December 4, The Glory of Christmas

It was a glorious evening to get in the spirit of Christmas. The Glory of Christmas production, which lasts 1 1/2 hours, is not your run of the mill christmas show. It began in 1981 and is put on by volunteer cast and staff. It captures a small fragment of the time and emotions that may have been experienced that night in Bethlehem.

We were not allowed to take pictures during the performance, so the few I have were taken around that performance time. On our tour I took the pictures of the set, and when we first arrived here a performance was ending, so we were able to get the shots of the 3 magi. The afternoon performance was for the children. During the season they will give free shows to 12,000 children. Then we walked over to where the animals are kept and got the shots of the camels.

The production was really outstanding, from the opening notes to the finale. The orchestrations for the evening were performed by members of the London Symphony and Seattle Symphony orchestras. The costumes from the plain and simple villagers to the beautifully regal, colorful sparkling Magi. The Roman Centurians riding horseback down the center aisle, the Magi's camel caravan/entourage passing through twice. The bleating sheep and goats with the shepherds. The special effects from the thunder storm (complete with clouds), to the Bethlehem star, to the flying angels (sometimes 7 of them)

To the right side of the stage is a stone tower where the trumpeters played at the beginning and also King Herod and his court did their part from here. The balcony on the right and there is one on the other side was where the angels flew from(from the top of the balcony) and flew over the audience down on the main floor.
The center stage shows Bethlehem up top, on the left is the Inn and on the right is the cave where Jesus was born. Most of the action takes place in this area. You can see the raised center aisle where actors, dancers and the horses came onto the main stage.
This is the Inn and to the left are the hills where the shepherds were. They even had a bonfire. The Roman guards had lit torches.

You can see how elaborate the costumes are.

The magi rode in on these camels, the camels knelt during the presentation of the gifts. One of these decided he had knelt long enough and got up during the performance. You should have seen the people scatter. They soon had him down again.

Towards the end of the show this little shepherd boy came running down the center aisle, he wasn't very old, maybe 6 or 7. and he sang the song "What Can I Give Him". Oh my, did that bring down the house. It was all in all a magnificent performance.

As we left the performance we were greeted by this huge lit christmas tree. Their Christmas prayer is that this year you may discover the meaning of true joy. Joy in the midst of troubles, Joy in the face of disappointment. Joy in the wake of a troubled world, Then you will truly experience The Glory of Christmas. We add our prayers to theirs.

December 4th The Crystal Cathedral

It was a two hour drive to Garden Grove from Menifee, through lots of traffic. Not my favorite thing to do. With excellent directions given on their website, we made it. Hard to believe that in this very busy city there is this oasis. When we are travelling and can't attend our own church, we quite often watch the "Hour of Power" from the Crystal Cathedral. It was a wonderful experience to see it up close and personal. The grounds are immaculate, the volunteers with smiles on their faces and very friendly. There is a sense of peace with a lot of activity. The original church was started in a drive in theatre. Robert Schuller and his wife Arvila started this church in the 1950's with a hope and a prayer. His message is based around the teachings of Christ, the power of positive thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

They bought an organ on their way to California and he preached from the roof of the projection/snack bar stand. Arvila played the organ. From there they came to the present property to build their first sanctuary and soon expanded to a second sanctuary. The parking lot was set up much like the drive in theatre, so people could park facing the church and could worship still in their cars if they so choose. He tells the story of seeing a green coupe in the middle of the drive in each Sunday. Before he could get down to meet them, it was always gone. One day he got a call to come visit a family and when he pulled up to the house, there was the green coupe. He found out the man had a severely disabled wife. Each Sunday he carries her to the car and drives to the drive in and there they can worship together. He gave Dr. Schuller a sizeable contribution towards his ministry. He continues that ministry today.

They have many programs going on here.. like the Tower of Hope. They have an emergency suicide hot line manned 24/7 365 days a yr. They receive 50,000 calls a year. People volunteer to work here and they work 4 hours shifts. They also have a school here.. preK to 12th grade. There is a Garden of Remembrance where people are buried or put in a mausoleum. We saw Roger Williams family room, which has a stained glass window of a grand piano.

Through out the grounds are sculptures which bring the scripures to life. They are remarkable and so life like. The expressions etc are wonderful.

The outside of the Crystal Cathedral. It holds 3,000 people. Behind it is the Carillon tower.
This is the tower of hope with the original carillon bells on the outside.
This statue is called "Coming Home, the Prodigal Son". The father's face emanates joy.
This bronze sculpture is called "Peace be Still". Christ is walking on the water.

This bronze sculpture is called "The Holy Family.. milestones and miracles"
It is so life like with the color on it. Christ is in silver so that his face reflects your face when you look into it.

Joseph looks so animated.
Even the donkey, who is biting at his robe, looks so real.

At the base of the carillon tower is a prayer chapel. It is ringed by 33 marble pillars from Greece. 33 for the years that Christ lived. In between are 12 white columns for the 12 disciples. In the very center is an acrylic block which has the upper torso of christ carved out from the inside and one hand comes up out of the top as he looks upward praying. There is a light that comes up through the sculpture. This photo does not do it justice. It is really unique. Around this sculpture are kneeling benches for those who wish to pray or benches around the outside edges.
"Joyful Jesus..I Found Him" See the expression of joy at finding the lost sheep.

A water feature with water cascading down over white steps. A statue of Job is in the background. To the left is the Remembrance Garden. You go down some steps into the garden and as you go the sound of the water feature is quieted.
"The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes" a smiling Jesus. In the background you can see the outside of the Prayer Chapel. See the columns and domed top.

"God's way to the good life- Moses and the Ten Commandments". to the left and behind is a bronze bush with flames depicting the burning bush.
This shows the carillon tower, crystal cathedral and the tower of hope with a large cross on top. All of this is lit up at night.

The beautiful bird of paradise. There are several plantings of these around.

Budweiser Clydesdales and Temecula

In one of the handouts we were given by the park, they talked about the Budweiser Clydesdale Breeding Farm. It is close to the park and even though it isn't open to the public, you can see the horses in the fields. Well you know the love affair Bob has with Clydesdales, so on our way to Temecula we went to find the farm. It was an adventure to be sure as we jogged around over dirt roads (made worse by the recent rains) and finally found the fields. There was a place to pull over and we could go up to the fence. They are a curious lot and came right over to the fence. They are gorgeous animals and make the ground shake when they run.

Of course they are looking for a treat, but they settled for a pat and scratch.
Now what do you suppose that conversation is about!!!

We went back out to the freeway and headed south to Temecula. We had heard some things about the historic district. We had a hard time finding it. Bob is getting real good at doing U turns. We finally found it and it is several streets of lots of little shops. All made to look very old. Since my knee has been giving me problems, we elected to just drive around and look. Of course we had to take a photo of the Butterfield Square.

There is an archway over each entrance into the historic district.

Well I just had to share a picture of the dairy farm that is next to the RV park where we are staying. There are hundreds of holstein cows in here and we have been blessed? with the wonderful odor that emanates and permeates from their waste products... I can't imagine owning a home in one of the housing developments that surround this farm.

November 30, RAIN

In the middle of the night we heard the rain start. It kept up for 24 hours and this is the road outside our rig. Now where were those instructions regarding flooding? They do have pumps here to control the lagoons from overflowing. If they don't work, they drive through the park blasting an air horn warning you to evacuate. Fortunately that didn't happen. We went out long enough to collect our mail. They really need the rain down here, so it will be an inside day today.

How do you like our new water feature? The geese really like it.

November 29, Wilderness Lakes Resort, Menifee CA

We left Valencia Village about 9 am, hoping rush hour traffic had eased up. It wasn't far to I-5 and we were also looking for a gas station. Didn't find one as we eased down 5 to 210. Then headed east. You really have to watch the signs and the crazy drivers. We went almost to 215 before we found a Valero to fuel up at. 3.79/gal ouch!!! Made it onto 215 south and got to Wilderness Lakes Resort mid afternoon. However we got lost after coming off the freeway. We were following directions from their web site and couldn't find the road to turn on. So after we got to Hemet, we called for directions. Sure enough, they built a housing development and Briggs road is not there anymore. So we turned around and found our way to the resort with the new directions. Wouldn't you know it is right behind a huge holstein dairy. This resort also has a pond and several lagoons throughout the park with ducks and geese. Did we tell you that flies are a problem here?!!! The odor when the wind is from the north is one that cleans out your sinuses... reminds me of our dairy in days gone by.

The sunset out our window around 5 pm.

November 28, Moving to Valencia Village, Castaic

Off down the historic El Camino Real. They have red flag warnings out today for the canyons north of LA. We didn't feel the wind until we were driving over 126 to Valencia Village. The fires they have had in Malibu and even up by Santa Clarita have been devistating. Last week when Malibu was burning they lost 45 homes.

These markers are seen all the way down Hwy 101.
Here we are at a rest stop just north of Santa Barbara.

Looking at our spot in Valencia Village. They are pull throughs arranged in a circle around a big barbecue in the middle. Those huge eucalyptus trees are also in the middle.

We heard from Mark on Sunday that he finished the race. He didn't beat his time record from before. Part of that was because he stopped to take pictures every 200 yards. He did have a wonderful time.

November 24 Montana Friends

You have heard us talk about the Montana Forum that we belong to called M.O.C. (Montana Owners Club). We have attended several of their rallies and made some wonderful friends. So when the opportunity presents itself, we try to contact people when we are in their home area. The full timers we meet on the road. Today we drove over to Bakersfield to visit with Dennis & Mary Kay Hill. We were also greeted by Buddy and Bandit, their two dogs (dachsund and a dachsund/chihuahua mix). Since they are so young they welcomed us royally. We found out that Dennis and Mary Kay knew our relatives the Wilm's. Small world.

After visiting and sharing adventures etc, we went to lunch at B.J.'s where their son in law is manager. Had a wonderful lunch and we all shared a dessert called Pizzookie. It is a chocolate chip cookie formed in a small pizza pan and topped with a scoop of ice cream. The cookie is warm and oh my gosh... the picture shows it all!!!! We also met their daughter Heather, who is a manager of another restaurant in the area. A very nice couple and parents to two beautiful children.

Pizookie, one chocolate chip and the other white chocolate/macadamia nut.
We got back to their house and found this. The boys had taken my bag and annihilated everything paper in it. It doesn't show the knitting removed and the skein of wool across the room. Lets see there was kleenex, washups and a TLC bar (guess what they were after). No damage done to the knitting and everything else is replaceable. The final two pages of a book I was reading were not all found. So I can make up my own ending!!!!

Here are the culprits!! Buddy & Bandit. Don't they look guilty...

We left there about 4 and scooted up the road to the Flying J. Filled up at 3.44/gal and headed west to Paso Robles. It was clear crisp night and a huge harvest moon was in the sky. Another great ending to a wonderful day.