off, she had also lived many years in Fayetteville,AR! We had a great time meeting her and marveling at all the connections, and she even treated us to breakfast before we pulled out! And we’re now friends on FB!

Multnomah Falls. Thankful for someone not so afraid of Covid that they can touch our cellphone and give us a “real photo” instead of yet another selfie! We thought the falls along the Columbia were beautiful and impressively tall, but for sheer charm we preferred the falls of the N. Umpqua. Less pavement and people.

Portland City Hall. Boarded up but otherwise looking OK. We were expecting more of a war zone, but downtown Portland looked pretty good. It was a very pretty city. We did see a lot of homeless. Maybe they show up more because they literally set up tents in plain view.

This is the big Black Lives Matter display in downtown Portland.

A sign of the times. One if many Bigfoot sightings.

Mt. St. Helen’s. This blew up 40 years ago.

Yet another waterfall near Yelm.

Stayed in Yelm with Sue and Daniel McGowan. Sue is a good friend of my sister Ann and was such a fun host. Any friend of my sister’s is a friend of mine! And as Sue pointed out, we are sisters in Christ and therefore family anyway! A special treat was playing duets of hymns. Yes, these pianos are outdoors on the shore of a glacier-fed river! Something I never expected to do. Since Covid, Sue and her husband have organized an outdoor spot for the arts and worship by this river in their backyard. How neat is that?!