After returning from South Bend last Sunday afternoon, I re-packed my bags and on Monday drove south to Newport, Oregon for the annual clergy convocation for the Archdiocese of Portland.
This was my second clergy convocation and I must say they have both been really wonderful experiences of priestly fraternity. This Archdiocese is particularly blessed to have a superb archbishop in John Vlazny, and it also has a great group of young priests who, I'm very grateful to say, have always been most welcoming to me. So spending time together as a presbyterate is always a joy.
It doesn't hurt that these days are spent in Newport, and that we have had really good weather both years - despite the fact that the convocation is always in October.
Newport is a coastal town, with a a sizable harbor for its fleet of commercial fishing boats. Here, some of the boats are docked beneath the Highway 101 Bridge:
The hotel and conference facility we use is directly on the Oregon coast. Here's the view from my hotel room window:
And just north of the hotel, on the headlands you can see from my window, there is the Yaquina Head lighthouse:
There is a very nice interpretive center there about the life of light house keepers.
Back down in Newport's harbor-front downtown, I enjoy visiting the Rogue Brewery. They make Dead Guy Ale, which Fr. Drew Gawrych's dad and I like to refer to as "the official beer of historians."
After having lunch and a couple of pints, I made the most of the good weather and enjoyed a walk along the waterfront. Apparently some of the local wildlife had the same instincts:
No comments:
Post a Comment