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!

1 comment:

Diane said...

It really was a great time of fellowship - everyone got to do something new and something they wanted to do - at least I think they did!! Thanks for coming!