Less is more.

We had breakfast with the folks and left Ida Culver House about 8:30. By 4:30 p.m. we rolled into Jessie Honeyman State Park just south of Florence, OR. It took about 5 minutes to get the trailer unhooked and set up, including electrical. Because we hadn't been grocery shopping yet we went into Florence for dinner and both had some very good grilled salmon with vegetables. From there to Safeway, and thence to McDonalds where we sit now sucking up their free wi-fi along with a Diet Dr. Pepper (Pam!) and a chocolate sundae (me).

It seemed like a longer drive than what I had on the road going north but that's because I didn't sleep much last night and was tired the whole time. Which meant I sucked Diet Coke most of the way. Which means I'll be treking to the bathroom during the night. Oh well.

Tonight we put it to the iron test. Can two people sleep in a 72" x 46" space without doing bodily harm to each other? The cabin is well insulated so I don't expect we'll even turn the heater on. That will come in handy when we do the Alaska trip.

In the morning - fresh brewed coffee, bagels warmed in the mini-microwave, and BACON!

Josh preached for me this morning, his first time to step into that role. By all accounts I'd better keep one eye looking over my shoulder.

OK, 72 hours later I'm prepared to talk about my conference gig without the use of the upper case symbols across the numbers row of the keyboard.

I am NOT pleased with how it went and bothered that I started the conference off with a weak session. I had written that it wasn't a sermon; didn't want it to be. Perhaps that's the reason I did a poor job on the structure and execution. I did a very poor job of budgeting my time and didn't leave enough at the end for what, in the business, we call "bring it on home" (application). What makes me especially angry with myself is that I still think the content has real relevance to the assigned topic/theme. I allowed myself to waste time inserting unnecessary material at the expense of the "punch line(s)" at the end.

I've settled down sufficiently that self-immolation is off the table. But I'm a long way from acceptance.

Roger Federer. I like it. I especially like it that his wife brought their twin daughters who are still quite young, but just old enough to appreciate their daddy having a very good day at work.

Tomorrow we'll probably just hang around this area, go for walks, maybe tour the tourist shops in Florence, and kick back. The plan is to drive up the coast to Newport the following day. It's an hour's drive but an especially beautiful area of the central OR coast. Either way, I'll be posting daily and from here on it won't be a day spent doing nothing but driving.