Happy Thanksgiving from Ashland, Oregon

It’s hard to believe but we’ve been in Oregon for nearly a week. Our goal was to get Sarah and Adam settled, and we’ve made remarkable progress. All the rooms are arranged and organized, all the boxes have been unpacked, and Tracy has nearly all the artwork and photographs hung. We’re planning a pretty low-key Thanksgiving celebration with plenty of time to rest and relax. I’ll have photos of our accomplishments later.

Sarah and Adam are renting a lovely home with quite a beautiful yard and view.

This is the view from their living room. They have the same view from the kitchen and family room, as well as a lovely deck off the family room.

The yard is large, but has a steep drop-off.

In addition to unpacking, Tracy and Adam got some great help in putting up a new fence  in the backyard. Sadie is delighted with the room to run around. Amazingly, a deer leaped over the fence last night, and put Sadie in a fury of excitement. After some time, the deer leaped back over the fence and disappeared.

Ashland is a beautiful small city surrounded by mountains. We were a bit worried about driving up from San Francisco since there had been snow in the Siskiyou Pass where chains are often required. In anticipation we upgraded our rental vehicle to a 4X4 SUV. Fortunately, we didn’t need it, but it’s easy to see why you might. From Siskiyou Summit to Ashland, there’s a drop in elevation of more than 2,000 feet in a pretty short amount of time. It was pitch dark when we drove through last Friday, but the headlights of the traffic lit up the towering, snow-covered evergreens against a star-lit sky. Truly a beautiful sight.

After church on Sunday, we decided to drive up to Mt. Ashland. It was a beautiful, clear day in Ashland, but we found a totally different environment on the road up to the summit.

Clouds totally obscured the summit, but there were some beautiful views of the valley as we drove down.

I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful holiday if you’re in the States. I love the opportunity to be with family and take stock of all my many blessings. Being able to travel and spend time with Sarah and Adam is top on my list today. I’m also grateful to Matt’s friends in Denver for including him in their Thanksgiving festivities.