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AmeriPrayer IV
May thru November, 2021
Dates & Places: May 2021 Palo Alto, June 2 Sacramento 6/3 to 6/4/21 Chico Bidwell, Red Bluff, Shasta, Lake City, Sugarloaf City, Cottonwood, Mossbrae Falls, Weed City, Klamath Falls, Worden, Howard Bay, Fish Lake, Medford 6/5 Medford, Gold Hill, Rogue River, Grants Pass, Hells Canyon, Shannon Creek,
Canyonville, Umpqua River, Roseburg, Sutherlin, Cottage Grove, 6/6 Eugene OR, Junction City, Shedd, Albany, Salem Washougal River, Columbia River Cape Horn Falls The Gorge, Beacon Rock (closed) , Ash Lake, Stevenson 6/7-8 Vancouver WA 6/9 Portland, Cascade Locks, Herman the Sturgeon, Wahclella Falls .
6/11 to 6/18 Vancouver/Portland, Pothole Falls, Portland Zoo, Portland Raceway, 6/20 Vancouver, Portland, 6/23-24 Salem OR, 6/26 Astoria (heat wave begins) 6/27 Sunset Beach & Seaside OR, 6/28 heat wave continues 6/29 Tillamook Trail, 6/30 Longview/Kelso,
Bucoda, Roy,7/7 5-mile Lake, Seattle area, Fife, Volunteer Park, Martha’s Lake 7/14 Silver Lake, Lynwood, 7/15 Everett, 7/16-17 Marysville, Winny Devries farm Mt Vernon,
7/18-21 Bellingham, Teddy Bear Cove angry man, Samish Island, Padden Lake swim, Oyster Dome, Ferndale City, Kickerville, Blaine, 7/23 Lynden, Silver Lake, Maple Falls, Glacier to Mt Baker, Picture Lake, Bagley Lake, 7/24 Chain Lake hike 7/25 Bellingham,
7/26 Seattle, Madison Beach, 7/27-28 Mt Ranier, Sunrise Center 7/29 Eumenclaw, Tolmie Peak hike (flat tire) Spray Park & Falls & Mowich Lake
7/31 Edgewater new tire 8/1 Seattle area 8/4 Kirkland/Bellevue Medina 8/8 Seattle 8/9 Renton, 8/10-11 Kirkland 8/12 Seattle Steele Park 8/13 Renton 8/14 Bellingham 8/15 Lynden Fair 8/16 Cascades hiking traveling, Lyman, Hamilton, Birdsview, Concrete, Rainy Lake Trail,
Canyon Creek Trail, Thunder Knob, Washington Pass, 8/17 Pateros by Lake, Chelan Falls, Powerhouse Park, Chelan City, Icicle Peak (grueling) Leavenworth Enchantments, 8/18 Leavenworth Stuart Colchuck trail
8/19 Leaving Wenatchee, Waterville, Orondo, Sunnyslope, Cashmere, Dryden, toward Spokane, Hartline, Creston, Davenport, Reardon, Spokane 8/20 Spokane (minor league game), 8/22 Spokane 8/23 Newport WA 8/24 Sandpoint ID & Fault Lake hike 8/25 Coeur d’Alene
8/26 Spokane, 8/27 Turnbull NWR 8/29-30 Spokane, Newport WA, Sandpoint 8/31 leaving Sandpoint, Clark Fork, Hope, Cabinet Dam, Enter Montana, Noxon (flat tire),
Trout Creek (new tire), Thompson Falls, Plains, Paradise, Bison Reservoir, Ronan, south end Flathead Lake, Polson 9/2 Kalispell, Glacier, Siyeh Trail, grizzly by St Mary visitor Center, 9/3 Grinnel Glacier 9/4 East glacier, Browning, Teton County Montana, Bynum, Fairfield,
9/5 Great Falls Montana, Missouri River 9/6 Labor Day, Leaving Great Falls, Big Belt Mountains, Helena MT 1pm, Townsend MT, Toston Dam, 3 Forks, Lewis & Clark Caverns, Harrison, Ennis, Skinny Horse,
9/7 Entering Yellowstone, Heart Lake Trail, 9/8-9 around Yellowstone, 9/10 into Tetons 2-Ocean Lake trail (DeBoer Family from Netherlands) 9/11 Jackson Lodge, Jenny Lake hike, 9/12 Jackson Lodge, String Lake, Bear Paw Lake, 9/13-16 Jackson Hole & letter to MVG,
9/17 back north thru Yellowstone, Steamboat, Mammoth Hot Springs, Undine Falls, to Cody 9/18 leaving Cody to Thermopolis, 9/19 Riverton, Hudson, Popo Agie, Fiddlers Lake, South Pass,
Lander, Sinks Canyon, Boars Tusk, Wildhorse Scenic Drive, 9/20 Rock Springs to Evanston WY, Wasatch Natl Forest, Mirror Lake, Butterfly Lake, Park City UT, Brighton, Solitude, Cottonwood, Salt Lake City, I-80 to Reno, Lovelock Cave, Tahoe, Hwy 50 just re-opened after the fire (some areas only chimneys left standing), Pollock, Folsom, Dixon,
9/23 Menlo Park 9/26 San Francisco, 9/27 San Pablo 9/29 Palo Alto 10/1 Palo 10/5 San Pablo SF 10/6 Bay Bridge SF Blue Angels, 10/7 Disney Museum, 10/8-10 San Fran 10/11-13 San Pablo 10/14 leave Palo Alto to Santa Cruz 10/15 Monterey Big Sur, Shafter , Bakersfield, 10/16 Bakersfield to L.A 10/17 thru end of year SOUTHERN Cal.
NARRATION:
May 19 2021 Wednesday, 8 AM exercise & walk- first time feels good Stanford & dictation editing at Stanford 10 AM to noon. 12:30 to 2 hike dish. 2 to 4 dictation editing - now at Stanford -surprised by outdoor symphony 🎻 orchestra - their last chance to play together as seniors - so sad for those who have to finish their college career during the lockdown... Thursday May 20 second time exercising at new Stanford field - real grass- even better than yesterday.
p 2 10 AM refill water bottle 11 am dictation editing & maps prep at El Camino until 3pm "Prophesy to them & say my people I will open your graves & cause you to come up to the land of Israel & you shall know that I am the Lord & shall put my Spirit in you & you shall live & I shall place you in your own land" Ezekiel 37.12ff.
"Baptized into Jesus Christ. Baptized into HIS death. We are buried with Him & baptized into death. Like Christ was raised - even so we shall walk in the newness of life -likeness of HIS death- likeness of HIS resurrection. We are free from sin - dead to sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ Our Lord " Romans 6. 3-11. Walk at Dish Trail 3:30 to 5 p.m. strange African American girl started walking the wrong direction & she turned back & passed me & then kept looking back faking fearful at me when she was the one who walked back towards me. So I just stopped dead in my tracks and waited for her to disappear in the other direction. Strange lady I think there was something intentional going on there, NOT incidental - or maybe mental illness. And I was the mark. p 4 back at Stanford Wi-Fi spot - guy came out & says "Had a good meeting” as if he thought he knew me. - That was strange as well. May 21 Friday day 3 exercise at Stanford at new field good 10 a.m. to noon Maps evangelism continue progress Washington DC area. At 12 noon I do a zoom conference for the SLAC -very cool - first time trying zoom as well on my phone - & you can ask questions while watching 1 to 3 pm. Green dictation edit almost complete. Cool evening - more maps evangelism: Virginia & Wilmington North Carolina.
May 22 Saturday started towards San Francisco but then heard there was a spring football 🏈game at Stanford so I turned back- got a ticket online for free - Stanford football scrimmage noon to 3 that was fun. 324 back to Burlingame 5 pm mass at Lady of Sienna -nice old building -old Irish priest 6 pm -towards San Francisco by Saint Ignatius Church. Dodgers beat Giants again game 2 in San Francisco. #PraytheNews: dead whale 🐳 at Bolsa Chica Huntington Beach - that would be interesting to see. Although I've seen my fair share of dead whales including most recently one below the lighthouse near the Golden gate bridge Marin county side. Pray the News: Palisades fire 🔥, India covid deaths enormous. Burma poet dies in detention - body returned to family with organs missing. Tim Tebow signs with the Jaguars to play tight end. Was surprised Linda didn't know a famous piano 🎹 song. How long has she been teaching piano? moxie blog. May 23 Sunday 10 a.m. Saint Ignatius - strange arrangement - alpha fellows blocking exit at the end of church service - guy looks like he is about to tackle me if I try to go out the open door. crazy. They lose their minds over this covid stuff. They just can't think clearly anymore. Such obedient pawns. Prayers4 for Jim Lin. Drama concerning IRS letter.
"Here my cry God, attend to my prayers ... Lead me to the rock. I will sing praise unto Thy name forever -my rock & my salvation Ps 61-62. Be merciful unto us - Save me oh God for the waters are coming in onto my soul Psalm 69. Let them be ashamed & confounded that seek after my soul " Psalm 70. Oh death where is thy sting? oh grave where is thy victory? 1 Corinthians 15 "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ. Happy Pentecost spirit 100- released & again today Spirit released, & again today Spirit released, & again today. May 24 Monday 7:30 a.m. Mass Archbishop leading the mass at St Mary ⛪. Cowboy with dog is always there - he has a pocket dog - a big overcoat & a tiny dog that fits in his pocket - very quiet dog. I don't even know if the priest (archbishop Cordileone) realizes the guy has a dog. More maps🌎 evangelism & Stanford Zoom again. Send $200 to integon insurance. Refilled water ¼-mile walk each way to fill & with wind blowing - it was tricky to block the wind so I could get the water in the bottle. I bet I'm one of the few people in America who walks to get water. Also stretched on the grass. 22 mile-per-hour wind & cool. NOT many people out & about. Completed dictation & green edit. Drove past Disney Museum & walked to Presidio Bowl 🎳 . They don't have a game room here anymore. They took the arcade out. Rossi pool near Saint Ignatius is still closed. May 25 Tuesday 9 a.m. Saint Ignatius daily mass, 10 a.m. hiking to the spire & spring in Presidio near Golf Course - too many doting parents around here & their precious kids - they teach their kids to be jerks 👎. Helicopter 🚁 parents hovering over their kids - so sad - these kids will never grow up to be able to think on their own or to socialize normally with other people. Parked by the Disney museum for an hour - more maps evangelism. 2 p.m. stretching at Crissy Field, 3 p.m. now at the west end of Crissy Field.
May 26th Wednesday 9 a.m. Saint Ignatius ⛪ luckily I didn't get a parking ticket or so I thought -wrongly, I did get a ticket for $80 (I discovered later). I was 15 minutes past the 6 a.m. time. I did not see the sign when I parked that morning. They jumped on me right away -within the first 15 minutes I got a parking ticket - like they were lying in wait 👎, but they DIDN'T actually put it on my windshield wiper. I didn't see it because there was NOTHING there. If I hadn't checked it online I would NEVER have known & it would have gotten jacked up by late fees. I think they did it on purpose. Across Golden Gate to Richmond San Pablo thru Marin to new blood 💉 donation. I got $80 worth of gas ⛽ filling up for $3.59 yesterday. #PrayTheNews 🙏 📰: 8 or 9 people killed in San Jose transit employee shooting. Highway 880 is busy going south. There's a bit of India-American supremacy here (apparently Indo-American is the proper terminology) . Some of the people from India have a supremacy complex. There were no shopping carts available at the Walmart so I asked the Indo- American employee at the door. He said "Go get one out in the parking lot" . I couldn't believe it -the arrogance & insolence. There are also some Hindu-Americans who have supremacy issues. May 26 Union City -some new acquisitions for maps 🌎evangelism 326 continue praying for San Jose Massacre. May 27 Thursday 9 am mass at Guadalupe ⛪ Church. I spoke during the prayer request time saying "Pray for the end of abortion". Walmart 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. salad. & small batch, 1130 stock up, 12:45 refill water x3 in & out of the Walmart. And I drove to Mission ⛰ Peak trailhead & hiked to the top from 3 to 5:30 p.m. 6 miles total. 6 p.m. at Lowes doing maps 🌎evangelism. May 28th Friday 8:15 a.m. morning mass at Holy Spirit Church - that was good - I really like this one - & they have remodeled since I was there last time. $25 gas ⛽equals $115 this week. Donate 💉 blood equals $90 almost broke even. Prayers4 Oakland guy. I gave him a tip about where to get cheap gas. Rare nice gal behind desk - I mention Mission Peak hike. After blood donation I did the Wildcat Canyon hike (Richmond) & more maps editing. Praise God: magnify 🔎, unify, glorify: Save one soul. Country 🌎prayer: Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma). the best radio reception I get in the Bay area is KNRB AM-FM - which is Giants baseball & sometimes it's all I can get in certain places. I've been following Giants baseball the past week mostly against Dodgers. L.A. won 1st 3 at San Francisco which has been driving the Giants radio fans crazy - apoplectic. Until tonight - Friday- what a game- L.A. ties it with two outs in the ninth. Austin Barnes 3-run homer but San Francisco comes back in 10th to win. Pujols gets robbed of walk-off homer in the ninth. Blank grabs it over the wall. Saturday May 29th Memorial Day Weekend 7:30 mass at Saint Paul in San Pablo is good, 8:30 a.m. Richmond Waterfront, I went to the Rosie Riveter Museum at 10 a.m. to 11, that was cool. Light flasher at the Holiday Inn last night was annoying. Epiphany re sickness at GRCH & the CRC code for bad stuff & Rick DeVries is in the middle of it. He is the bad seed there. Maps evangelism & prayers4 samdals (sic).
Sunday May 31 busy at 7 a.m. Saint Margaret Mary in Oakland- gutsy homily critical of hyper- submissiveness re masks etc. I looked around & realized most were NOT wearing mask 😷 so I pulled mine down. 9am St Jarlath ⛪ NOT too busy. A lady waved at me - melodic long homily about "dancing with God." Late lady hid behind me in the pew. That's always annoying when somebody comes in late & they use you as a shield 🛡in front of them. 11 a.m. Corpus Christi Church - priest broke down Nicene Creed line by line. Ready for Great Commission. Weather warming up to 100 in some parts around here. Drove up Skyline Drive - Dodgers versus Giants on the radio. Diamondbacks have lost 13 consecutive games so far this season. More maps editing. No cell phone 📱 data here. Dodgers lose again to San Francisco. Now I've lost track how many win-loss versus Giants in this series. Over Bay 🌉 Bridge to San Francisco phone Wi-Fi spot by the marina 4 to 7. It is Memorial Day Monday - warm everywhere but cool in San Francisco 9 a.m. Saint Ignatius Church free parking today. 11 a.m. Presidio Chapel Memorial 🇺🇸 Day service. A few different speakers and there's a time slot on the schedule for Nancy Pelosi but she doesn't show up- she allegedly sent an assistant who doesn't show up either. How about that? SO the moderator of the event reads her perfunctory words 👎. 12:00 noon National Cemetery I can see a wildfire 🔥 burning by the beach below. Fire 🚒 trucks responding 1 p.m. Now down by Fort Point - maps editing. Giants defeat the Angels 6-1 here in San Francisco. 420 maps editing at Fort Point for several hours & then a pickup truck came & parked right next to me & they didn't leave. I heard the fog horns at the golden gates all night long- still foggy at 8:30 a.m.
June 1 Tuesday 9 am Saint Ignatius ⛪priest re give to Caesar what is Caesar's - but says it's more important to give to God what is God's. That is, in the Greek translation the emphasis is placed more on giving to God what is God's but the translation sometimes gets lost & overemphasizes giving to Caesar. Good homily - priest took some time to do some research for once. Also a funny moment as he is reading from Tobit re dew droppings on the eye gave her cataracts. 10 to 11:30 Marin County Westside Golden Gate Bridge height 1.5 miles or two to Fort Baker Pier & Golden Gate bridge above Lime Point Lighthouse & did the peace sign to passing vehicles as I was walking on the Golden Gate Bridge - got a few honks. Styrofoam flying off the truck. 12 noon half-mile to Point Bonita Lighthouse which is closed. Dead whale on the beach causing a small crowd of picture 📷 takers. Also explored Battery Mendell - they never actually shot at the enemy from any of the batteries in San Francisco & there's a lot of them. Took a steep hike down to Black Sands Beach at 1 p.m.- saw some Muslim ladies with their fancy drinks of some sort going down to the beach -they smiled. Couple of girls swimming. Then I passed by The Marine Mammal Center which is closed to the public because of covid. Rodeo Beach 1:30 p.m, final Golden Gate Viewpoint & battery & Kirby Cove 2:30 pm back on the highway to Vallejo. 430pm saw end of Spiral Jigsaw -a sequel that was very violent- Samuel Jackson gets killed because he failed the test - & gets crushed glass sprayed on him. #PrayTheMovies: true story Conjuring. Preview of OLD - crazy beach. Preview of The Forever Purge. Preview of King Arthur Green Knight. Preview of Hitman's Wife - I saw part of that - it was no good -crude. Preview for Snake Eyes. Preview for Top Gun 2, & now the main movie I came here to see #QuietPlace part 2 notes 📝: he has a Millbrook shirt on -that caught my attention. I went to a junior high called Millbrook. They're playing baseball - Little League game. now the sky is on fire 🔥. They start running. New York plates, small town New York, City of Millbrook, the kid is like a Todd Martinez Jr, Lord's Prayer, what happened to the dad, character looks like Audrey, put in trap, #PrayTheMovies for the afflicted & endangered, music 🎶 "Beyond the Sea" is a signal. She goes alone. The kid actor was over-acting in this movie, & the kid behind me was burping & playing with seat control so I moved to a different seat. The kid wouldn't stop playing with his power seat - very annoying & sucking on a straw in an empty cup. Quiet Place 2 - continue to pray for Jim & Linda in the movie. Have courage. Don't be fearful. Pray for the endangered ones. Prayers for Dan DeKam & his red eyes. They have a baby in the movie that keeps crying - they have to keep the baby quiet or else the creatures will hear them. Dripping water throws the creature off track - courage -have courage #PrayTheMovies for courage. Praying for The Afflicted & the endangered & persecuted. The creatures cannot swim so the humans can get away in the water - a few prayers for breakthrough breakthrough breakthrough 100 "All our labor is NOT in vain" 1st Corinthians 15. Now is the day of salvation 2nd Corinthians 6. "Approving ourselves as ministers of God in much patience, afflictions, Necessities, distress, stripes, imprisonments, tumults, labor, fastings, by pureness, knowledge, long-suffering, kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of Truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness, on the right hand & left. 2 Cor 6
June 2 Wednesday driving from Vallejo to Sacramento -donated blood in Sacramento, Morgan & Veronica were the phlebotomists. Dollar Tree long line - I left because it was too long, too slow. Lowe's Wi-Fi not very good here. Library #1 nearby - one of the employee ladies was a mask fanatic -she approached me because I had it down even though I was sitting in the corner of the library where nobody else was. Library #2 Immigrant employee from El Salvador said "Thanks for visiting" in broken English as I was leaving as if I was the new person around here and she was the host. good grief. Borromeo Church supposed to have 7 p.m. English mass but it was all Hispanic - some kind of special event got going on. Am I in a foreign Country? I stayed for a little while then decided to leave - & leave Sacramento even though I originally planned to stay for a couple days. I made it to Chico - very hot, nice fellow at hotel but I left early. I didn't want to stay there -still hot at midnight 6/3/21 Thursday - slept in Chico. I love the old leafy neighborhoods here. This is not far from the City of Paradise which got destroyed by wildfire a few years ago. 9 a.m. Bidwell Park - returning I love this place. I had the Bear Hole to myself for 3 hours before the weird people arrived. I also hiked Annie Bidwell Trail. Saw some turtles 🐢& fish 🐟 & a giant guppy. There were lots of red dragonflies as well. After Bidwell I went to the Walmart in Red Bluff & then to Redding at 4 p.m. still 100 degrees here - it's always hot when I come in. I offered a can of food to a lady at the gas station & she said no & - she looks terrible & was destitute but didn't want food. Is that what a meth addict looks like? Help her Lord, we pray for her. Got $25 in gas at $4 per gallon Red Bluff. Went through Shasta Lake City, Mountain Gate City, Portal Inn City, O'Brien City, Sugarloaf City, now at Lakehead Lakeshore 🥶4:30 p.m. other cities include Anderson & Cottonwood. Continue onward towards the Oregon-California Border. 5:40 p.m. Dunsmuir, Mossbrae Falls- wade the river, walk the tracks, swim 🏊 in the water -watch the falls trickling over the cliff - beautiful wonderful. Refill my water bottles with natural spring water - crystal clear & cold. Pass through the City of Weed - there was an annoying dude sitting in his car - he swore at me because I briefly parked behind him as I was checking my map to see which way to go. Apparently, he thought I was intentionally parking behind him to annoy him. I drove up & around & passed by & waved which made him go apoplectic. I think he jumped in his car & he was going to try to chase me. I don't know because I sped up & took off & didn't look back. What a jerk & loser. We pray for that guy. Some of the people here in California - I'm glad I'm almost out -escape from California. Scenic byway great view of Mount ⛰ Shasta Highway 97. Praise God: Thank love magnify 🔎 unify glorify- Save one soul 200, California- Oregon- Washington - the COW Coast - that's my new nickname for the west coast. Butte Valley National grasslands 8:30pm. 30 miles to Klamath Falls. Countries I'm praying for today include Namibia 🇳🇦, Naurud 🇳🇷, & Nepal 🇳🇵. City of Dorris at 8:44 p.m. It's finally cooling down to about 64 degrees.
Friday slept in Klamath Falls - finally a cool night - 8:47 a.m. also went to mass this morning at Sacred Heart 8 a.m. in Klamath Falls - a Catholic Church. Interesting that they kind of stare at you when you come driving into town here - they want to make sure you're okay I guess. They had a special service at the church this morning - we all had to come up front - kind of awkward because it's my first time there & I won't be back for a while but I try to blend in. One priest is from India by the way. $40 in gas at Klamath - 12 gallon. 9 a.m. Walmart evangelism & videos 10 a.m. Highway 140 upper Klamath Lake is greenish - this is Howard Bay. I stopped there - thought about fishing 🎣but I don't think there's too much hope here to catch anything really. Plus, the water is too green. It is June! Now driving thru Fremont Winema National Forest. Fish Lake is a fee area but I found a free parking spot & I got a fish 🐟 to bite using goldie but couldn't reel it in. Lots of stumps here- I stood on a few in the shallow water & cast 🎣my line. A couple of kayakers & a few other fishermen as I was leaving. The water was very warm- mostly clear -not greenish but too shallow for swimming. Shadow of Mount ⛰McLaughlin -no service here on my internet, 40 miles from Medford. Historic Bridge 3 pm near Lake Creek Oregon. A few people by the water at small Agate Lake 3:30. Medford race car Dragway Speedway & drag strip White City 3:50 p.m. June 5 slept in Medford, 830am another Sacred Heart Church -they're having a funeral mass. City of Central Point Oregon 936, City of Gold Hill 957, City of Rogue River 1015, fast rapids Rogue River, Josephine County 10:20 a.m. Grants Pass 11 to noon, Rogue River, I see Hells Canyon boats speeding up the river -that looks fun & interesting. Grilled cheese at Tussing Park, & that gave me a new idiom: instead of mass casualties how about mask casualties. Wearing a mask to stop covid is like trying to stop mosquitoes with a chain-link fence. Douglas County 12pm.
Ben Courson is a good preacher on the radio 📻. Sherman Manor sermon: mammon + meat + milk = good meal i.e. good sermon. 1300 AM radio north of Grants Pass, Shannon Creek 2020 pass Metro train -gross the kid was licking his dog's tongue. Pray for the motorcycles & pickups & local yokels. $40 gas at $3.19 -not a bad price for this time of history in our Country. Washed half the window at Canyonville- nice girl pumping the gas -then some hillbillies drove up & caused a scene. Later I went fishing 🎣 in the Umpqua River just a bit north of there near Gazley Road exit 102 1:30 p.m. waded very warm shallow. If your self-identity is too wrapped up in your state citizenship that's a problem. Good spot to explore more. Video update, Lowes. I remember the Roseburg car show last time here & also went to a movie using Movie Pass card -was that 3 years ago? Ric Ocasek 🎸 🎶 "Emotion in Motion" - haven't heard that song in a long time. Pray for the angry Weed man. And rude roosters ⛽ in Canyonville. We pray4 good church. Because of my body proportions people don't feel sorry for me the way they give grace to others. They see me as a perpetual perfect human who has no excuses. I'm 53 years old. Because the less education people have, the more they need to rely upon superficial criteria & try to control the milieu in such a way - like clerks & gas attendants & various workers etc. They're living lives of quiet desperation.
Sutherlin Oregon 4:30 p.m. Yes, there is an Oakland Oregon (south of Eugene) 436, beautiful weather- perfect day, patchy- sunny, not too hot- temperature 🌡 dropped about 20° overnight. Funeral mass in Medford -repent & be baptized: Bob De Vries, Paul Fields, bad axis, Halford, Chevron Pasadena, LAUSD Blackie, Lane County 5pm on the radio Wang Chung 4:42 p.m., motor prayer 4:50 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Our Lady of Perpetual Help ⛪ Cottage Grove- an old Irish priest- long homily about why he will NOT give communion to those who support abortion. He agrees with Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco. I agree too. 👍 June 6th Eugene Oregon near the University - home of the Ducks 730 am at St Mary ⛪ -Catholic priest talked about why he converted to pro-Life Catholicism from an Episcopal pro-choice position. Glad he did 👍. 10 a.m. Saint Peter ⛪ Eugene, black family behind me now. You rarely see black people at Catholic churches except in specific Catholic congregations. Or in some cases you'll find a black person is at the Catholic church because they're an activist or they like the attention of being the only black person at the mostly white or Latino Catholic congregation. I'm thinking of a black fellow at the Beverly Hills Catholic Church who one day appeared and never left & he got a position reading the scripture and seems to really love doing it but he's not a very nice person & it seems like he has an agenda like he's an activist. And I've noticed that Catholic churches can be compromised by people with insincere intentions or lack sincere allegiance to the doctrines of the church. When that happens I think the priest loses control assuming the priest is not one of the activists himself & the church just loses a real sense of unity & purpose- people just go through the motions.
99 North. Junction City 11 am Praise God: Thank love magnify 🔎 unify glorify the Lord, Save one soul p 38 Junction City pond -cast my line a few times. A lot of people fishing 🎣here in this little pond. An osprey circling for fish 🐟. There's also an archery range here. Rodeo is coming here on 4th of July. City of Harrisburg 1145 AM, City of Halsey at 12 noon - its high noon. Praying for the countries of Niger, Nigeria, North Korea. Praise God: Thank love unify glorify - Save one soul. Also praying for the addicted, secular liberals , & minorities. City of Shedd 1205, City of Albany 1228, Calapooia River. Signs for Ralph Brown missing person in a blue Nissan Sentra, #PrayTheNews: Clippers forced game 7🏀 & "Lakers eliminated." City of Salem 1245. Search for Detroit Lake. Wuhan: 'accidental on purpose'. June 7 Monday slept in Vancouver Washington. Praise God: Thank love magnify 🔎 unify glorify Save one soul. Countries: North Macedonia, Norway, Omen, PrayTheBible 🙏 📖, Isaiah 47.13 Don't listen to astrologers. Bought a new electric shaver at Walmart 8 am -now at Sandy Swimming Hole cast my line 9am- Washougal River in the City of Washougal. Too cold to swim. Hathaway Park 10 am. Captain William Clark Park, Cottonwood Beach & the Columbia River. Cast my line 11 am. A few boats trolling. I saw a giant osprey nest. My first-time fishing in the Columbia River. NOW I've fished in the Columbia & Mississippi River but not yet the Missouri River. Cape Horn Falls 1 pm - whisper of water over the cliff into the Columbia River. 1pm. Saint Cloud Recreation Area- National Park service- two ladies with two dogs leaving, & a harmless snake 🐍 sleeping on the steps. Columbia River Gorge p42 Saint Cloud 🥶no river access small loop trail Beacon Rock State Park. Discovery pass required. Beacon Rock trail is closed due to trail blockage, ridiculous. I did this hike last time I was here - kind of fun & unique. Fisherman fishing elbow- to-elbow near the dam catching shad - a silverish fish 🐟. I cast a few times below the dam but it was too crowded. Fishing 🎣 is fun but I say more importantly be fishers of people for Christ (used to be so much easier & catchier when you could just say Fishers of Men). When I hear something by Pink Floyd I think of Todd Martinez. He was in my dorm across the hall and always studied all night long & slept all day -not sure when he went to his classes. I knew this because I would hang out with his roommate Steve from time to time. Todd was very smart in of the sciences - he went on to UCLA and then got a job as a professor at Stanford I think in the chemistry dept maybe chemistry. But I don't think he had any real Christian persuasions. He just wanted to go to a decent private college. Unfortunately this is too common at Calvin college. People make false professions of Christian faith just to get admitted to the college but are NOT sincere. Ash Lake3:30 p.m. mostly private. Prayers4 hoodship, clerks, government. After Ash Lake in Stevenson took nap. Jason Jones movie- to- movement on the radio. Just like at Fort Point a pickup parked right by me. Went back-past Cape Horn 553pm. Slept in Vancouver.
6/8/21 Tuesday rain 7am Catholic Mass. 1030 at the Walmart. Praying for kids at camp. Praise God: Thank love magnify 🔎 unify glorify. Save one soul. Country prayer: Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, also border, refugees, immigrants 300 p44 11am maps evangelism. Also printed more Christ cards & replenished casting pack - mustard seeds. There's real fishing, - then there's fishing for Christ - for hearts ❤ & souls & minds. AMC Vancouver Washington, Cruella movie notes 📝: Having a baby, be polite, my name's Stella, skunk, she beats up boy, Mean head master, expelled, go to London, I'll be less trouble, mansion fashion show, dogs chase mom over cliff, she runs from the crowd- chased by police. She's getting older - loses necklace. she becomes a petty thief. #PrayTheMovies 🙏 🎥 for orphans, & perpetrators repent. She wants to be a fashion designer 70's in London. She's a a cleaner at a fashion house. "There's no angle" - overweight actor known from the movie in which he played a security guard at the Atlanta Olympics - he found a bomb & then got falsely accused of planting it. She starts to rebel -drinks the whiskey. Prayers4 employees & employers p 46 she looks like Christy Klompeen Zabriskie... They plan to steal the jewel back. Prayers4 perpetrators & victims & kindness. Five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. She realizes this lady caused her mom's death with the whistle. #PrayTheMovies: Don't go for revenge. Trust the Holy Spirit. "gratitude is for losers" she says. Clash band music. 🎶 🎸"Should I stay or should I go". The Clash is the 1st rock band I saw live in concert (at GR civic center). I went with Jack Holwerda. His mom drove us there and picked us up. Good line: "That's the thing about Evil people. You can always count on them to do something evil" Helman hall becomes hell hall. Clever ending.
P47 6/9/21 Wednesday donate 💉blood. Jen is a little overbearing, gas ⛽ for $3.39. I used debit 💳-it should be $3.29. Cross bridge to Portland, Marine Drive East, landing registration "Pray for Portland homeless - kind of “. Sandy River 1152 " blank Park 12 noon " $5 parking fee. Nobody fishing here. Mostly local vocals. Oops I meant yokels, but that’s a good one: local vocals. Shirt grabber lady. Praise God: Thank love magnify 🔎 unify glorify Save one soul. Country 🌎 prayer: Paraguay, Panama, Papua New Guinea. e-mail to Mark Wiersma in Nigeria re pastor killed last year. 130 to 230 multiple. 2:30 pm Oregon fish 🐟 hatchery -cast my line down at the beach. There were two guys with overflowing buckets full of shad. There's a huge sturgeon here named Herman who is 80 years old. Sturgeon can live for 100 years. This one is also 10- feet long. Looks like a shark. Now I'm waiting for a new credit card. That was so bizarre. I put my credit card in my pocket to take a hike. I didn't want to leave it in the car. I walked 100 -feet to the trailhead sign & double-checked for the credit card in my shirt pocket & it was GONE. I checked all my other pockets & walked back to my car. Check. Double check. Triple. It's gone. People just starting to take a hike began looking at me like I was a little strange - suspicious of me. They got back in their car & drove away while I'm looking for my credit card 💳 & I never found it. Or maybe they drove away because they found it and they tended to use it. Luckily I canceled it right away. That is SO weird. Like a ghost 👻 or something -it made NO sense. Unless it was those two people- they were kind of weird. So I canceled the credit card right away & then I had to get a new one sent to the post office which took almost 10 days. Wasn't so bad- a lot of hiking & other things. Hunter's Island 6pm a few people fishing. Fancy river cruise boat- also a sternwheel here. Walked halfway across the Bridge 🌉 of the gods. The name of the trailhead where I lost my credit card was Wahclella Falls. Later I would come back & make this hike. It's a nice waterfall but there was a wedding group out there taking pictures & they were also acting suspicious of others. They had come all the way from Utah -maybe Mormons - they acted a little bit self-righteous.
6/10/21 June 10 Thursday called the USPS- they open at 9 am, also called assurance wireless. Praise God: Thanks, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify: Save one soul 300. Country 🌎 prayer: Peru, Philippines, Poland. Read the📖 story of the woman of Shunammite- her son brought back to life by Elisha 2 Kings 4.18. She had such great faith in that man - that's what gave the man power. Elisha came after Elijah. Slept near the bridge of the gods. 10:30 now - I'm taking Wachlella Falls hike where the big self-righteous wedding group from Utah is. I said to the girl "DON'T worry." Also sent fax to the Vancouver post office. They would NOT respond that they received it. Hiked Old State Highway to Moffat Falls but I did not see a waterfall. I think you have to bushwhack your way up there a little way. Took gorge trail #400 back -some areas NOT very well maintained - a few raindrops along the way. Delicious avocado tomato potato gnocchi. Did some casting & then some maps preparation & then hiked to upper McCord Falls which includes the Elowah Falls 2 miles. Then I went over to Ruckel Creek Falls 1.5 miles. I got some truckers 🚚 to honk. Slept at Cascade Locks. P51 6/11 Friday. Starvation Creek Falls, Hole in the Wall Falls, & Lancaster Falls, Cabin Creek Falls. Latino group swimming in Eagle Creek which was still pretty cold & they had a boombox playing. Sprinkles in the morning, but not during the hike - dodged a bullet -finished before the big rain. Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify. Save one soul. Country 🌎 prayer: Portugal, Quatar, Romania. I drove back to Portland. Maps evangelism complete. Over the bridge 🌉 - angry Portland drivers when they see California plates. More tube evangelism at Lowes as well. Prayers for the unborn 👶outside evil planned parenthood in Vancouver Washington 915am. The adoption option is the ONLY solution. Right to life, pro-life. Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify. Save one soul. Country 🌎 prayer: Russia, Rwanda, St Kitts near Puerto Rico. 10 am stopped at post office on Caples. The old white clerk didn't know anything about general delivery. Made me waste my drive over there. And they WON'T tell me anything over the phone 📞 either. You would think they would inform all the employees about the protocol for general delivery but it’s like they never heard of it before.
From there I go to the laundromat. There's a sketchy looking guy inside NOT doing laundry. Another guy in his old car double checking locks -virtue signaling. That's getting really old 👎. These guys with their little beep locks & a side-eye towards me while I was doing a side-eye towards him. Take a look in the mirror buddy. From there I go to Vancouver Mall - a nice mall- & they have a library 📚 inside as well as a nice big game room & bowling 🎳 alley. Later I do maps evangelism at Lowe's for a while .1 Corinthians 2 "The spirit searches all things. The natural man receives NOT the spirit " June 13 Sunday slept at Vancouver Washington. It rained nonstop all night long - still raining at 8am. #PrayTheNews: 8 or 9 people shot in Austin Texas -none killed- miracle maybe. MLB starts enforcing against "sticky stuff." Fake president Biden to meet with Russian President Putin. THE fake president is in Central America but still has not yet been to the border. A volcano 🌋 eruption in Congo kills blank people. At library I checked already mapped number four on PDF. Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify. Save one soul. #CountryPrayer🌎: St Lucia, Grenadines, Samoa. "Whoever offers praise glorifies me & he that orders his conversation aright I will show the salvation of God" June 13 Sunday 9 AM Crossroads Church ⛪- nice but excessive greeters made it feel kind of artificial. I forgot my umbrella 🌂 - had to go back inside. Preacher speaks perfect English but says he's a refugee from Mexico- originally came from Arizona. He talked about going to Disneyland & made a rude comment about single people at Disney -that was an unnecessary insult & a put off. 11am, I go to church in the Heights which I like better. I went here last time a few years ago. 12:30 to 2pm donated💉blood- $70 dollars, 48 minutes. Allison nice but forgot tape. She says she WON'T take vaccine. She's originally from Clear Lake California. I can't find the Wi-Fi - can't connect. Did 🌎maps preparation. Called Assurance Wireless about EBB & eventually I will get unlimited data in the next few days- Finally 👍. Prayers4 Mike Gallagher- he's having hernia pain again after surgery. June 14- slept in Vancouver Washington -still sprinkling day 3 gray morning. For some reason I'm thinking about Kevin, Dan, & Jack when we lived on Kalamazoo Avenue in Grand Rapids - & Doug Kosters would come over every now &- he was in a depression at the time. But I thought he was just searching for purpose in his life like all of us -not existential purpose in terms of being a Christian or meaning of life but in terms of what he wants to do as a career.
This was the year after college graduation when I was working at Pine Rest -met new people including Belinda Clark & "Frank" who was a drummer married to Barb Boorsma. He became a bit strange over time. And there was Howard & Bonnie the nurse & there was Johnny King & Teri Bierling & Brent Gates. Around this time Jack was working at Steelcase- not doing anything else. Dan was a student teaching. Doug would drop by from time to time. Also, Barb W would come by once in a while. Also, Kathy was part of the crowd & also around this time I met Kim. We played tennis together once in a while. Still, Jack was not happy driving trucks 🚚 even though he was paid well & bought a brand-new red Mustang. I also had a cat which I named psycho because he was so hyperactive. Doug continued struggling with mental health issues. Then Barb disappeared to Costa Rica 🇨🇷 without really any warning at all. This is also the end of time at Noble & Lowell house with Doug W & Doug F where Audrey & Eric strangely stopped by one morning. I was still considering psychology for graduate school at the time & had even applied to Rosemead in California. Actually, glad I did NOT get accepted in retrospect. Kim also came to Cobmoosa one time & drove back with Jack as I stayed out there overnight. Also played tennis 🎾with Frank & Howard at least once & rode bikes with Kevin & the Muller boy. Muller's dad was a teacher at our high school. I played tennis once in a while with Kevin, Steve & Muller. Kim came by once while we were playing. I met Kim at a CPR class at Pine Rest. On the 1st date we went to a movie together & we continued to meet and socialize for a while and I was very fond of her and she of me I'm pretty sure but the main reason nothing came of it is because I was certain that God was calling me to the ministry or at least evangelism and I think I believed this included leaving Michigan and most of the girls I knew including Kim were Michigan girls and as romantic as it was to date somebody " from California" (which I really wasn't at that time in my life, but it sounded good on paper) none of them really would want to live in California away from their families as best as I could figure. They were "home girls" and they wanted to stay near home with a good husband by their side and I couldn't be that person who would stay in Michigan for the rest of my life.
I remember there was a suicide of a young teenager at the hospital around this time. I wasn't there at the time Thank God but I was there at the time when a kid tried to escape using his radio to break a window. We had to stop him & he hit me in the head with the radio causing a gigantic black eye. By this time, I was living at the Baltimore Street house I think. Prior to this I had gone to Wayne State law school & was still in communication with Kim. Law school with a new roommate was a fiasco 👎. I left Detroit after a few months and decided to go west -no plans- just go- leaving Michigan I said goodbye to Kim & Doug & Rick & Kalamazoo roommates. However, I once again came back to GR after my return from Costa Rica & at the TeleDial phone company owned by Andy DeVries -Kim was working there. He offered me a job but I was sticking with my call to ministry even though I actually left it for education for a while & then came back to the ministry. I got depressed at the seminary because of a guy named Sid Greidanus & Elliot Vanderlugt, who later ended up divorced & out of the ministry & living alone in San Francisco. Jim Z was working at Mr. Fables at the time flipping hamburgers 🍔.
Jim came to Sunshine 🌞 ⛪Church during that time & that's where I met Andy DeVries & he invited me over to TeleDial. He remembered Doug Timmer from college. So I did two years of education & lost touch with Kim. I did my student teaching at Holland Christian Middle School which was mostly good except the final banquet & the jerk 👎. I will have to tell that story sometime as well. And then I went to Jackson Hole & was considering a missionary teaching job in Hungary but then Jim Z called me & said there was a job opening & Coachella Valley & so I went out there & was offered the job & stayed there for two years even though it was NOT really the right place for me. The principal who hired me was a retired military officer but he did not tell me that he was retiring a few weeks later. So I ended up working for a new principal and that was not so great. Needless to say, I ended up leaving there after two years & a trip to Africa. I also went to Netherlands 🇳🇱 during this time as well as Peru to go see Machu Picchu. Meanwhile Jim Z died in a car accident around the time I returned from the summer Africa trip in 1996. At which point I returned to Grand Rapids Michigan. This time I lived at the Gary DeWitt house (Gary is the son of Cal who was fairly well known as an environmentalist professor at the University of Wisconsin and a Calvin alumnus. Gary himself seemed to have dropped out of Calvin although he didn't say it outright but kind of beat around the bush & appeared to be content being a landlord instead) after briefly staying with Steve & Winnie & then going to a Labor Day camping trip at Lake Michigan which was weird -very weird & terrible. (Did I really teach English? What kind of run-on sentence is that ? LOL) A kid named Robbie was there- also Rick DeVries. To this day I call them the bad axis. I was still driving my red Honda Prelude at the time. Anyways I stuck it out for a year at Calvin Seminary & RBC where I finished my Greek- but still had to do Hebrew. Will come back to this later. Right now I'm doing laundry 9am & maps 🌎evangelism 10:30 am. Walmart at noon, ✔ lose shift falls 2pm one-mile battle Crowns Lake 145 -unlimited data activated finally I get EBB 👍. Moulton Falls 2:30 pm. Larch Mountain Correctional Center 3pm. There’re some trails up here including Mount ⛰Larch Peak trail. Stopped at the Dollar Tree. Called DPSS - got snap updated. Prayers 🙏 for the prisoners at Larch Mountain Correctional Center 3pm. Going down by the waterfront -finally we get some sun 🌞. Praying for people who are being persecuted -down & out victims of terror & addiction. I helped a guy with his fishing line- possibly a future disciple. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: St Vincent, St Lucia & Grenadine, a blip chain of islands below Puerto Rico, also Dominica, & Barbados north of Venezuela p62 June 15 Praise God: Thank love, magnify 🔎 unify, glorify. Save one soul. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Sao Tome & Principe, blip off Nigeria, San Marino inside Italy, & Saudi Arabia. More rain falling- walked & cast line near Washougal Park between Camus & Washougal. 3 dudes came up on the dock while I was fishing. It was kind of intimidating at first but they were nice enough - just local yokels. Spent the rest of the day uploading video evangelism. Went down the street to the Regal for discount Tuesday & saw the movie called Peter Rabbit 2. I also saw previews for a movie called Rumble, LeBron's Space Jam. Peter Rabbit 2 notes 📝start here: on a honeymoon flopsy mopsy. She wrote a book. Earplugs, rotten cherry, skunk, tomato, you're not my father, animal right #PrayTheMovies re stewardship & dominion. Let's just make her a bad seed, Peter doesn't like being a bad rabbit but says I'm no goody-goody p 64 he keeps walking around town. He gets captured by a bad gang of animals. Then he gets adopted by human family. They steal food. Prayers4 mental health, & spiritual. They find Peter, prayers for Sandra Vanderlinde re Cliff notes. I remember -yes, I remember. Flashback: she was something else. “My name is Lavoratory" that was funny. Frolick farmers market. They want to steal the dried fruit, flashlight deer
"That’s torch for those who are British." I can't do it alone. I can do all things. I can't do it alone. I can do all things thru CHRIST. That's one of my prayers: can, can't, can, can't, CAN- in Christ ALL things are possible. Transcendence, blow out the spirit of lust wrath sloth pride envy greed gluttony. Peter Rabbit is redeemed- transcendence. And I watched a little bit of The Hitman's Bodyguard with Samuel Jackson- that turned out to be garbage 🗑couldn't stand it👎 😷- actually walked out. But here's a few notes 📝: Ryan Reynolds is in this movie, also Antonio Banderas, & also another Latino actress can't think of her name at the moment. So Ryan Reynolds is seeing a psychiatrist - he's so tired of the violence she tells him to take a vacation & get away from it all & then he gets hooked right back into the bodyguard scene & bombs & guns & everything else - extremely violent (her name is Salma Hayek by the way) he says these answers. Very violent movie & crude. Cannot recommend it 👎. Nothing redemptive at all about it. The GR Talkers started rumors -DJ was probably part of it- two-faced. June 16 Wednesday: Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify -Save one soul #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Senegal, which is near West Africa, Serbia which is adjacent to Romania, & Seychelles which is a blip off Kenya. "Hallow my Sabbath -they shall be a sign between me & you that ye may know I am the Lord your God" Ezekiel 20
P68 "If the wicked will turn from sins he shall not die . . . all his transgressions shall not be mentioned” Ezekiel 18. June 16 continues. 9am At post office no mail 📬for me yet -still waiting 10:30 am. Blood donation $70 12:30 laundry big blankets & pillows- did the big stuff finally 👍. 2pm Walmart video evangelism 3pm Vancouver mall -no rain -warmer but NOT extreme heat. #PrayTheNews: fake president is having a summit with Russian President Putin. p69 Thursday June 17: Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify glorify, Save one soul. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia. And unborn, unreached, unreceptive. Handed a can of vegetables to the homeless man yesterday. 9 a.m. Heritage Park cast my line @ the lake & saw a few kayakers & stand-up paddle boards (SUP). And then over to Round Lake - lots of trails & waterfalls -you would never suspect such a conglomeration of trails, creeks, & waterfalls. Also Pothole Falls👍. I jumped in & used the rope to get back up. The locals are a bit wimpy around here. This is a nice jump spot- tons of kayakers at Round Lake. Ate lunch- then went over to Fallen Leaf Lake- a tiny pond - lots of moms with their tots. Back to Vancouver Mall -warm day but not an extreme heat day Thank God. June 18 Friday: moved from bad location- thought it was a quiet place but crazy stuff started happening. Went over to Hollywood Portland. 6am Portland Zoo here I am. Paid the $8 dollar parking plus the $25 dollar entry fee & stayed at the zoo 🐼🐴🐯🐱🐶🐢🐅 most of the day even though some of it was NOT fully open. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: for Slovenia, Solomon Island, and Somalia. Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify, Save one soul. So in order to make the day a little longer I walked through the zoo x3 to really see the animals & get to know the zoo because you miss so much the first time. Second time you fill in the gaps. Third time get a pretty good idea & you see the changes of the animals during the day - because they'll do different things in the morning & the afternoon. One of the neat things was they feed a whole calf to the condors & also to the big cats. I could see them eating it. The painted dogs are pretty cool too with their chunks of meat. Labracadabra: I command all demons out of here you have no legal rights here Jesus is Lord. Casting for Christ amongst the tourists. Loose & bind. June 19th Saturday: slept in Portland across from Vancouver. Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify, Save one soul. interesting history here near the Portland Raceway - Vanport 🥶 I think is the name of the area. There's also a Walmart here. I did some evangelism ✝ & watched the cars 🏁 🏎on the track at the raceway, & then went to Kelly Point Park where two big rivers merge: the Columbia & the Willamette - swam a little. A lot of people fishing - not sure they're catching much, if anything. Bought a portable blender at Walmart for $10 but will it work with this inverter- I don't know yet. Don't want to blow a fuse.
Evening vigil mass at the Catholic Church in Suburban Portland. Nice greeting by priest but a few 'Karen' parishioners. Later I noticed in the bulletin a strange comment about "that one politician." I did not approve of the comment & I sent an email to the priest about it but he never responded. I noticed that a lot of church bulletins have staff emails listed but every time I've tried using one I've NEVER gotten a response. June 20 Sunday: Proto James Cathedral Vancouver WA - mostly nobody's wearing a mask or few people are - but I get a growl by somebody re masks even though most people aren't wearing them. He was trying to bully me. He was a mask 😷 bully 👎. 9am different church ⛪- this is actually mostly Russian - a passionate church & speaking English & Russian with translator big Russian/ Ukrainian community here in Vancouver - generally nice people. 11 am now at Living Hope- I like the singers here. But the preacher NOT so much 👎. Nor his donuts comment 👎. I need a smag comment about people come in just to get three donuts I didn't even go up for any donuts and I didn't want donuts it doesn't work with me anymore I don't go for the free food or coffee I'm NOT there for the freebies. I want a really good inspirational sermon based on action. That's my ministry - action-based. Plus I actually DON'T like this church too much because the way they do their greeting time- it's manipulative. They actually insult you, NOT so subtly. It was exactly the same way when I came here a few years ago so I know there's a strategy. 2pm blood 💉donation: Allison was there again -she's originally from Clear Lake she said & talked about it. We talked about the strange smell around there which I've noticed twice passing through that area. Spent the rest of the day at Vancouver Mall, & the library for 1 hour. Paid $15 to see the Spark Brothers movie. Normally I would not pay that much for a movie but this was just to stay cool -so hot even at midnight - I had the boutique theatre all to myself 👍... It was a small theater for special showings and had some very nice comfortable couches - literally I could lay down, & did. .Clippers lose game one versus Suns 🏀. Hawks are playing 76ers -neither team will make it to the finals. Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: including South Africa, South Korea, & South Sudan. Spark Brothers movie notes: One of the brothers has a Hitler mustache. The other has a snow globe collection.
The Spark Brothers have 25 albums -originally from Southern California- their father was an artist. They loved Hollywood, something about Blackbeard jungle movie "scratchy old film by the Golden Gate''. Russ & Ron are their first names. Mavel is their last name I think. They drove to Las Vegas to see the Beatles. One of them played quarterback in high school. They both attended UCLA. Something about urban renewal project. They like the Kinks & the Who, & Todd Rundgren liked them. The original name of their group was Half Nelson. The other kid was from Santa Fe New Mexico. Their first album did not do very well. They try a new name. They were on food stamps for a while. They go to London- the old gray whistle test something about the Go-Go's girl & top of the pops show. They used in gig but it did not do very well - woofer & tweeter clothing? They actually moved to England for a while, one looks kind of like Charlie Chaplin. They mentioned Duran Duran and also Pete Townsend as inspirations. UK loves them more than USA. To this day many Americans still do NOT know who they are. I did not know who they were when I came in to watch the movie. In 1975 they did an album called Indiscreet. Back to the USA just 2 brothers now. Big beat movie. Roller coaster -new drummer Number One in Heaven album -they used a synthesizer before it became a thing. The next album was Terminal Jive. 1981 album is called Whomp that Sucker, 1982 Angst in My, 1983 in Outer Space. #PrayTheMovies re using creativity to glorify God. Early 80's Los Angeles they were at the top even playing at the Hollywood Bowl. One of the Go-Go Girls does commentary in this movie. Next album called Pulling Rabbits out of a Hat in 1984. There was also an album called "Change” & a 1986 album called Music that you can Dance To. #PrayTheMovies: BE creative for Christ. KROQ played their music for a while. The next album called When do I get to Sing my Way, which was number one in Germany. 1997 something about plagiarism, 2000 album called Balls, 2002 album called Little Beethoven -they sing the same lyrics over & over & over. 2006 album called Hello Young Lovers. 2008 Exotic Creature of the Deep. 2009 album was called Seduction of Ingmar Bergman. 2015 FFS with France Ferdinand something like that,
("FFS is the only studio album by Scottish-American supergroup FFS, consisting of members from the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand and the American band Sparks…" wiki ) 2020 a Steady Drip. Plus, this movie in 2021. Monday -extreme heat day two #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan. Praise God: Thank love magnify 🔎 unify glorify - Save one soul. 10 am finally general delivery arrives I get my new credit card 💳 👍. 11 am Wal-Mart. noon back to Round Lake -down by the falls- jump in at Pothole Falls & the dam falls. p79 3pm back by the marina- it's still very hot. 4pm going to Salem Oregon. Slept in Salem. June 22 Tuesday: noon mass at Saint Joseph ⛪in Salem. Doug Vandergriend has an office nearby -he's a lawyer here. I remember his family from Grand Rapids -Jody his sister & of course his dad the pastor at Alger CRC. 1pm Halie Art Museum - pretty nice little museum & it's a free day- It's part of Willamette University -although you do pay $1.50 for parking. 230pm Old Town Salem, Waterfront Park, 330 Minto Brown Park, 530 Island Park - very cool cast my lines- swam a little, hiked a little around the Willamette River 6:30 Walmart video evangelism. The dudes of Salem love loud exhausts.
P80 Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎 🔎, unify, glorified. Save 1 soul. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland. Paid $83 San Francisco parking citation. Also paid the Bay Bridge toll $6 - no service fee but I had to be on hold on the phone for 90 minutes - so crazy😞. Notice the difference between Ghana in Africa vs Guyana in South America plus there's actually a French Guiana which is even spelled differently as well & then you have Guinea versus Guinea Bissau in Africa versus New Guinea (an island near Australia - half of which is West Papua). Then you have the two slight differences in the Congos & the slight differences in Sudans etc- all of which makes a BIG difference. Walked at Bush Pastor Park near Salem Hospital 9am. June 23 continues- high noon mass at Saint Joseph again. Coffee ☕at McDonald's with cup of ice on the side. 12:45 River Road City Park & splash pad - there is also a homeless camp down by the Riverbank. Kids there with their moms -strange how they sort of peacefully co-exist next to the homeless camp. In this day and age every action seems to be watched by people I realize and they make their own personal interpretations {usually not the most positive) when they don't know for sure what's going on. Case in point: I'm curious about what's down by the river - maybe I can locate a good fishing spot- so I walk down there and find out there's a homeless camp, and I walk back to my car and I can tell that a few people have interpreted that action as something nefarious- maybe they think I'm going down there to make a drug deal - maybe they think I'm one of the homeless myself even though they can see I have a car which is not an old beater. The whole world is a stage and somebody's always watching and they're usually judging you mostly negatively. Unfortunately, most people if they have a choice between making a negative or positive judgment about other people they will choose the negative. But they will always choose the positive about themselves. It's very hypocritical and self serving. I think Jesus spent a lot of his time preaching about this problem. Next up is Sunset Park, a small slice of land on the river in a residential area. No homeless here. Seems like they know where they can or can't go. Next Palma Ciea Park -also by the river. Next Kaiser Rapids Park- took a swim in a bigger area including boat ramp. Next, I go to Spongs Landing- county park 5pm on the river -quiet - not many people here, & then end the day with Walmart evangelism & videos. June 24 Thursday. Praise God: Thank love, magnify 🔎, unify glorify. Save one soul. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania. Slept in Salem. Took another walk at Bush Pasture Park.
Yesterday that homeless lady came up to my car - right as I pulled in she wanted me to light her cigarette 🚬 & I closed the window. I didn't want to help her smoke but I felt bad about it later & then I also noticed after my hike that somebody had keyed my car - wonder if it was her. I mean I have to try to not to be judgmental about their lifestyle but I suppose I could have lit her cigarette -that's not so bad. So I learned from that to show a certain kind of grace not just like something my dad would do about "you shouldn't smoke." Back to McDonald's 11 am coffee ☕ & then back to Saint Joseph Church 12 - noon mass - same person there- working in the kitchen area says hi - real friendly. 1pm across the river to the park not much there. 2pm back at Spong Park- cast 🎣 my line- took a swim 🏊. Couple of kids & moms drifting in the current. 530pm now at volcanoes🌋stadium 🏟 - independent baseball game -Mavericks versus Senators. That was fun to watch along the 5-freeway. "Time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant & a time to pluck up that which is planted " Eccles 3. For everything there is a season & a time to every purpose under heaven. June 25 Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify. Save one soul. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Thailand, Timor Leste, & Togo is a slice between Benin & Ghana in West Africa. Cancel blood donation at 1 go to blood2 75. TG was there. Other 1 asking "my plans for the weekend" & I said I will probably go to Seattle. Mentioned Miami tragedy (condo collapse) & alligators. Spent rest of day at Round Lake & Pothole Falls.
June 26 slept in Astoria - 2-hour drive from Vancouver. Praise God: Thankify (oops that was a typo, but maybe that should be a word- a combination of Thank and glorify the Lord= Thankify! Glorify. Unify. Save one soul. Saturday heat wave begins. 8 am - hiked to Astoria Column. 10:30 AM nearby park. 12 noon at Walmart in Seaside. I remember this place where I returned a bunch of items. 1 pm Sunset Beach in Seaside - you can drive 🚗on the beach here. How did I miss this last time? Wonderful. A lot of cars out on the beach to beat the heat - swim in the water- it's still pretty cold so not many people in the water just by the water. "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” Romans 4.8. The Latinos & others who drop out of school become junior bosses because they are relying on conformity. mij himself relies on this phenomenon. He was not a big thinker & nil likewise - they prefer the status quo without thinking- go through motions. Irony none of the P-sis including nil were very entrepreneurial. They were a bit spoiled & lazy although Nil was very involved in music & cheerleading etc. She was not necessarily an intellectual who would become idealistic or creative nor original. She actually acquiesced to marrying a jock -a 🏀 star 🌟 -she thought it was the top of the world. But Mij could not necessarily transform college basketball stardom into ministry stardom - being tall & athletic doesn’t necessarily translate into being star pastor. He tried to use his body in ministry to dominate. He would use that style as a parent as well.
There are days when I reflect on West Michigan youth & realize how "high impact" our family was in the culture there & all the defensive posturing & even some dysfunction it caused - our family being high performance lifestyle & there was a generational shift that will take a generation to outgrow & be able to look back & understand that phenomena & the witch hunt by some Calvinists to cover up their own blemishes. June 27th Sunday: slept in Astoria - extreme heat continues. St Mary Catholic Church in Astoria & 10 AM Walmart returned the flashlight radio I thought it might be handy to have one of these case of emergency or otherwise but you have to keep winding this thing with your hand to make the flashlight work or radio work and it only stays on for a few minutes and then you have to start whining again a little ridiculous so much winding. 11:30 a.m. back at Sunset Beach Seaside day2. "Behold the man whose name is the branch & he shall grow up out of his place & he shall build the temple” Zechariah 6 And the streets shall be full of boys & girls playing..." Zechariah 8. 5pm here at the beach in Seaside the water is up to the edge of the grass area. So if you had parked down close to the water it would be partially underwater by now - took another swim - so refreshing- a family from India parked next to me. Monday June 28 yesterday I prayed for Turkey north of Israel, & Turkmenistan adjacent to Afghanistan, & Tuvalu a blip east of Australia. Today I pray for Uganda, Ukraine, & United Arab Emirates near Saudi Arabia. The heat wave continues: in Seattle it is 104 right now. NOT as hot here in Astoria near Seaside but getting up there. “They shall be my people & I will be their God in truth & righteousness“ Zechariah 8. Back to the Walmart at 9am walk around the Skipanon River which is kind of mucky- then over to seaside cove - big beach (but when tide rises it becomes much smaller) & went bodysurfing 🏄without the fins. Took a break did some maps 🌎evangelism. And I did another search session. Then I took another break - more maps evangelism. Now it's a full high tide that covers most of the beach 🌴. Lots of long borders here. One grandma with boogie board & fins. "What is the hope of the hypocrite though he hath gained everything -when God takes away his soul " Job 27.8. Now I'm close to the swimmers & surfers 🏄 here -most with wetsuits except for me. It's windy & gusty and sunny- I got a little sunburn. I slept great with help from the blood of Jesus & a sleeping pill - experienced vivid dream re the redneck family. A bit disturbing re the future of West Michigan & CRC culture - something that can't be recaptured. They went over the falls & are trying to be blank - or am I the one to bring them back to save them, or should I let them go astray? If they WON'T listen, I must let them go. June 29 Tuesday 8am hiking Tillamook Head Trail up & down the rocks & roots & mud along the Oregon coast. There was a guy & girl hiking - very ambitious. 1pm back at Seaside Cove take a swim- using the fins- out by the surfers- talking to a few of them. 3pm maps evangelism #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏 including USA, UK, & Uganda. June 30 Wednesday, #PrayTheNews: Bill Cosby is suddenly released from prison on a technical issue that sets him free -he cannot be retried. Coffee ☕ at McDonald’s in Kelso. There's a combined Methodist Presbyterian Church ⛪ here. Oregon Washington Bridge Longview Kelso. There's a Grand Rapids here in Oregon as well - went through it but nothing to see. The Japanese garden at Sacajawea Park was closed. Saw the squirrel bridge over the road - neat. Finally a cool day & overcast 👍. North 411 instead of 5 Cowlitz river cast my line 🎣- nice park by river. Riverside Park looks nice but probably no fish -water moving too fast. Now it's already 130 pm City of Castle Rock 139pm, Cowlitz Mission 215 pm, Chehalis 245pm. Gas ⛽ for $3.47 at Centralia 3pm. Skookumchuck river.
City of Bucoda 311 pm. Macintosh 315 pm, City of Rainier 330pm "Fasting erodes resistance to God's grace" City of Yelm 345pm. City of McKenna & Nisqually River, City of Roy 353 angry passer - new blood locations 6pm, Praise God: Thank love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify. Save one soul #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Uzbekistan near Afghanistan, Vanuatu Blip Island near Australia, & Venezuela. Yesterday I prayed for UK, USA & Uruguay. Trump derangement syndrome is a similar phenomenon to California license plate derangement syndrome. July 1 Praise God: Thank, love, magnify 🔎, unify, glorify, Save one soul. #CountryPrayer 🌎 🙏: Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Walmart 9 a.m. evangelism Lowes 11 am evangelism 3:30 p.m. FedEx office copies made, 1:30 pm swim at Fenster Nature Park & Big Bend Green River - nobody else there - filled up gas ⛽ for a $3.39 at Auburn Marathon. Cast my line 🎣 at 5- Mile Lake Park. City of Lakeland South? Also did some maps evangelism 🌎 & took a swim across the lake & back. Kids running around with dad out on the dock while I was casting my line. It's a pain when you just want to be left alone but everybody puts measured emphasis on every movement or gesture you make - very tiring. The water was warmer than any other water I've been in the past few weeks. The nearby camp kept ringing a bell. Their dock was ugly -with big bold letters saying PRIVATE. Ruins the vibe. Shrimp & turkey sausage & good yogurt. now #PrayTheMovies: The Code with Morgan Freeman & Antonio Banderas, the contract with Morgan Freeman & John Cusack, Maiden Heist with Morgan Freeman & that other actor. Drive to Friday Catholic Mass in Fife at St. Martin of Tours Church 8:30 am. 10 a.m. blood donation, through Fife Heights, Browns Point Lighthouse Park closed, – State Park, need Discovery Pass. City of Lakota or community near Federal Way, passed by Saltwater State Park, & back to Des Moines Washington - they DO have a waterfront here. I did not realize this last time I was here. I go over to Angle Lake Park - a nice spot & take a swim here. They have a splash pad as well 4:30 pm. July 3 slept near Sea-Tac Airport at the Holiday Inn across from Angle Lake Park -still Des Moines Washington. I did not realize I was so close to Sea-Tac. Lots of air traffic. Now ☕ at McDonalds in Des Moines - slow drive-thru. Saint Philomena ⛪Catholic - sore throat going away after a good sleep. They don't have a 9 a.m. mass on Saturday but they hadn't updated their website. The lady just told me when I asked. 10 a.m. to noon I hike Des Moines Creek Trail -4 miles to the Puget Sound & they have a farmers market today.
The trail is directly under SeaTac flight ✈path so it's kind of noisy. You can go off the main trail - lots of little dirt trails & raspberries but watch out for the thorns 1 pm. Seahurst Park -seaweed water not very nice. Hornets & lots of broken window glass - a cop on patrol. Lincoln Park has a historic saltwater pool -but you have to pay to use. Instead I took a swim in the sound which is pretty clear water in this location - nice enough Ferry Landing- also at Lane Lincoln Park takes you across 3 p.m. I go to Alki Beach West Seattle- first view of the Seattle skyline & needle. 5 p.m. mass at Holy Rosary Church. Back to Angle Lake area. Slept at the Holiday Inn again. 4th of July today 8:30 a.m. back at Saint Philomena ⛪-this time they do have mass. 10 a.m. Saint Francis Assisi Mass. 11:30 am Kubota Garden free admission - nice little place. 12:30 now there's a lady in black at the Kubota Garden - she was a little strange- everywhere I went suddenly there she was as well. 1 p.m. Bellevue Botanic Gardens also nice & free - bigger than the Japanese garden p 99 2:30 p.m. Idylwood Park on Lake Sammamish - popular busy overflow parking- took a swim- warm water lots of boats out on the water for 4th of July 🎆 🇺🇸. Did some evangelism there. Pray4 good seeds 🌱 & good soil. Driving 🚗 down the road I just happened to come across Bellevue Christian Reformed Church ⛪. Turned around to take a picture of it. Drove through Marymoor Park $1 parking - big place - there's a windmill here as well. Slept in Bellevue 5th of July -started out 8:40 a.m. at the Sacred Heart Church ⛪in Bellevue so awkward because hardly anybody there & then the priest came directly up to me which actually made me feel more uncomfortable . I left early- turns out there's another Catholic church called Holy Family down the street in Kirkland which I prefer -& busier on a daily basis. They have a new priest there so he doesn't know I'm a newcomer too. 9:30 a.m. Meydenbauer Bay Park - walk the dock -they have a big swim 🏊 area- actually it's not that big when the lifeguards are on duty because you have to stay in a smaller area. There were some diehards already swimming though & stand up paddle boarding which you can rent as well.
11 a.m. Now at Chism Beach Park & lifeguard- maybe 3 - did some evangelism in the parking lot. There's an old cabin here. Deer across the road on the way in, raspberries as well. 12 noon Burrows Landing is not a park; there's maybe one parking space. 1215 pass by Chesterfield Beach Park either. 12:30 Luther Burbank Park this is the big one- big parking area lots of walking space -they have a playground with a zipline & fishing docks on Mercer Island. And a swimming 🏊 area. I took 2 swims here. Walked to both ends of the park. The sun 🌞 finally broke through & got warm. Lots of boats & fishermen. The dog man moved my towel. Then I explored Mercer Island- a few public beaches here - & trails- refilled water. DID evangelism at Clark Beach.
Tuesday July 6th 8:40 a.m. Holy Family Kirkland- first time here I like it - busy Mass for a weekday compared to Sacred Heart Bellevue. Then I went to McDonald's for a coffee ☕ & did maps evangelism 🌎. Tuesday movie discount day 1 p.m. Cinemark beautiful theater in the area- saw Fast & Furious movie called F9 -it was okay- not great- some decent action - the magnet was unique. #PrayTheMovies: I look for prayer topics as I'm watching a movie but here's the notes 📝 from the movie: race cars crash, dangling cross ✝ in car on girl’s necklace. This cross ✝ became a theme or leitmotif - his dad burns to death in a race 🏎car crash 🔥. The younger brother looks like Obama - actually that's supposed to be the young Vin Diesel - (I saw him at the Hollywood star ceremony - for some reason he did NOT want to get out of his car & the ceremony started late even though he was there sitting in his car - it's like they had to talk him out of his car. (you know where God is in your hearts she says as she gives the child the cross necklace. Pray4 🙏 family reconciliation in this film - the family is enemies of each other- the two brothers at least based on a misunderstanding- so that often happens. Family feuds can last a long time- the cross seems meaningless in this case at least at first. Your English accent made you sound smarter than you are. That was funny. One cool thing in this movie was the magnetic truck & the magnetic airplane that basically scoops up a car driving off the cliff - how unrealistic is that- or is it possible? I did a little research - NOT very possible- but cool nonetheless. Wonder Woman makes a brief cameo in this - also Kurt Russell plays a recurring role. Montequinto plane crash in jungle. He changes his mind. "Careful is when you get hurt." Get out the spirit of lust, wrath, sloth, pride, envy, greed, gluttony. In the name & blood of Jesus I command all demons out of here you have no legal rights here. Jesus is Lord. "Peligro minas -what does that mean? Landmine." Chase. Another theme for #PrayTheMovies 🎥 🙏 is to let go of anger & revenge. One of the actors in this movie -last name Cena has been highly criticized for his apology to China for calling Taiwan a Country. Drag race, Echo Park Los Angeles, flashback. Fast & Furious F9 notes 📝continued. So these two guys are putting a jet engine on a Fiero. Dom is the name of Vin Diesel in the movie - he misinterpreted his brother's actions at the race. His brother tells him that his dad was trying to lose the race in order to pay off a big debt. Changed seats while watching a movie. Beautiful theater with reclining seats. I think this is the best movie theater in the greater Seattle area-the Totem section of Kirkland. Prayers4 Jim & Linda as I'm watching- also the Peter sisters, & MVG & VG's because I'm not far from where they live here in Kirkland at the moment also HBMJ, & KBMD, mij nil repent - got to have faith. Faith is not a number. "Spoiled rich kids run the world." Every day Alex Jones has another end of the world chapter. p 105 July 6th continues. After F9 Fast & Furious I went to Idylwood Park on Lake Sammamish & took a swim in the City of Redmond. It's warm again. I parked at the Extended Stay Bellevue -never forget. Moved over to Holy Family area in Kirkland. There is hardly any good data connection here- not many T-Mobile towers strangely- given Bellevue is there USA corporate headquarters.
July 7th Wednesday 8:40 a.m. mass at Holy Family. The new priest has been to a lot of places including a stint as campus chaplain at Stanford. 10 a.m. cougar zoo - very small but kind of interesting. They have some very cool reindeer, lots of parrots, a cougar of course, some Bengal tigers, some great lemurs that make some funny sounds, Gary the volunteer a bit strange, 2:30 p.m. swim to buoy at Idylwood Park, Lake Sammamish. There's grass growing on the dock. p 106 July 7 Wednesday continues, refill water at Idylwood. They have hot showers here too by the way - very nice. Now I'm back at the Totem area I stumbled upon a few years ago.
July 8th Thursday. Prayers for Jim & Lin- they should be in Michigan by now on their annual vacation. 9 a.m. mass at Redmond Church ⛪. Pass by Cottage Grove Lake -memories from a few years ago -sat on the bench- also walked the dock. People fishing. Man throwing a ball for his dog 🐕to fetch in the water. YMCA outdoor pool with nice slide here as well. Then I stopped by Martha's Lake Park & I walked to the swimming 🏊 beach 🌴. One lady staring while jogging in parking lot. I hate it when people stare. And why is she jogging in the parking lot by the way? Fred Meyer Gas ⛽ edge of Everett. At the Walmart by Martha's lake the Hindu clerk at the self-checkout was a jerk 👎- some of these people from India can be very supercilious - a supremacy complex -usually hidden but when it comes out - it comes out in a bad way. And then at the Fred Meyer gas another Hindu attendant also was kind of a jerk comes out & says “The children I deal with". Another Hindu supremacist. That was at the Walmart in Lynnwood by the way by Martha's Lake - video evangelism- & I started a new Twitter account just to expose the supremacy of India -Americans from the Country of India- NOT to be confused with Native Americans here in USA - I found out that Hindu people do have a problem with some things. They should NOT be working as clerks then. Discovered Silverlake 2 pm-love it great beach & frisbee golf course👍. Funny guy was reciting lines verbatim from Star Wars while wading in the shallow area. Lake water is clear & clean here, plus they have showers. I hate it when people drive up & get out & yell loudly "Did you lock it? '' It's more like virtue signaling. I'm moving on from there. Twitter locked me out temporarily for defending Kyle Rittenhouse -apparently somebody complained but I DO defend him & I thought his actions were self-defense.
July 9 Friday 8:30 am Mass back in Fife, 9:30 blood donation pause because my protein is low. 10:30 am back at 5 Mile Lake, 2 p.m. take a swim. Earlier I did some YouTube evangelism & also bought a Mariner's Angels ticket online for Sunday game $16. July 8th Saturday - made my way over to downtown Seattle- slept by St. James Cathedral 8 am Mass. 9:30 a.m. Volunteer Park has spacious grounds & a giant old water tank. Normally you can walk up to the top & see the view but I guess it's closed now because of covid. There's also the Asian Art 🖼Museum here - $15 admission fee (or whatever you can afford). And there's the conservatory for $4. Next to the park is the cemetery where Bruce Lee is laid to rest & his son Brandon which is highlighted on Google Maps for some reason. Otherwise I wouldn't have noticed it. I was never a big fan of Bruce Lee but I did walk over there & take a picture. There's also a little kiddie swimming pond in Volunteer Park. I had a very clear vision of Barb & the bad axis intentionally doing what they did to me - ice cold. Took another walk at Volunteer Park. And I drove past Saint Joseph Church & Immaculate Conception - the other big Catholic churches in this area. Big Swedish Hospital - the Swedes have a big presence here in Seattle area - & you see it in their fair skin. Seattle College. In conversation with Mike Malice, Alex Jones revealed how close he was to going over to the dark side -he has an interesting life actually. I just wish he wouldn’t get so crude on things every now & then. If he could avoid that, he could be more mainstream but he likes being a bit of a redneck persona. July 11 Sunday 8 am Mass St James, & then again 10 a.m. mass at St James b/c I want to walk to the Mariners ⚾ game - so I don't want to leave my parking place. The only place it's free by the church all day. I saw the Archbishop & I yelled "No communion for Biden" as he was walking by outside. He refused to look my way. 11 am Frye Art Museum quick walkthrough. 12 noon arriving at Mariners T-Mobile stadium for a game versus the Angels. I witnessed Ohtani Mania. I actually walked up to where he was signing autographs & got a good video which is going a bit viral & I made sure to take pictures & videos of him at bat as well. This is the final game before the All-Star break. And he will be participating in the Home Run Derby. So that was not a bad walk to the ballpark from St James - a few bad areas but I managed to avoid those - & not that far -it's very do-able. Even made it back for the 5:30 p.m. mass at St James. Quite hungry by this time & a little tired. Last night I had a strange vivid dream about Mark Peters & Butterball - they wanted to hire me to boost sales. Why aren't they selling butter in grocery stores? July 12 Monday 8am at Saint James Church - spent almost all day at Volunteer Park doing Maps🌎 evangelism.
July 13th Tuesday 8 a.m. Mass at Saint James. Now I go to Discovery Park at 9:30 a.m. This is partially an old military - Fort Lawton including a lighthouse- although I didn't walk that far - high bluff -big drop-off. And at 11 a.m. I made it to Commodore Park & the Ballard Locks & Botanical Gardens. I watch the boats go thru the locks which allows passage from the Puget Sound to Union Lake to Lake Washington. Also at the Visitor Center I found a brand-new Seattle Sounders soccer ⚽ ball. I asked around & nobody knew anything about it. They have some of those plants here that eat insects. A guy asked me to take a picture 📷of him & his family & then his kid kept posturing awkwardly. Weird.
July 13th Tuesday continues at noon Golden Gardens Park- it's kind of nice took a swim in the Puget Sound $2 parking. Suspicious guy in parking lot. Now I'm at the AMC movie theater for the 2 p.m. showing of Black Widow- which is getting lot of fanfare but actually the movie WASN'T that great -just another Marvel movie - people follow Marvel so avidly - they love anything as long as it has the Marvel logo. They are "brand loyal". Here are my #PrayTheMovies notes 📝: kid on a bike in the suburbs of Ohio 1995. Dad says "pain makes you stronger” & the dad is nervous. Fireflies. " today's the day bye-bye America" they escape- the chase -it's not clear what's going on here at the beginning but it will become clear later on. They fly out while being shot at by cops. Now they're in Cuba. Is he a spy? Father and mother & two girls. One of the actors includes William Hurt. They take the two girls. Now 21 years later in Morocco, also Budapest -the Darth Vader figure. Audrey was a gal at Calvin & then she thought she was Hollywood or something. Also veterans cemetery Repose prayer. Scarlett Johansson looks a bit like Lady Gaga. They're playing the song now by Nirvana called "Here we are now entertain us “continue the movie Black Widow - good girl fight, antidote to mind control, Scarlet moral dilemma. "My mom abandoned me in the street like garbage." Red Guardian -flabby man in prison escapes Prison by helicopter as avalanche buries the jail. Your time of month - aggression "I don't have a uterus dipstick." A crash. "Don't slouch" says her mom. Calvin College ring. The mother seems wicked -but is she? Not sure yet. Does she have a dark side? Now she's at the red room. Maybe not. #PrayTheMovies: trust in the Holy Spirit rather than trying to take everything into your own ends. Pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit. Prayers for Jim & Linda while I'm watching the movie: repent & be baptized, re free will, "The red stuff humanizes them". I got into this movie for free using my AMC card & Tuesday discount. The real world is a plane crash -shipwrecked & we're all aboard. Holy Spirit is our only hope. God power. The real world is real people interacting. After the movie I also went to Carkeek Park- unique name. It has trails near the Puget Sound but water is very slimy here. After Carkeek I went to Lake Ballinger Beach & walked the green pasture- it's like a golf course to the beach - lots of goose stuff but the water is very clean & clear.
July14 Wednesday: slept near Lynnwood 8 a.m. St. Pius Church good. Mountlake Terrace, Lowe's video evangelism 930m Scriber Lake Park, path around Pond. Latino fishing. It was a clean place- trail well maintained. Then I went to Martha's Lake again & refilled my water bottles, feel exhausted -ask the Lord for rejuvenation. Then back to Fred Meyer. This is a different one - I didn't realize this at first & I found some rhubarb- cooked it up later that day & it was delicious - especially with raisins added to it. Easy to make. Right after I took a few stalks of rhubarb off the produce shelf an Asian guy came behind me & took all the rest of it -what a pig 🐖. Also bought some whey protein bars, peanut butter, and raisins. And I went to Silver Lake, took a swim x3 & played Frisbee golf. Kid swimming with fins on the other fishing dock. He seemed concerned when I approached but I was just walking on the dock like anybody else enjoying the park & the view. Not there to arrest him- I'm not a cop. Another young girl swimming too far out. I asked "Are you a good swimmer?” She thought she was but it concerned me because her mouth was so close to the water & barely seemed to be staying above- but I swim that way sometimes too & people get wrongly concerned about me. As I was cooking the rhubarb later that day there was another guy doing something strange with his pickup truck & acting a little weird. And then there was another guy doing gourmet cooking off the back of his truck he had all the equipment look very satisfied. Slept in Lynnwood.
July 15 Thursday 7:30 a.m. Catholic mass in Everett. 8:30 am dining inside McDonald's for first time in a long time at a - still a lot of them won't allow it but this one does 👍. 9:30 a.m. Howarth Park on the Puget Sound looks nice for a warm day but right now it's 50 degrees & cloudy maybe come back here sometime later. Through Everett & Old Town past the Jetty Island -very gloomy overcast day unfortunately. Finally it got sunny 🌞 around 5 p.m. Now I'm at the Evergreen Arboretum Gardens very nice small but beautiful 3 p.m. Also the Langus riverfront. Synchronicities: "get the popcorn" on Red State Radio as I'm making popcorn also. And you rarely hear anybody talk about bowling 🎳 on the radio 📻 but it just happened right as I'm uploading a bowling alley picture for Google 🌎 Maps. Are you kidding me? 4 p.m. now I'm at Marysville 📚 Library just happened upon it & turned in- one hour on the computer- strange worker staring at me. 5 p.m. Lundeen Park on Lake Stevens - medium sized lake- there's a sea plane docked next to the park. I did a 45-minute treading water exercise. By the way, Spencer Island has a nice big natural area. Must come back to hike it sometime. Stayed at Lundeen Park in Lake Stevens from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. kids fishing on the dock. Took a swim.
July 16th Friday slept in Maryville at the Native American casino. 8 a.m. took a walk at the park at Jennings Memorial Park which includes Botanical Garden. 10:30 a.m. mass at St Mary Church. 11:30 a.m. Granite Falls. 1230 Jordan Bridge also known as the Swinging Bridge (2 motorcycle dudes), 1:30 p.m. River Meadows County Park in Arlington. This is the Stillaguamish River. 2 p.m. Arlington BK two cheeseburgers -drive thru clerk with tattoos, 3 p.m. 18-hole frisbee golf at the Twin Rivers Park South & North Fork of the Stillaguamish River. 5 p.m. Lake Goodwin Community Park 45 minutes swim shallow water here. Kids playing wiffle ball. Pray 🙏for good Christian leaders to rise up. Also Wenberg Park is nearby- but that requires a $10 fee while Goodwin Lake Park is free. Back to Marysville. When you park away from hotel entrance only to find out you're in the prime dog-walking & cigarette smoking zone. July 17th Saturday slept in Marysville near the St. Mary Church 9 a.m. mass at St Mary & funeral mass today plus hi -brow lady. Mahi tuna steaks are pretty good for a few days 10 a.m. Walmart evangelism. Back on 9 highway through Arlington, City of Bryant, City of Pilchuck, up Highway 9 - a convoy of Ferraris 🏎 behind me. Took a rest at the overlook golf course ⛳11 a.m. Watched golfers try to hit over the pond on the first hole - most of them couldn't make it, poor fellas. 3 p.m. Took a swim in Clear Lake- guy was fishing for bluegills. Nice beach & warm water near Skagit River, Skagit County. 4 p.m. past Winnie De Vries Brinks childhood home/ farm 🚜 in Mount Vernon- there's the dairy 🐄 farm where she came from - the cows were eating. It was dinner time right by Thillberg road for the cows. That puts things in a little bit of a context. Mount Vernon is a very beautiful idyllic community. I remember driving through here during Tulip Time as well. Beautiful. I made it to 5 p.m. mass at Immaculate Conception - a beautiful brand-new Church ⛪ building 6 p.m. Also gave two cans of food to beggars at the church as I was leaving. Some of these beggars can be a bit arrogant. Apparently, he thinks I do it to get God's blessing from him. Actually it's a bit strange -some actually think they're superior to you. Passed the Mount Vernon baseball ⚾ field & watched a few free innings of baseball -not sure which teams or league this is, but they were pretty good- maybe high school or early college -near the Skagit Fairgrounds.
7/18/21 Sunday from Mount Vernon to Samish Island to Bellingham. Samish Island is kind of neat -although it's not actually an island. There were some people clamming early in the morning just wading in the water with a pole & pals. I walked down on the beach for a few minutes but not much to do there. Made it to Assumption ⛪Church at 11 a.m. - a nice church & young priests who seem to be self-aware. One of them talked about allowing the congregation's voices to be heard. I've always had a problem with this- sometimes you have a priest who seems to always want to drown out the congregation even when it's the congregations turn to speak. 12 noon went down by the wharf -sat there for a little while by the boats -by the marina resting. 3 p.m. to Lake Padden great place for swimming & paddle boarding. There's no houses or cottages or cabins - it's ALL public. You can walk around it as well as people swimming & paddle boarding & different floating devices. There's also a rope swing on the other side - so I swam across and did the rope swing a few times & I walked halfway back & swam the rest of the way to my original spot. Beautiful day. Then I had some ice cream🍦 for a nightcap -non-lactose seems to be work better for me. July 19 Monday 8 a.m. started at $2 Trail to Fragrance Lake 1.7 Mi. -but then I took the long way back adding almost four miles to the 6-mile total plus elevation - a lot of rocks & roots on the ridge trail - was NOT expecting this & there are NO shortcuts. But you do get some great views at Fragrance Lake. There's a gigantic tree 🌳 that fell right into the middle of the lake -you can walk out on it & walk around the lake - kids fishing there. And then you can go up towards Cypress Gate & Lost Lake but I turned back about halfway. It did not look very interesting - & too long. And then I took a side trail to upper ridge as mentioned & that was really long & difficult - beware of spraining ankle.
After that I went to Teddy Bear 🐻 Cove & took a brief swim 🏊. Going back up an angry guy yelled at me for taking a shortcut. I ignored him- I had an emergency. I think he saw my license plate & had California license plate derangement syndrome. He had "marked" me on the way down. Fortunately, I was able to dodge him & NOT see him again. Remember that as a teachable moment. 3:15 p.m. Back at Lake Padden - took another swim & did some maps evangelism & then I went back to the4- Points Sheraton 🏨, a beautiful place.
July 20 Tuesday 8 a.m. starting hike to Oyster Dome - another good hike. First, I went to Samish Overlook which was not necessary I realized later. And then I actually took a different way to Oyster Dome than most people take - called the Max shortcut past Lily Lake (although it's actually not shorter it's longer). Lots of cool places back this way & nobody hikes here - I could see that the trail was rarely used. Lily Lake is NOT actually a mud hole but that's the 1st impression I got when I initially saw part of it from the trail. You have to go back a little ways & you see it's a nice little pond - not very swimmable though. Later I would go to Lizard Lake & once again ended up hiking probably 10 or 11 miles when it is normally just a seven- or eight-mile hike. One nice smile on the hike & a nice family, Thank-you helped make it a nice experience. Seattle hasn't had rain in over 30 days I just heard on the radio. That's very rare. After the hike I went to Clayton Beach -a nice surprise. Much better than Teddy Bear Cove. July 21 Wednesday: rest & relaxation day- resting the sore legs from two days of straight hiking & doing maps 🌎evangelism. Spent most of the day at Boulevard Park. Watched the group doing slack line. Took a brief walk. 6 p.m. watched the Bellingham Bells baseball game & researched the ferry to Alaska. That's another way to go instead of crossing the border. And it leaves right from Bellingham. You can take the car or you can just go as individual passenger. July 22 Thursday Walmart 9:30 a.m., Asian market 11:30 a.m. bought some butane for $8, past Tennant Lake Park- didn't see much there. Thru historic Ferndale City & thru Mountain View City. Past Lake Terrell State game Refuge, thru Kickerville City. Took walk at Point Whitehorn Park - longer than it looks on the map -down to the Strait of Georgia- the water is grassy but not slimy. You can wade in it. Thru Birch Bay- memorable moment as a deer was by the water's edge - nobody seemed to notice except me. To Semiahmoo point in Blaine. Little beach by resort with Canada skyscrapers in distance across Boundary Bay. This is also where the historic Plover Ferry crosses to Blaine - for $5 - but it's NOT running right now because of covid. Then over to downtown Blaine in the Marine Park from where I can see the Peace ✌Arch which is where you go through when you enter Canada. There's not much here at the marine park but there are wild raspberries. Large group of India- Americans gathered together. One Hindu kid says to me in a spoiled American voice "Are any of those ripe?” And I started saying "some are"- but he interrupted & said something kind of abrupt as if he didn't even want to hear my answer. I've had some bad experiences with a few people from India here in America. I say India- Americans but too often that gets confused with Native Americans & if I just say Indians that's confusing as well so I guess I just have to stay with India Americans or Hindus (ie people who came from the Country of India who are now Americans, even if not all are Hindu - in fact some of them actually have become Christian but still have room for much personal growth in the faith AND humility). I learned later that Indo-American is the proper terminology. Some of them have a supremacy complex. I can see the Peace Arch as mentioned & there's NOT much traffic even though Canada announced they wanted to reopen, I think the USA said not yet. So now I don't know what the status is. I drive back to Semiahmoo to take a swim at the resort area. There's lots of water around here but finding the clean water is the tricky part. Many parts of the coast around the Puget Sound are green & have slimy seaweed but this place right here is nice & clear -a bit salty- & now it's high tide. Nobody is here anymore. IT was full of people earlier today. Enjoyed cooling off. Then I went back to Bellingham Best Western Hotel by the airport for the evening. I also enjoyed a much-needed infusion of grace from God last night and woke up feeling refreshed. It was like a wave of relaxation flowed over me.
July 23 Friday 9 a.m. Lynden Catholic Church is right across from one of the Christian Reformed churches- Latino priest- 10 a.m. McDonald's talked to lady briefly. I went over to the Dollar Tree & picked up a few things. 11 a.m. walked the trail at Lynden City Park. The first person I saw was wearing a Dordt College shirt -funny. Trail goes right past the Lynden Christian Schools. 12 noon - to Silver Lake close to the Canada border. Maps evangelism & swim. It's very shallow & mucky in places- except deep enough right below bridge for kids to jump off. 2:30 p.m. doing tread water intervals for 45 minutes good exercise. 3:30 leaving Silver Lake thru the city of Maple Falls & through the city of Glacier. To Mount Baker- last time I was here was early June a few years ago & there was still a ton of snow everywhere -as high as house rooftops in some places -so there was no real hiking without snow gear -but even with that it would be hard to find a trail. This time the snow is mostly melting, especially because we had the big heat wave a few weeks ago. I'm getting up here late in the day so I won't be able to hike too much today. I do hike around Picture Lake, & then Bagley Lakes, which is the trailhead to Chain Lakes - well it's the beginning or the end depending which way you go. So I decide to stay overnight & hike tomorrow.
July 24th Saturday- after a good night sleep at the lower parking lot of Mount Baker ski resort -this area also known as Heather Meadows. I got up at 5:30 a.m. & started hiking as the sun was already rising. Chain Lakes Trail past lower Bagley Lake- now past upper Bagley- now Table Mountain in view, also Mount Herman. Now I can see Iceberg Lake & first view of Mount ⛰Baker. I think it took about 3 hours hiking until I saw Mt Baker- although you can see Mt Shuksan right away. A little bit of snow on the trail here & there but not too much. Big marmot. Mother & daughter hiking at Artist 🎨Point. Tough girl & guy at Ptarmigan Ridge. And then I went back down to Heather Visitor Center - there's an exhibit about Clark Gable filming part of Call of The Wild here back in the 1930s. The most memorable part of this trip was NOT the beautiful hike but leaving in my vehicle I saw a mountain lion - only for a brief couple of seconds in my rearview mirror- but it was unbelievable. The car behind me almost hit him - at first I thought it was a deer of course but then I saw the unmistakable big old tail sticking out as he's running across the road. Happened so quick if I had blinked I probably wouldn't have seen it. So, I stopped at the Glacier ranger station & told them about it - the lady ranger was nice & appreciative about it. I thought maybe they would write these things down -that maybe they track them- maybe they have collars etc, but apparently not like around So Cal. Stopped back at Silver Lake & took a brief swim in a different area. 5 p.m. vigil mass back in Bellingham at the church I like -Church of the Assumption. Then back to Seattle on freeway 5 slept by St James.
July 25 Sunday 8 a.m. St James, 10 a.m. Immaculate Conception Church Multicultural. 11 a.m. Volunteer Park -they play ultimate Frisbee here every Sunday - looks fun. We use to call it frisbee football. I'll try to remember that for next Sunday. 5:30 p.m. St Joseph Mass. 6 p.m. Back at volunteer Park. 7 p.m. over to St James again. July 26th Monday: slept in Seattle 8 a.m. mass at St James. The priest talked about Mustard Seed Faith 👍. 9 a.m. I go to Madison Beach & take a swim - my first-time swimming 🏊 there. Very quiet & relaxing in the morning. Later in the day it gets very busy & crowded & lifeguards etc -not so nice. I see a seaplane landing not far away. They have 4- hour parking here in the street. More maps evangelism. 1 p.m. I go to Washington Arboretum - my second time here -take a short walk - about a mile. More Maps 🌎evangelism. 3:30 pm another walk -down by the Foster Trail which goes along the water's edge - I see a lot of boats, kayaks, fisherman, & view of Husky Stadium. I guess this is Marsh Island to be exact. Last time I was here the trail was too muddy to keep going so I had to turn back. This time you can keep going even though it is still a bit muddy- not as muddy. This passage they call the Montlake Cut where boats pass thru to Lake Wash. There’re some slogans from the university on the seawall.
Tuesday July 27th 8 a.m. St James Cathedral, 9 a.m. - another swim at Madison. This time they forgot to put up the diving board closed sign so I was able to go off the low dive AND the high dive - that was a blast to the past- although I felt the pain the next day. If you're not used to diving off a high dive or even jumping, it can cause a little pain on your body -not serious -just temporary. Then I drove along the coast of Lake Washington & over the bridge to Bellevue past Madrona Beach - time for Tuesday discount #PrayTheMovies day. This time I will see a film called Snake Eyes at the AMC Notes 📝: the film starts out 20 years ago in Washington State. Dad & son are fishing, then there's a motorcycle engine, & somebody says we need to leave, cabin in the woods, captured kid escapes. They gave the dad a chance to stay alive by rolling dice 🎲 but he rolls Snake Eyes “you lose " -theme of the movie. They kill the boy's dad & burn 🔥the house. Now flash forward- years later-the boy who saw his father being killed is grown up now. Old-school characters switchblade fight. One of his jobs is to stuff guns & inside of big fish- to smuggle them - not very imaginative characters. Anyways now they're fighting with swords which are the main weapon in this film -& now they fly to Tokyo. And I'm thinking what to pray about as I'm watching. One thing that comes to mind is to rely upon the Lord rather than take vengeance or personal revenge into your own hands. Go beyond eye for an eye as Jesus himself said. And the movie also moves in that direction - surprisingly one of the themes of the movie is to abandon ego rather than using violence. Also selflessness. And truth leads to harmony. One of the characters looks like Tim Kwekel by the way. He's trying to avenge those who killed his father. He's got vengeance in his heart & mind -its eating him up. 2nd Challenge: to overcome your own vulnerabilities. Empty your heart to pass the third challenge.
The next challenge requires going into a pit with anacondas who have some sort of supernatural ability to judge whether your heart is pure or not. So this actually has a Christian theme to it. As we know from the Beatitudes "Blessed are the pure in heart ❤" but his heart is NOT pure because he's seeking revenge & he admits it. BUT he's still trying to finagle things. He gets the DNA through his new 'blood brother' to try to get the jewel & if he can get the jewel & give it to the bad man, the bad man will give him the person who killed his father - a tradeoff. So much sword fighting. Leaving Snake Eyes movie, I stopped at the Fred Meyer at 4 p.m. Fred Meyer basically is the same as a Walmart -they just have a few unique types of items -not all the same things but similar. Then I go to Idylwood Park for a swim on a hot day & I pray for people as I'm out they're treading water. One man has his dog on his stand-up paddle board so I called him dogman & I pray for him to become a great Godman. I see a fisherman 🎣casting & I pray for him to become a fisherman for Christ. I see kids jumping off the dock & I pray for future great Christian leaders. And the list goes on - so that's my new thing - I'm doing prayer visualizations everywhere I go- whether I'm hiking or playing a game or sport or driving. When I see somebody, I try to imagine them either at that instant moment to pray for them, or later. Something that will help them -believing that God will hear my prayer.
And then I have an epiphany that I need to go to Mount ⛰ Rainier & do some more hiking so I start driving - it's only an hour away - two hours maybe -but I can get halfway tonight & the rest of the way tomorrow. I make it to Eumenclaw where I sleep for the night at the Rodeway Hotel. July 28th Wednesday 4 a.m. start driving towards Mount Rainier's Sunrise Visitor Center planning on doing the Fremont Tower hike. 6:30 a.m. I start hiking towards the lookout tower - pretty nice there surprisingly already fairly busy. Many people coming back already and then I go up to the area past Frozen Lake & I see a giant herd of mountain goats 🐐 🐐 🐐. I counted at least 25 - an amazing moment - & I was the only one there - right below Mount ⛰Rainier they were just grazing on the grass - a little bit concerned about my presence but not too much- not running away- but slowly moving in a different direction. From there I kept going on the glacier Basin Trail. Beautiful views everywhere you look- & this would become a 10-mile hike to White River Campground which I thought was pretty close to Sunrise where I parked - maybe another mile, but it actually was another three miles to Sunrise plus lots of elevation. It's actually the most difficult part of the hike because you're going almost straight up- at least 2000, maybe more. So I'm cursing - turned out to be 13 miles - I'm really tired & sore. IT was a pretty grueling last three miles. But I made it. As I passed two people they were just starting their six- day trip on the famous Wonderland Trail. They were issued a last-minute permit because of a cancellation. Normally you have to apply for the Wonderland Trail permit months in advance & there's a lot of rejections because of such a high demand. So they got lucky & they were all happy while I was moaning & groaning about having to do a few more miles over the mountain. I also talked to two people as I was doing the last half mile -an elderly couple from Renton- somehow they assumed I was from Seattle & I did not correct them. We talked about a few different things on the trail - apparently, they come out here a lot- some people do that- come here every weekend & take a different trail - it's not that far from Seattle area.
Back to Eumenclaw I found a place to sleep for the night- a decent hotel. And the next morning again - this time I'm going to a different section of Mount ⛰ Rainier -the opposite direction - Tolmie Peak is my destination & then I will also do Spray Park tomorrow, although I DIDN'T plan it in advance. So now I'm driving this 17-mile gravel road at 4 a.m. now 5 a.m. & it feels a little strained on my front right side but I don't get a flat tire signal so I just figure it's the gravel road pulling me so I keep going -then I start hearing a click click click - so I finally pull off & walk around to the passenger side & I see a totally demolished flat tire! Unbelievable - I knew there was something but it did NOT feel like a flat tire. Strange. I managed to put on a spare pretty quick. You think somebody driving by would say are you okay? But nobody does that anymore. They gotta get to their trailhead. I had almost made it to the trailhead when I changed the tire - it was only another half a mile. So now I am hiking up to Tolmie ⛰Peak to the fire tower - a lot of mosquitoes here.
As I pass a few people I try to make some prayer 🙏 visualizations - people I will remember literally forever including The Odd Couple, & also the Happy Girl & volunteer boss lady at the fire tower. So I pray for them now among others- as well as the Japanese duo. I also took a swim at Eunice Lake - a quick dip -then later again at Mowich Lake -very refreshing. Surprisingly, nobody else was swimming - the water is still a little cold but definitely swimmable. Maybe I'm more accustomed to cold water from swimming in the ocean all year round. THE happy girl came back up the trail as I was exiting the water & proclaimed "We made it" as if we were old friends. I replied "You hike fast". She responded "We try." Then they took off- jumped in their car & sped away. Funny how some people are so single-minded- they don't take time to look & around smell the roses. Personally figuring I might never get back here, I want to do as much 'reconnaissance' as possible. Back at the trailhead I did a little windshield evangelism in the parking area. Also editing for maps 🌎 the rest of the afternoon. Later I went snorkeling in Mowich Lake- definitely there's no fish in here, although I did see dead crayfish- but none alive. Maybe the alive ones are good at not being seen or maybe they all died off for some reason. I DID see some critters in Lake Eunice -maybe tadpoles about to become frogs- that's my best guess. #PrayTheNews: There was an earthquake in Alaska over 8.0 on the Richter scale -which is huge -& there was a tsunami alert - I don't get the internet here (only radio) at the moment- found out later no damage reported & the tsunami alert was canceled. Also Simone Biles pulls out of some of her Olympic events saying she has the 'twisties"- I'm wondering if maybe this is her Jesus moment - discovery of a higher purpose -as great as the Olympics are- it falls flat for some when they realize this is great & nice but not something that fulfills me forever- & it won't be. They need God -they need a higher purpose. Lots of flies & mosquitoes near the upper area here. So I decide to stay the night by Mowich Lake so that I can hike to Spray Falls the next day. I did not realize on the way here that the Spray Falls Trail is right next to Tolmie ⛰Peak Trail - perfect!
And so the next morning I'm on the trail at about 6 a.m. hiking towards Spray Falls -not really sure what to expect- figuring it’ll probably be a nice little waterfall & there's something about Spray Park which is a little way past the falls - supposedly very lovely as well. I figure it's going to be just a gentle quick hike. I'll probably be back around noon but as usual it turns epic because I go farther than I originally planned & the scenery is much greater than I imagined. First of all there is Eagle Cliff Viewpoint -that's my first view of Mount ⛰Rainier for the day. And now some of the marathon backpackers are starting to pass me - they're doing the long hike. One gal is going all the way to White River Campground. I think it said 26 miles or something like that -with crazy elevation. I remember asking the girl who was running alone with her spears (poles) & I said "Where are you going?" she said White River & I didn't know at the time how far it was ( I named her 'distance girl' or mowich marathon ')- we chatted a little & she was laughing & seemed so happy & almost giddy as we were in the midst of this spray park -it felt like the Garden of Eden or Milton's Paradise or as I said to another lady who asked me if it was worth hiking to I said "It's like the garden of paradise" -mixing metahors- & it really is -it's beautiful ... flowers 🌼 💐, green vegetation & all the other colors everywhere, a pond with a bunch of little frogs 🐸, a few patches of snow here & there. Some people were hiking up with their snow skis to ski 🎿 down- there's still enough snow up there. The only drawback is mosquitoes - I keep putting on more bug spray & I finally ran out & started using mud on my skin which actually worked!
And Spray Falls was incredible- I mean it was remarkable, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping - & MUCH bigger than I anticipated. I would say this ranks amongst one of the greatest waterfalls I've ever seen including Niagara Falls & Yosemite Falls -truly stupendous. But a lot of people stop too early & only see half the waterfall. You have to cross the creek to see the rest of it & there's no formal bridge to cross over. There's three trees people knocked over to make a bridge & it looks a little shaky but it's really NOT dangerous. I crossed over & it & then ended up hiking up right next to the waterfall & got sprayed by the water like a shower. It lives up to its name. It's really remarkable - it was transformative & transcendent. Back at Mowich Lake, the Lone Ranger is writing parking citations. Fortunately I remembered to put my annual pass on the dashboard. I didn't think they actually came all the way out here to write parking citations but they do. One problem is they don't have much signage emphasizing that you need to post your pass -only when you come in the entrance 17 miles earlier. I went swimming again & found some Foster Grant sunglasses on the trail. Fixed the dangling wire that I noticed coming down from my front tire on the driver side - not sure what that is. It's obviously a sensor of some sort but I couldn't find where it goes so I just taped it up. Will fix it later. Maybe that's why I didn't get the flat tire signal. I drove 10 miles per hour all the way back on the gravel road to make sure I didn't get another flat tire while other people were whizzing by me. Stopped at the Paul Peak Trail to cool off. In fact I stopped every 4 miles for about 15 minutes to let the engine cool down & keep the tires from getting hot - maybe I'm being superstitious I don't know. But now I need a new tire to replace the old - I start calling around. Slept 🛌at the Quality Inn. July 31 Saturday 8 a.m. I go to the blood 💉 place -they say my protein is still too low so I can't donate blood. I need to eat more protein. Got a message from Lin. Found a new tire at Pinto Tires in Edgewater for $44 -seems like a decent used tire & then I went to the laundromat in Pullayup. AFTER the laundromat I went over to 5-Mile Lake Park & did some maps 🌎evangelism- then back towards Seattle - past King Airport - the other Seattle airport- not as big as SeaTac _driving Airport Way thru the hipster industrial area -back to St James ⛪area. #PrayTheNews: at the Tokyo Olympics Simone Biles continues the drama re mental health.
August 1 Sunday: Saint James 8 a.m. St Joseph ⛪ 930am guest priest, full stay. Three itchy dots on my ankle not sure what ... doesn't look like mosquito bites 7:30 a.m. Ultimate Frisbee- that was fun- although I rolled my ankle so it's sore now. After ultimate Frisbee I did some more maps 🌎evangelism for 2 hours then 5:30 p.m. St Joseph Church again -the guest missionary priest delivered the exact same homily - I knew when he was about to do a joke & everything- word for word. 6 p.m. Madison Beach- took a swim 🏊 in the evening- lot more crowded, & waves from all the boats - lots of life guards here too enforcing the swimming areas. August 2 Monday. St James ⛪ 8 a.m. -somebody broke the bookstore window during the night. I think I heard some kids running around as I was sleeping right next door. 9 a.m. volunteer Park, 12 noon University of Washington Husky Stadium 🏟. 1 p.m. Magnuson Park took a swim & a hike & ate some wild raspberries. 3 p.m. Matthew's Beach, 5 p.m. back to east side of Lake Washington near Totem. August 3 Tuesday 8:40 a.m. Holy Family Church, 10 a.m. back to Totem for the Jungle Cruise movie- discount Tuesday at my favorite Seattle movie theater. The stars of this movie are Dwayne the Rock Johnson & Emily Blunt -it's a Disney film based on the ride at Disney I guess. I'm not sure I ever went on that ride. I think I've been to Disney three or maybe four times in my life. I even had an annual pass once but I only used it a few times. The first time I went was with family in early 70's as a child & then one other random time with siblings. Now the annual pass is an outrageous price or maybe they're not even doing it any more after covid-19 - not sure. Here’s my notes 📝 for #PrayTheMovies 🙏: 1st scene a professor is giving a lecture in London 1916, something about sacred arrowhead & Tears of the Moon, &a Healing Tree. She steals the special power - she sneaks in while her husband is giving the lecture. Dwayne Johnson is a captain of a boat for tourists in the jungle Amazon. He owes money for the new engine. Tarantula versus scorpion. Emily Blunt looks like a girl named Audrey I knew from Calvin College. He calls her "pants" because she wears pants at a time when most women would never be caught wearing pants & the Spanish speakers call her pantalones. Scene showing the pink porpoise (“Amazon river dolphin, also known as the boto, bufeo or pink river dolphin, is a species of toothed whale 🐳"), the Garden of Eden, the butter churn. Her brother is gay in the movie- not sure why that was relevant. Fake headhunters. Were you concerned for my soul? "I'm 400 years old. I can't die", #PrayTheMovies: pray for dominion & stewardship over God's creation with care & kindness p 149 La Luna Rota. I can't swim Skippy. He hates being called Skippy. Frank is 400 years old - wants to die -has been living this life for too long, but at the end, romance intrigues him even more than death & he goes to London with Emily Blunt. They find the tears of the moon. It's like a rose 🌹petal. Frank turns into a statue temporarily but she puts the rose pedal in his mouth & he comes back to life. After the Jungle Cruise I went to Waverly Beach Park in Kirkland or Bellevue & did swimming exercise for 1 hour. That's a nice park including a bald eagle flying overhead & then just sitting in the tree right above me. I don't think anybody else saw it except me. That was an amazing moment. Lots of lifeguards here. Then I did some maps 🌎evangelism till 5 p.m. & then back to Totem.
Wednesday August 4th 8:40 a.m. mass at Holy Family ⛪ Kirkland. Parking lot is closed for landscaping. Guy walking by with dog stared at me which is rare here in the state of Washington. They're not usually that way - they don't stare at you. They don't try to stare u down &things like that as you may experience in other places but there's always some exceptions. I took a walk at Heritage Park. There's really not much here- looks like more trails on google maps but it's just an open grassy area on a bluff & also tennis courts. Then I went to Marsh Park– the lifeguards were doing emergency drills– about 15 lifeguards were there. Around noon they all left & I did my water exercise for about an hour. 1 p.m. Explored Yarrow Point (name based on Wordsworth poem). They have some beaches as well but u got to know where to park. A little beach here on the road. I'll come back later probably. Then I go to Meydenbauer Park in Bellevue - that's their biggest beach park & take my first swim there. It looks like a huge swimming area but when the lifeguards are there it’s drastically smaller because they want to control it. Now I am starting my dictation of black & white. Too many lifeguards here at Meydenbauer - one is on a surfboard 🏄sitting out right next to us. 4 p.m. I go over to Chism Park which is also nice & do another one-hour swim exercise. Also used the dock to do some pull-ups while I was swimming. They have lifeguards here as well. And did some parking lot evangelism. Saw some people picking wild raspberries by the water. Slept in Bellevue near the fireworks spot. It finally got cool at 10 p.m. - a very warm afternoon. 8/5/21 Thurs 840 am Holy 👪Family parking lot open again. After mass I go to McDonalds & do some dictation until noon. Around noon I go to FedEx office to make some new evangelism material. I forgot the original on the copy machine & had to go back in. 12:30 I go back to Waverly Beach but the parking is full so I leave there. 1 p.m. I stop at Brink Park where I swam on 4th of July - it's kind of greenish by the shore but if you go out a little farther it clears up -so I swam out there for a little while & also did some pull-ups on the dock. It's actually pretty close to where my Aunt Martha lives -they have an apartment here right on the lake -I didn't realize that until later. Then I go back to my car & do some maps 🌎evangelism - when I hear some music playing - it’s a little kid band 🎸doing some live music 🎶on the park lawn. I drive past Houghton Park Beach, where I swam yesterday, but it is closed today because of high bacteria. I try going past Yarrow Point again taking an alternate route -but this way the road is closed. You have to go all the way around to get there. So I found Medina beach by accident instead. Medina is where the notorious Bill Gates has a Seattle home. It doesn't look like an exceptionally wealthy area. It IS expensive just not flashy like West Palm Beach. Medina Beach is right next to the Medina City Hall. No lifeguards. They have a little swimming dock & a boat launch. I went swimming here for a little while & did some exercises. A couple of teen gals playing on the raft. From there I pass nearby Clyde Beach which has a long grassy hill.
Friday August 6th 11 a.m. Bellevue Art 🖼Museum - first Friday free. Kind of like a modern art museum - none of the classics. Then I go over to the Bellevue Public 📚 Library which is a big & modern- & use the computer there for an hour. 3 p.m. I go to Central Park in Bellevue & do some maps evangelism. 4 p.m. back to Chism Park - swim exercise 45 minutes. And the rest of the day maps 🌎evangelism, & sleep at the Hampton Inn in Bellevue. August 7th Saturday 8:40 a.m. an anointing Mass here at the Holy Family Church in Kirkland- extra-long Mass. 9:30 a.m. car show Kirkland- right next to Aunt Martha's apartment. 11 a.m. Blyth Park Frisbee golf in Bothell & refill my water bottles. 1 p.m. look for CVG house in Bothell -there's a private road sign so I turn around. Poor fellow - I pray for him - is he scared of living out in the world? I don't think he knows Jesus Christ as Savior & I hope he will accept Jesus Christ & I pray for CVG & TVG & all the VG's. Lord be with them. I send them Xmas cards or had been for a while. I'll have to start sending them again- keep trying- never give up- persevere. 4 p.m. Henry Art Museum 🖼 at University of Washington- it's free now so I go in an hour before closing time- quickly do a tour. This is a so-called Modern Art Museum or contemporary art - keep that in mind if you visit. 5 p.m. back at Volunteer Park doing maps 🌎evangelism. 8 p.m. back at St James for the evening. "They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." Acts 8.1
Aug 8 Sunday 2021 8am St James ⛪, 930 St Joseph, 10am volunteer park maps evangelism, observed ultimate frisbee -all the regulars there, #PrayTheNews: end of Olympics. 1pm Husky Stadium, Montlake Cut lots of raspberries, boats, climbing wall, UW campus fountain, red square, geese, back to car. Madison beach swim, 8/9/21 Monday 8am St James, lots of road closures along cascades highway (changed plans) 8/10/21 8 a.m. Catholic mass near Sound Ford where I had my car worked on a few years ago or was that only a year ago? Then I went to the Seahawks training camp 1:30 p.m. one jerk yelling something about bracelets as I arrived -took the shuttle bus from The Landing to Virginia Mason-their practice field on Lake Washington - a bald eagle overhead -unbelievable ! And a few boats are watching from the water. Pete Carroll running around dressed in all white. Russell Wilson made a few good passes and gestured to the crowd get us all hyped up. Lots of people in the crowd -they definitely love their football team here, & mostly nice fans too. Now I'm at the movie called "Escape from Mogadishu" about the beginning of the Somalia Civil War - the South Korea and North Korea embassies had to try to find a way to work together to escape. Pretty good movie actually, even though you won't hear much about it in the news - and based on a true story. They combined a pretty good action film with a true story. Lots of killing and violence in this movie which is NOT a good thing but it's real -it was based on reality. This actually happened. There were some Christian believers in the South Korean embassy - they showed them reciting the Apostles Creed . They make their escape to try to get to the airport during the Muslim prayer time because even the worst terrorists of the Somalians stop to pray to Allah at specific times every day. So it gave them a little bit of extra time. They taped books over their car windows to try to protect them from the bullets that would inevitably be shot at them - this may go down as one of the great realistic action scenes ever in a movie - unbelievable. I joke to myself that this gives a whole new meaning to bookmobile. #PrayTheMovies to end senseless violence. At the end of the movie they escape to Kenya and they have to pretend they don't know each other so the North Korean staff won't treat her own people like traitors. That was a poignant moment - good sermon material.
August 11th Wednesday, another Heat Wave begins. 8 a.m. Mass in Kirkland, then I go to FedEx office and make a mobile check deposit. Afterwards I rake a swim 🏊 in Lake Washington at the park. Then I go to Kirkland Library 📚& edit dictation while using their AC to stay cool for a few hours. And another swim at 5 p.m. at Marina Cove near the MVG apartment. I think that's where she lives. I deposit a $40 check from Integon- little bit of a refund from them. Sit outside at Heritage Park grassy area until 10 p.m. staying cool. Then I drive to Federal Way. August 12th Thursday 7:30 a.m. blood donation to start the day. Now at noon I'm at Steele Park, take a swim & do 45 minute tread water intervals. A ranger is checking fishing licenses. Prayers for great future Christians to rise up from here. I call it "futures prayer" when I see young people I say prayers for them to become great Christian leaders in the future. Another swim at Steele Park & more futures prayers. 2 hours later a black man with dog encroached on me as I was drying off by the rock. I thought it was a little bit offensive. Drove past "3- brothers fishing hole". August 13th uh oh it's Friday the 13th. 8 a.m. @ Saint Anthony Church in Renton. I always like it here and I enjoy a V8 juice & a cottage cheese. It was so hot all night long I had to reverse my sleeping direction so the air was closer to my face. 9:30 a.m. Gene Coulon Beach very hot again- - second time here. I take a long walk. It’s right next to the Boeing airplane plant. There's a nice swimming area here but the numerous lifeguards are a little bit overbearing. I go out in the deep area & they send a lifeguard to follow me in a rowboat. Every lap he goes the same direction stays within a few feet of me - it's ridiculous- I think they do that on purpose to try to annoy you - to try to get you out of the water so they don't have to do their job. All they have to do is sit in the boat -or not even that - they can see that I swim well enough. Maybe they say its policy but its ridiculous- overkill. And it ruins the vibe. After that, I went back and did some maps evangelism for the rest of the day and finished dictation. Heat warning continues. 3pm Now a swim at Kennydale- no lifeguards here. Yes, they do have showers & a swimming area, or make your own, seems like a lot of Latinos here. Now 5 p.m. at Newcastle Park - & another swim. I remember this park from last time - they have beautiful flowers in the parking area & a long green grass area but the swim area is grotesque with all the goose stuff all over the dock in the middle of the water. Lots of Africans here - not African Americans but actual Africans playing their African music 🎶.
I love their music. I had a great African music CD - then my sister asked to borrow it and she never gave it back. That was back in 2005 & i keep asking her about it. I got that CD from WCAL -the Calvin College radio station i jockeyed for back in the early 90's. The nice thing about that job was that they got DO MANY free promo CD's from various musicians & promoters, they had to routinely clean house- meaning they would simply give away the older CD's to make room for new ones. So the CD had WCAL marked on it with a marker . My sister probably thinks I stole it so she justified keeping it for herself, wrongly so. I decided to head north after that to Bellingham - a long drive. August 14th Saturday, I get another free breakfast sandwich at Wendy's. They had a freebie special -2 days in a row- two different Wendy's- delicious new breakfast sandwiches. Then I go over to Padden Park -it's not busy yet & not as hot here as it is in Seattle. Around noon I take a swim across Padden Lake x2 -that's right- I swam all the way across and back twice which comes out to about a mile- not too bad. PrayTheNews: Haiti has another big earthquake, 300+ dead. Why does Haiti get hit with so much horrific natural disaster when they're already in such dire straits? Give them a break God. Prayers for the Haitians. The Afghanistan fiasco continues - created by none other than our fake president- a guy by the name of Biden. The Taliban has taken Kabul. And also there's an Alaska earthquake over 7 on the Richter scale - but NO damage -that's a big break. 5 p.m. mass at the Assumption Church in Bellingham. I like this church but today they forgot to unlock the gate & door until the very last second. August 15th 9 a.m. Sunday worship at Lynden Fairgrounds which is between Clark Road and the main road. This is the first time they've had Christian worship on Sunday at the fair and they allowed worshippers to enter for free. That was nice - pray to play. After the worship service I explore the fair and see the different animals and activities and crafts & things. A few Dutchman here of course- some of them no doubt Christian Reformed. I stay from 9 to noon at the fairgrounds. After Lynden I go back to Bellingham and take another swim at Padden. I also stopped in at the Walmart and restocked my food supply. Then I do some naps evangelism. Oops that's a good typo "naps evangelism". I wish that was possible. I DO pray in my sleep. But what I meant was maps evangelism. Those who follow me know what I mean by that. Now feeling a bit tired and my throat is a little sore. Finally it's cooling down a little bit. August 16th Monday 9 a.m. I go to Samish Lake Park - first time here just to see what it looks like. Then I noticed that highway 22 thru the Cascades has reopened and I decide to go that way because I want to go hiking in the Cascades. Sedro Woolley National Parks visitor center is open so I pick up a map. Now I'm driving thru Lyman, Hamilton, Birdsview, & Concrete. approaching Baker view or Baker Lake- actually a partial view of Mount Baker -its a bit cloudy - I see it better from Shannon Lake at 1 p.m. At Lake Shannon I cast my line 🎣 a few times around 1 p.m. and then took a sandwich lunch break.
I did not actually go to Baker Lake - took a different route. Now I'm trying to find what they call "Devil's Tower-" (not the real one in WY). It's actually just a dilapidated old structure that they named as such - nothing really very interesting . I snapped a picture for maps & proceeded onward. Before Shannon Lake we passed Grandy Lake and also Vogler Lake -only fly fishing allowed at the lattee. At Burpee Hill Road a little dog 🐕 is yapping. And there's Lake Tyee which I couldn't actually see. Lower Baker Dam Overlook is pretty impressive. Now back at the city of Concrete again. Looks like rain maybe but it did rain last night as well so I don't know. Marblemount Ranger Station -gateway to Hidden Lake. But Hidden Lake is closed for some reason. I find out later that it's because they had a search party for a person who had disappeared several years ago - they finally got everything arranged to search for the body& they DID find the body. Seems strange they waited so long. Cascade Pass trail is still open but they moved the parking three miles away from the trailhead so add six extra miles to hike round trip. No Thanks 👎. 3 p.m. North Cascades Visitor Center. -I think I've been here before. I saw a deer plus Bambi in Bellingham and now here also. Lots of bambis around this time of year. Ladder Falls etc. 215 -beautiful pools of water but sign says "stay out -water can be released without warning" below the dam. They have the water turned off for a stretch below the dam making it a dry river. Gorge Creek Waterfall 3:30. The aqua color is amazing. Gorge Lake, Sourdough Trail 3:45 p.m. Diablo Lake is also a nice aqua color. Took a quick swim near the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center - they have some kind of tours or something. An Indo-American couple asked me if they could drive this way. I said "I don't know. It's my first time here too”. People new to the USA seem to think that ALL Americans have been everywhere or should have been otherwise we're idiots- just like you would expect of people who live in a small country to know their country at least fairly well after a certain age. And most countries are small enough to get to know fairly well in a few decades of living but the USA is so gigantic. It’s SO big it can take a lifetime to get to know it fairly well and that's only if you're a regular dedicated traveler /explorer. (Later on this trip I will meet a family from the Netherlands in the Tetons who rented a motor home and are traveling through the USA. And they were gobsmacked about how big it is and how far away everything is.) Fragrant Pines. The ferry at Diablo goes to Ross Lake Resort. Thunder Knob Trailhead 4:30 I did this last time. You start out walking through the campground. What is the name of the peak over Diablo Lake? Now I'm doing Ross Dam Trail at 5 p.m. - short hike 3-mile round trip- nice view. Onward: East Bank Trail, Panther Creek, 553 Canyon Creek Trail - bridge is out. East Creek Trail 6:05 p.m., Easy Pass Trail 6:15. I did this one last time as well. Now I'm doing the Rainy Lake hike -it’s all paved- very nice, especially if you're in a wheelchair -although there is one tree across the path at one point - I guess they haven't had time to clear it. Two nice ladies at the end of the trail by the lake. They laugh at my observation that it might rain over Rainy Lake. This Trail is also the start of Maple Loop trail which is pretty popular and difficult as well. Listening to Renny Strong 🎶 🐬 dolphin CD. Bridge Creek Trail 7:30, Washington Pass Overlook. Wow so beautiful . Now long downhill - I remember this - you can put it in neutral and coast a long way. And there’s the Cutthroat Creek Trail. Also there's still wild fire 🔥activity around here & fire remnants near Cedar Creek Trail 8 p.m. Very close call with a deer by the side of the road around 9 p.m. Coyotes yapping last night -howling - wow -all night long actually. Slept by Pateros? I think that's right. August 17th Tuesday, slept by lake 2 - no internet. City of Azwell & Wells Dam. 650am PrayTheNews: sports news -Tim Tebow has already been cut by the Jaguars - too bad for him. Or maybe good- I pray 🙏 for him to become a full-time missionary- & Kirk Cousins also. Cast my 🎣line at Chelan Falls Powerhouse Park. That was a cool place -actually need a fly-fishing rod here. They were snapping on top but not at my lure below. I keep forgetting to bring my fly fishing rod along with me. Beautiful spot at sunrise 🌅. Got some free air for my tires at Bill's gas in Chelan City. There's two different cities: Chelan Falls versus just Chelan. Now at Entiat City Park - 830am refilled water bottles. Found 3 quarters in the shallow water. That’s the third quarter I found today. My lucky day.
August 17th Tuesday -now I'm doing the Icicle Peak 2 hours up, 90 minutes down. It is a grueling up and up ...and up - here in the city of Leavenworth above Wenatchee - a few times I felt like I was going to faint- felt lightheaded. But I survived. Lots of other hiking trails around here. I plan to do a much better one tomorrow but I couldn't start anything too big in the afternoon when I arrived. I take a swim at the Enchantment Park in the Wenatchee River - lots of people tubing and kayaking on this River. I tried pulling into the library parking lot but it was one parking lot too soon - it was actually the public swimming pool and there was an illegal Mexican immigrant working as a parking attendant - kind of funny he's telling me he will allow me to park here if blah blah blah . Moving onward. 4 p.m. an hour at McDonald's. August 18 Wednesday slept in Leavenworth. 5 a.m.Now driving to Colchuck- Stewart trailhead. Its a famous hike but the name of the trail isn't very alluring. At 6:30 a.m. I start hiking. 2 hours later I arrive at Colchuck Lake - it is definitely incredible and beautiful and quite popular by the way. After that I go over to Stuart Lake and also I took a swim - much less crowded here but it added a few extra miles to the total -making it a 12-mile hike. My feet are pretty tired. I take a cool-down swim at the waterfront park again at 7 p.m. I say some prayers for the various hikers that I remember: the guy with the Marine Corps shirt, also the Asian campers, the interrupter," Suzanne Somers", Miss Humble, the go-getters, the group photo. One thing I didn't see is any kids with parents - maybe it's too difficult for kids.
August 19th Thursday slept in Leavenworth again at the local hotel. Now leaving Wenatchee passing through historic Waterville 9 a.m. Also passed along the beautiful Columbia River- so smooth here- I see one water skier. Now City of Orondo, City of Wagnerburg, City of Sunnyslope, City of Monitor Commerce, City of Cashmere, City of Dryden. Now taking Highway 2 toward Spokane, City of Hartline 10 a.m., City of Creston 10:30. Waterville felt like a ghost town. City of Davenport 11:25 a.m. This is where the hotel is with all the cowboy and Indian figures - I remember it from last time -looks like a cool place. Also praying for the people from Spray Park including Paradise, Laughter, Nice Happy, and Look Forward.
August 19th, City of Reardon 11:37, City of Spokane - take a walk and do a blood donation. Talk to Chrissy the nurse. I stop at the Walmart to buy some cheese etc & pass by Manito Park- beautiful gardens. High Bluff Viewpoint is okay. Now at Holiday Inn - warm but not too hot, August 20th Friday 7 a.m. cathedral mass, 8 a.m. Gonzaga Catholic mass, 9 a.m. Iced tea at McDonald's, 930 nearby park- too many homeless here, 10 a.m. Jundt Art Museum is actually closed but they haven't updated their website. 730 beach park on Spokane River, Boulder Beach -the water is a bit too dirty but I did have to swim out there because my fishing line got snagged and I didn't want to lose the lure. People smoking so much marijuana weed everywhere - now you smell it all the time and it's very annoying. It's actually NOT legal to consume it in public even if it's legal in general but doesn't seem like people are too afraid of getting in trouble for it. I smoked a little marijuana in my youth a few times, and never again after that. Did some more maps evangelism. The ducks had laid an egg on the rock. When I came back it was gone. 5 p.m. rejuvenated now I go to the Walmart & I noticed the lights of a nearby Stadium. I google "minor league baseball" on my smartphone and find out there's a Spokane Indians game tonight - 1 hour away so I skipped Walmart and go buy a $10 ticket and watch a great game and good entertainment: Spokane Indians vs Hillsboro Hops from Oregon. That was fun, & nice people too. August 21 Saturday -slept at the Spokane Fairfield hotel- nice enough 9 a.m. mass at the Cathedral. It's a cool day. #PrayThe News: Haiti earthquake update -casualties now over 2100 but it's getting forgotten by the news because of the Afghanistan crisis created by our fake president. 10 a.m. After another blood donation, I go over to Walmart and pick up some lasagna and some cabbage and cheese etc. Now 5 p.m. mass at local church -very small - mostly local yokels from Spokane even one with a liberal license plate. It’s always strange to me because Catholic Church is supposed to have conservative values. Why do these liberals try to impose their contrary values on to the church? They’re frauds. August 22 Sunday 8 a.m. The Episcopal Cathedral is an incredible architectural achievement but inside there's only a few people attending -that's sad. I can only imagine what it was like back in the day when it was full. At 9 a.m. I go to Saint Augustine- this church is very full. Then at 10 a.m. I stopped in at the Presbyterian Church which was built in 1909 - lady preacher of course. Seems like every Presbyterian & Methodist church now has a female preacher. And almost everybody's wearing masks - I decide NOT to- but then since everybody is wearing them I decided to take one out of the box, but the female pastor gives me a strange " good boy growl" as if she's trying to give me positive reinforcement -feels like manipulation so I decided NOT to put the mask on after all. I will not be a wind-up monkey 🐵. Passed by a frisbee golf course after the church service. This is a rough area - lots of broken window glass on the street -I decided to skip it . 1 p.m. Manito Park I spend the rest of the day here. Lots of nice flower gardens, & a pond and a Japanese garden here & it's all free -a nice place in Spokane. August 23 Monday 8 a.m. Saint Aloysius Church ⛪, 8:30 a.m. Bing Crosby house, 9 a.m. entering Idaho, 9:15 a.m. city of Rostrum, also Twin Lakes nothing special Deer Road. Idaho truck cut me off as I did a U-turn by Spirit Lake.That was actually a close call. ⛽ Gas is a little cheaper here for $3.35. Brief panic- I can't find my credit card after getting gas by Spirit Lake- then I did find it. I cannot afford to lose my credit card. Last time it took two weeks to get a replacement. David Wells is on the Bongino show. I call Bongino the bulldog. Sometimes he comes off a little bit too redneck, but he has some good commentary as well. City of Newport -now back in Washington 10:30 Old town Idaho. 11-12 Albeni Falls (no falls anymore?), Priest River Recreation Area and a nice swim area here, 12:15, Riley Creek Recreation Area 12:30 also nice, but it's still cold here. Nice Scenic Drive, cast my line for about 20 minutes - saw some fish follow my lure on Pend Oreille River. City of Dover & Dover Bay no stores, 1 Marina 1:20 p.m. - made it to Sandpoint. Now doing maps evangelism by the lake. Slept at the Days Inn, in Sandpoint.
August 24th 4 a.m. on the road to Fault Lake Trail. 6:30 a.m. hiking to Fault Lake- it's 6-plus miles each way, 9 a.m. I arrive at Fault Lake and using only a line with a hook on it and a little cherry lure I manage to catch a beautiful rainbow -or maybe it's actually a cutthroat trout - nice medium size - I throw him back. Now 10 a.m. hiking back, At 10:30 I see a big black bear 🐻 on the ridge above me - I froze for several seconds maybe about two minutes -actually I saw his head moving back and forth smelling or looking - but I DON'T think he had seen me -so then he started moving down the ridge towards the trail in front of me and so I started running in order to avoid being seen by him and avoid intersecting within him on the trail below. I ran for about half a mile - never saw him again. That got my adrenaline pumping. There was absolutely nobody on this trail and nobody at the parking lot- except I did stay about an hour or two after I returned and soaked in the water and then somebody finally arrived on an ATV. I talked to them for a little while. Now I'm at the movie called Free Guy in Sandpoint. This is actually a funny movie. The sunglass people are cool and they can play the game but the main character doesn't wear sunglasses in the beginning - he's just a bank teller living a boring bank teller life and they get robbed every day by the video characters. They love bubblegum ice cream & kiss makes him come alive. Ryan Reynolds is much better in this movie than he is in The Hitman's Bodyguard which was a very trashy throwaway movie. This little movie theater here in Sandpoint reminds me of the good old days. #PrayThe News: Manhunt in Australia for man who wouldn’t wear a covid mask. Unbelievable. August 25 Wednesday: I drive from Sandpoint to Coeur d'Alene Idaho to go to the North Idaho State Fair in Kootenai County. After the fair I go to Ferman Park and do some maps evangelism. Then I go to the beach by North Idaho College & do 1-hour treading water interval exercise & I cast my line a few times. I see an osprey nest and lots of boats. August 26th Thursday 8 a.m. St Aloysius ⛪ back in Spokane, 10 a.m. blood donation, 12 noon Walmart lasagna,water, steak, broccoli, cheese, etc 1 p.m. Pine River Park by the little Spokane River - I take a swim here. Some kids try to peek into my car. Wonder if they are trying to steal - I scared them away. 5 p.m. Dollar Tree I gave the homeless man $0.50 but he was cocky 👎. That's happened more than once where I've tried to be charitable and the recipient actually thinks he's superior to me - homeless supremacy ?
August 26th Thursday: #PrayThe News: at least 11 soldiers killed in Afghanistan -it will become 13 soldiers- because of our political leaders incompetence or apathy or both. Girl reading book at my swim spot at the park. She was brave- not afraid of me. A woofer vehicle came in too loud next to me. Chrissy the nurse has marked me. August 27th Friday Saint Aloysius 8 a.m. now 9 a.m. at Medical Lake a brief swim, they have cliffs here you can dive or jump off - but you have to walk a ways to get there -- big eagle flying overhead and some people swimming 1 p.m. Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge NOT much wildlife. 3 p.m. Fish Lake very small 4 p.m. back at Manito Park again.
August 28th Saturday 9 a.m. Cathedral priest has foreign accent, 10 a.m. blood donation, 11 a.m. make Christ card copies at the FedEx office after Staples machine fails. A nice guy with a similar hat and glasses allowed me to use the machine and he rode off on his bike- mystery man. 1 p.m. Manito Park evangelism 4:30 p.m. St Augustine church, 5:30 p.m. back at Manito Park. Slept in Spokane. August 29th Sunday, 7 a.m. Cathedral worship also went up into the balcony briefly. Then over to Saint Aloysius at 8:30 a.m. Listening to Kim Komando on the radio, 10 a.m. drove thru Cemetery . 11 a.m. Life Center Spokane Church- predictable formula megachurch, and I cracked my phone screen -somehow must have put it in my back pocket and sat on it - I rarely do that - why did I did so this time? I leave Spokane around 2 p.m. Bear Lake -take a brief swim - but it's too mucky. I leave two books 📚 for the single mom with child. August 29th Sunday continues 3 p.m. back in Newport Washington by the Pend Oreille River. I parked on the beach first and then suddenly an obnoxious AZ car arrived and parked next to me and started smoking pot -so I left & went over to a different area & cast my line and I caught a 🐟 small fish -which fell off the hook just as I was pulling it up. Also had to swim out to release my lure after I got snagged- there's like a sunken boat where I was fishing mostly just a rusty remnant. I think I cut my toe on it. Later it was swelling but nothing serious. Caught the fish at the precise moment that dude was walking by saying good luck. They hadn't caught anything and they were locals. Drove south side of the river to Sandpoint. ⛽ $67 to fill up my gas tank for $ 3.44 at the Oldtown Idaho. Sandpoint 8 a.m. - now at the Walmart. Bought some pepper spray which is not exactly the same thing as the real bear spray but I'm not going to pay 30 or $40 for one of those big cans which only sprays once or twice. I'll take my chances. Also bought a new towel. Now 10 a.m. at City Beach. It's a nice day. August 30 Monday #PrayThe News: Hurricane Ida hits New Orleans -prayers for N.O. 7 a.m. I take a swim by the Statue of Liberty & do some evangelism. Also went fishing at the walking spot and then I swam to lure #2. 5 p.m. I go back to the city beach & take another swim & do some laps.
August 31 Tuesday: slept in Sandpoint. Rose early, planning to hike Gem Lake by Trestle Creek but the road was closed due to the wildfire 🔥 so I kept driving towards Kalispell. Now passing by city of Clark Fork at 6:24 a.m. City of Hope at 6 a.m. Lightning Creek Mosquito Creek, Cabinet Dam Overlook 7:49 a.m. - wide awake to true reality. I had a dream about the evil axis - gave me a very clear epiphany re the evil axis of Barb & Audrey & Steve/Rick/Winny 👎. Now entering Montana 6:50 a.m. pass by Big Eddy campground 8 a.m. I guess we're in mountain time now. I fished here last time but it's too shallow really. Ate breakfast and was going to start a campfire then I saw a no fire sign - "stage 2 restriction". Bull River Recreation area 8:28 a.m. one boat pulling out. Young deer at Pilgrim Creek Park 8:46 a.m. cast my line 930 fish were popping at top but no bites. At least two bald eagles circling overhead and several other birds of prey including one with a fish in his talons. I went up the road to Noxon Rapids Dam and then back to Pilgrim Creek and crossed over again. Decided to take the road on the other side of the river not knowing it was going to be a primitive road. There was a huge Osprey nest on the Pilgrim Creek Bridge. Later I also cast my line by Stevens Creek main river 10 a.m. Noxon Reservoir. Turtle stuck his head up- that was about it. Since this road has so many rocks it must have created impact damage to my tire. I did get a flat and managed to make a quick change -hoping I wouldn't get another flat along the way. Wasn’t even sure how much farther I had to go or whether it was shorter to go back the way I'd come. I saw one guy with a dog and he had a gun and I just asked him how far it is to the main road and he didn't even know. I guess he was new to the area as well 12:15. 12:25 come to Natural Bridge : sign says 9 miles to Trout Creek or 12 miles back to Noxon - that answers my question. I take it slow and easy and finally get back to some pavement at 12:53 we made it -praise the Lord. Clark Fork recreation area 1:21 p.m. train tracks walk - train came by a little while later. Trout Creek 2 p.m. took a swim. Two guys in a boat said Thompson Falls was the closest place to get a new tire or a tire repair but in fact right there in Trout Creek there was a tire shop. City of Trout Creek 2:42 p.m. Nelson's Tire sold me a new used tire for $60. The new tire matches the other - the same exact brand that's a synchronicity--- don't you think? I talked to the two white guys there. I think the owner's name is Lew. Next small city going east is Thompson Falls. Lolo National Forest. Sign says "electrified road matter”. . What the heck does that mean? Gas ⛽ for $3.29 City of Plains 4:15 p.m., City of Paradise 427. Clark Fork river is beautiful. Bison Reservoir 5 p.m. but you have to pay $10 so I turned around. City of Ronan 525,City of Poulson. South End of Flathead Lake
9/1/21 slept in Poulson Montana. South end Flathead Lake- close call with a deer at 7:48 a.m. as I'm driving north. Looks like there had been a fire here -a few houses have been burned 🔥. Man walking dog. Highway 35 North lots of u-pick cherry and apple tree orchards here. Cast line 8:30 a.m. Woods Bay flathead lake. City of Bigfork 9:33 a.m. has a cool old bridge to jump off - even a rope swing but it was too early in the morning - not that warm either. Deer on baseball field by the Swan Lake Ranger station. Never seen so many deer - from East Washington thru Idaho and Montana. Eagle Bend Golf course looks nice. Arrive in Kalispell 11 a.m., rest at Woodland Park. They have a water park here & a fountain & duck pond. Maps evangelism for a few hours. Stop in at Kalispell Library briefly and then I go to the Kalispell History Museum $5. Then back over to Woodland Park. Called the DP -everything's good. September 2 Thursday: slept in Kalispell at the Red Lion Hotel, my usual spot. I woke at 4 a.m. driving to Glacier National Park - arrived at the gate- nobody's there until 6am. Keep going thru West Glacier 5 a.m. arrive at Jackson Glacier Overlook 6 a.m. still too dark. Saw a red fox as I was parking. I sleep until 7:30. Start hiking Siyeh Loop. At 7:30 passing group, briefly talked to white lightning as he passed me. Nobody else until the hipster couple all the way on the other side. This is an incredible hike and because it's so difficult and not as popular as Highland trail -you can enjoy it without the crowds. Amazing majestic view ...and incredible waterfalls towards the end of the loop near Sunrift Gorge. And right below the road there is the trail to St. Mary Falls. Normally there's a shuttle that you can take back to your car but it's only partially in use right now & reservations tentatively required - possibly you can walk on per the discretion of the driver. I decided I'll just walk back to my car all the way to the Jackson overlook which adds about 4 miles to the hike (making it a 12- mile hike instead of 8)-saw a few new things. Even though I've taken the Saint Mary's waterfall trail before this was slightly different. After the hipster couple I saw one brave lady walking alone. She did not seem afraid of me. She just said "beautiful day" as we passed. It was 31 degrees when I started hiking & there was frost on the plants and I could see my breath. Now it's warmed up by the end of the hike of course. So I took the St. Mary's Trail instead of the road - saw a moose in the lake. Skipped St Mary Falls since I'd already seen it and took Gunsight Trail back to the Jackson overlook which includes a different waterfall. Thought I could soak my feet in the water for a little while but it's still SO COLD your feet become numb too quickly- it's painful. Met a nice couple back in the meadow. Then two ladies in front of me - one of them kept looking back and finally said "Do you want to pass us" as we were only a few feet from the parking lot. I said "Not really- we're at the parking lot." She didn't even realize it. They said they liked my walking stick. Wow that is very flattering. Pretty sore feet by the time I get back to my car. Now I'm heading over to East glacier. As I'm driving out of Glacier by the St Mary Visitor Center I saw a big grizzly 🐻running across the road. I stopped & I'm trying to see it more clearly but it runs into the bushes so I can't see it. I turn around up the road a little way and come back and now the bear has re-emerged and is eating some vegetation by the side of the road. Got a few good pictures. That was fun for a little while but then so many cars were parking by the side & people getting out and suddenly a ranger arrived and yelled at those people who are parked and standing outside their car in a no-parking area causing traffic to back up.
September 3 Friday: slept at hotel near St. Mary's Visitor Center West Glacier. No Wi-Fi except at the St Mary's Visitor Center - if you stand right by the door you can get connected & there's an osprey nest right by the door two or three birds up there. I don't think one of them's a baby either. Looks like three adults -maybe it's a grown-up baby. I arrive early at Many Glacier & start hiking towards Grinnell Glacier at 6 a.m. passing Swiftcurrent Lake & Lake Josephine & Lake Grinnell down below. Tons of hikers as it's almost Labor Day. Talked to "red man" from New Hampshire along the way up. It’s a good hike except for the trail maintenance fellow was a bit of a jerk. Prayers for: Redman, 3 fun Dolly girls, solo lady number 2, White Lightning, solo Brave, & Trail Maintenance Madman. Rested after Grinnell glacier near the fabulous Hotel Lodge right on Swiftwater Lake. Very beautiful. Edited some pictures. Lots of nice pictures. Did some reconnaissance for Iceberg Trail in the future -found the trailhead behind employees housing. Also hiking mile to Apikuni Falls 5 p.m. and then I drove out the dirt road & back to St Mary's Visitor Center to use the Wi-Fi briefly. September 4th Saturday, 4 a.m. driving to Two Medicine East Glacier area, 9:30 a.m. Now hiking to Aster Falls & Rockwell Falls. Met a nice couple who had seen a bear 🐻with two Cubs the previous day by Hidden Lake and had some very good pictures 👍. I hiked with them for a little while until they were slowing down too much. They were going to Yellowstone next as well - just like me & were excited to see the elks bugling there. As I hiked to Rockwell Falls a chipmunk was dropping pine cones down from up high and one hit me on the head. It felt like he was bombing me, but actually they just chew them off & drop them to the ground and then they come down and eat them later I guess, or maybe bury them for later -not sure. Two Medicine Lake is also beautiful. And they have a boat that goes across. Other hikes around here include Twin Falls, Cobalt Lake, and others. After the two-waterfall hike, I edited photos in the parking lot and did some maps evangelism prep. Then I also took a half-mile hike to another nearby waterfall which I renamed "Disappointment Falls" because it's pretty much blocked by a tree- not much of a view. I also added another half - mile hike to Running Eagle Falls. Prayers for the mean couple #1, and for the rare African-American by the waterfall sign who said "yes you can go down there" which made me laugh a little. Also "red girl" by water fountain, and the Native Americans. City of Browning 6 p.m. -cattle on the road. After Two Medicine I went thru East Glacier Village - luxury lodge here and a golf ⛳ course. I asked a fellow about passing through Heart Butte. Sounded kind of like a primitive road so I went the other way this time. Montana Grizzlies 🏈 versus Washington Huskies on the radio 96.7 - & Montana beats Wash for first time in 100 years - is that correct? (Confirmed). [& now a few months later they just defeated SDSU & will play for the FCS national championship 👍].
This is Lewis and Clark Trail where all the Minuteman missile silos used to be. Now they're all gone. City of Dupuyer. What's going on - we're in Teton County already ? Holy cow I never knew there was a Teton County Montana -surprised me. 640pm. City of Bynum dinosaur museum here. 653 pm. I heard coyotes yelping and howling last night. City of Choteau 7:11 p.m. also Teton River Police sitting by the exact spot where the speed limit changes as you enter the town. I just realized short roadside hikes are the worst because you get the types who are just scouting the park but not doing anything in depth like that guy by the waterfall sign. You can tell he didn't do any of the big hikes. He only did the one tiny .3-mile hike. Freezeout Lake 7:19 p.m. You got to respect the Indian Americans & Asian Americans doing the big hikes trying to be the real deal. It would be nice to see more African Americans hiking - it's very rare. City of Fairfield 7:30 pm. Arriving in Great Falls Montana at 8:30 p.m. -not much Wi-Fi here spotty everywhere but I did get a connection after driving around for a while.
9/5 Sunday morning Sept 5 beautiful day 9 a.m. I go to the Corpus Christi Catholic Church- young priest with a long beard seemed pretty cool & gave a nice homily. Then I went over to the St Ann cathedral for noon mass and a black guy, apparently some sort of usher or deacon, chided me for coming in a few minutes late which was strange because I'm just visiting the city & this is my second mass of the morning. It’s not like I live right across the street or something & woke up late. But I didn't tell him all that. However then during the offering he made a big deal of me not putting anything in the plate -gave me a side eye. Is this guy the one African-American in the entire city of Great Falls and he's volunteering at the Catholic Church? And getting hostile towards me? He's a textbook example of what NOT to do when new people show up at church if you ever want them to return. So I left early. I wasn't going to put up with that kind of abuse. I go to church plenty enough - more than probably most people really in the entire world I would think. I go to Catholic mass every day when possible depending where I am & then on Sundays I try to mix a few Catholic services with a Protestant service or two. I don't take second fiddle to anybody in that regard. 1 p.m. I go over to the Walmart - very warm now getting up into the 80s a little bit humid but overcast. The Missouri River goes through here. I cast my line in one spot near the Applebees. Then I drove to Giant Springs State Park & took a swim in the Missouri River & cast line a few times. The water was perfect, just cool enough to be refreshing but not so cold that it numbs you. Now I've fished 🎣in the Mississippi, Missouri, & Columbia Rivers.
Sept 6 Monday Labor Day had a good night sleep in Great Falls & now I'm driving again. I stop at the Walmart first before leaving town to do a little maps evangelism. Now leaving Great Falls towards Helena Montana. I stop at the Buffalo Jump State Park just three miles off the interstate but they have an $8 non- residency fee. That’ll keep people away- good grief. Made final auto insurance payment of the year for $63 online. Windy today & all night. Praying for St Ann anger man. Also praying for the 3 dolly gals, solo perfect, bear couple, red man, white lightning, and solo nice. Big Belt Mountains 11 a.m. I-15 crisscrosses the Missouri River. Is this haze or is it smoke because there's definitely something in the air. Must be from the wildfire. Passing over the Little Prickly Pear Creek 11:30 a.m. What is the Gates of the Mountain Recreation Area? Prayers for Jim and Linda 100, for The Unborn 100, for the unreached 100, for the unreceptive 100, for the military 100, for all my family 100. Arriving in Helena 1 p.m., drove around. Now leaving Helena after lunch by the majestic Capitol Building. Researched Yellowstone Trail & Canyon Ferry 12 p.m. City of Townsend Montana 2:17 p.m. We're still in the Missouri River area. There’s no helmet law in Montana I guess- cyclers whizzing by at 60 mph, hair blowing in the wind . Near Toston dam 2:27 p.m., City of Three Forks -even more smoke & haze now. Somewhere around here is the Lewis & Clark Caverns. I wonder if that's the cave I explored many years ago. For a while, anytime I saw a cave sign, I would take the tour. Here's the Jefferson River, Highway 287 to 55 pm, City of Harrison 3:05 p.m., City of Ennis 4 p.m. & the lake which I drove all the way around -bigger than it looks on the map. Took a brief swim at the recreation area -the water was a little questionable but felt refreshing. Saw a huge osprey and I also saw a really skinny horse which concerned me enough to write an anonymous note and leave it at the post office 📬 to have somebody go and investigate whether it's being neglected or it's sick or what because the bones were just sticking out grotesquely. Back in the city of Ennis driving around I saw a deer right in the middle of town. Don't they hunt deer in Montana? It seems like there's a lot of them & they're not very afraid of people -that's for sure.
There's a road on the backside of Ennis Lake by the way- looks like there might be some interesting recreational areas back there. Didn't have time to drive it -maybe next time. The horse that was too skinny was at a place called Jack River Outfitters. So I will be praying for the skinny horse. Meadow Creek Road, towards Lake & Recreation Area. I get so sick & tired of pickup trucks. It's like 95% of the people around Montana drive pickup trucks & definitely not everyone needs one or uses it the way they're built for. It’s just a status thing - actually gets very boring & annoying after a while -contrary to that country song called "there's something about a truck". The Madison river & Papoose Creek 6:37 p.m. tons of pronghorns grazing here & there. I hear a new song called "bad habits" kind of catchy, & there's an ad on the radio for Bozeman Testicle Festival - that sounds very unique (Rocky Mountain Oysters" (bull testicles beer-battered and deep fried). Not my kind of food for sure 👎. The Doors rock group named themselves after the Aldous Huxley's "Doors of Perception" -found that out on Coast-to-Coast radio late at night. For some reason I remembered it the next day. Most of what I hear on coast-to-coast in the middle of the night I think I forget especially if it's about UFOs which it often is - it's kind of ridiculous but every now and then they have a good in-depth interview of something or somebody significant. Now passing by Earthquake Lake 6:45 p.m. famous for the so-called Night of Terror in which 28 people were killed. In 1959 a size 7.2 earthquake "...triggered a disastrous collapse of a mountain a few miles downstream from the Hebgen Lake Dam, and this massive landslide instantly dammed the Madison River, creating what is now called Earthquake Lake, a.k.a. Quake Lake. " http://enjoyyourparks.com/Earthquake-Lake-Montana.html
Now at the refuge near Beavercreek & campfire lodge. Near the Gallatin National Forest also, & The Cabin Creek Scarp Area. What's a scarp? The Tilted Lake, Kirkwood Trailhead, Kirkwood Marina, Hebgen Lake? "Hebgen Lake is a reservoir created by the Hebgen Dam, located in Gallatin County in southwest Montana. It is well known for the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake which occurred nearby on August 17, 1959, forming Quake Lake, which is located immediately downstream." Wikipedia. There's one water skier at the moment.
PrayTheNews: 1) Taliban is holding USA hostages, 2) Taliban execute pregnant cop in front of her family, 3) rumor that a teacher evacuated a classroom because one student refused to wear a mask. Is Hebgen Lake drying up? Slept outside West Yellowstone city. I wonder if Mormons are more self-righteous than others - is that one of the fallacies of their theology because sometimes it seems like when I meet Mormons there's a little bit of self-righteousness - maybe works based. Utah jerk pulls in behind me 7:15 p.m. why is he pushing me? Why is he rushing as we approach Yellowstone? September 7th Tuesday 3 a.m. thru West Yellowstone gate- nobody's there- 31 degrees as I enter. Sign says fire hole swimming areas closed. Passing Madison Campground 3:30 a.m., Fountain Flat Drive 341, Mary Mountain 342, Fountain Paint Pot Trail, Firehole Lake Drive 346, Whiskey Flats, Grand Prismatic Spring 348, Biscuit Basin 354, Old Faithful turn off 355, Black Sand Basin, Lone Star Trail 4a.m., Delacy Creek Trail several cars- towards Shoshone point for 410 a.m. At 4:24 suddenly a moose with a huge rack in the middle of the road near the West thumb is staring me down. I try to take a picture but my flash is on so it causes a glare on the windshield. I have to fumble with it to turn off the flash and by that time he's starting to walk away so I only get a walking away picture rather than the great stare down we had for about 30 seconds- unbelievable moment- and no other cars on the road at the moment. Now I'm passing Riddle Lake Trail, p 16 643am starting Heart ❤ Lake Trail. I've always wanted to do this trail and finally now I have the opportunity. Read so many interesting things about it - it's a long hike relatively speaking. After 5 miles I'm at the 1st geothermal pools which are bubbling & fuming. I think I'm the first one on the trail this morning. Pretty cool 👍. I look down on Heart Lake & see a lot of thermal activity in the valley but I don't go all the way to the lake this time. It’s still a ten-mile hike just to get to the viewpoint & back. I'm back at the car at 11 a.m. 1st Corinthians 3.9. Wow that was a cold start this morning - I had to keep blowing on my hands to keep them from getting too cold. "Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty” 1st Corinthians 3.17. Now at noon I take the Lewis Lake Trail - 4 miles round trip. You can keep going if you want to do Shoshone Lake which is a 10- mile round-trip hike but I've already done 10 miles today and that's enough for me. I swim in Lewis Lake later -it's cool but not ice cold. Then I go back up to Riddle Lake Trail. No cars at the trailhead - thought it was shorter but it turns out to be 5 miles round-trip so I cancel. I'll probably do it later.
So I go back up to Grant's Visitor Center and refill my water bottles using the hose faucet on the side of the visitor center. Now at Thumb Geyser Basin Boardwalk - the "black pool" is cool even though it's not black but turquoise. That’s one of the best ones.Then I drive to Old Faithful but I don't want to wait an hour to see it erupt so I just do a quick walk through Old Faithful Lodge. I'll do the whole thing later. There's a new Old Faithful Visitor Center -relatively new I guess- maybe ten years or so. I do some evangelism in the parking lot. As I am leaving, an A-hole in a sprinter passes me dangerously. Some of these drivers in the Sprinter vans are getting obnoxious -they think they're so darn hip & cool. Some of the lefty Liberals don't like the poster in my back window that says "We March with Christ for life”. This one has a California plate of course. 6:30 p.m. I take another hike at the Midway geyser basin & Grand Prismatic Springs. I have been here before of course but it's always very cool to see it again. It never ceases to amaze. The thermal water empties into the Firehole 🔥 River thru the Excelsior pool. Wonderful 👍
There is a gigantic traffic jam leaving West Yellowstone so I pull in to Whiskey Flats picnic area 7 p.m. This is a gigantic long slow-moving traffic jam like a LA freeway at rush hour. This may be the only time it's like this - it is of course the day after Labor Day & the mass exodus of people going back to their houses & back to work etc but that doesn't mean the park will be empty tomorrow. There will still be a lot of people but not as many. Reminds me of when I went to Grand Canyon one time & hadn't been there in decades- so I'm pulling up to the booth and there's an elderly Ranger & I say "Is it busy today?" And his eyes widen as he realizes I don't really have a clue about the tremendous changes that have happened at the national parks in the last decade or so. Fact is that the national parks have become a worldwide bucket list thing to do - no longer mostly just Americans. In fact, I wonder now if at places like the Grand Canyon it's more non-Americans than Americans. September 8th Wednesday 4 am back into West Yellowstone today I start out doing the Fairy Falls Trail which is 5-miles round trip plus another two miles to get to Imperial Geyser which I had not pre- planned on doing but I'm glad I did. Very cool & I am the first one there & a bison is sleeping near the geyser. We stared at each other for a little while, then I walked up to the geyser and watched it erupt. I think that Imperial Geyser is in a constant state of eruption -not a huge eruption- but a pretty good one. As I turned around and came back I dip my toes into the creek a little bit but it's too hot for even your feet & toes. Then I noticed the bison was standing up not far away and at that point as I passed the Bison, a man and lady are starting up towards me. I said to them “Be careful - but I don't think he's dangerous unless you make him mad". Back at the car at 10 a.m. that was a good start to the day -7 miles not as tiring as yesterday's 10 miles. Lamentations 3: "God's compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness."
I did most of the Old Faithful Loop later that day and many thermal pools & geysers including Gem Pool & Artemisia Geyser which are little bit beyond Morning Glory off the beaten path where the sidewalk ends and dirt trail begins, but it's definitely worth going there. For that matter Morning Glory has lost some of its luster & has become brown around the edges. The sign says it's because people threw too many coins in it. I also enjoyed the Punch Bowl spring. Then as I came back to the central area there was a bison grazing in the inner court of Old Faithful Lodge. And as I walked through the lodge and came outside suddenly good Ol Faithful erupted 🌋. I wasn't planning on seeing it but I'm glad I did - fun time. I've done about 10 miles hiking today. The boardwalk around Old Faithful adds up. At Black Sands Basin Loop some dead dragonflies in the geysers and pools 5 p.m. to 6 Biscuit Basin loop-back of loop has trail to Mystic Falls (which I did a few years ago) and is the long way to Fairy Falls. I took the shorter way this morning. Sapphire pool is pretty incredible like a tropical beach. Back over to Old Faithful I did the other loop including the upper geyser basin & solitary geyser. I also saw the doublet pool which is a photographer's favorite. And then as I was approaching the Old Faithful observation point I just coincidentally arrived at the right time to see Old Faithful erupt again - the second time today. As I'm leaving the park towards the west, a bison is in the road right smack dab in front of me. A few minutes later a lot of people are stopping to take a picture of a gigantic moose with large rack but it was too dark to see very clearly. I slept at West Yellowstone again. September 9th Thursday 4 a.m. re-entering West Yellowstone. Took a nap at Madison picnic area until 8:30 a.m. - NOT going to start a hike this morning so early. I'm feeling a bit exhausted - so much hiking the last several weeks including Glacier National Park & only a few days rest in between Glacier & Yellowstone. This morning I take a really short hike to Harlequin Lake – it is one-mile round trip around 8:45 - not much to see or do there - it’s a Lily Pad Lake or pond. I also see Firehole Falls which is pretty cool -nice picture. Madison Junction may be the best fishing area- I see a lot of fly fishermen there. Although there's another spot that's pretty good as well. Firehole Canyon Drive - sign says "swimming area closed” but I see a family walking towards it in their swimsuits. I guess they don't care what the sign says. Although it's only 51 degrees at 9 a.m. they seem to be nonplussed by the cool weather. Turning off onto Fountain Flat Drive - there's almost always bison here & today is no different. They're everywhere- big and small: mamas & the papas & babies. 10 to 10:30 pass by Nez Perce Creek fishing area but I don't fish here because you need a special permit. Now passing Mary Mountain Trail 10:22 a.m. Now at Fountain Paint Pot Boardwalk. I remember being here with Amy one time back in 1993 or thereabouts, but it's extremely busy at the moment so I pass it by temporarily. Then I turn & take Fire Lake Drive. Firehole Spring looks interesting. I need to do some research on that. Also there's the Great Fountain Geyser which is a tremendous erupter -you can see some good shows on YouTube but it's unpredictable in person. You could be "Waiting for Godot". There's also the Pink Cone Geyser which would be interesting to see on YouTube. After that I went back to Fountain Paint Pot and was lucky to pull right in and get a spot as somebody was backing out 10:30 a.m. I also saw the van for the Institute of Creation Research (ICR). They have a Biblical- based creation world view which I agree with. And a very good website dedicated to creation research & creation evangelism (ie intelligent design). It's a little bit warmer today than yesterday.
Fairy Falls lot is overflowing - it's always very popular. 11:45 a.m. I passed by Mallard Creek Trail and study the sign. Looks like it's an 8.6-mile round trip -maybe I'll do that sometime in the future. LoneStar Trail & Kepler Cascades around High Noon. Now passing Delacy Creek Trail. I look at the sign - says 3 miles to Shoshone Lake- so it's actually shorter this way then the Lewis lake hike. Refill water at Grand Visitor Center again. Make it to Lewis Lake -take a swim. Now I go back to Riddle Lake again and this time I complete the 5 mile hike in 1 hour- pretty good. There's not that much to see or do there. It's another Lily Pad Lake albeit bigger than Harlequin Lake, but still Limited in terms of things to do. The Fall colors are beautiful- reds and yellows especially right after Lewis Falls heading south. And then there's jaw-dropping beautiful colors - that's also where there's a canyon (NOT the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" which is near the northern side) but not many places to pull off and see it -that's the only problem. Below Lewis Falls I floated in the stream for a little while to cool off 3:40 p.m. and then I stopped at Moose Falls which is pretty good actually but not many people stop here. It’s very close to the southern entrance to Yellowstone and I think most people pass it by going one way or the other but it's only a hundred yards from the road & worth stopping to see 👍.
September 10th Friday this time I slept at Flagg Ranch near the headwaters Lodge which is between Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. 4 a.m. I enter Teton National Park going south - take a nap at a picnic area, and then later I pull in the Colter Bay and I'm gobsmacked as I pull up to the marina boat ramp to find there's no water in Jackson Lake or it's very low. Apparently they've had to empty the dam to take care of other resources. That’s sad- very sad. Then I pull in to Jackson Lake Lodge and am able to finally get connected to Wi-Fi for the first time in three or four days. I stay there for about an hour. You could actually walk to Elk Island now - the lake is so dry - although I'm not sure it's allowed. Christian Creek 9:25 a.m.. Oxbow Bend turnout great picture spot. The Wolf radio 96.1 from Idaho is a good station. Now doing 6 mile trail around Two Ocean Lake - a 3-hour nice hike. Take another nap & do maps editing - stayed at the parking lot of 2 Ocean Trail for a while and met a family that had come all the way from the Netherlands. They were traveling across the USA in their rented RV- last name DeBoer.I talked to them for a little while. They were debating where to go next, either Montana and Glacier, or Seattle. The wife was thinking about flying to Hawaii but the husband wasn't so excited about that. Maybe Olympic Mountains. Maybe South toward Oregon. I gave them a few recommendations but with three toddler kids they can't do a lot of big hiking and at Glacier you CAN'T take an RV up the Sun Road so I would think maybe Mt Rainer or Crater Lake is a better place for them to go for a while. He asked me if I had ever been to the Netherlands. I told him about my trip going to see Anne Frank house & the tulips etc. I think what surprised him most about the USA which surprises most tourists from other countries is HOW BIG it actually is. There’s some long drives in between national parks - it's not short nor small that's for sure. They seemed a little tired from the road. I walked down to the beach to try fishing & as I stepped onto the water's edge I saw a mama and baby moose couple hundred yards away. So I went back to my car to get my camera and by the time I got back they were gone unfortunately. After fishing for only a few minutes it turned out to be too weedy and shallow. So I went back to my car and left for the day enjoying the colors as I was leaving the area. Also cast my line at Oxbow Bend briefly. Lots of picture takers there as well, and also at Cattleman's Bridge. Then I cast my line at Jackson Lake Dam by Chapel of the Sacred Heart 4:30 p.m.
Now at Signal Mountain Lodge 4:55 p.m.. Then at Jenny Lake Visitor Center I saw a fox in the parking lot, after which I took a backwoods hike and some girl followed me and so I paused for a moment to let her pass and I said hi trying to be nice but she wouldn't say hi back because sometimes they think that's going to be misperceived as a "come on" or something like that. She continued forward on the path I was taking as well but because of her demeanor I turned around and went the other way. It’s just the way it is when you're walking and hiking alone and you encounter an insecure single lady. It’s incumbent upon the man to make conscious decisions to avoid interaction if possible if they are the fearful type of person - even if it means changing the entire hike direction or sitting down for an hour or whatever the case may be to get out of their perimeter. Pretty sad because sometimes it's not even real fear - it's feigned- it's acting (maybe consciously or subconsciously). They do it for self-serving purposes (consciously or subconsciously). She saw me go down this trail so why did she follow me if she was afraid of me. There's other trails right alongside here that she could easily have taken. So instead I went over and I took a swim in the Jackson Lake which was very refreshing - near the shuttle which was closed for the evening and also cast my line by the Jenny Lake Loop. I don't know if there's any fish near the edges around here - very windy choppy water. September 11th Saturday: remembering 911 20 years ago, I was in Pasadena at the time. Slept at Jackson Lodge, 7 a.m. I see some elk jousting by Willow Flats. This is the time of year the elk do their so-called bugling & mating rituals. It rained all night which was nice but now it stopped - still lots of clouds 7:30 to noon I hiked to Hidden Falls on the Jenny Lake Loop and then continued all the way around the lake passing String Lake as well. On return I cast my line for few minutes in Jenny Lake again. I wonder if there are any fish actually in this lake. I don't see people fishing out there in boats too much if at all. Cottonwood Creek comes out of Jenny Lake or vice versa. Jenny Lake parking lot is packed by this time all the overflows also full. I drive over to String Lake trailhead - add three miles for the String Lake loop - so that's another 10 miles today. Cast my line after the hike at String Lake as well - and then take a little swim. Some lady yelled at me "Did you catch anything?" I said "I don't think there's actually any fish in here." She responded sarcastically “So I guess that's a no". I didn't bother telling her my philosophy of ZEN fishing which is just having a relaxing time casting your line into an idyllic pond even if there's no fish. There's something about casting the line & reeling it in while wading in the water. Good Zen 👍.
Prayer visualization: String Lake ladies, the hesitant lady at String Lake, the booming "How are you” couple -she was picture crazy at Hidden Falls- and he was getting tired of it, the good pace family, the no hi lady following me at Jenny Lake after the fox, "Whosoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life " John 6.54 and shall live forever ". 58 " the words I speak are spirit and life ". 63 Sunday September 12th slept at Jackson Lodge -driving by Willow Flats again at 6 a.m. there's the elk bugling again- a larger group this time. 730 am - now hiking to Bearpaw Lake and then Trapper Lake - start out along String Lake at first and then along the coast of Leigh Lake. As I approach Trapper Lake I can hear the elk bugling but I never did see them. I stay there for about 30 minutes - there must be fish in here- I saw one big splash. Prayer visualizations: elk man & wife, Christmas tree man, homo sapien 3-some, the island couple before and after, the long way couple, the branch man and wife (Norway or Denmark), & the sir weirdo. Who calls a person sir as their taking a hike, unless they're a ranger. And I'm not a ranger -that's for sure. Also took a swim at String Lake after the hike. Some lady took my picture as I was coming out of the water - that was weird to feel like paparazzi trying to get a quick picture of me, but why? Do I look like a Hollywood celebrity ? I hope not. Now leaving -driving through Moose - outside of Park entrance - I saw a mama & baby moose, & as we were watching them something swam across. Two Asians asked me “Is that a moose?" When I first glanced at it I figured yes, it is. Later I realized it was a bear 🐻swimming across. I got a tiny little video of it but it's kind of difficult to tell that it's a bear- however other people got good close ups with their bigger zoom lenses and showed me their pictures of the bear head - that was cool. I stayed there for about an hour. Then as I was driving away there was a traffic jam because of a different bear up in a tree just 100- yards down the road. Unbelievable- that was a great moment. I mean I lived in Jackson Hole for a couple summers back in the 90s & rarely ever did see bears. Slept in Jackson Hole Monday September 13th. 8 a.m. Catholic mass at Lady of our mountains. After Mass I go to the Albertson's & pick up a few groceries. Then I go to the Dollar Tree & buy a few things & get cash back -the cashier was a bit boisterous -at the very end he snapped "Thanks buddy" which is always an ambiguous way of addressing a person- can be passive aggressive- they can claim it's nice by saying "hey I said buddy" but you can also say it in a way that's demeaning and so you never know- they leave it in ambiguous- plain & simple it's passive aggressive ie cowardly. Then I did some maps evangelism by the school. Now I'm at the Elk Refuge. Now at Miller Park 330pm -found a place to refill my water bottles. Slept by the church.
September 14th Tuesday 8 a.m. At mass the priest today mentioned growing up in Devils Lake North Dakota. I remember driving through there last year - that was around the time I met that evangelist pastor walking on the road with a huge wooden cross and talked to him for a while. I remember it because he said “Devils Lake needs Jesus Christ more than ever." Although he didn't elaborate. I don't know if it's because of the name of the place or did he experience some antagonism going through there. I wouldn't want to live in a place called Devil's Lake or there's another place I went thru on this trip called Devil's Gate. It may be superstitious but I'd rather live in a place like Los Angeles named after the Angels or actually named after Mother Mary. Or the best of all Corpus Christi. Guess what that means. The priest also mentioned Bible verses on cups at In and Out Burger - so apparently he's been out to California or one of the states that has this famous fast-food restaurant. 9 a.m. Elk Refuge Road, 10 a.m. Millers historical cabin, 11 a.m. Cache Creek area, 1130 snow King Resort. I remember when I came here in the 90s to live with my aunt I had walked up there to talk to the people who do the horseback trips & was inquiring about a job with them but that never came to fruition. They have an Alpine Slide here now - that looks pretty cool. There's also been a helicopter buzzing overhead at the top everyday - not sure what they're doing- although I read they're working on putting a gondola in to replace the chairlift so maybe that's what all the activity is about. 1 p.m. I go to Phil Baux Park that has a rock-climbing structure and managed to climb up one section barefoot, but it would help to have rock climbing shoes. I did a bit of rock climbing back in the late 80s - at one place in Canada we did an overnight trip, and also at Grand Ledge near Lansing Michigan. And a little bit down by the Appalachian Trail on a spring break trip. Learned some of the technical stuff with Brent Gates and also Pat Block among others. I think the Plantinga girl was on that trip as well. Now it's 2 p.m. I'm by the main post office on Maple Way - now praying for Larry Elder to win the California recall election today. But I have my concerns about election fraud in California just like the national election fraud that's now been pretty much proven by the Maricopa Arizona audit. It's real,NOT fiction. "Fulfill my joy that you be like minded, the same love, of one accord, of one mind, NO strife or vainglory, but esteem others better than yourself ... " Philippians 2. Got $25 in gas for about $4 per gallon. It's actually cheaper to get gas inside Yellowstone Park which is rare because usually gas stations ⛽inside the national parks are more expensive than those in the closest town. Here it's the opposite, & not just by a few pennies. Worth going out of the way for.
So now I'm at the movie called Shang Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings at the Movie Works theater in Jackson Hole. By the way I noticed the other movie theater closed down just a few months ago. I think that’s where my cousin Todd used to work when I was living here. Strangely, I never went to a movie back then. Was not really into the movies as I am now at least in terms of reviewing them for Christians. This movie starts out way back 1000 years ago & a guy finds 10 magical rings but he uses them for power rather than good. Then he meets a virtuous lady who helps calm & settle him down a bit. They have kids together & then suddenly flash-forward 2000 years later it's modern day San Francisco California & there's two valet parking attendants- both of Asian heritage- one male & one female - just friends- they work together. The guy has a pendant around his neck & one day on the city bus some thugs try to take it from him but they're NOT ordinary thugs - they were sent by his father who is back in the country of Macau which is between China & Hong Kong ( and I've actually been there once on my brief trip to China). It’s a casino mecca now. The father is trying to get his son to come back to Macau for some reason. Eventually on the bus they start fighting & this parking attendant turns out to be a pretty good fighter - like a Bruce Lee karate man -and he manages to fend off several thugs but they eventually get the pendant. It's an epic battle on the bus with a lot of crashing and craziness happening. Meanwhile I'm praying for Larry Elder to win the election according to God's will. OVER and over and over I'm praying for Larry Elder and God's will be done. Thy will be done Lord, but apparently it's NOT God's will or God's NOT getting involved in elections because it turns out Larry did NOT win (or at least the numbers didn't add up in his favor whether it's legitimate or a fraud who knows -a lot of the infamous Dominion election machines were used in the California recall election again. And numerous reports of irregularities -all in favor of the other guys of course). So the guy goes to Macau and they take him to a Fight Club which is actually owned by his sister who he hasn't seen in many many years and he's forced to fight his own sister and she beats him. Now the movie starts having flashbacks to when he was a kid. The father has been seduced to believe that his wife is still alive behind some kind of a mystical wall and that if he can get in there he can release his wife but it's actually satan or the "dark side" seducing him to believe so, and if he DOES get inside that wall he will actually be releasing demons - and it will become an epic battle between good vs evil.
I continue my Larry prayer and also I'm praying for Larry VG who still lives here in Jackson Hole and his family & kids who are in different places. But his wife Barb passed away a few years ago ( rest in peace ❤ ✝ 🙏) One of the thugs employed by the father is named Iron Fist and now one of the motifs of the movie is "a blood debt has to be paid by Blood " which as we know as Christians is the opposite of what the New Testament teaches us or Jesus teaches us. It’s no longer "eye for an eye" but rather "turn the other cheek". Also there was the requirement of the sacrificial lamb every so often by the people there in the Old Testament at the temple but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the living lamb replaced this ritual as well - a one-time sacrifice for our sins, praise the Lord - if you believe & accept it and commit your life to God. But they are living Old Testament or medieval theology. But also almost like the book of Revelation which is New Testament, but there's some crossover there because of the evil & good forces are represented by 2 dragons fighting each other: good vs evil. AND then all the minions who are on one side or the other. And I also think about Buddhism & the danger of ancestor worship which is creeping into this film - something to think about. And then there's also a little bit of the Luke Skywalker Darth Vader theme as the son seems to be turning to the good side whereas the father seems to be going over to the dark side. Eventually the good character slayed the evil dragon & good wins- at least temporarily. This is a Marvel movie by the way, so there is a post credit scene -actually 2 in this film and so we will undoubtedly be seeing more of these characters from Shang-chi in the future. Slept in Jackson Hole, 8 a.m. mass at the Lady of the Mountains ⛪ again. This time the priest is talking about an Eric Clapton song 🎶 "will you know my name when I see you in heaven" re Eric’s child who died when he accidentally fell out of a high-rise in New York City several years ago. Eric was not there at the time. 9:30 a.m. I'm on the way to Goodwin Lake Trail. This is a very rough road, 10:30 I'm hiking. 12 noon I arrive at the beautiful lake - some rocky areas here you can jump off but the water feels pretty cool to me, not sure it's swimmable. I'm trying to remember if this is actually the lake I hiked to & camped overnight with my cousin Caitlyn 25 years ago - unbelievable so long ago. I passed 3 girls on the way there plus their dog- they were hiking to Jackson Peak, beyond the lake. Nice enough & not fearful- clearly, they were well-raised local girls. 1 p.m. returning -passed another girl alone with her dog which she's trying to hold back. I said "if he's friendly just let him go" she says "he's super friendly". So I pet the dog then I get going again and she kind of whines or wails "sorry " & I don't know why because I said it's okay. I'm out here hiking at church NOT in my Sunday clothes. I'm not worried about getting dirty or a dog jumping on me. Why is she yelling sorry at me? weirdly passive-aggressive some of these young people. They try to make you feel like you're a jerk even though you said you're not worried about the dog jumping on you. You specifically told her you like dogs & she's still trying to do that. It’s disgusting. I grew up with dogs & love dogs & playing with them & and then I had my own dog as a young adult for 14 years who even hiked to the top of Mount Whitney with me. If you're trying to tell me I'm not a dog person you are literally crazy. Stop the bullshit young lady. You're not the only one in the world who loves dogs and not everybody else is a jerk. 3 p.m. back on the rough road. Took a break at Elk Refuge.
4 p.m. Back at Jackson Hole I do a little bit of evangelism, -very hot body temperature which is normal for me after a hike for several hours sometimes through the night. I also sprained my left ankle and wrist in a freak fall as I was coming down from Goodwin Lake. I didn't think much of it at the time- didn't feel the pain but now I do. 6 p.m. take a rest and refill my water at the park again. Sleep in Jackson Hole by the church. Thursday September 16th 8 a.m. a new priest this morning talks about "The intensity of remorse being more important to God than the intensity of the sin". Interesting. Something to mull over. I also prepared the MVG letter which I plan to drop off at their house when I drive by assuming they're not there. I'll just put on their car window or something like that. I figure she's in Kirkland not in Jackson but you never know. 9 a.m. Albertsons 10 a.m. to noon I stay by the Town Square and take a walk around the antler arches - they're always cool. They built some new ones - shiny and white 1 p.m. stop by the Elk Refuge, and then I passed by the VG House. Surprisingly I think she may be there. There's a Subaru in the driveway but I'm too insecure to go in and say hello. I just drive by and then I actually think I saw her sitting at the kitchen table. I will mail the letter from Moose instead. Good time to tell a story as well.
BEGIN STORY:
I need to tell the story about taking a magazine away from cousin Tom (not real name) and the implications that arose from it. So the summer that I was staying at the PG's House in Jackson Hole - one day Aunt Mary (not real name) asked me to pick up the mail from the post office. They get all their mail at a PO Box because the mailman doesn't deliver out to the houses out there. So I went & picked up the mail and embarrassingly included with it was a girlie magazine addressed to my cousin Tom (changed name to respect his privacy). Now I'm not saying I'm a saint or that we shouldn't appreciate female beauty but as a Christian I think we should try to avoid sins of the flesh especially that kind of stuff, so I took it upon myself to hide the magazine from Tom figuring he probably wouldn't know or remember it. But the same day later that afternoon I'm downstairs and suddenly I hear an argument out there next to my cousin's bedroom which is right next to mine. It's my special needs cousin Arnold (not real name) & Tom arguing and then Aunt Mary (not real name) gets involved about where is the magazine. They know I picked up the mail so there's no one else to blame, but WHY would they know it's coming that exact day, that's the question. So I pull out the magazine which I had not yet thrown away & not sure really what explanation I gave them -I didn't start preaching although I probably should have - I think I just handed it to them and walked away and that was the end of it. But somebody started gossiping -probably Arnold (or was it Mary?) (who I think has always really hated me - not sure why because I really didn't know him personally much at all growing up - only a few times meeting on holidays or big family gatherings which were very few and far in between) to the Beatrice & Lonny family which is Uncle Warnock's brother & sister-in-law (who has since deceased, RIP) about this incident & implied that I was taking the girlie magazine for my own self-gratification rather than the real reason. And I never was given a chance to explain, & it became exceedingly obvious that Beatrice's opinion of me dropped precipitously after that. She wouldn't even talk to me. But the fact that they knew the magazine was coming that day & noticed it missing actually led me to believe that this was a setup to see if I would take it so they could actually create a false narration that I had taken it for my own self-gratification even though that was NOT the truth. That was the only time Aunt Mary ever asked me to pick up the mail for them as well, before or after. So I just wanted to lay that out there and let people decide for themselves. By that time in life I was long past any kind of adolescent behavior such as the kind implied by this incident. END STORY
I go back to the Moose spot and there they are again- mama and baby moose. I stay there for a few hours doing some photo editing for maps evangelism at 6 p.m. I re-enter Grand Tetons National Park heading north. At the Taggart Lake trailhead there's a crowd watching a solo moose by the road. Then i pass some horses in a field with the Grand Tetons in the background -nice picture. Passing by Sargent's Bay, north of Colter Bay 6:55 p.m., Arizona Island picnic area 7 p.m., Lake View picnic area, Jackson Lake Overlook good perspective, Sheffield Creek 718, and I sleep at Flagg Ranch again. Good morning it's Friday September 17th: passing Lewis Creek Canyon 4:55 a.m., it's only 21° right now- very cold, according to my car thermometer that shows the outside temperature- fairly accurate, which is surprising. Refill gas ⛽ at Old Faithful $3.69 per gallon - that's a better deal. Stop at the Terrace Spring but you can only see steam right now because it's so cold. I joke to a few tourists that these covid masks are now finally useful as nose warmers 8 a.m. I pass by the Tuff Cliff. Gibbon Falls 827 quarter mile walk to view - still a lot of traffic. Next is Iron Springs, 22° at picnic area, Caldera Rim picnic area 8:29 a.m. People in Sprinter vans are a little bit cocky. They really think they're something special because of their van & often drive too fast as well. Barrel Spring and Gibbon River, 8:45, Artistic Paint Pot - still using the mask as a nose warmer -1-mile loop- still mostly steam here because of the cold weather. Couple of bison by Gibbon Meadows. Then I also hiked Norris Geyser & the Porcelain Basin Loop. This place is packed by the time I leave. There are cars backed up waiting for an open space to park in. There's some good geysers here - the biggest one is Steamboat - but it's very unpredictable. I call it Ol Unfaithful . You can watch it blow 🌋 on YouTube. I make it to Frying Pan spring at high noon and take some time to put in a little transmission fluid which suddenly was very low -maybe from the rough roads I've been traversing- maybe takes a little more fluid. But I better keep an eye on it. Twin Lakes 1205, one of the two is more colorful than the other. Now past Roaring Mountain, & here's the Grizzly trailhead at 1209, & Solfatara Creek Trail 1212, Beaver Lake picnic area 1213, Obsidian Cliff exhibit 12:14, Mount Holmes Trail 12:15, Apollinaris Spring 1216, Sheepeater Cliff 12:21, Swan Lake flat 12:30, actual swans on Swan Lake -nice picture spot, Glen Creek trail, Bunsen Peak Trail 1235, Canary Spring 12:42. And finally Mammoth Hot Spring -wow there's a huge herd of elk right there as I drive by the mystical Creek -that's my name for the creek because it has such an enchanting color to it. One big bull elk came by and herded the whole herd of smaller elk out of the tourist area shortly after I arrived. Now I'm doing the loop past Cleopatra Mound - pretty spectacular.
Upper Loop including Canary & Dryad Springs -stunning- like a giant turquoise jacuzzi on top of a cliff with water overflowing- rippling edges. Can’t make it up- only God can make that up. From 2 to 2:30 I do the upper loop trail including Orange Spring Mountain which is pretty nice, & then down by the main road. Meanwhile the elk are crossing right in front of me. Now I'm leaving Mammoth Hot Springs passing by Undine Falls 3 p.m., Some jerk kid yells "lock the door" when they are only 100- feet from their car -a weird paranoia has crept over Americans where everybody acts distrustful of everybody else -even in the most innocent places. Nobody wants to rob your car here at Yellowstone buddy. Truth is they actually have a self-serving incentive to act distrustful of others. Near Lava Creek I wonder if the water is warm but I don't feel like stopping 3:05 p.m., Past the trailhead for Wraith Falls which is only a half mile hike - maybe next time. I'm hiked out for a few weeks anyways. Blacktail Pond 3:10 p.m., Blacktail Plateau is 6 miles one-way Loop. Passing by an agitated bison at 321, Trail called Hell Roaring 325. The Tower Road is closed so I have to turn whether I like it or not towards Cody- the long way to Cody. Lamar River 342, Specimen Trail (supposed to be a great hike) 3:38, Slough Creek Road 343. Lots of Bison around this area Lamar Valley -which is also a popular fly-fishing area. Bald eagle 353, Soda Butte 358, Trout Lake Trail 4 p.m., Pebble Creek & campgrounds 402, Thunderer Trail 403 (yes that’s the way they spell it), Ice Box Canyon 404, Barronette Peak 411. Now exiting Yellowstone, thru city of Silver Gate 4:18 p.m. Beware the passive- aggressive types on the trail. The girl with the dog kept saying sorry even though I said don't worry blah blah blah (once again for too many people they have a self-serving incentive to be distrustful or doubtful or even skeptical of others). Lots of free-range cows roaming around here. Crazy Creek Campground 437. Bow turning on to Chief Joseph Scenic Highway to Cody instead of the Bear Tooth road (which I did a few years ago and it's pretty spectacular). 62 Mi to Cody. Beartooth pass is closed or will be closed after 7 p.m. but I didn't want to go that way this time anyways. I'm glad I found Chief Joseph Scenic Highway which is pretty spectacular in its own right. As I drive it, numerous fire 🚒, ambulance 🚑, & police 🚔 pass me going the other way up the hill. Something serious happened behind me. Shoshone National Forest. Close call with a few deer at 5:11 p.m. I didn't even see them until I was almost right next to them. And then there's a car on the other side so I couldn't swerve - they were inches away from my car. Cool bridge over the Sunlight Creek which is part of the Yellowstone River. I think this may actually be called the Sunlight Bridge, not positive. Also passed by the Dead Indian campground - not a very politically correct name is it ? 5:27 p.m. Clarks Fork Canyon Overlook 6 p.m. This whole area is known as the Dead Indian area . I'm surprised activists haven't challenged - look like at the Cleveland Indians who actually named their team after an Indian to honor the Indian and they still have to change their name to please the foolish protesters. Arriving in Cody Wyoming which is a wonderful town. Good prices for everything in stores & gas stations. I think this is the cheapest gas ⛽ I seen this trip so far at $ 3.17. Thank you. Now at the Walmart I bought a new sweatshirt. I needed one - my other black one has faded out. Now passing by the Buffalo Bill Visitor Center good atmosphere in Cody but only one problem: there's no internet connection.
9/18 Leaving Cody. Jim Bridger Trail 9:55 a.m. so much public land around here, Pronghorn elk. 95.1 is a good Christian station- Pilgrim radio near Cody. City of Emblem. Firefighter Museum combined with rest area - that's the best rest area I've ever been to- with a free museum on the side. Big Horn County Airport, City of Greybull Wyoming. City of Basin 10:40 a.m., City of Manderson 1052. Completed movie review about Shang Chi. City of Worland 1113, Big Horn County & River, Hot Springs County 1128, Wyoming Boys School. Thermopolis is amazing- my first time here -didn't know there was anything special here although the name of the city suggests something very interesting and it is! A warm creek & hot springs -many thermal areas -some pools & baths- & cool waterslides k bison grazing. This is really a great discovery including White Sulphur Spring which is like a jacuzzi alongside the Bighorn River - a little bit of hot & cold is perfect. And there's no cost except for one of the swimming pools. It's a state park but no entry fee. Thanks to Thermopolis for keeping it very cool. Moving on: Wedding of the Waters, Wind River Canyon- is supposed to be good fishing. Now it's raining a bit. The Bighorn River runs through Thermopolis. It's part of the Wind River Canyon. I think there's an Indian Reservation here. Now Boysen Dam Recreation Area & Boysen State Park. Wyoming University vs Ball State 🏈on the radio. Cowboys win 45-12. Tough Creek Campground 307. New nap prayer- deep dive with angels and saints. Badwater Creek 311 no water. Shoshoni is a hard knock town, & lots of police for such a tiny area. "Lip Rippers Bait Shop". Sand Creek Massacre Trail, Boysen Reservoir - good cliff jumping? Polson Creek 324. A guy in boat with his two kids float by as I was soaking in the white sulphur jabecausezi. September 19th Sunday: slept in Riverton, a medium-sized town with internet. I heard the giant USA flag flapping all night long. Gas ⛽ prices a little higher here $3.46, intended to go to 8 a.m. mass at the nearby Catholic church but it looked so full already at 8 a.m. & such a small church building. I think it might have been awkward with all the local yokels. City of Hudson 827. Little Popo Agie River runs through here, City of Lander 847, & Sinks Canyon area, the Sinks of Popo Agie & a trail to Popo Agie Falls. Big group just starting out from Bruce's picnic area. Nature does something for our souls or should I say 'God's creation' does something for our souls. The colors here at this time of year are second- to-none, jaw dropping. It brings us back to life & appreciation for life unless your heart has been hardened. Wind is very strong now- 40 mile per hour gusts. Amazing colors. Near Townsend Creek I talked to an elk hunter as the road turned from well-paved to dirt & asked him how far is the dirt road & can I get through without 4-wheel drive etc. He said I could make it through without a problem but you do have to go slow in spots because it is bumpy and rough and stay in low gear for some of the downhill stretches. But after Goodwin Lake Road all others pale in comparison in roughness.
Blue Ridge Trail at the top. Fiddler's Lake 957, and Christina Lake. I've seen a few Maryland cars surprisingly - you don't see them very often especially way out here in the west. Take a break at Popo Agie Campground. The sirloin steak I bought is too fatty -disappointing -just finishing it up. Now we're at Louis Lake which is very cold & rough& choppy with little white caps from the wind. I tried casting my line a few times 11 a.m. but doesn't look very hopeful here. Now there's Grannier Meadow 11:30. And we finally made it all the way through. I'm back to the paved road at 1148. We made it through Shoshone National Forest South Pass also known as The Loop Road - historical significance as one of the ways thru the Rocky Mountains -it was used quite frequently. Sweetwater River 1203. Prayers4 the guy on the bicycle -must be tough with this wind. Sweetwater County 12:15. After colorful Loop Road this road is flat & dusty - mostly sage brush_ no cattle, no farms, not much scenery. On the radio Broncos versus Jaguars - Teddy Bridgewater versus Trevor Lawrence. The Broncos prevail this time. City of Farson 1236 - nice new HS football field. 'Feeling Groovy' song on the radio 101 p.m. This is a lonely road- reminds me of Highway 50 from Salt Lake City to Reno. Are my tires over inflated ? I tried to check & it said 45 PSI when it should be 35. Wildhorse Scenic Road- been here done that as they say. Also, Petroglyph turn off towards Boars’ Tusk 1:05 p.m. will have to do that sometime, but not today. Made it to the city of Rock Springs -went to the Walmart bought some vanilla bean and added some cocoa. Song on the radio “goodbye girl" -haven't heard that 🎶 in a long time. Wind is 26 miles per hour & gusts up to 40 miles per hour- this may be the strongest wind I've ever experienced. It’s really blowing the cars & trucks but no accidents, yet. I wonder if it's always windy around here. Gas ⛽for $3.39 west of Rock Springs at the Love's truck stop. Latino Kid in the government car seems a little supercilious at the gas pump 4:20 p.m. Funny, it's actually a high-status symbol for minorities to work for the government. They think it's like the highest achievement- what it really means is they managed to stay out of trouble and don't have a criminal record so they could get hired - that's the main thing. What they actually DO on the job may not so sensational or challenging or exceptional. Especially now - even the FBI doesn't seem so impressive or great anymore. Slept in Evanston -apocalyptic broken up asphalt Walmart parking lot & high wind all night. September 20 Monday: sunny but cool - 25 degrees starting out. We'll try the National Forest Road again. Last time I was here there was a snow closure so I had to go back around the other way. Sulphur Creek Reservoir. Who is the greatest American explorer?Daniel Boone ? Kit Carson ? I'm a self-proclaimed modern-day version of such person on Google Maps with over half a billion views of my photos now- which includes little biblical inspirations & invitations to Christ. I'm an explorer and an evangelist and a mega- mapper. Thank you very much. Odometer 147815 Utah 8 a.m. lower speed from 70 to 55 suddenly. Close call with deer 8:01 a.m. This is the Wasatch National Forest. Passing Lily Lake. I think I drove up here once. Now its 19 degrees.Christmas Meadows 8:09 a.m., Stillwater Campground, Hayden Fork Campground, Beaver View Campground. Fresno State defeats UCLA in football, and I will see them play @ Stanford next week. Guess who will win that? Sulphur Campground - now its 18°. Bob FM on the radio, good classic rock. I hate it when people tailgate but refuse to pass. Sometimes I'll just keep going slower & slower until they have no choice. Either follow at a good distance or pass - it's that simple . Kletting Peak 823 a bit of snow. Ruth Lake trail 826, Highline Trail 828, Butterfly Lake 839, Pass Lake TH 843 & 2 peaks. What's a guard station in the National Forest- never seen that before. Aha: "A United States Forest Service Guard Station is an administrative building located in a National Forest in the United States which is not at the same location as the District Ranger's headquarters (the Ranger Station). They usually have office and workshop space, tool storage and often sleeping quarters."
Now at Mirror Lake 8:47- looks like there's a nice trail here as well. Moosehorn Campground 850, Bald Mountain Trailhead 852, Lily Lake and Campground 856 (another Lily Lake? Now Trial Lake, Washington Lake, Crystal Lake, Slate Gorge 903 Murdock Basin 904. This is also known as The Mirror Lake Highway, A hunter with bow & arrows walking down the road waves as I pass by. Soapstone Campground is closed 913. Provo River & Shingle Creek Trailhead 921, Beaver Creek picnic area 923, Yellow Pine Campground 925, Yellow Pine Trailhead, River Creek Trailhead -that's an original name - I guess they can’t decide. Wasatch County, Jordanelle Lake, I see Park City & the ski slopes in the distance. Lots of colors up there this time of year. Empire Pass, Montage Resort - that's a pretty spectacular looking resort building, mid- Mountain Trail, tough climb for car -steep road going through here. Bonanza Flat Trailhead 10:18 am. Guardsman Pass Road, Jupiter Bowl, popular Bloods Lake trailhead. Here's Silver Lake by Brighton which I hiked in the snow this time a few years ago. Drove around Brighton Ski area Loop, now past North Fork Trailhead 1053. This is where I waited for a tow truck two or three years ago. A bigger sign & lots of cars parked here now - nobody was here last time. Of course, that was in the spring and there was still a lot of snow on the ground. Past the✔ Storm Mountain Amphitheatre, Dogwood picnic area 1140, took a break. Now passing by Cottonwood Garage where they worked on my car a few years ago. #PrayTheNews: Gabby Petito’s body has been found dead in Grand Tetons. That is sad -very sad -I've been following this story & the drama surrounding it the last few days intermittently. So now they're searching for the boyfriend or fiancé who apparently drove back to Florida to his parents’ house in her van, but now he's disappeared. Catholics are the most vaccinated of all the religious denominations for better or worse. That would make sense. Catholics are very obedient and don't like to think too much for themselves. They would rather just obey sometimes, for better or worse. Sometimes that's a good thing, other times not so much.
It’s 500 miles to Reno - this is a long stretch, but I'm not taking Highway 50. I'm taking the interstate which is not much faster but maybe less lonely. City of Grantsville 144. Now I'm passing by the Morton Salt Factory, and then a little ways past that there's the Cargill Salt Factory & big mounds of salt that tractors push around. Truck drivers may think they are warriors but how many actually are supercilious towards car drivers- likewise photographers with big cameras- like the guy with the big camera 📷at Moose. He did a side eye contemptuous glance towards me with my camera- phone as if I really care what kind of camera I have. I just care what I can get a good picture with- but some of these people with their big cameras actually are in the flesh. They have contempt towards people with phone cameras or smaller cameras. It’s an ugly facet of their personality. I admire people who want to take good pictures but NOT those who think they're better just because they have a bigger camera. Stay away from me. Have mercy on us and on the whole world - for the sake of his sorrowful passion. Now at the Bonneville Salt Flats & driving on them for the first time. This is where they have these incredible land speed records and they're still using it but not as much as they used to. There's growing concern that so much mining of the minerals is going to degrade it to the extent that it won't be possible much longer. So I get my chance to drive it for a little bit and there's actually a wedding 💒 💍 in progress out here on the sand and I drive by and wave and take a picture. That was cool. One problem with driving out here is that you get salt on the bottom of your vehicle 🚗 which you need to wash off -although some others say it's not a big a deal - you can leave it on- so I don't know for sure. What I do know is that about a week later my thermometer in my vehicle that tells me the outside air temperature is wildly inaccurate. Now I wonder if it's clogged up with salt or just dirt or something else. Fortunately it doesn't affect the driving performance of the vehicle 9/20/21 entering Nevada 5:11 p.m. or 4:11? Did the time change? City of Wendover, historic WWII airfield museum here. Sign says "now entering Pacific Standard Time" but my phone clock ⏰ has not yet changed so it hasn't picked it up. There's Pilot Peak in the distance. Sign says Silver Zone. "Silver Zone is an extinct town in Elko County, in the U.S. state of Nevada." Wiki. City of Wells 5:30. In the name and blood of Jesus I command all demons out of here you have no legal rights hear. Jesus is Lord. Now passing Deeth Star Valley, not Death Star, 5:22 p.m. Why are there so many Campers at Devil's Gate ?. It does not look that alluring & summer is over 5:38 p.m., City of Ryndon. Slept in Elko Nevada at the Comfort Inn - the only place where I can sort of get Wi-Fi not that great but nowhere else in the city is it available far as I can tell. Gas ⛽ cost $3.64 here. $50 total -filled it up. Remember when Jim said "Do you want to be a truck driver?" He was being condescending but actually it might not be so bad. Elko is halfway between Salt Lake City \ Reno I've stopped here before. #PrayTheNews: updated my terror blog & my unborn blog. 100.5 FM on the radio 📻 - some good oldie goldies, 8 a.m. it's only 35 degrees kind of cold. Here's the Bear Casino - I always remember this as I drive thru Elko. Highway 50 from Tahoe to Sacramento just reopened today & I'll be going through it tomorrow. IS that a coincidence or a synchronicity? City of Carlin - there's a prison here- I pray for the prisoners & try to video evangelize 8:04 a.m., Eureka County 8:07 a.m., 245 miles to Reno 8:30 a.m. There's water in the river here by Halliburton 8:34. City of Battle Mountain - there's a cop on each end of the loop where the speed limit changes- what is this Hazzard County? Boss Hogg? Now entering Humboldt County 924 "Take up the whole armor of God ...withstand evil … & breastplate of righteousness, Shield of Faith, helmet of salvation," Ephesians 6. 13
Pumpernickel Valley 943 - where do all the dirt roads go in Nevada? Philippians 1.6. City of Golconda Midas 10 a.m., Button Point 1003, City of Winnemucca 10:25, slept here before at the Model T Inn, gas ⛽ is $3.49. Pershing County 1039. Somebody gave me a long stare at the rest area. Pray the license plates #PrayThePlates: That's my new thing- trying to pray for the people in the cars that are passing or that I'm passing instead of looking at the kind of car they're driving or stereotyping the person inside. Just pray for them and their well-being and that they will accept Christ or grow in Christ etc. Now passing exit 149 - looking for the wildlife sanctuary- Safehaven Wildlife Sanctuary about 10 miles from the interstate - here's a gravel road - found it. I see the fences but it's not a very welcoming place even though there are signs advertising it open to the public. So I go down the driveway but don't bother going in -it’s like a bunch of trailers- what am I supposed to do - go knocking around each one until I find the people who give the tours? Kind of an odd setup, but I noticed later on when I looked at it on maps that there are reviews about people enjoying the tours -so who knows? On the radio 🎶 "let's get physical" I say “let’s get spiritual" . Search Winnemucca Balloon Fest - it's coming up pretty soon. Exit 138 Humboldt where I discovered a lake last time - Now it's all dry? How sad is that? This is actually the Rye Patch Dam and there's just a trickle of water in it, the bare minimum - apparently they're supposed to maintain by law the Humboldt River. PrayTheNews: disappointing that pastor Robert Jeffers has become a vax advocate. Coal Canyon exit 112 prison prayer 12:11 pm, City of Lovelock 12:15- for lunch I have a pizza sandwich. I see a few dog walkers & they can be annoying at times because some of them l let the dog lead them as if it's mean to kind of steer them and pull them in one direction or another & the dog always stops and sniffs next to your car as you're sitting there trying to enjoy your lunch or whatever. And then they have to do their thing right in front of you as well & human owners don't seem to ever be ashamed anymore of their dogs doing their thing in front of others. Personally, I had my own dog for a while and if she had to do her thing I would try to steer her away from other people so it wasn't right in front of other people's faces which is kind of obnoxious even if it is so-called natural and some people try to defend it as such. And now I'm heading towards Lovelock Cave again- see if I can find it this time. 1:30 p.m. made it to Lovelock Cave- 20 miles on a bone-jarring rough dirt road. You have to go pretty slow- it's not like a 20-mile 20 minutes it's like 20 miles 1 hour, and it's a cavern, NOT a long tube cave. When they originally found it, they discovered 1000-year-old duck decoys made by Indians. The Native Americans used the cave for a long time. I found an old bone in there -kind of neat -didn't take it though- I was wondering if it's a relic- if it's really old or something new. Nobody else was there. Ad on radio for a new video game place in Reno called Playfield 76. I'd like to go there sometime. Cast my line in a nice little pond at 3 p.m. beautiful reservoir 10 miles from the cave. Last time I came here I tried to find the cave but I took the wrong road and I ended up doing some pretty severe off-road stuff that had me a little worried I might not make it through -but I did. And that led me to an area east of Carson City which was pretty cool including Virginia City which is a historic Nevada ’watering hole'. Because of Las Vegas, people think of Nevada as a godless place but if you listen to the radio around here there's so much Christian content- it's incredible 👍.
#PrayTheNews: a swarm of bees killed 60 Penguins- unbelievable. Search for Nightingale Hot Springs. Lyon County 4:03 p.m. City of Fernley 411 p.m., Storey County 413. First glimpse of the Truckee River. Pray for Australia & the oppressive lockdowns and increased suicide due to oppressive covid restrictions. Did I just see wild horses by the river? It was so quick and I can't turn & stop but it sure looked like wild horses. I'm trying something new as I drive- its called #PrayThePlates. At 1st I try to write down license plates but that's too much- so now I just say the last few numbers of the plate 🚗 & say a prayer for the people inside it. Wildfire haze over Carson City. Slept in Reno. September 22 Wednesday and now I definitely DID see some wild horses by a different lake along the 580 near Washoe Lake. I think the area is actually called wild horse or something like that, or a trail called that. 50 West will go thru the contained Caldor fire 🔥area. This highway just opened up a day ago but first I'll come to Lake Tahoe. Now going through Douglas County 8:38 a.m. Spooner Summit and Trailhead 8:40 am, Logan Shoals Viewpoint 847, and there it is - BIG BLUE TAHOE -but there's a haze over it as well. So I'm saying to myself "Keep Tahoe Blue and the sky above it too". I pull into Zephyr Cove - never been here before. Looks like a nice beach 🌴. I've never been to Lake Tahoe at this time of year when the water is just barely warm enough to take a swim- and so I do swim around 9 a.m. Nobody else is here yet. I pull out my mask snorkel & fins & the water is so beautiful and clear. I swim out a ways and I saw one gigantic fish 🐟 & that was the only fish I saw. I swam down right next to it & it wasn't very fearful of me until I was right on top of it. The water is pretty cool but not so cold that you couldn't swim for a little while. City of Myers & then the border entry -no stop- there's nobody on duty here? 10:15 a.m. now Lake Tahoe Basin National Forest, City of Twin Bridges I think it's called, City of Strawberry 10:30 a.m., and now by City of Phillips -I just drove thru a very blackened charred area where only chimneys are left standing. That is so sad. I remember driving through here when there was spring snow and seeing some of the beautiful old cabins -now they're all gone. Echo Summit PCT Crossing 10:19 a.m., City of Kyburz 10:40 a.m. City of Fresh Pond 11:14 a.m. There's a little waterfall called Bridal Veil (how many Bridal Veil Falls do you think there are in the USA?). But there's just a trickle coming over the rocks by the road 11:10 a.m. City of Pollock Pines, City of Placerville 11:40, City of Shingle Springs 1147, City of Cameron Park 1148, City of El Dorado Hills 1151. Somebody on the radio says DNA looks like 666 after it's been vaccinated. That's pretty scary - mark of the beast, literally? Sacramento County 1154, City of Folsom 1156, Yolo County 12:15 - it will be 97 degrees in Sacramento tomorrow so I don't plan on staying around there. City of Dixon 12:35, City of Elmira 12:38. It's 90°, now it's 94°, City of Fairfield 1253, City of Cordelia and a mini Golden Gate bridge, city of Porta Costa, City of Hercules 1:15 p.m., City of Panola 119, City of El Sobrante 12 noon. Made it to Richmond - San Pablo donated blood. And I got gas ⛽for $3.84. It won't stay that low for very long. September 23 Thursday: covid test 10 a.m. Menlo Park - hopefully in time for the football game at Stanford versus UCLA. 11 a.m. @ laundromat trying to rinse off my pants in the sink after I washed them in the coin laundry machine & an African American lady and her daughter see me rinsing my pants off and they think I'm a homeless man who just walked in trying to use the sink to wash my clothes. The mother says to me “I’m happy to pay for a load of laundry for you" I look at her like- what? Why is she saying this? I just finished my laundry and then I realized the "optics" of the situation. People are always making socioeconomic assessments of others which is sad because their self-worth is so caught up in that. And then she said "Me too". I said "you too what?" she was trying to tell me that she was poor apparently. I said to her “I’m not homeless- I'm not poor. I'm just trying to clean my pants off because the washer did not do the job" The problem is, to save time, I put all my clothes together. I don't separate whites & darks so sometimes the darks come out with some white/gray lint on them from the whites- I guess that's what it is- and I just have to scrape it off - water helps. But by that time her mis-assessment is pretty much locked into her brain no matter what. So I said "Can I help you with anything?” She said "I need an architect." I thought she asked if I could help her pay for an architect. She said "No I need to find one." That was an odd request as if random people might know an architect to recommend off the top of their head. Maybe she was virtue signaling- like she was pretending to be planning on building a house in Palo Alto as if she were wealthy, but she already told me she was poor. So whatever. I just got out of there because it was getting too weird.
September 24th Friday: slept in Palo Alto. 8 to noon cut- &-paste project CP. Noon to 1- tried exercising & stretching but the field workers showed up- too distracting -they're preparing for the football game tomorrow. So I do more cut- and- paste 330-5 and I "hike the dish" which I haven't done since back in May or so. Seems easy now after all the big long hikes I've done. When I first started doing it seemed pretty long, but now it's only an hour hike. 5 to 6:30 Maps evangelism. September 25 Saturday: 8 a.m. to 9 -moved over to the Stanford parking lot, getting ready to go to the football game. I have my ticket & my proof of covid negative. In sports news 10 a.m. Notre Dame is playing Wisconsin at Soldier Field in Chicago. 1:30 p.m. arriving at Stanford stadium - a stately venue -I was here for the spring football game as well which wasn’t very crowded and that was free. This ticket today only cost $28 -not bad for a college football game and should be a good one but we'll see. I show my negative test -even though I forgot my driver's license- they let me go in, got a bracelet and then went into the stadium at 2 p.m. At 2:30 I moved upward to a seat near where I was supposed to sit. First-half kind of a lethargic game UCLA leads. Second half Stanford came out with a little more spark & spunk and got some big plays making it a closer game, but eventually UCLA pulled away and won the game (I can tell you next week will be a much better game for Stanford versus # 3 Oregon because I'm dictating this after the fact -but I didn't go to that game.) There are some sheriff deputies behind me - a little bothersome so I move to another place in the stadium. They're just standing there flat-face - you know they're getting paid to go to the game -they could at least be cheerful. Nobody's causing any trouble. For those of us who paid to get in we want to have a good time not be watched by a cop. Prayer visualizations: ednolb, Stanford and UCLA students- and by the way it was very heartening to see the Stanford students kneel and pray before the game (or maybe they just call it a moment of silence they can do whatever -meditate etc) but a lot of them looked like they were praying -several of them made the sign of the cross over their heart. And then the UCLA students did the same - so maybe there's hope. After the game at 6 p.m. I start to drive to San Francisco because I want to go to Saint Ignatius Church in the morning. September 26th Sunday, I go to 8 a.m. mass at St Ignatius and then I move my car and go to the 10 a.m. mass again but the second one is outdoors -it's their annual picnic which I happened to come to a few years ago - so now it's becoming a regular thing I guess. We all sit outside and listen to the homily & have the Eucharist and they have some food and things set out which I bypass & I leave early after the Eucharist. But it's nice to see people out there in their Sunday clothes, especially the kids. It's nice to see the parents bring their kids to church and raising them up in the faith. So I'm praying for those kids- 'future prayers' I call it. And then I go across the Golden Gate Bridge 🌉through Marin County & another bridge to Richmond to donate blood. Afterwards I go to evening mass in Pinole. September 27th Monday: slept in San Pablo and now I go to 7:30 a.m. mass at St. Paul's Church. I've been here once before. I like this little church and the priest is pretty good too. I don't know if they have more than one priest but I've only seen one so far. Starting dictation in the cat 🐱book 8 to noon. At noon to 1:30 I hiked the Clark- Boas Trail for the first time -which is actually connected to the Wildcat Canyon area, but I don't go that far. I just go up to the viewpoint where I can see downtown San Francisco across the bay and suddenly I see a big white animal out of the corner of my eye. I think it's a mountain goat at 1st, but then I realize it's a white cow 🐄just staring at me. So I take a picture 📷 of the cow with San Francisco skyline in the background. It's either pregnant or very well fed. As I'm leaving - a fellow with two poodles seems concerned about making sure the gate is shut so the cows can't get out. He seemed to be procrastinating so that I would intersect with him as I ended my hike - not sure why. I said to him "Got to keep the cows in eh". He responded “That’s the whole idea".
But there's actually two other gates that keep them from even getting to this gate so it's kind of overkill. At least nothing to obsess about. September 28th Tuesday: 7:30 a.m. mass at St Paul, 8 a.m. afterwards bought bread and some relish etc. I didn't even notice the price of the relish when I pulled it off the shelf but it was over $4. That's ridiculous. Make sure I check the price on the relish next time. 8:30 starting dictation again and also cut- and-paste until 1 p.m. Tuesday discount movie day. I go to a movie called R-E-S-P-E-C-T about Aretha Franklin- the singer originally from Detroit. Her best-known song I think, at least the one I know best, is called "respect" or maybe spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T and I like her singing but the movie reveals things about her life -it's a bit troubling. She passed away a few years ago so I don't know if she had any pre- approval of the movie -doesn't seem like it. I wonder what she would say about it. Her father was a semi-famous Detroit preacher and he had his own issues of course and she had her issues growing up because of this and that and in the end, I just hope that she didn't lose her faith. Apparently she was liberal & supported Obama- even singing at his inauguration. But that only comes into the movie at the very end where they show real life pictures. The movie itself is somewhat entertaining -a lot of drama re her first husband and how she finally made it to the top after what seems like a long time where she was just putting out albums but not really getting big hits - singing in mostly small clubs and things, but 🎶 R-E-S-P-E-C-T 🎹 changed everything. As I'm standing in line waiting to purchase a ticket a black lady in front of me says “You need to have a vaccine ". I said what? And then adds "to buy food ". Wow now they're doing this at the movie theater? Contra Costa county. Fortunately I don't really usually buy any food when I go to a movie so that's not important to me but I'm wondering when is it going to be required just to go into the movie theater? Is that coming next? I heard Los Angeles is working on something like that which is crazy ridiculous. We discussed the issue & then she asked me why I didn't get the vax. I told her the FDA has not approved it & there's a lot of questions about whether it actually does any good or whether it makes things worse. I mention people have died AFTER getting it in some cases. She seemed to be arguing against me but starts to relent after a little while because she knows I know what I'm talking about -not a pushover. I've done my research.
So I'm in the movie theater now watching R-E-S-P-E-C-T -it starts out in Detroit with Aretha Franklin as a small child and she's singing at her father's house party. Forest Whitaker plays the father & seems to do a decent job. Her father is divorced & they live with him. That's a big part of the story in the beginning & Aretha still cherishes her mother's visits with her but the mother dies shortly after that & it really seemed to have a big impact on her life. When the mom dies Aretha won't talk for several weeks or months and father finally explodes & says "you will be singing tomorrow at church" and she obeys.There's a church scene with the father preaching. As the movie goes on she meets this man who actually turns out to be a pimp and she is infatuated with him. She marries him and she has two boys from somebody -it's not sure if it's that guy or somebody else -nobody seems to know. After originally signing with Columbia Records somebody says "Cut the proper negro act". They go to Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals - all white guys are there -a few issues but seem to be able to work it out. Her husband gets in an argument with the white musician and they fight. The white guy says to him "I hate you because you're an a****** not because you're a Negro." Aretha finally leaves the man after he hits her on an elevator and it makes national news. And this is when she starts getting a little song in her head starting with "just a little bit just a little bit.” She likes the white guys from Muscle Shoals. She takes her husband back temporarily. There's a European tour in 1968. Finally, she tells her husband it’s over for good. MLK gets assassinated. They made him part of the movie before the assassination -as a friend of her father. Did she really sing at MLK's funeral? She calls the cops pigs & her dad doesn't like it. She finds a new man. Angela Davis gets arrested and they make a big scene about that. “You have to disturb the peace when you can't get no peace". For a while Aretha becomes a civil rights activist. Now it’s 1970 in Los Angeles & she's drinking a lot. And she's paranoid- she gets in fights with her siblings. She becomes an alcoholic trying to deal with demons, total breakdown at a concert -she falls off the stage but she keeps drinking for a while and then she starts to realize she has a problem -seems to maybe say a prayer & clean up her act, and then starts working on music again. This time she wants to do a gospel album. This is her return to God maybe. Apparently that gospel album turned out to be her biggest album of all. She recorded it at new Temple Missionary Baptist Church in 1972 in Los Angeles. Funny quote "You want us to behave like Episcopalians? " There’s a big white Jesus painted behind her in the church as they're doing the gospel album - wonder if that was historically accurate or something they added for whatever artistic reason. And that's the end of the movie. Hiked Clark-Boas again. Man on horse 🐎came trotting by.
Wednesday September 29: donated blood $65, ⛽gas $3.86 at the Mobil $40 total. Driving from 2 to 4 back to west side. Went to the Palo Alto Mitchell Library from 4 to 6 p.m. Somebody put a piano 🎹 outside in the park at Mitchell Park - one week later it was gone. Slept in Palo Alto Mountain View. September 30th Thursday on the news about vaccine shedding 10 hours. Hannity & Bongino live in the basement with their moms? At Walmart bought some meat and cooked it up pretty good, also coconut juice. Now Downtown Palo Alto 12 to 2. Mitchell library has removed Word from their computers so I couldn't do what I wanted to do. October 1 Friday slept in Palo Alto . 8 a.m. at Menlo McDonald's - it's open again. Great soda fountain here 👍. It’s been a while since I've sat down in a restaurant. Now at the Menlo Park Library 📚9am to noon doing dictation. They are open again but they removed all their computers - maybe for the better. Drove by the new Atherton library but it's still not ready - still under construction. Found a nearby gas ⛽ station that provides free air - Menlo Park Chevron - checked the air in my tires. 2 to 5 p.m. maps evangelism. 6 p.m. field hockey 🏒 at Stanford vs UC Davis- that was fun to watch the ladies play -they play hard- it's a real sport for them. They almost lost the sport. Stanford was about to cancel some of the smaller non-profitable sports including this one but there was a lot of protesting so they gave in and kept it. Supposedly it's the oldest sport at Stanford. October 2 2021 slept in Palo Alto. Sports news: Michigan beats Wisconsin decisively, & Georgia beat Arkansas in a blowout. I went over to Stanford and did some stretching and exercises in the inner grass loop 9 to noon. Now watching a free movie on YouTube called High Crimes with Morgan Freeman & Ashley Judd. Also had a delicious homemade cheeseburger sandwich, & did more maps evangelism and youtube evangelism. Miraculous ending to the Stanford vs Oregon game. Oregon was ranked #3 in the nation & unranked Stanford came back in a stunning upset to win the game in overtime -wow 💥. I was at the Stanford game last week vs UCLA and they didn't look so great. They were hot & cold but they turned it on this week. 5 p.m. @ Nativity Church -I don't like it when a priest says “When I was studying in Rome”. It sounds pretentious like he's trying to brag. Dodgers win vs San Francisco. One more game in the regular season will decide who wins the division, or will it be a tie? Slept in Palo Alto - very warm Saturday & Sunday. Vivid dream about Dan De Kam & his arrogance- how strange- & Kevin Breedveld made an appearance too. Sunday 8:30 a.m. @ Menlo church about two years since I've been here- they have a new pastor after the scandal. Then I canceled St. Raymond Church ⛪- they're still outdoors and I wasn't prepared- I didn't have my own chair. I don't want to stand up for an entire church service outside. SF Giants clinch on final day. Vikings lose to Browns. New England versus Tampa Bay - Belichick vs Brady. Tom Brady comes out on top- victory. October 4th Monday 9 a.m. Mass -disappointed the priests used bully pulpit to preach vaccine at Saint Ignatius 👎. 7 a.m. donate blood $65 - 55 minutes, 12:30 to 4 p.m. El Sobrante Library -then Clark Trail again - & then back over to El Sobrante Library.
October 5 Tuesday 7:30 a m Mass re compassion fatigue @St Paul, 8:30 groceries, water, forgot to ring up the water on my cart - the girl reminded me. 1030am San Pablo Library 📚 managed to finally get "7A already mapped" onto a word doc. 12 noon to 1:30 in parking lot at 99 a black lady just cut right in front of me - very arrogant and hateful - her face was so ugly & mean. I had stopped to let a disabled person cross and she used the moment to cut in front of me to get to a place that was maybe 25 ft. closer to the door - & I wasn't even racing for that spot. I yelled at the lady as she got out of her car, "That was very rude of you” - she looked back - I said "yeah you". She just kept walking - no apology. Good grief- it's just crazy. I also withdrew 600 from octo card and put it into my FCU account. The lady at the FCU wouldn’t even say thank you after she gave me the cash I requested. Movie preview: there's a biopic about Kurt Warner coming out soon - including Dennis Quaid as the coach. I think it might be called Underdog. Another movie coming soon is Clifford the Big Red Dog. Now at the movie Addams Family II . Here are some of my notes: starting with a science fair the girl learned how to put a new brain into her uncle Uncle Fester. Prayers for Latinos and blacks and minorities. They call eating dinner 'ritual mastication'. Family vacation, Death Valley is part of their trip, also Niagara Falls, they travel the entire country. Uncle Fester is growing tentacles -he's becoming an octopus. I saw the 1st Addams Family -funny as well. They jump over the Niagara Falls "She's on a vegan diet. She only eats vegans” haha. Prayers for mission vehicle. She might not be their daughter. “I’m not a freak. I'm a force of nature". Oh, now they're at the Alamo in Texas. The song about the Edmund Fitzgerald is playing maybe to signify their vacation is a shipwreck. Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and now Sausalito across from San Francisco. He’s reading The Shining. #PrayTheMovies: don't play God -Frankenstein fallacy. "I've been social distancing since birth no problem." October 6th Wednesday 7:30 a.m. Mass @ St Paul San Pablo. Now 8:30 blood donation. 11 a.m. San Pablo Reservoir.
October 6th Bay Bridge $6 - pay within 48 hours. Prayers4 for Nate at blood. 12 noon: tents are set up by Crissy Field for the Blue Angels air show, & Golden Gate Marina for Fleet Week. Blue Angels ✈Blue Angels ✈ Blue Angels, I 💘 the Blue Angels. #PrayTheNews: oil spill in Huntington Beach cancels the final day of their Air Show- probably a cargo boat anchor ruptured one of the oil pipes; & the cargo boat crisis continues with boats 🚢 backed up for four weeks. Fleet Week in San Francisco is similar to San Diego except downtown San Diego doesn't get the Blue Angels. They don't get an airshow downtown (I don't know why not) - although they're supposed to have Miramar air show every year but it's been canceled the last two years because of covid. Miramar is a great air show -when they have it -especially their static display, but I'm pretty impressed now with the air show here in San Francisco because there's so many great places you can see it from- even on the beach or on top of Golden Gate Bridge 🌉 or various other places and you have the Golden Gate as the back drop- it's incredible. 6 p.m. UCSF women's soccer vs Loyola. Slept Ignatius ⛪. October 7th 9 a.m. Mass 10:40 a.m. Disney Museum is very cool - not cheap, a little pricey but definitely incredible. Call it information overload. Then I go to Fort Point and see the Blue Angels practicing - my first time seeing them over the Golden 🌉Gate -wow just happened to be here at the right time for Fleet Week. The Angels go roaring overhead and now smoking too, intentionally. October 8th Friday 9 a.m. Mass livestream Saint Ignatius, parade of ships 🚢 11 a.m. I'm at Fort Point watching- the best spot to see them -under the Golden Gate. 11:30 to 1:30 walked the Golden Gate Bridge. Waved at the cars. Security guard gave me the side-eye, phone 📱 evangelism. 315 Blue Angels overhead. Wow -slept at St Ignatius again. 10/9/21 Saturday 8 a.m. Fort Point closed today- too bad -so I go to Chrissy East Beach -it turns out to be a good spot to park -very popular - lots of people already on the beach at 9 a.m. Took a swim -kind of cold but refreshing. Moved car -some loose sand -had to spin my wheels to get unstuck. A Harley lady gave me the side eye as if she thought she was superior to me. Funny how black leather motorcycle people used to be considered kind of sketchy -now they drive a Harley and they think they're on top of the world. Harley supremacy. Maps editing -lots of Disney photos- took me a long time to edit them all. Learned a lot at the museum about Walt and his brother Roy and their family and where they came from and how it all began and how it started with the movies and then ended with Disneyland and Disney World. Walt was close to dying in Palm Springs and then he drove back to Burbank for his final hours. Some planes going overhead now are NOT the Blue Angels but people think they are. It's 2 p.m. - 1 hour to show time, now 3 p.m. almost exactly - Blue Angels start -& this is an awesome spot - close to the old exploratorium & a good view of Alcatraz & the Golden Gate & also downtown San Francisco and the beach. #PrayTheNews- sports: unranked Texas A&M upsets #1 Alabama wow- that's incredible. Stanford loses after beating Oregon last week, Michigan wins, Michigan State wins, & Iowa wins to remain undefeated. Numerous pass-overs by the Blue Angels 4 p.m. The Blue Angels end and it is traffic gridlock because Dodgers versus Giants begin in an hour not far from here. So we have one big event ending and one big event starting -very close to each other. #PerfectStorm. Google Maps sure does come in handy when you want to know what traffic looks like around you without getting stuck in it. So I just stay in place here and do some more photo editing. Finally make it back to Saint Ignatius at 6 p.m.
Sunday 10 October 10th 8 a.m. mass & then I go back over to Golden Gate 🌉Viewpoint parking 9 a.m. $7 parking all day. Now I'm on the Golden Gate Bridge watching from the bridge- this is really an incredible viewpoint. And there's the Oracle sailboat ⛵ from the America's Cup sailing underneath the bridge 🌉 as Blue Angels are above- you can't make this up. I remember seeing Team USA make their great comeback at America's Cup here in SF Bay many years ago. They were SO close to losing -then they came all the way back to win. And I've seen other magnificent sailing events here in the bay as well. NFL sports news: Vikings defeat the Lions barely. Chargers defeat the Browns -high score kclose. Tampa Bay also wins. Lots of kickers are missing their shots today including chip shot extra points. Conversely, a few weeks ago a kicker hit a 66-yard FG to set a new NFL record. October 11 Monday 9 a.m. Mass at Saint Ignatius 11 a.m. blood donation Stacey, $65. Now hiking Clark Trail again-very windy today- here are the cows 🐄again. The cows graze loose around here & you walk right by them and they stare and you stare back -also a few calves but no aggression from the cows, just a lot of cow patties to step over. 10/11 Monday. Another blood donation- then El Sobrante Library, Oct 12 Tuesday 7:30 a.m. Mass @Saint Paul, 8:30 groceries $60 10 a.m. now @ Pablo Library -completed Yellowstone & Glacier PDF- looks pretty good - proud of that. #PrayTheNews: Gabby Petito autopsy results show that it was a death by strangling😞- thoughts and prayers- Rest In Peace -SO sad very sad. Got a glimpse of the movie called Venom including Woody Harrelson but I didn't stay for the whole thing- pretty creepy. I will see it later though because I have to keep my #PrayTheMovies business going ie movie reviews for Christians. Right now I'm here to see the new James Bond movie. I also see a preview that's coming out about Serena and Venus Williams -their life story on the big screen starring Will Smith as the father. Movie notes 📝: French family -snow outside, there's a man with a gun the mother is drinking -she's drunk- she falls asleep- the daughter tries to wake her- the kid hides- the creep kills the mom -kid kills the creep with a gun gangster style -or she thinks she killed him but he's only wounded and then the creep comes back to life and chases her out to an ice pond and she falls through the ice and it seems like she is drowning and we don't know what happened to her until later in the movie. Now there's a new 007 as the movie begins- it's a black lady but later on James Bond gets his number back. The girl Bond is in love with looks kind of like Barb Wiersma oddly enough. Now they're at the cemetery - there's an explosion. He feels the impact. A chase. He steals the motorcycle - then a bulletproof car. Did she betray him? That’s the question. No Time to Die is the name of this Bond movie & the name of the song by Billie Eilish -the newest female pop star. Bond sends the girlfriend away on the train thinking that she had betrayed him. She sobs & cries denying that she had done so. Now it's 5 years later. Ralph Fiennes playing character called M and then there's also Moneypenny. Now Bond is fishing on a tropical island. Who’s the black lady who is given the number 007? She says she's a diver. Looks like Belize by the way- maybe it is. NOW they need to go to Cuba to fulfill their mission. The other person who helps James Bond plays a pretty good ditzy blond. Vodka martini -shaken not stirred, fake eyeball. Did M betray Bond? And then there's Smiley -he turns out to be a traitor. #PrayTheMovies: no time to die and never time to give up. Our labor for the Lord is NOT in vain. Do NOT grow weary of doing good. Bond worked for the CIA independently in the USA. The little girl on ice survived -she's Bond's ex-girlfriend who he suspected of betrayal. Now she's a psychologist. Masked man returns. Break the bond between Diek & Coke. This is the key -a synchronicity that came to mind as I was watching cargo ship save James Bond. His technology guy has a cat 🐱without hair. Bond says to him "They come with fur these days." What's the name of the tech guy again? So some of this has actual allusions to the covid pandemic today including the nanobots seem to be kind of like mRNA. M says "Shut up Q. I know they're staying with you". Bond is reinstated as double 007. He kills Blumfeld by contact. Heracles is the covid in the movie so to speak. Once you get infected it never goes away. "Do mosquitoes have friends" says the little girl who turns out to probably be the daughter of James Bond. Smiley gets crushed by car. Cool technology is the airplane- submarine. It can land AND go under water and then come up and fly. I wonder if they could really make something like that in real life -that would be very cool. "I am the invisible God under the skin you know what time it is? Time to die." And it appears that James Bond DOES in fact die in this movie after saving the universe.
Wednesday 10/13/21 7:30 a.m. Mass at Saint Paul San Pablo 8:30 blood donation.Nate was there - he's a drag to be around 👎. 930 Southward at #PrayTheNews: re the cargo ships in Long Beach /Los Angeles -one of my tweets about it went viral - retweeted many of times now & viewed x11,000-maybe my most viral tweet and it's not even brilliant or funny- just said "Leaders lead" in regards to Ron DeSantis encouraging the cargo ships to come to Florida instead of waiting 4 weeks in Long Beach. Passing by Jack London Square Oakland. Coast Guard Island gas ⛽ for $ 3.86 at Bayfair- the only decent price around the Bay Area. Stopped in at Mitchell Library they've finally reopened. Did some photo editing. Did a prayer walk at Stanford. October 14th Thursday renewed my registration for my vehicle for another year $141. DIDN'T have to get a smog check. Now leaving Palo Alto on Highway 84 to 101 south along the coast - first stop Pigeon Point Lighthouse. Lady in a bug next to me at the big Basin Beach. I did some exercise. Twin Lakes is the next area to made 2 good videos passing thru Santa Cruz "For the sake of his sorrowful passion" as I'm listening to Drew Mariani on Relevant Radio 📻. Now passing Pleasure Point & the Opal Cliffs. Lots of Surfers 🏄 here -sat and watched for a little while -big birds 🐦in the tree 🌳 above me. Santa Cruz is nice but you get a feeling that people don't have a purpose here- it’s such a far-left area. Santa Cruz is simultaneously kind of cool very laid-back but at the same time also depressing to be around - so many no-purpose people. Passing through Capitola 2 10 p.m. And here's Rio Del Mar beach & there's the concrete boat capsized (Seacliff Beach) which has been there for a long time "When the U.S. government commissioned new ships to replace those destroyed by German submarines, the U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation built ships from reinforced concrete, using technology developed by a Norwegian civil engineer,..". http://localsantacruz.com/history/history-seacliff-beach-cement-ship/
October 15th Friday: slept in Monterey 7:40 a.m. mass at San Carlos Cathedral- there's some rude locals at this church. I think they're just fake Catholics and I noticed some Catholic churches do attract a following of local liberals who DON'T have any sincere convictions but use the church as a club so to speak. That's what I suspect is happening here at San Carlos Cathedral -sadly so- and there's not much a priest can do about it unless they become so obvious & openly defy the doctrines of the Catholic church but even then you get some enabler Bishops and Priests who do like they do with Joe Biden who's in open contradiction with the doctrine of Catholic Church in regards to abortion. If the priest himself is secretly in opposition to Catholic doctrine, they often invite like-minded fake parishioners & it becomes like a Hollywood movie set- everybody an actor- NOT real. And that's no fun with NO integrity Very shallow & hollow & ultimately meaningless. You CAN'T fool God. The priest talked about Afghan refugees in Richmond Virginia. And he also mentioned the Dodgers -Giants game 5 which Dodgers won ending the series- so Dodgers move on and Giants go home. Monterey is about halfway between LA and San Francisco - so the fans go both ways here - a mix of Dodgers vs Giants fans. Pacific Grove 8:30 am, big waves today. Here's Monastery Beach -just south of Carmel also known as Mortuary Beach. Some scuba divers getting ready to go in. They say a lot of deaths have happened here because of the drop-off and undertow that happens right when you go in the water. I continue to pray for Nate, let him find purpose Lord and let him come to you with a humble heart -hear our prayer. And prayers4 orphans all over the world 🌎 as well as widows. Let us never forget the orphans and widows and not neglect them - as we are called to care for them. Now we're going past Point Lobos. Next time I'm going to try snorkeling here I think. Although actually you're supposed to have reservations I find out later and it cost $30 -that's crazy. Here's Garrapata 1035, & marine pollution laboratory 10:40 am, Palo Colorado 10:45, Bixby Bridge 1049, Andrew Molera Area 11 a.m., Riverwood cabins 11:07 a.m. River Inn & general store & the famous coffee ☕bus 1106am. Saint Francis of the Redwoods, Fernwood Campground, Big Sur River is almost dry? Here's Pine Ridge Trail -$10 parking area sometime I might do it -the trailhead is right next to the Big Sur ranger station. And here's the Nepenthe Phoenix restaurant ... "Orson Welles and his wife Rita Hayworth bought the cabin around which the restaurant is built from the Trail Club of Jolon on a whim as a romantic getaway. The couple measured the windows for curtains, but never returned..." Wiki. I stop here usually and rest for a little while 11:30. Lots of cars in the lot. People like to eat here -on the road thru Big Sur. Rancho Grande & their huge pond pool. And here's the Henry Miller house. Miller had a long history in Big Sur area & they made a library / museum out of his house after his death. When it's open you can walk in and browse, sit down and read a book and have a coffee. And they have occasional events. And here's the Coast Cafe & Gallery where I met the lady from Wisconsin many many years ago. Apparently she retired and moved back to Wisconsin. Burns Creek 1204 Julia Pfeiffer 12 noon. Is there no water in McWay waterfall? I couldn't see it - passed so quickly . Here's the Esalen Institute 1206, Big Creek 1216, Limekiln 12:30. I hiked back there one time - there's some cool historical things to see. A lot of these fernlike plants called Pampas along the road - very beautiful but apparently an invasive species. Beautiful turquoise blue ocean area right here, Kirk Creek and Nacimiento 1237 - the Nacimiento road I've taken at least once maybe twice -takes you backroad to the 101 it's kind of fun as an alternative route. Now Plaskett Creek, Tiny Village of Gorda 1253, Treebones Resort 1251, & now Salmon Creek Falls - here it is 1 to 1:30 & the little waterfall- it can be big sometimes - right now it's just trickling and I took time to swim underneath the waterfall. There’s always some kind of sketchy people here at this waterfall who think they own it because they got here first - not very fun to be around. Paranoid dopeheads 👎.
I left quickly after cooling off. Cruickshank Trail 1 p.m. (“nickname for a man with a crooked leg”). Ragged Point 145 -had bratwurst with sauerkraut and lima beans for lunch. And then the frozen strawberries I bought yesterday - almost forgot about them - not frozen anymore. San Simeon 238 -the General Store is now closed and the castle is closed as well. "A 2.25-mile stretch of the windy, narrow road that leads to the hilltop is in need of some major repair. After a January’s storm dumped around 20 inches of rain on the castle coupled with 100 mile per hour winds" https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/road-repairs-expected-to-keep-hearst-castle-closed-until-early-2022
Scarecrow Festival in Cambria- that was kind of cool. I take Santa Rosa Creek Road thru rural Cambria to Highway 46. This is a great back road. Song on the radio "Dust in the Wind" 🎶 Here's the James Dean Memorial intersection -where he died in a car crash.
Re American Latinos who .
Hate White Americans
(or Latinos living in America who
Hate White Americans)
Here's the city of Shafter. Now at an ATM and a Latino girl saw me and she started swearing on her phone 📱 just to try to perturb me -it looked like a fake phone conversation as an excuse to use profanity- to prove something -but prove what? IT'S NOT the first time it's happened but now I know it's intentional so I'm trying to psychoanalyze it. It's a bad phenomenon - some Latinos intentionally exhibiting extremely rude behavior as they walk by -in one case at Newport Beach a stoned pothead Latino intentionally burped very loudly as I walked by on the beach then he laughed maniacally - very rude & crude. It's like they're saying "I don't give a blank what you think and I want you to know it" as opposed to polite society where at least they pretend that they do care and want to be known as good citizens. It's really the ultimate slap in the face when they do that. You can't get more insulting than that - its like saying "I'm an A- hole and I'm proud of it." It's almost like they're trying to pick a fight even though they are being cowardly - it's passive-aggressive- they know that you're in such a situation as a good citizen that to get in a fight would be self-defeating, NOT because you couldn't win a fist fight with the skinny chumps (or in the case of female antagonists they know you won't hit a girl) but because you'd end up getting in trouble with the law which would cause you many more problems as a good citizen than a person who could sit in jail for a year and their life would be the same -going nowhere. So they intentionally act worse than animals - what they really want, I think - in this case it’s a predominantly Latino community- is they want to keep white people out. It's actually racism but they can't be overtly racist so they have to exhibit behavior that makes you want to stay away from them - to think of them as worse than animals even though you know Mexico actually is a very polite culture in most places-so they're saying "If we treat them (ie white people) like blank indirectly they WON'T want to be around us & we can have 'our own private Idaho' here in the USA. We can't ban them but we can make them want to stay away by acting worse than animals." It's total racism by some of them toward whites. IT'S like they hate the people who open the doors 🚪to welcome them in (a lot of us, including me, are kindhearted & want you to do well & have opportunities). And to keep us away from them, they will make us miserable to be around them by acting worse than animals. At least I know the rationale behind it now - it took me awhile to figure out. Shameful. 👎
Got gas ⛽ for $3.53 in Bakersfield. This may be the cheapest gas station in all of California right now. It took a bit of searching and a little bit out of the way but it's worth it versus a dollar more. Bless the Latinos. Let us bless not curse. Lord have mercy. Idiot in car - CA license plate 8WP5677. Onward from Bakersfield to L.A. -it's been several months since I've been here. I think it was around May that I left. Now it's October- that's 5 months - almost half a year OUT of LA and out of California for the most part. Slept in Bel-Air by The Getty Museum - they've reopened as well woke at 3 a.m. continued onward. Oct 16 Saturday to Redondo Beach 8am mass at St James, Father Thaddeus from Africa was there. 9 a.m. took a swim. This is the first and maybe the last really warm day of the year in L.A. (first for me that is since I've come back) so I'm enjoying the swim. Water's pretty cold -everybody wears a wetsuit except me and I don't mind. I like the cool water and if you swim every day in it you get used to it. It doesn't even feel too cold. People don't know this trick. They think I'm crazy. At 1 p.m. took another swim, and 3:30 p.m. took swim #3. In between I did maps & editing & started dictation. NLCS Game 1 Braves versus Dodgers just started and the Braves win after a Chris Taylor base running error (well, he will more than make up for that later on in the series but looking ahead I know they're going to lose because I'm looking back now as I dictate this.) CT3 had an incredible game 5 including 3 home runs, except he won't be remembered for it because they lose the Series against the Braves & their season is over. Sunday October 17th: Vikings win. Now they're 3-3. Detroit loses as usual, Rams win, Tampa won on Thursday, and Chargers got destroyed surprisingly. Much cooler today than yesterday 10 a.m. St James, 11:30 swim. Dodgers lose again to Braves NLCS. Now they're losing the series 2-0. 3:30 p.m. - to American Martyrs Church -the parking lot is full already- I wonder why. Oh, they're having their annual Fair. 5 p.m. mass. And then I drive to Bellflower and pick up mail 📬.
Monday October 18th: it rained for exactly one minute - just enough to actually get my car more dirty than clean as it takes the smog out of the air & puts it on the car. If it rains just a bit longer it would be clean rain but if only a minute it's dirty rain. Donated blood Santa Fe springs for the first time $70. 12 noon to 5 took a walk at Sunset and did more map editing & dictation. Tuesday October 19th: at 8 a.m. St Vincent de Paul ⛪ Huntington Beach and then 9 a.m. I go to the Walmart & pick up some groceries and there's a really mean lady in a wheelchair monitoring the self-checkout and she was NOT nice to me so I made a complaint (later) and made it loud and clear to a bunch of people. I call her the evil watcher at Walmart. Then I go from there to the Newport Beach library and scan my recent work which I call "the art project" or the “the megas" (and subsequently, the “storyboards”), and then I take a snorkel swim over at little Corona Del Mar 🌴. At 2 p.m. I return back to Newport Beach Library and use the computer lab downstairs. Now they’re allowing people to sit in the library again. For several months you could only walk in and check out a book or use the computer for a maximum of one hour. Now you can stay as long as you like. That's nice 👍. The computer lab downstairs at the Newport Beach main library is very nice- somebody donated some luxury computer 💻equipment. For a while they were being very uptight about who could use it. Now it looks like they're loosening their grip on it. They didn't want every average Joe playing around on them. There's the kid with the mustache that looks like a fake mustache. I should have almost 230 storyboard pages in the office. I combined the storyboard PDFs & posted to AmeriPrayer drive. I'm praying for the angry mean ugly wheel lady. Now I'm at the movie called Venom. Here are my notes 📝 for #PrayTheMovies: starts out at Saint Estes reform school- black lady is in a prison behind bars and her cellmate next to her a character played by Woody Harrelson. I'm not a big fan of Woody Harrelson in his later movies and he's in a ton of stuff too but he's actually fairly good in this one I must admit. So this girl has an ability to scream really loud & she's evil & this is "associated with" Marvel but not actually a Marvel- not sure what that means - he says to her "you're my one bright light" -the two are kind of like boyfriend- girlfriend now - 2 sickos. Now she's in the prison van and the psycho girl says "any last words?" to the security guard and then she lets out a high-pitch scream that apparently can kill people or cause them to collapse and she breaks out of the van but they capture her. So now they're in the prison mental hospital & this girl, her name is Francis, is in a special soundproof cell. Now we meet Eddie the reporter- he looks a little bit like Marshall Holtfluwer. I might be the only one who knows who that is. Woody turns out to be a serial killer by the way. Looks like he's in San Quentin right by San Francisco. In fact I drive by there often lately as I go to the place where I donate blood - its right by the Richmond Bridge. I pray for the prisoners there. "Pull up your big boy pants" says carnage to blank. His ex-fiancé. You are an amoeba, you feel like family. You were a loser before I came along. Woody bites Eddie. As Woody is being executed he transforms -into an evil creature, a satanic entity and I say to myself "In the name and blood of Jesus I command all demons out of here. You have no legal rights here. Jesus is Lord. "
I wonder & am concerned about Woody because he often plays evil bad guys and seems to enjoy it and I wonder if he has given himself to the dark side or if he knows Jesus Christ as Savior. I hope he knows Jesus but he seems a little dark or maybe it's just a dark sense of humor. We pray for the real-life Woody. And now it's Carnage versus Venom. Here's the Coit Tower in San Francisco, & the Grace Cathedral is used in this film as well (Episcopal very liberal). “That's bad journalism”. Venom is the father Carnage is a son: father versus son. "Facts are the enemy of Truth'' (Don Quixote). Dodgers vs Braves are now tied 5-5 in the eighth inning. Getting ⛽ gas for $3.50 in Bakersfield was a mini- miracle. There are post credits in this film as well. Dodgers win 6 to 5. As I walk out of Venom they score 4 in the eighth inning to win 6-5. Amazing . Now I'm at the movie called Suicide Squad. Notes 📝: he killed a yellow bird with a racquetball. Task force tells him he has to go work for them. This guy's name is Cena. He's the one who apologized to China. They drop into the ocean. Is this a dog? no it's a weasel -weasel can't swim. needs help to get to shore. They terminated the prisoner because he ran away & the yellow bird eats his brain as karma. Margot Robbie is in this & also Sylvester Stallone. Prisoner on cleaning duty. His daughter arrives to visit him and tells him she was in trouble for stealing something & his only response is "You were dumb to get caught" and she thinks he's a terrible father for responding that way. The black lady uses his daughter to blackmail him into participating in The Suicide Squad. Peacemaker is Cena. Then there's the shark, & there's Cleo the rat catcher, as well as Abner the polka dot man. They ask the shark "Will you eat your friends?". It’s called Project Starfish. "What is that?" she asks. It's an overhead projector. Do you use it no. Then why do you keep it here.”? Wonder why they inserted that ? Exploding compression bullets. Slapstick humor in this film -very ridiculous plot. Harley Quinn kills the leader. The blonde gets captured. Houston leads Boston in the 9th inning. Atlanta leads L.A. in the 2nd inning. QUIRKY sums it up So this Norwalk Super Saver movie theaters managed to stay in business despite covid. They’re still selling tickets for $2.25 which is nice once in a while. If I miss a movie I'll come. I keep praying for Nate and Jim Lin & my storyboards until they review them. I think the girl's name was Connie. This movie drags on - kind of boring actually. #PrayTheMovies: pray for new hope. no more killing. Is that black guy British? I've seen him before somewhere. This movie's best feature is a ton of creative carnage and I'm being sarcastic. "You covered up the plot”. Yankee Doodle Dandy. Who’s the Cena lookalike? Saved by the rats. Also the guy named Tahiti is in the final scene, but that's it. The polka dot man is so ridiculous. Analogy of the body of Christ multiplying the way the starfish multiplies. 9 a.m. blood donation terminated. I go & wash my car. 11 a.m. blood terminated again -still too busy. Finally 12:30 I enter and complete blood donation. #PrayTheNews: Biden hiring 85,000 new IRS auditors?! Ridiculous. Dropped off storyboard for Jim Lin. Thursday October 21 8 a.m. mass at St James. Thaddeus is preaching. Weirdo at the beach - I left quickly after swim- there are certain types of males who come to the beach in skimpy bikini suits -and very despicable to be around 👎. They ruin the vibe at the beach. Nobody wants them around nor to be around them. #PrayTheNews: Alec Baldwin accidentally kills a person on set of movie called Rust using a prop gun that he thought was unloaded. Dodgers blow out the Braves to Save themselves from elimination. Chris Taylor has three home runs -epic game for CT3. He will be remembered as a new Mr. October BUT only if they go on to win the World Series. Now they go back to Atlanta and have to win two in a row. October 22 Friday 8 a.m. Mass at Saint James, Mike preaching. Return at noon -Thaddeus behind the pulpit. 9 to noon dictation. It's a cloudy cool day -swim at Redondo, edit & dictation. October 23 Saturday 8 a.m. Mass -there's Thaddeus again plus the rosary afterwards. One loud lady behind me -she's practically screaming every word out loud, very annoying. #PrayTheNews: in football, Illinois upsets Penn State x9 overtimes, #2 Cincy defeats Navy. Iowa State upsets # 8 Oklahoma State & # 6 Michigan defeats Northwestern 33 -7. Now at the Malaga Library - managed to PDF the Oregon Zoo, Cougars Zoo, and Busch Wildlife.
October 24th Sunday: the guy from Walmart called after I left a complaint. 7 a.m. St. Lawrence Martyr Church- haven't been here in a while since they've been worshipping outside- now they're back inside. Braves eliminate the Dodgers in NLCS - end of Dodger season. Braves will play Astros in the World Series. Sounds pretty boring and nobody likes the Astros except for Astros fans after the cheating scandal. 9 a.m. Rolling Hills Covenant Church haven't been here in a while. They’re worshipping both indoors and outdoors under the big top outside and in the church inside using a TV screen. I think they have a new pastor although it doesn't say anywhere in the bulletin his name or if he's a guest preacher. He likes to joke & laugh -they also interview a missionary from the UK who is the nephew of one of the staff of the church. He speaks German and Spanish - maybe a military kid. 11 a.m. St. John Fisher Church Palos Verdes -parking lot is full. They're back indoors again. Now at Peninsula Library until 3 p.m. Maps evangelism. #PrayTheNews: Alec Baldwin investigation continues, NFL -Rams defeat the Lions, but it's a surprisingly close game, Tampa wins, Chiefs lose, & Vikings & Chargers have a bye. 315 take a swim at Redondo -And I found a fin - actually it found me - it just poked me in the back as I was swimming in the big waves-And it fit my foot so I kept it. But now I realize using a fin on my left foot ever since I injured it hiking re- aggravates the injury.
10/25 Monday 8am mass terminated, too many blanks here ., filled up my gas ⛽ tank for $3.99 ($80 total) at the Arco in Lakewood -the cheapest gas in town as far as I can tell right now. 9 a.m. blood donation. As I come out at 10:30 the police have surrounded a car in the parking lot with their guns drawn but the driver refuses to exit his vehicle -a Dodge Challenger. So I sit and watch for a little while but the driver continued to refuse to exit the car. Now a SWAT vehicle has arrived and they all have their guns trained on the driver's door. Now I leave because it could be awhile. I didn't hear about it in the news later on so it must have ended peacefully- that's good. As I leave I noticed there's several people just standing watching like filmmakers with their phones ready for any kind of action and the police don't seem to mind even though they themselves have their guns drawn and they're all in protective gear in case anything happens. But if a gunfight were to happen these bystanders could easily get shot, seems like. Transferred $6 from octo to fcu + 100 / $7 total. And I called my doctor about my toe and got an x-ray referral - very painful right now. This is from the incident that happened when I was hiking in Jackson Hole in September and there was no pain for a while but now it's returned and it's returned significantly so now I better get it checked while I'm in town. Now it's raining significantly. Yesterday North California got hit hard including mudslides in some of the burn areas. Now I'm at a movie called Cry Macho -a Clint Eastwood Malpaso production. Again I'm at the Super Saver for $2.25. THIS movie quickly went from the mainstream big screen to online & DVD and a few Super Saver theaters like this because of poor reviews. But I actually kind of find it good and it's actually a bit evangelical 👍. I wonder if Clint Eastwood has kind of converted in his heart or is coming out as an evangelical Maybe. Hopefully. 📝Starts out in 1979. Also Dwight Yoakam is in this movie- plays one of the characters. Old car. clean out your locker. Dwight Yoakam tells Clint Eastwood he is washed-up. One year later Yoakam tells Clint to go find his son in Mexico “IT’s not kidnapping if it's your own kid " (Clint kind of looks like my grandpa, holy cow). Clint finds the mother. The mother is kind of a bad character of sorts. And he finds the kid at a cockfight. Tranquila. #PrayTheMovies: for victims of child abuse & the persecuted & orphans. The mother is no good. The father isn't that great either -he has an alternative agenda. hello Gringo. The kid orders a tequila & Clint says no - not with me. He's driving a Suburban but it gets stolen so then they steal a car & say "Forgive Me Mother Mary”. The boy asks Clint Eastwood "Mike do you believe in God?" Mike responds. "I don't know I guess sure." The kid says "We are all God's children". Then they meet the lady in the small village and she's Catholic and prays at the meal and the kid says “I think she likes you." They start bringing their animals to him. “You think I'm Doctor Doolittle?"
He starts breaking horses in Mexico and makes money that way. Meets the seniorita. There’s a bad Deputy in town- he looks like Todd Martinez. But he turned out to be okay. Tuesday October 26th: Saint Anne Church 9 a.m. Seal Beach priest says “Suffering is the yeast that gives rise to action". So suffering is good for us sometimes. I go to the Ralphs and buy some lettuce and cabbage & some almond chocolate milk and butter & some red and green peppers and an onion to make a salad. Forgot to pick up some instant coffee. wrong price on guacamole, nice clerk went &^ did a price check for me, too many stores do this purposely because they count on you saying "Oh well" by the time you get to the cashier, but I don't play that game, also onions, cabbage, pepper. Storyboard progress from Big Brown file. Now I'm at the marina AMC for the movie called Dune. I remember when this was a popular book -- well it was published in 1965 but people were still reading it in the 70's & 80' and even today. I personally have never read it, and have never been much of a Sci-Fi aficionado. It's a Warner Bros movie -starts with a battle, Year 10191 in Caladan , harvest spice, Oscar Isaac (good actor), potato space ship, egg-face creatures, the main character looks like a weakling (purposely so by casting), I remember him from the Brad Pitt produced movie about addiction. He was the kid who got addicted to meth. Also in this movie is Josh Brolin. Oscar Isaac looks like Mike Van Denen from Calvin. Desert power, now gredi prime world. She tests his pain quotient with poison needle to neck. Bildungs Roman. Helicopter with dragonfly wings is the coolest special effects feature. Spiritual warfare vs satan. "The desert is not kind" Big waves at Seal Beach today. The sand compactor. In the Name of Jesus I command all demons out of here. Canada Catholic church now requires a vaccine to attend mass (they may have subsequently rescinded this under pressure). Is the doctor a traitor? No. he had to save his family but he gives the guy something to chew on that will explode before he dies to kill his enemies. We call for a truth sayer. We can say we didn't kill them. Doctor gets killed anyways. The blue eyes- special feature. PraytheNews: They actually tested AIDS drugs on orphans. Sickening.
Wed 10/27 830 am terminated blood donation. 10 am terminated again. 11 entered and waited but it took SO LONG I terminated it a 3rd time and didn't come back 👎. Drove to Torrance for X-ray, arrived 1 pm, same tech as last time who did my barium swallow x-ray. He asked me if using a fin on my foot while body surfing may have aggravated it. Possible. That was strange how I came up with a fin on my foot. I didn't arrive at the beach with my fins. I was body surfing in large waves at Redondo and wishing I had brought my fins. Suddenly something struck me in the back and it was a single fin. I couldn't believe it. I tried it on and it fit perfectly too. Unbelievable. This foot injury happened as I was hiking back from Goodwin Lake near Jackson Hole this summer in September. My foot hooked on a root or something and it bent the toes underneath. I happened to be sort of jogging so it was more damaging than if I had been at a walking pace. It actually didn't hurt that much when it happened. And I didn't think much more about it at the time, but it started returning periodically over the next few days..and then gone again. And then this latest time returned with a vengeance. The x-ray came back negative. So nothing broken. Doctor will send me to a podiatrist. 10/28 Thursday 8 am St Lawrence Martyr church. Then to Ralphs -bought some walnuts, sunflower seeds, pastrami & beef (the pastrami disappeared somewhere between checkout and my car...) this is where the self-checkout clerk is a bit of a jerk. I had complained about him previously. And purposely avoided coming back here for a few years. Figured he'd be gone by now but he seems to be a lifer, sadly. And again he was a jerk but I was ready this time and left a lasting impression that will probably suffice to shut him up if I ever go back there again. Back at RB making progress on storyboard. Swim at noon, more storyboard, another swim at 3, there's oil in the water here... like a dirty film..& occasional spots on the sand that if you step in will leave a black blotch on your foot that only comes off with rubbing alcohol. More maps evangelism, trans fluid low, also power steering low again, parked on G street. One of the local white karen ladies gave me a LONG HARD STARE- definitely not a friendly stare. RB is pretty good in general but there are a few EVIL locals...and PV as well, some who grew up here and didn't do so well in school and have stayed around their whole lives still thinking they own the neighborhood--when they're nothing more than "homies" and flunkies. Sad. 10/29 Friday 8 am St Lawrence Martyr again. New priest got all puffed up when he saw me... some of these alpha priests see me as a threat to their power & control and often become overbearing in their speech aimed at me even though they pretend it's just another homily. The whole congregation notices it. They know what's going on. Cowardly alpha priests abusing their position. I left before the Eucharist. Didn’t want to go up there even though I like some of the people at this church. PrayTheNews: Braves Win, now 2-1 World Series. I hope they beat the trashy astros. PV prayer-vis: the bl guy with child arrived and left same time. Oil in water again.
10/30 Saturday 8 am st James, Priest Thaddeus today. Also rosary--my favorite time. Dependable leader--seems like an India fellow always goes thru the regular motions. One Asian lady in back is a bit too loud like she's trying to assert herself. Took 2 swims at RB. Made storyboard progress. LA defeated Tampa @ Texas in World Series last year. This year its Atlanta vs Houston. 530 vigil mass, Fr Mike New holy water dispenser --he's miffed that people are using it wrongly. Sunday 10/31/21 Halloween, 10 am neighborhood church only half-full. They were CLOSED for so long--quite disappointing--NO FIGHT in them. I think they lost some of their congregation because of it. Pastor Young mentioned Daily Breeze re witchcraft. 12 noon storyboard progress. 1pm swim --overcast day, brief sun. Lots of trick -or- treat kids dressed up by the Riviera section of RB. 5 pm mass SLM, deacon good homily. He asked cantor to sing part of the old pop song "You're no good no-good no-good baby you're no good" as a homily illustration. NFL news: Vikings lose to Cowboys, Rams Win, Chargers lose to Patriots, and Tampa loses to Saints. November 1 2021 all saints and souls. Hear my Prayer 8 am mass & rosary. Storyboard progress, prayerbook almost complete. Swim at Redondo, still oil patches here & there. 7 pm all saints mass 11/2/21 West Covina blood donation terminated, depressingly slow so I left. Walmart bought colored paper for evangelism material. Now at movie called “Antlers” --supposed to be a horror movie--not the movie I wanted to see but the other one wasn’t included in discount Tuesday. AMC too often pulls this bait & switch not letting you know which ones aren’t included until you get there. Bring back Movie Pass. Movie notes for Antlers: mother earth pillage, malevolent spirit awakens, seek the lost..satanic. Kid and dad at old coal mine. Dad doing some illegal meth stuff in the bowels of the mine. Suddenly the antler creature inhabits the kid’s dad..but they don’t show it exactly..find out later what happened. Creepy noise, fireflies effect. What was that all about? The director is Guillermo del Toro-- he did something special a few years ago but this is NOT that. Teacher at school just moved from CA to rural Oregon to live with her sheriff brother. They do a good job of depicting rural Oregon which is something unique (been thru there a few times). Opioid epidemic. Self-righteous clerk, now the brother of the kid at the mine is at school with this new teacher. 3 kids bullying him. Ice cream shop. “Don’t follow me next time” he tells the curious teacher. She cares about him. Principal visits the boy’s house and she gets consumed by the creature/beast/ father. He’s inhabited by the antler creature--demonic, one good thing del Toro does is the very slow-mo camera technique. The teacher was also abused as a child. Deputy gets killed by the beast. Sheriff arrives gets attacked but he survives. Gory creepy PrayTheMovies: cast out demons in the name and blood of Jesus. WE can as Christians. They don’t try it in the movie. END NOTES.
Got water then all the way to Roll Hills 20. New movie: “Ron’s Gone Wrong”- pretty good film about kids & technology and how they need more human touch at times … every kid has their own “bot” but one kid does not. Barney Pudowski. He wants one but parents don’t think it’s necessary. He finally convinces them and they go try to buy one but there’s none available and they’re too late, but dad sees a truck in the delivery area and he steals the last one, even though it’s marked defective. This bot is named Ron, or gets named Ron. And has lots of problems. And has no mega safety control. The safety controls are OFF. And the kid grows to like him despite all his defects. But Ron causes problems at school and the school bans all bots, and the corporation is searching for Ron because of the special issues. They want Ron back after thinking he had been crushed. PrayTheMovies: our real friend should be Jesus Christ and others in Christ. BT BT BT BT BT x100 , praying for breakthru, and praying for family and Jim Lin, & Steve and Julie Andy. Be with them Lord. The kid is hiding in the shed with Ron, but then he decides to go into the forest. And I leave the movie early. Now at new movie. A Japanese animation film called “World Heroes”. Pretty good. They do good animation, saw another one a few months ago called “Demon Slayer”, -more complex than you think. There’s almost a Christian theme to these Japanese animation movies about fighting evil. This is sort of like a Japanese Marvel. Braves win World Series as I’m watching the movie. They beat the Trashy Astros in 6 games. Also Youngkin defeats McAuliffe for governor of Virginia--good news 👍 (altho he may be a chameleon 👎). My x-ray was negative👍. Lots of good election results for repubs around the USA. Maybe there’s hope. But also some signs of election fraud once again. November 3 Wednesday: 10 am pv lib, 1pm walk, Prayer Vis: OakA’s hiker with dog. Also pray for Tall Jeer Jeer and the 2 sonitals laughing- too- loud. And the fast driver as I ended hike. 5-7pm Back at PV lib, making QR progress & maps. LB/LA terminals. Drove over bridge taking photos --it’s become the central issue in the “Supply Chain Crisis” ...you can see cargo boats 🚢 sitting out off the coast of Sunset Beach. I started noticing this backup a year ago. Never before seen so many cargo boats backed up. IN fact normally you wouldn’t see any anchored there. The new bridge was supposed to accommodate the bigger ships and does so but there’s not enough truckers to move the containers. And not enough space to leave more containers on the dock. So they must wait. That’s a problem. My tweet about this went viral. California created their own problem (& for the whole nation) by discouraging independent truckers with various legislation. Hear my prayer Lord. QR codes for CBF, walk #2 at PV, Prayer Vis: chubby 1, profanity group (some trashy Latinos have a big problem with intentional profanity wanting passers-by to hear-- they are TRYING to offend). Also dog man was staring. Also B lady with no sign of care for others --totally self-centered. I said hi and she responded with a grudging obligatory very cold detached “hi”. 11/5 Friday 9am walk, prayer vis. familiar guy “beautiful day”. I’ve seen him hiking before but also somewhere else--can’t place it...maybe rolling hills covenant church? More prayer vis: female Asian said good morn. 10 am Redondo big waves & foggy. Took swim at 1pm in huge waves, only me, no sun 🌞. 11/5/21 Latino with lawnmower of course next to car 2pm prayer vis: the trashy guy. RB Lib making QR progress, email from Jim re Linda has been sick for 2 weeks- " flat on back". But why did he wait so long to tell us? I promise to pray 🙏and also place her on the national prayer bank list & get lots of prayers for her in 24 hours. Next thing I know Jim says she’s ok now 👍.
11/6 Saturday 8am mass & rosary St James, 10-am RB library, QR progress, 1230 swim in riptide -lifeguard was concerned about me. He thought I was being pulled out by riptide, and I think I was. Couldn’t swim straight back in. Surfer told me to swim to the side. And that worked. I wasn’t really concerned. Been swimming for so long. I know how to survive almost anything. I've also body surfed the Wedge on one of the epic days. I think this surfer was a lifeguard too. He did the head tap sign to the lifeguard on shore which means “okay”. And he had an aura of authority. Kind of snapped at me a bit. I’m the only one without a wetsuit, and I can handle it because I swim almost every day. Your body builds up a tolerance. Some of them feel emasculated in their wetsuits with somebody swimming next to them without one. That’s the other-- maybe real reason. 2pm now at Malaga library QR progress, kindness actions and pk3, amazing synch allowed me to Save QR’s as time was running out. 4pm notification comes that Linda is feeling better! Praise the Lord. MSU loses to Purdue big upset. Remembering when GR people called me blank. Maybe even Mike and his dad Gordy Waalkes who was a good friend to me when I was a kid. But as I keep thinking back about Mike and the time I was riding my bike next to him over to his aunt’s house to go swimming, there was an incident where suddenly I flipped head over heels forward off my bike. And at the time I thought I must have hit a rock or something, but this was a city street, not a dirt path. For some reason I never suspected Mike of having done something at the time but the more I keep flashing back on it, I have to believe he stuck something in my spoke--not sure what--maybe his towel or something, but there’s no other explanation. Needless to say that could have caused serious injury. I was fortunate to escape with just a few skinned body parts. Back to the present: Vikings lose again in the last second (I keep an eye on their progress mainly because of Kirk Cousins-the first major NFL player to come out of one of the Reformed Christian schools of West Michigan (namely, Holland Christian, which didn’t even have a football program when I was going to their rival Grand Rapids Christian (GRCH) back in the 80’s). The only other “Christian kid” to make the NFL that I know of is Kavon Frasier from GRCH -- but he’s only on the special teams -- he started out with Dallas Cowboys--last thing I heard he’s with Miami Dolphins (subseq he went to Bengals & now Raiders). But Kirk Cousins has become a pretty good starting QB --beginning with the Redskins, now with the Vikings, & has good stats but not great team success, uh hasn’t always shined in the big games. I also flash back on the Iowa Infant Soy survey that they did over the phone a few decades ago. This was very perturbing & disturbing & inappropriate. Subsequently I filed a complaint with a few Iowa governing bodies--including the medical board, but not much came of it ; nonetheless, at least I made my thoughts known 👍.
11/7/21 Sunday: 630 now at St Margaret Mary ⛪-- they are back inside. Here’s Fr Paul. Now 9 am Rolling Hills church ⛪ & communion---they finally got a new permanent pastor named Dan Burgoyne-- he likes jokes & likes to laugh- apparently some Ohio roots --often mentions his allegiance to the Buckeyes. I can’t find out how old he is though---this matters. The older church generation is STILL CONTROLLING the Body of Christ thru the church & their pastors-- it’s still “their” church-. This fellow doesn’t look extremely old but probably old enough to keep the elderly people at the church satisfied that they are still in control. One problem at this church is the presence of “lookie loos” who are ice cold--don’t seem to have any real allegiance to the church--for some reason they just come and sit and leave without any sincere interaction--almost like spies. Some leave halfway thru the service. Not sure what’s the point. Back at PV lib 1pm - making QR progress. Stayed at PV peninsula lib until about 4pm --then went to St John Fisher church a mile or 2 up the hill. Used to come here early in the morning when it was still in the old building. Now they have a newer building --I actually preferred the old building. But by building a new church the senior priest (Sork) assures he will be staying for a while. I didn’t hit it off too well with him at first many years ago. AND then I made a concerted effort to avoid attending when he was leading the service. Also sent a letter to the pope about it. There are some better associate priests there- and a few from Africa. 11/8/21 Monday: Thanks to the prayer 🙏people who prayed for my mom. Took walk at 8 am , passed one angry person with a dog -- pray for her to let go of her materialism--”the dog lady.” Saw the machine again. Pray for the machine to find some joy in life beginning with acceptance of Christ as Savior. Another foggy cool day. PTN: Newsome has been absent from public view for 11 days now. He disappeared shortly after getting the booster shot which he publicized. People are suspicious that it caused him to become ill. Although one photo is circulating that he was seen at a wedding for one of the Getty heirs with whom he is a friend of the family, along with the Pelosi family (apparently Nancy is his aunt). She’s a piece of work all by herself. I had an epiphany today about paying 💰people in the abortion industry to RETIRE & NOT abort anymore-- and also paying the expectant mothers to NOT abort -- it would probably cost as much as it does to keep the abortion industry in business with federal taxes etc. Making good QR progress, good directory for my blogs at leno site. 11/9/21 Tuesday walk 8am. 9-10 Palos Verdes structure, sunny. PrayTheNews: Rittenhouse trial, Newsome missing hasn’t been seen for 11 days, FBI raids Project Veritas house without just cause. FBI corrupt. 10 -1230 more QR progress. At ralphs: applesauce, popcorn, cheese. Missing DL- called Redondo Library - then I went there--& elderly white lady stared with anger. There’s a few select angry elderly white ladies (ie 'Karens') at this library who hang out there and nitpick. And now there’s an elderly lady living on the bench right outside the library. She sits there all day & sleeps there all night. I plan to contact social services to try to help her. It’s crazy that they allow this to happen. She needs help. Now at movie Eternals: was originally planning on boycotting it because of one of the themes in it, but ended up planning on just seeing the opening of it and then switching to another movie--so I saw a bit of it and the objectionable scene was really minimal-not what I thought it would be, Thank God.
This is another Marvel movie-- they’ve been churning these films out so frequently lately it’s starting to get MUNDANE. But as long as they keep making money on them they clearly plan to keep spitting them out like a factory. That’s why it’s called “the industry” I guess. Notes 📝: celestial deviants eternals, Selma Hayek 5000 BC, Save tribes people, Pink Floyd music, lizard dragons London, the tube subway, Charles Darwin. She’s a teacher of biology. Earthquake, get a room you two. Apex predator. He wants her to move in with him. She says no. Swamp creature. Makes bus dissolve. Deviants can heal themselves. Now 400 ad in gupta kingdom, flashback now 152. The marvel kid can make himself invisible. Druig not supposed to intervene. Ajak killed by deviant. Prayers for library machine girl-stared me down. They didn’t have my driver’s license at RB library-- I thought it might be there because that was the last time I saw it --when I used it to update my library card. (later I found it in a pile of stuff in my car but not until after I had ordered a new one for $30 from DMV). New celestials must be born every billion years? Thena is possessed - tries to kill her own people (Angeline Jolie). You’re asking to let you erase her. Here’s the yag--an Indian-American? Who’s going to lead the avengers without captain America or Iron Man? Time for emergence to begin. Sersi world ... replace the prime eternal blah blah blah. A lot of drama in this film-- but not the good kind--getting bogged down a bit boring. “We have to stop the emergence attack” now in Amazon. Camera man a funny bit. “You’re not saviors Eternals, you are murderers”. Scripture in Sanskrit. Break thru break thru BTBTBTBTBT. Prayers for the machine & hoody. Now August 1945 Hiroshima. Now Alaska. They’re all over the map. Now Chicago. The 2 yags also mixed race. Gag me. Blank pushes blank off the cliff. PrayTheMovies: “Must not be afraid to die...IN CHRIST “--that’s my line--. Aj guest a doctor Stella Emmanuel. Reading the book of revelation. She prays in the move. She’s a live wire. Reference to Thanos erasing half the world (there’s some real-life analogies from some of this--including Bill Gates depopulation agenda-- is the vaccine part of that?) the eternals exist for Arishen? The Uni-Mind is their big discovery. It makes me think of the importance of the unity of the Body of Christ--that’s our agenda as Christians-- the more united we are IN CHRIST the more powerful we become as a whole--as Jesus said “Greater things than this you will do”. That’s us. Let’s do it. Gilgamesh has transformed--Thena kills Gilgamesh? check that. PrayTheNews re “Operation Coldsnap”. Ikaris gets defeated. Druig is alive. Fed Ex office -Christ cards made. Dollar tree--cashier knew nothing about the Supply Chain Crisis-even though the cargo boats are backed up only a few miles from here.
11/10/21 Wednesday PrayTheNews: Kyle Rittenhouse crying in court- powerful moment, but lefties mock him for it. 8am mass & rosary-went so fast--lots of tweeting. 10 am swim, 1130 -33 Malaga, QR progress, watched Rittenhouse trial for a while as Kyle was on the stand. He did well. Took walk, sun setting 🌇. Car parked WAY too close--I could barely get out, literally-left note on his windshield "learn how to drive" 11/11/21 Thursday Heat wave, veterans day 8 am mass & rosary, 930 swim--lots of surfers--too many--too crowded. Some of them think they are more important than body surfers. Now at Veterans Day ceremony-- try to do this every year --used to go to the BIG ONE in Riverside (they have a big Memorial Day too). Now stay closer to RB. This is a nice one-but no shade. We’re all baking in the sun during Santa Ana heat. The idiotic speaker tells everybody to turn to somebody next to them and say “Thank you for your service”. The problem is that a lot of us are NOT veterans--we’re just there being patriotic 🇺🇸. So now I have to tell the lady next to me “I’m not a veteran-not pretending to be one--just trying to be patriotic and support our troops and veterans” PrayTheNews: Vermont & Maine have highest vaccine rates but also the highest covid rates. How about that? Do you trust the vaccine? After ceremony--take another swim. When I come back to my towel there’s somebody too close. This happens too often. If you see somebody’s towel that means it’s their spot. Give them distance. Are people so OBTUSE? So I pick up my stuff and move away. It shouldn't be me moving. It shoukd be them. 11/12/21 Friday 8am mass & rosary. The LOUD LADY behind me is here again. She’s been coming quite regularly and enunciates every single responsive reading very loud and clear. Actually too loud and clear. She’s domineering. 930 am take a swim after mass. Then make more QR progress at RB lib. Then swim #2 -another hot day. 90 degrees in LA. Remember when I said this is probably going to be the last warm day in L.A. a few weeks ago. I was wrong. 11/13 Saturday 8am mass & rosary, loud lady again. I have so much stuff on Scribd but they’ve really become a lousy business. I’m trying to move my stuff off Scribd to another site, but they only allow 20 downloads per day even of your own stuff. It’s unbelievable. And I have 2000 documents on it. It will take me half a year or so to download everything. Really ridiculous. They changed their terms AFTER I STARTED. -Initially everything was free to post & for others to read--but now you have to subscribe to read other material-- so it’s not even getting much exposure. I plan to move everything to google docs and/or drive which can be shared freely to others. There also was a site called Posterous that I had been using to share my Audio Bible. I had read the entire Old & New Testaments aloud on tape-- and had posted them with text to follow etc- it was a yearlong--actually more than a year project-- and I remember asking the actual founder of Posterous if they plan to be around for a long time and he assured me yes. It was only a year or so later that they sold out to Facebook or Twitter and everything was shut down. Sickening. That’s the way a lot of these tech entrepreneurs operate. They strive to be bought out by Big Tech --that’s their lottery ticket. But you can’t trust them for long-term operations. PrayTheNews sports: Michigan defeats Penn State. MSU also wins. 8 am mass & rosary. Epiphany re RB materialistic homeowners. Does owning a home make people better, or worse? I think they become MORE materialistic and selfish and suspicious of others. How sad is that? They become more private and more guarded and put up more fences and security etc. Maybe Jesus was right. Wow. More sports: Alabama wins too. Florida vs Samford becomes a high-score shootout --final score Florida 70, Samford 52. That’s NOT good for a supposedly powerhouse team like FL to barely beat Samford. And Mississippi State was down 25 points and came back to beat Auburn 43-34 (a few weeks later Auburn almost beat Alabama--actually should have). Buckeyes beat the Boilermakers. I also had an epiphany re RB waterfront homeowners-- some of them become worse people despite having prime property. Home ownership makes some people worse, not better. Pray for homeowners. It makes me think of the millionaire who gave away almost everything he had to become an evangelist-- he believed it was necessary to become an authentic person - to “find himself” so to speak. Maybe more people need to do this. Filled up gas ⛽ - 20 gallons for $87-- should get about $10 back from GetUpside--. Stopped at Walmart for power steering stop leak fluid-- I’ve been using it regularly for almost a year now. But I recently had the water pump replaced and lately it doesn’t seem to be going low as quickly. Why would a water pump replacement stop a power steering leak? Back to RB library 2-5pm making QR progress. There’s the mean white lady again--staring me down. I say something to her about it and she doesn’t seem ashamed.
11/14/21 Sunday 630 am walking to St. James for 630 am mass-- I see an animal on the corner--looks like a big cat- but it turns out to be a raccoon in broad daylight and not running away. I have to walk off the sidewalk to avoid getting too close to it. It looks sick--maybe it’s rabid. I figure it will be gone by the time I come back--but when I return it’s still there-an hour later. I take a short video of it. I try calling the RB animal control but they are closed. 9 am I’m very tired as I go thru rolling hills. Now at roll hills covenant ⛪ --I’ve been coming here for a while off and on-- it’s a protestant mega-church but doesn’t look like it-. It looks relatively small from the outside, but they get big numbers with several services. They were shut down for a while during the main part of the pandemic hysteria. Then they re-opened with a big top tent ⛺ in the parking lot--and have remained there ever since-- but also partially reopened the sanctuary for those who prefer to be inside. Masks don’t seem to be an issue here-- no signs requiring--most not wearing- totally optional. Nice. Today they’re doing baptisms --full immersion. The new pastor last name Burgoyne I think came from Ohio. He likes to tell jokes and laugh and likes to preach. This is a pretty good church but a few carnal people every now and then to beware of. Pray for the PV cardinals. From there I go up the hill to the PV library 📚which opens at 1pm. Make more QR progress. 5pm mass at St John Fisher--the catholic church at the very TIP TOP of Palos Verdes. I started going here when they were still in the old building. Since then they’ve built a new sanctuary. I actually liked the old one better. I once wrote a letter to the pope about the priest here- concerned about his behavior. 11/15 Monday 8am take a walk. Kid from Pennsylvania with his dog taking selfies on the trail with Catalina Island in the background. Nice to see a normal kid up here for once. People are NOT very friendly in Palos Verdes--very self-absorbed and quite uninteresting --as well as uninterested-- their main concern is themselves and their property. I just come here to hike & get away from the city. For a while the main hiking area was getting overwhelmed with new people from the city. I think social media and google maps made it easier to get to and more- talked -about, so more people started coming. And then the local neighbors started complaining and they started making new street parking rules. Now they’ve made the main parking area more difficult to park on-- you need to download an app and pay to park there. I used to park up there with a view of Catalina and work on my ministry projects. Can’t do that anymore.
Funny (not funny) thing is some neighbors complained about people driving too fast, but in actuality I’ve observed that it’s the locals who live here who are the ones who drive too fast. In fairness there was an element who came from the city who were obnoxious. That didn’t help things. So now you just have to park farther away to walk to the trail. Not a big deal and it has helped limit the crowds at least during the week. Also, the tennis club added a fence to keep people from walking on their grassy area by the long steps people use for exercise. 11/15 Monday. QR in the morning--switched to new device in the afternoon. Is my car leaking coolant? I’m concerned. 8 am walk 11/16 Tuesday concerned about car overheating and squealing. Went to mechanic--he wasn’t there yet, but as I was about to leave he arrived in a new VW bug--looked a bit funny --don’t usually see Latinos in such cars-- and he was a real Latino who spoke mostly Spanish and broken English but he was a good mechanic and knew right away it was the water pump. He didn’t do any of the “diagnostic fee” mickey mouse either. Unfortunately he was too busy to work on it--but it turned out better anyways. The price they wanted was too much. I went & bought a water pump and called around until I found somebody who would give me a price just for the labor required to do the job. A few of the corrupt mechanics on the phone refused to give a quote--or refused to do work with “outside parts”-- as they call them-another way of saying they refuse to do work where they can’t jack up the price unnecessarily. One mechanic even started trying to berate me --so I quickly hung up. I went back to a mechanic I had been to previously-- he wasn’t so great but better than many others. And the water pump seemed to do the trick. As mentioned above it seemed to even slow the power steering leak--don’t know why. This mechanic shop has a waiting room behind which is the old Lomita community pool--empty with weeds in it. Sad they can’t use it. So Nery charged me $150 for the labor and it was $30 for the pump. That’s not bad for auto repair in So Cal. There’s so many greedy mechanics around here. After auto repair I stopped by the AMC movie theatre hoping to see the new C.S. Lewis movie-- and it was discount Tuesday so it should only be about $5 but they don’t give the discount on “foreign movies” - so I left. Wish they would make that clearer on their website. Went up to PV library and resumed QR progress. 11/17/21 Wednesday 8 am walk -there was a paranoid girl on the trail--she raised her jacket over her face as I approached pretending she was concerned about covid. Pretense or paranoia? If not pretense she is pretty ignorant. And she was SO INHUMANE --cold personality. I was NOT a person to her but an object to get past. I turned & watched her walk by without saying anything. She looked back twice--seemingly ashamed of her UNHUMAN behavior. At least I hope she was ashamed. Pray for the inhumane girl. Later, I took another walk in the afternoon. Lots of new security devices around PV-- cameras fences etc. I’ve given it a new name Paranoia Verdes.
11/18/21 Thursday update (some of the above restated or repeated) 8 am walked PV. After putting in new water pump I hoped the squealing would end. The first mechanic said it was the bearing in the pump squealing. But the new pump didn’t stop the squeal. I did need a new pump but there’s still something else. The 2nd mechanic thinks it’s the fan belt tensioner. Also there’s a continual leak from the power steering --. Otherwise it’s running decent. No prayer vis. One girl scared me as she came up behind me jogging. Yesterday there was a creepy girl who still has covid paranoia-- even outside as we merely pass by hiking. IF she’s still thinking that way now--it’s HER PROBLEM, not ours. Nobody is doing that anymore. I remember when it first began, people were so creepy concerned even on the trail--they would step way off to the side and virtue signal about having their face covered. These people can’t read--they are living in a world of fiction governed by what they see on CNN and other fake news liberal media. It’s really sad stuff. But a year later even these spooky people have finally graduated to a bit more of a reality check. The covid is NOT getting passed “in passing” outdoors, or even indoors for that matter. The covid only gets passed thru extended contact with another person indoors, or proximity to that person. It is NOT even passed by germs on a doorknob etc. And most people know that now. But there’s still a few creeps who either do not know this or are actually living in their own world in which they actually LIKE ACTING this way-- literally it’s an act, not something they truly believe. They use it for self-serving anti-social creepy reasons. I will always remember this gal I passed as THE CREEP. It was gross anti-social behavior. Disgusting stuff. After the hike I go to the library and continue work on QR table of contents for what I call my “Kingdom of Blog for the Kingdom of God”. I have so many blogs that I created over time for one reason or another & I want them to be edifying to others with information & sometimes entertainment or just daily news, etc--- along with spiritual evangelism for Jesus Christ --sometimes in a subtle way, other times very obvious. Back at the library making QR progress, 4pm I sit at a computer & there’s a guy I’ve never seen before next to me on the computer but talking on an old I-phone- like a 1st gen i-phone. Not that I care much about what kind of phone a person uses but he’s TALKING SO LOUD like he wants to be heard by others-- like he’s seeking attention- not apologizing or anything--& the library workers don’t come over & reprimand him. I had just started working on the computer but decided to log off & go to a different computer--didn’t want to be next to this obnoxious dude talking about going to Las Vegas as if that was supposed to be impressive. Vegas is boring & stupid. Once again on the other side of the carrel is the guy I call “The Machine”. He arrived a few years ago and quickly thought he was “the man” - and never left. He has one of those girlie hairstyles. And gray-- maybe in his 60’s--& carries a bag that says West Hollywood on it as if he wants to announce he’s a LEFTY. He always has some papers that he’s typing off of -& periodically gets up to print. And he is ALWAYS here- during business hours. The library was shut down for 18 months or so for covid hysteria but now that it’s reopened he’s back in the same place--always the same computer-- & no personality. I also see him at Redondo library occasionally -- one time he went up to a kid on a computer and asked him if he went to “Cal” (ie UC Berkeley)-- & the kid said “No but I’ve been accepted to UC Davis”. So there’s a little clue- he probably went to Cal for a while or maybe just has an allegiance to it-- and that would explain his imperturbable cockiness. Not impressed. I find a different computer & here’s another regular-- this African American lady showed up about 2 years ago & she always wears a winter jacket regardless of season--with the hoodie over her head-- very anti-social & before covid always had a bunch of chips and drinks on the carrel & the librarians would NEVER do anything about it because of her race. She also always sits at the same computer & is literally here every single day -- picking up right where she left off after covid absence for 18 months. I don’t have a prayer name for her yet-- but I should-- maybe I will call her “hoodie lady”. Then on the other side there’s the 3rd major regular --a white gal also with a chip on her shoulder-- maybe a local flunky -- she’s pretty regular - and was a bit obese before covid--but seems to have lost some weight and seems a little --just a tiny bit, less angry than she was before covid. My prayer name for her is “PV local gal”. I use what I call “prayer visualizations” ex post facto after I am out and about to try to reconcile my mind to some of the oddities & perturbing things in the world--& “give it up to God” --it seems to help. I review the day & things and people I’ve encountered & give names to the people I don’t know but who seem to need help and healing and the presence of Christ--but of course you can’t do face-to-face evangelism in L.A. -- at least not alone. People are too sensitive & selfish and self-centered. I only do anonymous windshield wiper evangelism-very rarely face-to-face.
11/19/21 8 am mass but no rosary at St James. Then I go to 99 cents & I’m in line at the cash register--a white lady in front of me leaves--& as I’m checking out--she returns & yells “My wallet is gone!” I look on the floor and around the area and don’t see a wallet and shrug and say ‘I didn’t see it. “A few others look around. Nobody sees it. She holds up her empty purse as if to PROVE it’s gone -- like what does that prove? It seemed like a concocted or scripted moment--like she had a personal agenda for coming back and making up a story--but why? I couldn’t figure it out. Another customer said “It’s probably in her grocery bag”. The lady disappeared and I finished my transaction and didn’t see her in the parking lot. Why would she concoct such a story if such was the case? I hear there are people like that--maybe she was one of those people. Attention -seeking? Mentally ill? She did look a bit unbalanced. It reminded me of the time I was at St John Fisher church and a lady did the same thing saying “Where’s my purse?” And nobody had her purse. Nobody stole her purse. Nobody cared about her damn purse. I don’t know what happened in that case either but it seemed like the same thing. Is there a mental illness category for women who falsely believe somebody stole their purse? I notice a lot of women use their purse as a social tool to indicate their trust or distrust of others or to virtue signal. They use it to transmit their feelings towards or about others. It’s quite bizarre, but real. Went to RB for a swim-- its cool & overcast but I swim anyways. I swim for exercise & “healing” -- it makes me feel less troubled about the world for a little while. More QR progress-- updating all my blogs & changing the margin widths etc so they are more readable.
11/20 Saturday 8 am mass & rosary. Thaddeus preaching. He’s from Africa. Over to RB library I park on the other side to avoid the permanent lady on the bench- I have compassion but she’s hostile to any compassion or help. After library 📚I go take a swim. Prayer visualization: the big group who arrived and set up TOO CLOSE to my towel. Once again I come out of the water and have to move my towel to get away from the group that set up too close when there was plenty of space on the beach. It’s not intentional but something psychological. There’s an obtuseness about it. It’s the same phenomena that makes people come swimming when I’m the only one out there-- they come in right where I am swimming -- as if I want company. The problem is I swim without my glasses which makes it difficult for me to interact with others when I can’t see their eyes unless I'm i ches away. Also I swim without a wetsuit throughout the winter. If you swim every day in cold water you build up a tolerance and it doesn’t bother you. These people see me without a wetsuit and think if I can do it they can do it too--it must not be too cold. They quickly find out otherwise, or try to be stoic and pretend it’s not too bad. It’s funny. Most don’t last very long. Once in a while there will be somebody thinking it’s a competition. I’m just there to body surf--not compete. I just want to be left alone. Thank you very much. After the swim, I work on maps evangelism. Also starting to use the new phone 📱--its working a bit better but it’s definitely not as good as my previous phone in some ways. The camera in particular is atrocious 👎. But the internet connection is better. That will be nice for trips. Like when I was at Yellowstone this summer I had NO CONNECTION FOR ALMOST A WHOLE WEEK-- they really need better connectivity there-- it would help in so many ways, including perhaps the Gabby Petito murder. Maybe she would have been able to help herself better if she had been able to reach others on internet. That happened close to the time I was roaming around Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. PrayTheNews Sports: Cal demolishes Stanford 41-11--worse loss ever for the Cardinal 🌳versus the Bears 🐻. I went to a Stanford game earlier this year vs UCLA- which they also lost but at least kept it relatively close (35-24). I still hang around Stanford when I’m in the bay area. Used to go to a lot of events there but once covid came around it limited everything--most of the events were being done by zoom --even at the beginning of the 2021-22 year. We’ll see what happens over time. Meanwhile, Ohio State destroys Michigan State 56-7-- I wasn’t expecting that either. 11/21 Sunday 9am at Rolling Hills Covenant ⛪--they are now in ‘inside/outside’ mode -- you can choose which you prefer--made me think of some of the Holiday Inn hotels we went to on summer trips that had indoor/outdoor swimming pools. Subsequently, St Margaret Mary Church 11 am service--this church is directly across from Fleming Middle School which I had been to a few times as a substitute teacher back in my “subbing days” (about 11 years as a sub for the LAUSD for better or worse). It’s a warm day. I’ve been coming to Margaret Mary for many years now--including during covid when they were outdoors. Funny (not funny) that all the catholic churches continue to require masks but a lot of protestant churches do not. Catholics are so obedient to the local government. I like the way John Macarthur at Grace Community church in Sun Valley LA handled it--they bucked the system and WON! NO MASKS required there--and L.A. County had to pay their legal fees and punitive damages. Quite a victory for the church. 1230 back at RB I take a swim, & then at 5pm go to St Lawrence Martyr. I also have been coming here for many years. Different type of congregation than the one at St James & St Margaret. The priest is a bit bossy-- an authoritarian --definitely thinks of it as his turf. I’m not always comfortable around him.
11/22 Monday 8am I terminated mass early because Msgr Mike started preaching about giving money to the parish--this is a daily mass--they don’t even take an offering and the constant barrage for money 💰gets too tiring. St James purchased the property across the street a few years back before covid and it may have been a mistake. It may have put them in too much of a hole. Plus there was the scandal of the 2 nuns caught for embezzlement at the school (over $500,000). Not sure if they are in an actual financial hole or if Mike is just so used to having the parishioners give give give - and give more, even if the nuns are stealing it. 930 am took a swim, dolphins 🐬jumping-- often see them here. Also some small fish like minnows jumped out of the water--one hit me in the face. Funny moment. 12 noon I go to Malaga Library 📚which is one of the three Palos Verdes libraries. The Malaga library is part of the Malaga Cove community and in a historic building--very cool --I remember the 1st time coming there and it seemed so historic. Not very busy usually, shorter hours than the main library up the hill. Made more QR progress. 4pm took swim #2 -no waves. Edit1 11/23/21 Tuesday discount movie day--I try to go to AMC on Tuesdays to do movie reviews-- started doing “Movie Reviews for Christians” back when Movie Pass began- which was quite a deal and I took full advantage of it as long as it lasted. For about $10 per month you were allowed to go to one movie per day. They issued a debit card that you used at the theatre and I don’t know how they made ends meet --in fact they didn’t , after a while they went bankrupt. But not before I had used it for about a year plus a few months. But I didn’t actually enjoy just mindlessly going to a movie every day. I wanted to make it a productive & constructive experience, so I started what I call #PrayTheMovies and took notes while watching the films. I also used it to explore the 1000’s of theatres across the USA --using it also while I was on my annual summer mission trips. After they went bankrupt I just went to maybe one movie per week on discount Tuesdays for about $5 per time (now $6). If you search #PrayTheMovies on YouTube you can usually find some of the reviews (although they are always changing the algorithms so sometimes they bury things that don’t make them any money) Or try this link https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/praythemovies . Today I go to the AMC and notice a film called “The Youngest Evangelist”-- a Christian movie --wow. And I am the ONLY ONE watching it. Very unique. Here’s some notes: starts with school kids dancing along with the school band. Looks like Miami. One angry kid hits a teacher and a security guard uses his taser on the kid, & the lefty principal yells at the guard, while the teacher yells at the principal for not caring about her. Then the band 🎺program gets cut due to budget. Back at a house an angry boyfriend is abusive to the girlfriend. Now flashback 1980. It’s Thanksgiving and the kid pulls a frozen whole turkey out of the freezer and brings it to school (without his mom knowing). The school cafeteria cooks it for the kids. The mom is angry when the kid gets back home. Now they don’t have a turkey 🦃 for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile the abusive boyfriend is acting up again and this time the kids attack the boyfriend and permanently kick him out. The mom is grateful. Now there’s a segment called “6 million-dollar kid” --the young boy has to run in a race at school but didn’t have any shoes--he wore his sister’s shoes to school -- girl’s shoes--and gets mocked by the other kids. And he has to race the guy they call “Goliath” because he’s so big. Somehow the kid beats Goliath with only one shoe on--the other fell off halfway thru the race. Now it’s the chapter called “The Blessing of the Holy Ghost”. I think this film was made by Pentecostals -- it has that extra emphasis on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Now they are taking the city bus to church-- all dressed up. So I watched this for a while and got the hang of it but then I switched over to the film called “King Richard” (shhh don’t tell anybody). This is a movie about Serena & Venus Williams and their father, Richard, who had a long-term plan even before they were born to make them into tennis stars. Serena & Venus were actually the producers of the film. The father actually chose for them to live in Compton because he wanted them to experience adversity-- apparently he actually had enough money to live in a nicer area. So that’s an interesting twist (something I found out later thru research- not sure how true it is or not). So the film begins with the father coaching the 2 girls at a local Compton park with gangstas hanging around & harassing them. After the practice is finished he gets beat up by one of them. But he doesn’t fight back. Turns out this is partially true-- he did have some run-ins with the local juveniles who were hanging out doing what they do with nothing to do. He drives the kids around in a VW Bus (also true). HE has the pulled-up tube socks like we did back in the day. At night Richard is a security guard and carries a gun 🔫 at work (but never apparently when he was at the park). Now he’s trying to find a 🎾coach for his 2 kids -- so he visits a country club and tries to convince a local pro who at the moment is coaching Sampras and McEnroe -- the coach is not interested but Richard insists so he says he will watch them for a few moments and he is STUNNED-- he believes they have great potential. Or actually he believes in Venus, not so much Serena. So Venus gets the pro coach while Serena gets mom back at home coaching her. Also they talk about “The Kingdom” --apparently Jehovah Witness religion played a large part in their lives as a family. And they have a scene where they are praying together. The father, by the way, is played by Will Smith--pretty good job. Richard gets beat up again at the park. This time he goes and gets his gun and drives around looking for the punk kid-- and he’s actually about to use it when suddenly the kid gets blown away by a rival gang. Not sure how true this is, but apparently Richard did lose a few teeth in one of the altercations. Now the 2 girls are playing “juniors” --the way almost all tennis players work their way up to the pro level. And they are doing well. Now they are watching the movie “Cinderella” back at their home in Compton. The father makes them watch closely and quizzes them with questions at the end. And when they don’t answer satisfactorily he tries to make them watch it all over again. But the mom intervenes this time. She’s supportive of Richard mostly but occasionally takes a stand and he backs down. Richard emphasizes humility to the girls and at one point is angry that they are bragging too much about winning and he tries to teach them a lesson. This is also around the time of the Rodney King beating-. They do make some racial references now and then. #PrayTheMovies lesson: importance of perseverance. One day social services comes and visits because an angry spiteful neighbor complained that the father was keeping them out too late practicing. But the kids are doing well in school. They also have a Nancy Reagan scene where she is promoting her ‘just say no” theme for dealing with drugs etc. Not sure why they stuck that in there. Richard ends the relationship with the 1st coach and manages to get Rick Macci the famous tennis coach to take both of them under his wing and even guarantee a place to live in Florida etc. Next scene they are driving to Florida in a motorhome. But as they begin practicing in Florida, Richard informs Macci that he is pulling the girls out of the juniors. Macci is furious & is starting to think he made a mistake. He insists the girls stay in juniors but Richard refuses. He wants them to enjoy their childhood & not get burned out like Capriati, who had just got arrested on drug charges. Finally Venus gets to her first pro match --and barely loses to Vicario the Italian who also took a LONG restroom break to try to “ice” Venus--and it works. This is how the movie ends. And the rest, as they say, as we all know, is HISTORY.
They are both multi-millionaires from tennis-- maybe billionaires combined with all their endorsements etc. Venus is married & lives in Beverly Hills. And Serena remains unmarried living in Florida. Quite the story. Fairly good film. Wednesday 8 am take a walk in Palos Verdes. From here I can see Catalina Island 🌴. I pass a few people. There’s the one odd guy. 10 am I go to PV library and am about finished with the QR project--it’s taken almost a month of constant work. Take another walk at 1pm-- this is the longer hike I do when I am in PV- good workout-- couple of miles with elevation up and down. Back to PV lib at 3pm to 530 set up my new Coolpad phone which isn’t so great--better internet connection but worse camera & much heavier-- like a brick. Then I drive to Bellflower & drop off chocolates for Jim & Lin. Still haven’t seen them since I’ve returned from my extended mission trip. It’s taking me a while to get back into a feeling of belonging here in So Cal again. It’s been so long on the road and mostly outdoors during the covid pandemic. I notice there’s a little critter living in a hole under my office. Maybe a rabbit? 11/25/21 Thursday: 9 am St James Redondo, then a swim at 1030-- very low humidity today. Bears defeat the Lions. Detroit still hasn’t won a game yet this season with Goff their new QB who came from the Rams in exchange for Stafford. Friday 11/26 starting to do my annual Christmas cards. It takes a while because each one is hand crafted. Prayer visuals for “the dresser and the scared lady.'" Saturday 11/27: 8am mass & rosary-- this helps me start the day. 9 am now at RB library-- making smaller QR version. There’s the same “stare lady” 1130 am now at 99 cents store. 1pm now a swim at RB. Michigan 🏈defeats OSU Buckeyes for the first time in a LONG TIME--wow. Wash State defeats Wash & stormed their field. I spent a bit of time around the UW campus when I was in Seattle earlier this summer. Their football field is incredible. Alabama barely beats Auburn after a big scare. Auburn should have won it. Notre Dame crushes Stanford. 11/28 730am --drove to LA -started day at St Paul Westwood. Then to Good Shepherd at 10am. Left quickly and went to St Victor at 1030-- accidentally dropped phone on the pew as the service was starting. It sounded like a brick it’s so heavy--people were startled. Now at Beverly Hills library still working on QR small version. Now there’s a rude kid sitting nearby at one of the upstairs computers--but using his laptop. Another guy comes in and insists that he move--and the kid objects until the female employee also tells him to move somewhere else. Then the kid says something rude to me as he’s leaving. I hadn’t done anything to him. Ridiculous. I had thought about complaining because he was being annoying -making noise- shaking his drink in his thermos etc. but he did quiet down so I gave him grace-.
But then he makes a comment at me as he walks away-- creepy dude-- it startled me because he whispered it at me like a little coward as he walked past. So I intentionally created a SCENE ABOUT IT-- telling the employee, who called another employee, who came up and we walked together downstairs to see if we could find the punk--and there he was and I made another scene --very loud--purposely-. Wished I could fight like back in grade school-- but can’t do that. Try to make a point and let him know he’s a punk. Not sure where he came from - but he was trying to be bossy--. I’ve been coming here for literally years-- more than 10 and know the people more or less-. And he’s a newbie-- from where -who knows. But some of these newbies try to get bossy upon arrival until they find out it DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY. Later I also talked to the “ranger cop” who is on duty in the library-- he was out to lunch at the time it happened but showed up later and this helped as well. Still rankled me later in the day and for a few days. It was an injustice. After BH library I went to the Hollywood Xmas parade-- one of my annual events that I have filmed for many years. The parade is “made for TV” - but does not air until a few weeks later. Because it is “for TV” there are sometimes long delays -- not sure why- maybe commercials? I almost considered skipping it this year for the 1st time but decided at the last moment to go. Posted a few videos of it online-- it doesn’t get much views anymore like it used to. People aren’t so interested in Hollywood stuff so much anymore. 11/29 8 am went to Borromeo church ⛪ Monday morning in North Hollywood-- used to come here quite often-- its’ not far from Burbank and during the last few years of Jay Leno on the Tonight Show I spent a lot of time in the area going here & to the show and the nearby library 📚- and it's not too far from Glendale and Pasadena where I used to go more often as well. Now they make you go thru a gate to enter the church with a lady making sure you have a mask on. Then when I tried to leave early I found out I was locked in. She had to come out and unlock it to allow me out. This church has become EXTREMELY PARANOID about covid. I remember last year they weren’t even having church services inside-- and not even sitting outside like a lot of other churches. They had a drive-in service in the school parking lot where they insisted you not only wear a mask in your car during the service but keep the windows closed too. It was so ridiculous. Paranoia will destroy ya. Meanwhile, John MacArthur’s Grace Church in Sun Valley down the road was making a stand against the county of L.A and the mayor-- refusing the mask mandate and lockdown restrictions etc-=- going head -to-head with LA, and the church eventually WON! Great victory. The county had to pay the church lots of money in fines and damages for overstepping their bounds. Meanwhile the catholic churches obey the county like a boss, even after the legal ruling that gave churches much greater freedom. A bit pathetic of the catholic church. Disappointing. No backbone. Feels cowardly by the catholic leaders. After Borromeo I went and donated blood in Van Nuys. Then I went to Burbank Buena Vista library & completed the small QR page. Finally. Much warmer in San Fernando Valley than the other side. Around 2pm I left Burbank and managed to make it back to RB by 330 -- a minor miracle-- beating the rush hour traffic. Took a swim and then a run/walk along the strand. And this ends AmeriPrayer IV .
End1
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