Catchup Part One: Mountains, Gandalf!

We feel terrible for letting three weeks go by without a single post. Finals week (for Christine) and midterms (for Joel) came and went, as did Spring Break, and now we are facing the final stretch of the journey. Eight more weeks (or so) until we are done with school for the forseeable future. What I have planned for the Cohen blog is a series of catchup posts telling you all the interesting events that have happened over the past week. It will be funny, dramatic, emotional, surprising, et al. I bet you can't wait!

So here is installment one. Last weekend we took a quick trip to Wallowa County, OR. We stayed with our friends the McDonalds and toured the little towns that sit at the foot of the Wallowa mountains (nicknamed the American Alps). The scenery there is truly breathtaking. I often had to remind myself that I was not looking at a painting. I actually find myself missing the mountains now that we're back in Moscow. As you drive to Wallowa, you endure a harrowing trip down and up Rattlesnake canyon (one of those places where the signs for falling rocks really means you are guaranteed to see and need to dodge falling rocks) and then through a forest of Evergreens. And as you come out the other side you catch your first glimpse of the mountains.



Few aspects of creation are as majestic as mountains. I see now why the ancient gods were depicted on mountains, why God met with Moses on Mount Horeb, and why our worship services on Sunday are described as a gathering of the people at Mount Zion.




Our friends the McDonalds were extremely hospitable and fed us wonderful meals. They also have four ridiculously cute children. These are the three oldest.



And here I am in the town of Enterprise:



This is a cute little soda shop in the town of Joseph where we spent a good deal of Saturday afternoon reading and relaxing.


That's it for the first installment of our catchup marathon. Tune in next time for: "Springtime!" (Intriguing, eh?)