Spring is here!

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(Oak Glen Christian Conference Center)

Well, it’s been quite a week: The snow is gone now, the paths are very visible, and the area is as beautiful as it was with the snow. We finished painting in the chapel, and are ready for our next assignment. The men are still working on their bathrooms, but it sounds like they may be on that assignment until the end of the project. I’d like to say we’re sooo much better than they are, but in reality it’s because they have many places that need bathrooms remodeled.

Thursday afternoon we had a special treat, as some friends of ours from Billings, Mike and Joan Matz, were in the area, and they came to see our camp, and our living style. It was wonderful for us to be able to show someone how we live, and where, and why. Plus, by Thursday afternoon enough of the snow had melted that we were able to see a lot of the camp that we hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t quite like we were giving a tour; it was more like we were touring with them! Then we did the same thing through Oak Glen, which is a tourist area on the way to Yucaipa. We hadn’t really had the time to explore the shops (they’re filled with gifts about as unique as the other gift stores, but boy can these places make apple pie, apple dumplings, apple everything!) We had a wonderful visit.

Friday was tour day, and we were going to Joshua Tree Park. I say were going, because Bob and I ended up missing it~~I did the flu thing instead. I got it Thursday night, and by Friday night I was over it, except for the weakness, so we also missed the trip to Mexico on Saturday….even though I was over the flu, riding in a car for two hours, and then spending the day walking in El Centro didn’t seem like the wisest move. The couples we were going with didn’t encourage us to go, so they must have thought the same thing! We’ll do it another time.

I’m including pictures of the camp. The leaves you see on the ground are mostly oak leaves, and the camp smells like dry leaves and cedar trees…not a bad smell at all! It’s back up in the 60’s now.

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Photos

The snow was sooo last week!
This week it's spring on the mountain!

The gym is open 24 hours a day.
The floor is carpeted. The wall that's behind me opens completely and they pretty much leave it open in the summer. Oh yeah, I run laps every day~~you know me!!

I thought you had to jump up to the rocks
to begin climbing, but come to find out, they add more to the bottom. Now I may give it a try; right after I lose forty pounds!

Prayer Chapel from the back...
I didn't take one from the front, but I thought this was such a peaceful scene.

The inside of the prayer chapel
I didn't cut out a lot...it only has four pews on each side, and a tiny space at the front. There's a book in the back where you can write your thoughts, if you want. The sun shines in through the stain glass window. If you didn't feel pensive when you went in, you would once you were in there.

I'm standing on the bridge
looking up to the dining hall. The prayer chapel is on my right. The bench is on a little finger of land, so you can sit and watch the creek flow.

This is from the dining hall side,
looking toward the bridge. On the lower left you can see a stream of water that flows into the top pond, which flows into the lower one. Plus you can hear the large fountain in front of the hall that flows all the time, so this is a very peaceful place.

Comments

[Patti]

Wow! Beautiful
Wonderful pictures Vic. Of course I am envious that Mike and Joan got to hug you and visit. We just got back from 5 days at the cabin. You talk about snow!!! We drove the Ranger through 1 1/2 - 2 ft snow. I worked wonderful. And yest it was so peaceful and beautiful to look out on that snow without any human markings on it. I think at your camp I would love to sit on the benches and nap while listening to the water flow. We love you!!