Thursday, July 24, 2008

Whew! The big birthday project is done! Packaged, addressed and poised to go to the post office in the morning. I started the project two weeks before the 22nd and am still sending it out two days late! Many hours, thirty years portrayed, and a long walk along memory lane for me! I hope it brings smiles and inspires memories and the sharing of stories.

Between sessions with the scanner and computer I helped Jack go get, unload, rake, and water down two yard of decomposing granite around the big willow tree in the backyard and the extension of the driveway to the back of the shed.

Tuesday evening we had the whole gang over to welcome Leo's daughter and her family to Klamath Falls. They are visiting from Salt Lake City, Utah. I made Carne Con Chile with all the fixings (following the reciepe Grandma Judy gave me many years ago!) Everyone really seemed to enjoy the food and the company. I'm getting better at cooking for 12+ people. I only burned the rice and I did it far enough in advance that I was able to get a second batch done before the company arrived! Yeah!

We'll be leaving for Salem in the morning. Jack's class reunion is Saturday in Philomouth. Tomorrow evening we are meeting with Caleb to celebrate his 27th birthday. Last Saturday we met with Mike and had a birthday lunch at a Thai resturant in Eugene. We tried thier version of Mango Sticky Rice for dessert....mmmm will have to suspend opinion until I can taste what Brett and Maya are eating called Mango Sticky Rice. The two do not seem to be the same!

That's it for now folks!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Added one, created two and lost one on the Rogue River whitewater trip!

Johanna is as much a water dog as I - I could tell when she arrived with her own tahiti and a life vest! Ed and Shannon had a blast! Any time I looked back at Shannon all I could see was her beaming smile. I asked if it was a smile or grimmace - with a laugh she confirmed she was having a great time! Although this was Ed's first time on a river he made everything look effortless - no matter what the rapid looked like he never seemed the least anxious. In his quiet way he said he's in for any whitewater trips I plan.

Nancy is not a whitewater person. My tipping over and swimming the first real rapid out of Hellsgate Canyon (this year it is much more powerful than any other year I've done this section making it a "real" rapid rather than a riffle) had her looking for the way back to the car. She made it though the rapid herself just fine but watching me going under water a few times unnerved her. I told her I was just 'demonstrating' how to swim a rapit (an unplanned demonstration!) but she wasn't going for it. So we deflated her tahiti, packed it in one of the other IK's, and she rode with me in mine until we got to Galice Resort.

Rather than shooting the rapid's and going in at the boat ramp we beached the IK's upstream of the Galice Resort and I walked Nancy across the gravel bar. The rapids we'd run just previous had undone her last nerve and I was afraid to try to take her down what is normally a rather narrow shoot and around a bend. Walking through rattle snake alley was preferable...I didn't tell her the area's nickname until that evening. I just told her to really watch her footing - we didn't want a twisted ankle!

When I returned to the river bank Ed, Johanna, Shannon and I continued down the river. The shoot just prior to the Galice boat ramp is washed out due to the high water! I could have gotten Nancy around the bend without subjecting her to more whitewater!

There were surprises all day! Familiar rapids gone, new ones in unexpected places and the force stronger than usual in the normally dicy rapids below Chair Campground. The biggest shock was seeing the tourist jetboats from Grants Pass at Galice Store! The store clerk said that started last year! And this year with the high water they are going almost to Graves Creek boat ramp. These are the "little" jetboats - they only hold 36 people! Sure messes with the peace and tranquility of the trip when they come roaring up.

I didn't take a camera since I was going with 4 novices so there aren't any pictures. Maybe next time. We are considering a North Umpqua run later this week. The July 19 plan to go on the Klamath River was "smoked out". There are 16 fires burning in the Trinity-Shasta area and all the smoke seems to be coming our way.

Enough for now... hope everyone is enjoying what they are choosing to use this day of their life to do!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

I'm watching Spanish dubbed "In the Line of Fire" to get my ears used to the tempo of Spanish. We'll be enjoying the Yucatan in less than 3 weeks! I've been doing the Rosetta Stone lessons but by watching this movie I can tell it's going to be a challenge... a fun one I hope!

Our 8 day stay will included seeing Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Isla Holbox, Chichen Itza, and the Merida area. We're going with a reservation for a room the 1st night in Playa del Carmen, a backpack a piece, our "Let's Go Mexico" book, a map of the Yucatan, and a rental car! This is monumental for Jack! And he told me he isn't as anxious about this trip as he was about our honeymoon trip to Zihuatanejo! That one was much more structured than this one! Life is an adventure and it's so good that Jack is relaxing in to letting it be that!

But before August 5th we have a day whitewater river trip planned for July 19th, Jack's class reunion in Philomouth and a birthday dinner in Salem with Mike and Caleb on July 25-26!

I have to get Brett's address to get his birthday present to him in Thailand!

My retirement days are full! Hope all is well with all my loved ones out there!

Thursday, July 10, 2008


It's HOT in Klamath Falls! Amazingly hot for this time of year! Three foot of snow on the roof this winter, freezing temperatures at night until the end of May and now triple digit heat in the first half of July. Global warming and the new ice age in the same year! It's to hot to sleep...our usual wind has not picked up to bring cool air into the house.

We left Coos Bay on Monday morning and now on Wednesday evening it is a distant memory of cool days!


Jack and I spent 4 days and 5 nights at "Campo Beatty" which gave us lots of time to interact with all the grand-nieces and nephews! S'te still looks like a teenager - even though she has three of her own!

Last Thursday we were up at dawn to make the most of the minus tide for clam digging in Charleston. We were all too sucessful - cleaning 72 clams took the rest of the day! Diane fried a huge batch up and we still had some to freeze! S'te and the teenagers went again Friday morning but all of us "old folks" were to "down in the back" to go again!

Diane, S'te and I spent most of the Friday cooking, baking, and preparing for the family gathering on Saturday as we caught up on the happenings of each of our's lives. With Diane in Florida, S'te in San Diego and me in Oregon we don't get togeather and just "chat" very often.

Saturday was a huge sucess in my reckoning! Uncle Homer, Aunt Peggy, Cousins Robin, Kerri and Tammy came with their spouses and adult children. Kerri even brought their brand new granddaughter! Diane and Keith's good friends Clint, Sally, and Donna where there too. Mike made it down from Corvallis and discovered his second cousin by marriage also has a Honda Shadow motorcycle...and that they live in his area! Maybe a renewed family connection there! Jaleel spent as much time as Mike would let him on the motorcycle...complete with helmet and jacket! Mike is his new favorite cousin!

After visiting with the adults for a bit I organized a water balloon playoff for the kids that wanted to play and throughly enjoyed their fun. Everyone got a little wet and we had a ton of laughs at the antics. The little 3 year olds were overjoyed to be part of the "competition".







Sunday 9 of us went down the Siltcoos River Canoe Trail in Jack and I's inflatable kayaks. S'te, Ty, Mak, Raquel, Jaleel, Laderia, Destiny, Brayana and I put in at Lake Siltcoos about 2 pm. Just in time for the afternoon winds to make getting to the mouth of the river a real challenge! The kids had never paddled before so it was fun to watch them get the hang of making the boats go where they meant for them to go! S'te took lots of great pictures. She is a great photographer and Ty is following in her footsteps.




There was a spot along the trail for the kids to climb to the top of the sand dunes which flowed directly into the river. Everyone swam across the river and back! Then we practiced getting into the boats from the water - just incase someone wanted to jump and and swim later in the day. We shipped our boats down the boat shute at the dam and came to the esturary portion of the trail sooner than anyone wanted to. We could hear the surf pounding as we pulled out of the river. With the little ones we didn't want to risk actually coming out in to the Pacific Ocean and getting turned over in the waves!

By 5 pm we were in dry clothes and packing the equipment in to the pickup. S'te and the kids went on to walk on the beach while Jack and I headed back to Campo Beatty! Diane and Kieth treated all of us to a great BBQ chicken dinner and we celebrated Cavelle's 1st birthday with song and cake!

It was never to hot and never more chilly in Coos Bay that a light sweatshirt didn't fix. The sun shined every one of those four days! I got to chat and play and be on the water!



It really was a great visit!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

We're so busy I can't keep up with it on the blog! The deep dive - was interesting in that they proved to us how it is to be "narked".

While we were on the boat ramp each one of us was timed on how long it took us to pick out and point to numbers 1 through 20 which were randomly placed on a water proof chart that was taken down to the deep dive platform. At 80 feet deep we were timed again and the time it took was twice as long for me! And I distinctly remember thinking, "I'm doing it much quicker this time! Must be because I've done it once now." And then a small jellyfish pulsed by and was caught up in watching it move through the water until the instructor tapped me on the shoulder and showed me that everyone else had started off in the direction of the shore.

Point being that your thinking isn't as clear when you are deep and you need to be very aware that reaction time is slower than you think it is. A drunk with out the hangover!

Jack and I went North to Port Townsend and took the ferry to Whitbey Island then went off to LaConner where we spent two days. It was grey and wet except for the afternoon we spent on San Juan Island at Lime Kiln Point. There the sun broke out long enough for us to enjoy our picnic lunch. I spent the ferry ride through the San Juan Islands out on the front deck watching for the Orca's. Normally they are seen at Lime Kiln Point but on this day they were at Anacortes. I watched in hopes of seeing them coming through the channels. As the ferry approached the Anacortes terminal several bright colored boats zoomed up and I spotted the Orca pod moving through the water between the boats. There were 6 or 7 of them and with the binoculars I could see the rippled dorsal fin of the male Orca featured at the Whale Museam we'd visited in Friday Harbor. I was jazzed to get to see them before we left!

I am not cut out for the overcast coast! We drove down to Paradise Cove the following day and after another grey rainy day, which we spent driving to Seaside for a bowl of clam chowder, Jack and I decided to cut our trip short and return home. The high blue skies of the Klamath Basin were a welcome sight!

And so ended my 1st road trip of retirement!