Our Trip

"I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, 'you are my God.'
My times are in your hands."  
Psalm 31:14 

We celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary by exploring

the Oregon coast. The weather was perfect making the
ocean sparkle. The beaches and rocky cliffs are unlike the
beaches on the east coast and it is generally on the cool,
windy side all summer. Before we left on the trip we
noticed an odd noise that seemed to come from the back of
the car. We had it checked out earlier, bought two new tire
rims and four new tires. However, as we traveled over the
mountains, the noise seemed to increase. The day before we
were to leave the area and travel back, we saw a Toyota sign
and pulled in. The diagnosis: A bearing was going bad. Yes,
they could get the part and fix it the next day, and, no, we
couldn't drive the car back to our hotel, and, no, there were
no car rentals available, but before fear set in, one of the
rental cars was returned giving us the transport we needed.
When we picked up the car the next day we were told that
the bearing was indeed at the end of its life. I asked what
would happen on the road if the bearing failed and was told
it could be quite ugly!

The trip home proved to be an adventure. We saw the sign--
bridge out, detour--but we went on expecting to see more
information. Way down the road we got it: 'Bridge out.
No alternative.' We were not the only ones who did not
understand the meaning of the first sign! The western part
of the country is not like the east where a bridge out might
mean a 20 mile detour. We backtracked, found a restaurant
where a patron directed us to several backroads that
eventually led to the route that would take us to Bend. By
the time we arrived in Bend, the sun was beginning to go
down and the last four hours we traveled through and
over mountains with many twists and turns--in the dark.
I had no idea that central Oregon was so desolate and so
mountainous. We pulled into our driveway at midnight.

I was grateful to God at the time but as the days have
passed I am in awe of how He directed us to stop NOW.
Had we not seen the sign we probably would not have
tried to find a garage someplace else.

Interesting how the word 'sign' kept coming up on our
trip. That word also comes up frequently in scripture.