Catching up on the last week…

Visiting Oregon always feels like coming home.  We realized again the diversity of the geography as we travelled from the Southeast corner to the West Coast.  We have always wanted to visit the Steens Mountains ever since we bought a relief map of Oregon and saw the straight, steep scar in the southeast corner.  It did not disappoint.  We drove the nearly 60 mile scenic route out of Frenchglen and saw some spectacular vistas that reminded Jerry of the Grand Canyon.  As we headed west toward Bend we hit the longest, straightest road of our trip so far.

After a bike rack system redesign in Bend we rolled into Eugene late in the day, but not too late to spend a few hours chatting with Merv, previous Program Director at Drift Creek Camp.  We were all looking forward to getting to the coast and spending time with previous neighbors and friends.  John and Jean were gracious hosts and put up with our hectic running around and leaving a brown spot on their driveway after the Jeep (aka Pigpen) got a bath.   Dayl and Kelly provided a perfect spot to rest the motorhome and went out of their way to fit us into their busy schedule.  Dayl mentioned that Gibson Farms was opening for u-pick blueberries, so the next day Amy, Jean, Jackson and Asa picked three buckets! The boys had a blast as this was the farm that Amy took them to every year of the six years we lived there. We got to catch up with Sue and Chelsi and wished we had a little more time to visit other friends.  Next time!

Time moves quickly, and to keep on-schedule, we headed south to Winchester Bay and the dunes of the Oregon Coast.  It was quite blustery and foggy the evening we arrived, so we postponed the ATV riding until the following morning. The local advice was to go early in the morning when there would be less people out riding.  The advice was good.  The next morning was calm, still a little foggy, and there were only a few people out riding.  There was a slight learning curve to riding in the loose sand, but Jackson and Asa picked it up fairly quickly and had a blast. That same morning we headed south to Crescent City, CA.  We drove through the Stout Grove and, even though we have seen them before, stood in awe of the enormity of the Giant Redwoods.  More big trees to come when we hit Sequoia NP.

An unexpected twist (pun intended) was the roads of northern California.  I have never experienced anything quite like that.  The sign at the beginning that read "curves for the next 22 miles" was the understatement of the trip.  Between highway 1 and highway 20 we must have driven about 100 miles of switchbacks and steep grades.  The Georgetown performed well… Jerry was worn out!  We stopped at Glass Beach in Fort Bragg and were a bit disappointed that people have removed most of the beach glass that it is known for.  That evening we stayed at Caspar Beach and Amy had her spirits lifted when Jerry brought home an abalone shell that someone had just harvested 25 feet under the ocean.  It is gorgeous!

We travelled on to the Lake Tahoe area the following day.  It was probably the longest travel day we have had due to curvy roads and forest fire delays.  We were fortunate that the road was not still closed since the fireman were still actively fighting the fire.  We really admire their tough job.  But at the end of that long day we were greeted warmly by Travis, Katrina and their kids and all was forgotten.  We first met them while living in Oregon.  While visiting in Truckee, we were able to take a great 3 1/2 mile hike in Squaw Valley up the mountain to catch the tram down (for free!!).  The kids did great.  We also took in some rock climbing with the expertise of Travis and Jerry and several trips to the lakes to swim.  It was good to be in one spot for longer than a day and to do our home schooling without moving!  Travis and Katrina spoiled us with great meals and graciously loaned us their Jeep while ours got a new set of shocks. Thanks for a wonderful visit and more memories.