Frank's last camp

The first night camping with brother Chris was cold. We're pretty high up in the Santa Rosa mountains south of Palm Springs. The temperature dropped to near freezing. But two pants two sweatshirts and two socks kept me warm enough.

Camping adventures two. So Sunday we drove back through Palm Springs with a stop at IHOP for breakfast. Then we drove up to Joshua tree to camp out at an RV park by the entrance. Monday we drove through the park and enjoyed the spectacular scenery. The first Mormons saw the bizarre trees with their uplifted arms and dubbed them "Joshua trees". The rock piles in the Mojave desert are fascinating. They look like giants were playing at balancing rock stacks. They reminded me of the rock monsters in Galaxy, quest and Thor Ragnarok. Like clouds and star constellations the rock formations trigger Pereidolia - The brains desire to perceive meaningful patterns or images in random or vague stimuli. As a dentist, I needed to put my hand in the whale mouth rock. One stack reminded me of Jaba the Hut's throne. The rocks in front reminded me of the twin Huts in Boba Fett.

Camping adventures three. Yesterday we drove out of the southern end of Joshua tree, and to the Salton Sea. Since it was Ramadan, we stopped for a brief prayer in Mecca. We had a Polish supper - Calabrese salami, sour crout, and potatoes. Camping wouldn't be memorable without minor disasters. The first night was really cold. The second night was kind of cold. But below sea level the night was comfortable. So for the first time I didn't attach the outside roof over the screen ceiling of the tent. I enjoyed laying back and looking at the bright stars and moon. But then the hidden automatic sprinkler went off from 2:30 to 3:30 AM. I suddenly heard a loud rattling that woke me up. Then the water started dripping through the screen roof. Then flowing through. I groggily staggered out of the tent and looked at the sky for rain clouds, and found none. Then I saw the sprinkler. I sleepily grabbed my headlamp and the plastic roof. I attached it to the outside of the tent as the sprinkler sprinkled me. By this time, the air mattress, thin cloth mattress, sleeping bag and pillows were pretty wet. Gratefully, only one side of the tent got sprinkled. My suitcase, backpack, and laptop were spared. Also, the extra army blanket was on the dry side. I toweled off the air mattress and sleeping bag, flipped the cloth mattress over and dried the pillows as good as I could. The wool army, blanket and sweatshirt and pants kept me warm enough. The loud patter of the sprinkler kept me awake for a while. But I must've dozed off because I don't remember the patter stopping. Weird dreams accompanied the rest of the night.

CAMPING ADVENTURES 3 (THE FINAL EPISODE - LIKE FOREVER) - That's right. My camping days (and especially the nights) are over for good. After getting through the night at Leaping Lizards campsite with its demonic sprinkler targeting me, we set off to see the great Salton Sea Beach. Apparently, it was being groomed to be a first class tourist site 70 years ago. It didn't pan out. I can see why. Being below sea level the water is really gross. The ancient remnants of attempts at tourism are collapsing and graffitied. It would be a great place to film a post-apocalypse film. There was literary no one there. So if you're really tired of the lines at Disneyland, this might be an option. But I wouldn't recommend it. We then exited the empty parts of California to go to where all the people are. We spent the final night at a Bonelli Bluff city park in San Dimas. It was a beautiful evening. But of course in the city where "it never rains", rain was forecast. So we moved my tent onto the cement pad and tied an extra tarp to the roof. The rain started at about 5 AM. Hard at times. I stayed dry. But the morning walk and decamping was not so fun.

But the rest of the day was great. Our great niece, Kristina Stover, works at Life Pacific University a few miles from the park. She, her husband, Justin, and kids, Jadon, Jaxon, and Sofia (all preschoolers) live on the campus. So we spent a wonderful couple hours watching her kids run around in Spider-man suits and sharing lunch in the cafeteria. It was such a blessing enjoying this Christ-centered millennial family serving our Lord with all the hearts. Since Chris plans no more camping trips and I am done with tents, he gave his tent, air mattress, and camp table to Kristina. She was happy to get them. And I was happy to say good-bye to them. Future "brother times" will be in cabins. After our visit we drove to Fuller Seminary to meet with their dean, Amos Yong, and associate dean, Dave Scott. Dave accompanied us on our final visit to Rwanda. We are thrilled that he was able to get approval for their master's degree students to complete a two to three month practicum at our Lighthouse. We discussed details and they are hoping to start sending students this summer. We shared a late lunch at a great Italian restaurant. The most fun for me was reconnecting with an old friend, Amos Young. Thirty years ago we met in Vancouver at Turning Point Christian Center as he was completing his second master's degree. He and Alma were in the middle of having their babies. Like Kristina, they had three preschoolers by the time they moved on so he could start on his doctorate. We were the intellectuals in the church and enjoyed each other immensely. He went on to a long career in academics, writing 20 books and over 200 articles in thick theological language on the World-wide Pentecostal movement. He is now the preeminent expert on the fastest growing movement within the global church. These credentials earned him his present position as the dean of one the preeminent seminaries in America. Afterwards, Chris dropped me off at the Bob Hope airport in Burbank. I didn't land in Portland until midnight and get to bed until one. So it was short night before my first patient this morning. But it was a great adventure and good family time. But I'm getting a little old for such adventures.