We Are On Our Way Home

This has been our humble abode for the last 3 months and it has been nice. It's about 1000 sq ft and has a nice porch with chairs that we have often sat in reading and enjoying the sunshine. We have worn shorts more than 2/3 the time and enjoyed every minute of it.

Well, Steve only has ONE more treatment. It is with mixed emotions that we will be leaving here tomorrow, Thursday morning January 29th, 2009. We have met lifetime friends here in this special atmosphere of healing and love. We believe that none of us are here by accident, we have been led here for a reason. As we have discussed our different stories they are also similar in the miracles that brought us to this place. We have been in a little bubble here without any responsibilities to keep pulling us in different directions, it's been great. Steve is coming home healed.

The gantry crew that has worked with Steve and the other ~155 prostate cancer patients here have been extremely professional and have become his friends also. You can't believe the love that exists is this special place.

Our itinerary coming home is a little loose and may change on the way. (I told Steve that I would like to come home via Texas where it is still warm, there is a lot to be said for warm winters)

Our plan at this time is to leave after Steve's treatment Thursday morning and arrive in Newport Beach in time to attend a 5pm temple session. Friday morning we will go to San Juan Capistrano, then head to Santa Monica and spend time on the pier and beach. We will then head to Hearst Castle for a couple of tours, then Napa to visit my niece and on up to Vancouver to visit my grandfather.

Finally, we will make the last leg of our trek from Vancouver to HOME anywhere from Tuesday to Thursday, where I am sure it is a lot colder than here! It will be good to be home again with our family, friends and good neighbors.

More Service

We have met some RVr's that go around working on service projects throughout the US. They are called Roving Volunteers in Christ's Service - RVICS. They are retired Christian couples (non denominational) living in RVs who are willing to help others. It is basically a maintenance and service ministry but they also do small construction projects and only serve non-profit fundamental christian college, schools, camps, conference centers, etc.

Well, Steve got the opportunity to get with some friends here who are RVICS and went a short distance away to Moreno Valley to help at a Baptist retreat called Victory Ranch which is on 86 acres.

There turned out to be a coule of RVICS groups working at the ranch doing different projects. Steve worked with a group fixing up this mobile home. Steve actually worked with a glass man and they made and fitted the windows around the porch on this home. Steve once again enjoyed helping others.

I was busy packing so didn't go this time but Steve and I did drive up again today just to look around the valley area. The terrain was a little different than where we live, it's sort of like living in the country. We saw dairy's, sheep ranches, orange groves (of course) and what looked like wheat just starting to grow. It was a beautiful valley.

Getting Around California

Getting around in California is not always easy. Here are some "must know" travel tips:


1. Pull your seat belt tight and keep your eyes on the road at all times!


2. Have a map or maps with you if you are fairly new to ANY area for many of the reasons listed here. We used to carry an Atlas, a state map, a city map and two county maps (you never know where you might end up.


3. You rarely get on a freeway the same place you got off. (Don't ask us why)


4. The names of the streets change at almost all intersections. In the same town. (Don't ask us why)


5. Driving in rush hour can be easier than other times; people are a little more courteous knowing that they two must soon change lanes to get off.

6. When changing lanes there is always someone on your tail and in your blind spot.

7. The speed limit signs are only a suggestion. There are only 2 speeds to travel (1) fast, about 85 or (2) slow, about 5. Go with the flow or get run over.


8. Beware - motorcycles can drive on the white line between lanes of traffic on the highways and they do zip in and out.


8. When asking directions - don't - nobody knows where anything is.


The best way to find your way around is to have a personal navigator with you with the proper tools and an eagle eye. (You will always need a map)


GOOD LUCK !!

Huntington Library

As I have said before there is no end to the cultural enrichment opportunities available here in Southern California. Once again we took advantage of the rich opportunity here and went to the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Another fantastic experience.

The Huntington Library is a nonprofit institution founded in 1919 by railroad and real estate developer Henry Edwards Huntington and opened to the public in 1928. It is a research and education center on 120 acres of gardens with three art galleries, a library and botanical gardens.


The libraries rare books and manuscripts constitute one of the world’s largest and most extensively used collections in America outside of the Library of Congress. We saw one of the remaining Gutenberg Bible, manuscripts by Jack London and Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and much, much more. There was just sooooo much to take in.




The art collections are distinguished by their specialized character and elegant settings in three separate galleries. The Main Gallery contains one of the finest collections of full-length 18th-century British portraits to be found outside of Britain, and provides an unrivaled opportunity to study British art. Masterpieces include works by such artists as Constable, Romney, Reynolds, Van Dyck, and Turner, as well as the Blue Boy by Gainsborough and Pinkie by Lawrence. I wish I had room to include all paintings and sculptures I took pictures of here.


The botanical gardens are divided into more than a dozen thematic areas on 120 acres and include more than 15,000 different species of plants from all over the world. We visited the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden.

The 3 main elements of a Japanese garden are water, rocks, and plants. All gardens have each of these or the symbol or illusion of each such as a water basin instead of a pond or a dry gravel stream bed.


The Chinese Garden combines the beauty of nature with the expressiveness of literature to give deeper meaning to the landscape. We wandered through the traditional Suzhou-style garden, featuring a 1.4 acre lake bordered by craggy Tai Hu limestone rocks. There were seven pavilions, a canyon waterfall and five hand-carved stone bridges set against a wooded backdrop of camellias, bamboo and plum trees, that were just starting to blossom at the time we were there.

The two were distinctly different and yet peaceful and thought provoking in their own ways.

We went with another couple from our group Dick and Lillian from Hillsboro Oregon and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Side Trip

After we saw Gublers Orchids we headed down the road a little farther because of a domed building we saw and thought we would check it out. We thought it might just be a domed house or maybe an observatory of some kind. It turned our to be a little more than we initially thought.

At the road into the building was a sign that said "Integratron." I had never heard the word or had any idea what it was. We met some people there that had rented it for the day so we couldn't really see it but they gave us some literature about it.

It was created by George Van Tassel in the 1950's. It seems that this is a world famous dome built at the intersection of geomagnetic forces in the Mojave Desert. (?) This one-of-a-kind building is a 38-foot high, 55-foot diameter, non-metallic structure originally designed by Van Tassel as a rejuvenation and time machine. Today, it is claimed to be the only all-wood, acoustically perfect sound chamber in the U.S.

It is rented to musicians, recording artist, astronomers, wedding parties, family gatherings, and more. Facilities include exclusive access to the Integratron, fire pit, shaded courtyard, BBQ, outdoor living room, hammock village, and a 10 inch telescope. It also includes a Sound Bath which is touted to be a 30-minute sonic healing session in the deeply resonant Sound Chamber.




On our way home we saw a notice of a Harley-Davidson Museum and thought we'd check it out. Well, it was really a Harley dealer who had a few older motorcycles but they were really interesting to look at. This is a 1912 Harley with a leather belt drive. Almost looks like a regular bycycle. Isn't it cool! I wonder what kind of sound it made.

Orchids in The Desert

We were looking for something close to home to do the other day and heard of orchids in the Twentynine Palms area so off we went to investigate. You have to realize that when you get out of town you are in the desert. We turned north at Palm Springs, went through Yucca Valley and then further north to a "town" called Landers. This area is in the Little San Bernardino Mountains and as you look around all you see for 50 miles is desert, cactus and dirt. So we are thinking someone was really fooling us.

Finally, thinking this might be a wasted trip we came across the Gubler Orchid hot houses. Look at the land behind me and what do you see - NOTHING, we are in the middle of nowhere!

But what a sweet surprise. They have over 50,000 square feet filled with over 5,000 different orchid hybrids. I didn't know there were that many. They gave us a personal tour and we saw a large variety of beautiful orchids.

We learned that Gubler Orchids is one of the nation's largest orchid growers and they ship throughout the US and the world. Mr. Gubler settled here in 1975 because of the great growing conditions and had a dream of building a business from his love of orchids. He certainly did that.

The trip was well worth it and we would recommend it to anyone in the area.

J. Paul Getty Museum

There is an abundance of museums, libraries and other cultural and artsy things to see in southern California and we are doing our best to visit the most important as we see it. (Of course I am not good for long spells of this so we intermix fun things too)

We all know the story about J. Paul Getty Sr. founding the Getty Oil Company and becoming very wealthy. His son had a troubled life and turned it around in 1980 and became a philanthropic benefactor.


In 1983 the J. Paul Getty Trust purchased about 750 acres in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. The following year architect Richard Meier was chosen to design the Getty Center. The Getty Center opened to the public in December 1997. There was over 300 restrictions put on the architect by the homeowners in the area; one was because of Meier's history of using reflective white building tiles. So he reserved that touch for one curved area that reflected inward.

The Getty is perched high atop a hill in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains which lends itself to breathless views in all directions. The buildings are both public and private. There are four pavilions of art work representing periods from before 1600 to after 1800, the Getty Museum, the Getty Convervation Institute, the Getty Foundation, and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

We took a tour of the gardens and landscaping featuring the Central Garden created by artist Robert Irwin, who has called it "a sculpture in the form of a garden aspiring to be art." It was gorgeous of course. At the bottom of the Central Garden, water cascades over a stepped stone wall into a reflecting pool with a maze of 400 azaleas. Surrounding the pool is a series of specialty gardens. The theme of the garden is change and represents three seasons using poppies, dahlia's and dogwood. By employing efficient irrigation techniques and introduing more drought-tolerant plants, the Getty has been able to cut water use by more than 30 percent.


Robert Irwin used his vision for the landscapes to draw your eyes down and into his masterpieces while Richard Meier used squares and circles with movement upward and out. They complimented each other masterfully, although they ended not on the best of terms. But they accomplished great symmetry and balance throughout the entire area.



Combining architectural and landscape elements, the Museum Courtyard features a 120-foot linear fountain bordered on one side by a row of graceful Mexican cypress trees.

We also toured all four pavilions, but to see all floors in all buildings and give them the time they deserve would take a week. There is no way to describe the beauty and artistry within these walls. We saw paintings by de Goya, Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gough, Paul Gauguin and more. Some I liked more than others for different reasons. I know that I didn't see them with the eye of a true connoisseur but they did take my breath away.

This picture is "Lillies" by Van Gough which cannot be seen here as it should. But the colors were vivid and brilliant. I am not sure what makes this worth over $100 million but it is. I'm not sure what the difference between a painting and art is but I know what I like and this I liked.

The architect used a very linear style to constantly draw your eyes toward the ocean or other panoramic views he wanted you to see. This is just one of the many views using this style combined with curves which accenuated each other beautifully.

We thoroughly enjoyed the day we spent here and were greatly inspired by the beauty that surrounded us. We would loved to have been able to spend more time here but rest assured we enjoyed it to the full extent of our ability with the time we had.

Drayson Center

The theme of the hospital, Drayson Center and really the town of Loma Linda is to "Make Man Whole". As I said before this includes physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of man. Well, Steve has been taking great advantage of going to the Drayson Center 4-5 times a week which we give credit for helping to keep him doing so well.

The Drayson Center facilities include an indoor and outdoor track, cardio and weight room, 2 pools and jacuzzi, racquetball court, basketball court, volleyball, soccer field, and aerobic exercise classes for seniors, wheelchair bound, and in water.


The Drayson Center is named in honor of Ronald and Grace Drayson who donated the land to the University. This $8 million dollar gift provided the cornerstone for funding the construction of the center. The finished $16.2 million Center opened January 11, 1995, encompasses a 100,000 sq. ft. facility that serves as the focal point for out-of-class campus life at Loma Linda University.

We are a little bummed because they closed the pool December 9 - January 9 for general maintenance and for some reason are not reopening the pool until January 29th. We were really enjoying not only the use of the pool but had started water aerobic classes which were great.

Service to Afghanistan

Well, once again we were in the right place at the right time to partake in helping with a humanitarian project's final steps. There is a group hear called Women of Faith comprising churches and service organizations that spend a year or more helping to serve in any way they can.

Jean Arnott, who was in charge of this aspect of the project, said that many people have worked hard to see it completed. They had one lady in a wheelchair come and a lady with an oxygen tank come on a bus for an hour just to help. They found much needed jobs they could do to help.

They were sending over 800 birthing kits, school kits, back packs, hygiene kits and more to Afghanistan where there was much need. When they were finished the palates would fill more than one 40ft container to be shipped over there.

On Saturday Jan. 10th we went to the Bishops Warehouse in Colton to help in whatever way we could. It seems that instructions were left out of Birthing Kits and rulers had broken in school kits due to larger/heavier boxes being set on smaller/lighter ones. So for three hours we opened boxes, opened the bags inside and inserted the instructions and double checked all the school bags and replaced broken rulers. It was great fun!





As in all gatherings there is always plenty of food to refresh us when the work is completed. And we did partake!

We have often thought of the opportunities that have been placed before us that we might never had a chance to be part of if we weren't here at this time. We are very thankful.

God has a plan and we pray that we can continue to be instruments in His hands.

Post Rose Parade Viewing

Being in the Pasadena area during the Rose Parade time period leads one to think of attending such an extraordinary event you have seen on TV all of your life. But we came to our senses quickly thinking NO WAY would we dare venture into the jumbled mess that we knew would be there.

Fortunately for us new friends in the church informed us that every year you can still see the floats for two days after the official parade at a designated spot. Well we decided that we could do that. That's when we decided to buy something we had thought about ever since we arrived - a GPS - and we haven't regretted it since. (Discussed another time)

So right after Steve's treatment on Friday January 2 we headed out and drove to the parking lot where we caught a bus to take us to the viewing site. They have 3 different sites to park and catch buses which makes it easy from whichever direction you are coming. The buses leave every 15 minutes to and from the float site so you can leave any time you want.

It was a foggy day and little cool but very tolerable. We brought coats, water and snacks. We walked and walked and walked and took about 100 pictures, everything was just so-o-o-o-o beautiful.

WOW! I have to say that not only were we taken back by the beauty of the floats we saw but by the thousands of people in attendance. They usually expect about 150,000 people over the viewing period and I have to say it sure felt like it when we were there.

As we entered the float viewing area we picked up a brochure to help learn the Post Parade layout. We had no idea what we were getting into but we are so glad that we braved the crowd. We saw all 47 floats and walked 2.5 miles to do it. Seating is very limited and I don't think we sat down once.

California Earthquake

Well, we can add a new California experience to our list as we just had a 4.5 earthquake lasting about 8 seconds at 7:49pm Thursday January 8, 2009. A first for us. What an experience - WOW! Right about one hour later a small aftershock, 3.3, hit just for a couple of seconds but enough that we knew it was an aftershock. They downgraded the first one from a 5.0. Now how do they do that? Isn't there machines that register it while it's happening?


Steve and I were just sitting there minding our own business watching Oklahoma once again lose the BSC National Championship, this time to the Florida Gators. All of a sudden the whole house began to shake - we had no idea at first what was happening. It sort of sounded like a big rig outside. Then as it continued and got stronger it hit us that it was an earthquake and we headed for a doorway to stand under. I don't know if that is the right thing to do or not but it's what my memory brought forth from the cob webs of my brain.

When I say the house shook I mean it shook. The epicenter was about 1 1/2 miles away on Hospitality Lane that we drive routinely and ~10 miles deep. From there it radiated out in a circle to surrounding areas. I hear it was even felt a little in L.A.

There are 5 of us getting treatments here within 2 houses of each other. We all went out in the street when it over (don't ask me why) and gathered together joking about holding it down in the neighborhood. None of us had ever experienced one before. Our neighbor in the back half of the duplex thought a car had run into the front of the house. It was a little exciting because it wasn't bad but also scary to think what it could have been.

This map shows some of the faults in southern California and the star shows where the epicenter was. We are in the tips of one of these star points. We are only a couple miles from the center. This state has hundreds of faults. If this is "only a 4.5" I would hate to be here for a larger one! One more reason not to live in California. We may have volcanoes in Washington but they go off every couple hundred years not days.

I count us lucky, it could have been worse. I feel sorry for the people in Costa Rica who also experienced an earthquake which was a 6.2 and lasted about 40 seconds. They had walls come down and currently count 14 dead and 22 missing. We pray for them.

Had A Bad Day? - Think Again

We were not looking forward to being without family on Christmas Day, it would be a first for us. Dr. Lynn Martell, who leads our support group, invited all patients and their support people to come to his house for Christmas dinner. He didn't want anyone to be alone, without family, on Christmas. This is the ninth year that he has done this.

There are usually 60-85 people there and this year it was about 80 I think. He had tables set up everywhere in the house - even in the master bath! (The house is about 4,000 sq. ft and beautiful) We ate in the master bedroom with 16 other people.

But I digress, besides the nice food, friends and music that was there we got the added bonus of bringing a very courageous and determined young man to the dinner party. His name is Malek Mohammed, he is 18 and from Afghanistan. If you think you have had a bad day think of Malek.

When he was 15 he went out one day to gather firewood for his family. He spied some dried brush in a field and gingerly stepped off the road to get it. There was an explosion, then another. Malek had stepped on a mine which blew his leg off and him up in the air and when he came down he landed on another mine which blew off his other leg. He laid in the field for 20-30 minutes listening to dogs and thinking they were coming to eat him.

Finally some soldiers came to investigate the blasts and found Malek. But he was in shock and confused and couldn't come to them and they couldn't risk hitting another mine. They threw a cloth to Malek which he put between his teeth as his hands and legs were nonfunctional and they dragged him out of the field.

From there he went to a hospital that amputated his legs . A few months later, Foreign Service officer Mark Ward was visiting the hospital when he noticed Malek. The young man had strapped on his prosthetic legs and began staggering across the room and with every step, the jagged remnants of his femurs cut into his skin. With all the horrors of war that Ward had seen somehow he was greatly affected by this one life and got involved. He worked on getting Malek into a U.S. hospital, eventually persuading Loma Linda University Medical Center to accept him.

He arrived Nov 3, 2007 three years after stepping on the mines. Since then he has undergone extensive surgeries at Loma Linda to smooth his leg bones, remove shrapnel from his arms and treat burns on his chest. He has also been outfitted with new prosthetic legs. He just (last week) underwent his last surgery in L.A. (because they couldn't do it here at LLUMC) and should go home in the spring. When he first got his legs, he walked home pushing his wheelchair.

He arrived here shy and speaking no English. In the last year he has learned much English, is learning Spanish, found friends, become more outgoing, learned to use a computer, attends school, works out daily at the Drayson Center including basketball and has had his eyes opened to the world.

He was afraid of the water and didn't know how to swim when he arrived and is now an avid swimmer. This spring he competed in a triathlon at Loma Linda University, earning medals in swimming and the wheelchair race. He also participated in the Redlands Bicycle Classic alongside other athletes in wheelchairs.

His physical recovery has been remarkable - but the biggest changes may have taken place in his mind. Malek says that "before life was simple. The only thing to worry about was food on the table, working and going to sleep. I'm OK with simple living, but I want to increase the quality of my life. I want an education."

His current goal is to return to Afghanistan in the spring, continue with school while working in a hospital, come back to Loma Linda for college and become a doctor to help other people. (Loma Linda is sponsoring him for a private school in Kabul).

When Malek first arrived, he was accompanied by a chaperon/translator. But the older Afghan returned home in May, leaving Malek to live alone in a small university-owned apartment near the Loma Linda campus. He says, "I feel lonely, but because I have a goal and because I am going to get a better life, I can handle it."

He says "When I was young, I wanted to fight, but I'm different now. I will talk to family and say war is no good. We need to build a better society, but I am kind of scared to go back and I fight with that fear."

We had such an enjoyable night getting to know this tremendous young man with a sparkle in his eyes and a big smile on his face.

WE DON'T HAVE BAD DAYS!

(credit for last 2 pictures go the LA Times)

Crystal Cathedral "Glory of Christmas"

The Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove puts on the other event that we are lucky enough to be here to see. It really has quite a story from the very beginning to what it is today. I will just skim the history a little.

In 1955 The Reformed Church of American gave Rev. Robert H. Schuller and his wife Arvella $500 to start a ministry here in California.While en route to California Schuller listed on a napkin 10 possible venues in which to hold services. The first nine locations were already in use so he embraced the tenth possibility - the Orange Drive-in Theater. From atop the snack bar's roof he would lead weekly services, with Arvella providing music from a trailer-mounted electronic organ. He encouraged all to "come as you are in the family car."

A chapel was soon built three miles from the drive-in, with the intention that the drive-in services would cease. But the husband of one woman in rapidly declining health - Rosie Gray - told Schuller that the drive-in services were the only way that Gray could attend. Schuller promised to continue the drive-in services until Gray passed away; astoundingly, Gray's health would improve in the next few years.

Aware of Schuller's thriving congregation the Rev. Billy Graham suggested to Schuller that he take his popular Sunday Services to the Television airwaves. "Call it an 'Hour of Power'" Graham said. Schuller launched the weekly "Hour of Power" in February 1970 on Los Angeles KTLA-5.

By the mid '70s the "Hour of Power" was reaching all 50 U.S. states and the local church was busting at the seams. Schuller approached famed architect Philip Johnson to design a larger structure to accommodate the growing congregation and instructed him to make it entirely of glass. He accomplished this great task, the first ever in an earthquake zone.


I found how he raised the money to build this cathedral interesting. Of course it would take millions of dollars to build. He went around to everyone with the capability of helping him make this dream come true and came up short.

Finally John & Donna Krem, owners of Fleetwood Mobile Home Manufacturing, gave him a check for $1 million dollars to start. But he still couldn't raise the other 9 million it was estimated to cost. He tried to give the Krem's back their money but they said "start digging the hole and the money will come". Well it did. People paid $500 per glass pane to have their name etched in it. There are 12,000 panes of glass in the cathedral. That was the beginning.

Made entirely of glass the star shaped "cathedral" is over 400 feet long and 200 feet across, rising some 12 stories above the ground, with an angular, mirror-like exterior, its transparent, sun-lit interior features a giant television screen, and an alter of rich marble. It also has an electric fountain/stream that runs down the middle of the central aisle.

It seats 2,800 and its marble chancel accommodates up to 1,000 musicians. The cathedral employs no air-conditioning, relying instead upon natural air currents which come via staggered rows of louvered windows, controlled thermostatically. Also part of this cooling system are two dramatic 90-foot-tall doors which open at the right of the chancel. He even kept the drive-in aspect of the original church.



Would you believe they even have cripts there. I was very surprised to see them here on the grounds.

There are 17 different beautiful sculptures distributed throughout the area that depict different events or stages of the life of Christ. World recognized organ virtuoso Virgil Fox was asked to find/build an organ for the Cathedral. That was just the beginning. It was expanded by Frederick Swann incorporating the large Aeloian-Skinner pe organ built in 1962. It now has 273 rank, five manual pipe organ is the 4th largest in the world. It has 16,000 pipes.

PERSONAL NOTE: It was indeed very, very beautiful building and grounds. But I have to say that it just seemed like a great and spacious building and NONE of the people we were with felt any kind of reverence to the Lord while there. It seemed more like a monument to Dr. Schuller and his followers who seemed to be "paying their way to heaven". There were hundreds of marble stones in the path surrounding the grounds that people paid $1000 to have their name and favorite bible verse embedded in. Even the seats had the names of donors.

The "Glory of Christmas" is one of two major pageants that the cathedral puts on. The spectacles blend religion and show-biz; they feature a cast of 200, some paid actors, in biblical period costumes, a choir, flying "angels", live animals from lambs to camels, and music from a 70 piece orchestra. The angles even fly overhead on wires. It lasted about an hour and a half and it was very well choreographed and directed.




I think I caught 4 of the 5 "angels" that were on wires that went from one end of the cathedral to the other. They went right over our heads! and they went fast - WOW!

It was an amazing performance and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the area as a must see.