What a glorious day!

Day four of our trip began with overcast skies and cool temperatures, like the first three. Diana snapped a picture of me just south of Long Beach as I headed for Astoria on the bike.Within a couple of hours the clouds went away and the sun appeared. It was a glorious day, with perfect temperatures for riding (66) and a tail wind (Thanks to the Board of Discipleship's prayers!). The first 70 of 84 miles almost flew by, and even the last 14 were not bad.

On yesterday's blog, Elijah posted a comment asking for a picture of Diana. Here's the only picture of her today, atop the highest climb, overlooking the Oregon coast. Manzanita, Manhattan and Rockaway beaches are laid out like a string of pearls along the shore of the Pacific. If we had a more appropriate picture of Diana it would have been inside an antique shop.

Before we ever got to Oregon, Diana made an historical detour to Cape Dissapointment State Park in Washington. While I continued across the Astoria bridge, Diana visited the lighthouse. While she was there a man slipped off a cliff and fell into the ocean. Rescuers were called immediately. Suddenly Diana was surrounded by emergecy vehicles, boats and a hellicopter. So many people were involved, willing to risk their lives for one person. When Diana told me the story it reminded me of one of the purposes of my ride, to save the lives of unborn babies by illuminating hope through ultrasound (Ride4US). Interestingly, Diana had just stopped before the state park to take a picture of a World War II Monument. The first words on the plaque were "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend." (John 15:13). Jesus is the ultimate rescuer who illuminates hope through his death for our sins, and his resurrection so that we can live eternally.

Today's ride had lots of up and down (as coastal rides always do) with four significant climbs including the one over the Columbia River bridge. You actually climb to 200 feet on the bridge so that ocean going vessels can pass under. The highest climb gave the most spectacular view of the Oregon coast (the one in Diana's picture).

Here's a screen shot of tomorrow's ride. It's about 70 miles. I think I'm getting stronger each day, so we'll see how it goes. Our destination tomorrow is Newport. I am praying each day for my ride sponsors. Please keep both Diana and me in your prayers for safety. God bless you all. Rebekah and Elijah, we miss you both terribly.