Wandering Around Oregon (Oregon or Bust: Part 2)

After a kick-back day of no road travel, Krissy & I headed to Portland, Oregon to grab Mark from the airport and then head to Madras, Oregon. The wedding was to take place in a couple of days, but guests were encouraged to arrive early and play.

Not too rough of a river, but it did have its moments.

About 1/4 of the wedding guests who went rafting.

"Playing" included river rafting on the Deschutes.

Desert nights are a cool contrast to the days.

Bonfires & Singing.

Was it the Yucca Yucca game?

Drinking Games.

Of course the next day was all about the wedding.  And of course the celebration!

My brother, sister-in-law & niece.

The bride & groom

I have to include a photo of the man who married them.

Day three of the wedding festivities we were fed an awesome breakfast prepared by the Reverend and his wife. Before I say goodbye to Madras, I have to share the view.

There's a lot of foreground in this photo, but look at those mountains!

Mt. Hood from the bride & groom's home.

We then hit the road for Medford.

Spelunkers, Mark & Krissy

Along the way we stopped to explore a lava tube cave near the Lava Butte.

While Krissy had to go back to work, Mark & I explored a little of southern Oregon.

I just can't imagine this was once a mountain!

We drove to Crater Lake, another fond childhood memory. Then Mark took Wander-Inn and went fishing for two days. 

Is that a Trout Slayer beer?

The Mightly Umpqua

The Bounty!

 Then off to see the Redwoods and the Pacific Ocean.

Krissy in the Redwoods

Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City, California

Enjoying the beach in Brookings, Oregon

The time came when we had to say goodbye to Krissy and Oregon and head north.  We took our time and incorporated a side trip to Mount St. Helens.  As a Washington native I had never visited the site of our active volcano. Shame on me! 

We camped at the Silver Lake Resort.

Mount St. Helen 35 years later.

We ended finally in Seattle where Mark & I parted ways.  He took Wander-Inn and headed east for Kentucky and I hung out with my niece and her husband and Krissy joined us for the 4th of July.

Our new group, aka "The Betsys"

That's it for my part of this cross country trip with Wander-Inn.  As soon as I can steal some photos from Mark, I'll try to blog his leg of the journey home to Kentucky.

Next: Part 3, Mark's trip home

Oregon or Bust

We were getting a little anxious to pick up Wander-Inn in time to travel to Oregon for a wedding on June 20th. We cut it pretty close!

This trip had several purposes. Youngest daughter Krissy moved to Medford, Oregon last December so along with the wedding we would be spending time with her and then to Seattle for time with more family. I would then fly from there to Anaheim for the Close to my Heart annual convention and Mark would return with the trailer to Kentucky.

In order to not spend his entire vacation just getting to Oregon, Mark decided to fly out and Krissy and I would pick him up on our way to the wedding.

Thus my first solo cross country trip with Wander-Inn.

Winnie & I ready to hit the road.

Actually, I did have a travel companion, full time resident of Wander-Inn, Princess SummerSpringWinterFall, also known as Winnie for short.

I set sail on June 12 for Davenport, Iowa. First day on the road included some nasty weather. I also took the wrong loop around Indianapolis and shot up into Chicago rush hour traffic. I was getting great experience pulling Wander-Inn through less than desirable conditions!

I arrived in Davenport and initiated the galley with it's first meal, a yummy stir fry. First day on the road solo was a success!

Although I was on a pretty tight schedule, I had an agenda for sights I wanted to see.

Leaving the RV park in Davenport I backtracked a little to Le Claire, Iowa, a small historic town on the Mississippi. Also home to the American Pickers. 

Next stop was The Amana Colonies, which turned out to be far too big to explore in a day, much less on a travel day. 
 

I managed to visit two or three shops before driving off toward the sunset and my next night in Kearney, Nebraska. 

Breakfast on day three started off just fine until I realized there was a little problem.  More like millions of little problems...

The Archway at Kearney spans the freeway. I'd been wanting to return and check it out since seeing it on our trip last December. Unfortunately, I arrived on a Sunday and it was closed.  I was happy to at least be able to walk through the grounds. 

The Sod House Museum in Gothenburg, Nebraska was another must-see stop for me. I fell in love with their barbwire sculpture.

This original Pony Express building was my last historic stop for the day. 

The rest of  this day's travels I spent skirting along the edge of this nasty looking weather system on my way to Lyman, Wyoming.

Day four included a long lunch with a friend north of Salt Lake City. No trip to (or through) Utah can be complete without visiting Cindy.  She brought a lovely bouquet for Wander-Inn.

I deviated from the route we took in December when Krissy moved to Oregon, and headed north towards Idaho, stopping in Twin Falls to see the Shoshone Falls. Gorgeous!

This night was spent in Boise, Idaho. Another beautiful sunset along the way. 

The last day of the first leg of this trip may have been my favorite. Boise, Idaho to Medford, Oregon is beautiful. The mountains in Oregon are quite spectacular, although you may have to squint to see them in this photo. 

My last sightseeing stop before arriving in Medford was Lava Butte. It was a nostalgic stop. What I remembered from my childhood was the road that wound around the cone to the top. What I saw as an adult was an amazing view of more snow capped mountains.

The absolute best part of this day was arriving in Medford and seeing my daughter.  And I was so ready for a day off the road!

Next: Oregon or Bust - Part Two.

Our First Adventure with Wander-Inn

We bought a trailer. A tear drop trailer.  It's a pretty awesome little unit and just perfect for us.  

We named her Wander-Inn

My husband is a little younger than I am which means he is not going to be retiring as soon as I wish he was. So I refer to our trailer as our weekend retirement vehicle. It's my way of starting our retirement one day at a time. 

Our teardrop was built by Camp-Inn in Necedah, Wisconsin. June 5th was our adoption day.  Of course we were super excited to see our little camper for the first time.  We spent the day getting acquainted with our new silver baby before heading back to Madison to spend the weekend with some old friends. 

Phil & Catherine, friends from church, in the old days before kids.

A couple of days later we were on the road again heading home from Madison.  Once out of the city it became my turn to tow the trailer and begin my "training" for my upcoming long solo trip. The wind kicked up as we approached Champagne, Illinois and then

something 
strange 
happened.

Our two month old tow vehicle developed a very serious sounding noise. We pulled off the freeway, examined under the chassis, under the hood and anywhere else we could think of, and found nothing. So we googled the closest Honda dealership and slowly and carefully limped our way to it. 

Yes, we pirated some power for the night.

Husband found a power outlet in a protected area between two buildings so we set up camp.  First night in our camper and we had power, which meant AC and a defense against the sweltering humidity. We had planned to drive all the way home that day and this is not how we expected to spend our first night in our teardrop. Not only were we squatting at the Honda Dealership, we endured an awesome thunder and lightning storm. Between the flashing and booming, rain coming down in buckets, and fear of a police officer tapping his flashlight on the door, little sleep was to be had that night. 

Looking out toward our "camp spot" from the dealership lobby.

Monday morning we introduced ourselves to the very kind and accommodating staff at the dealership. They gave us coffee! And then they proceeded to inspect our car. It went up on the rack, was driven with and without the trailer, and finally the serviceman came to give me the "good news:" they couldn't find anything wrong with the car. 

Not My Idea Of Good News

Good news would be, "We found the problem and fixed it."

Sigh.  

So we paid our bill, headed out to find some breakfast (aka Starbucks) and got on our way. Of course smooth sailing the rest of the way home just wasn't in the cards. Not yet. About 15 minutes down the freeway Husband turned the radio off and cocked his head. "No!" I said. "I don't hear anything!" But just like before it was starting out softly and building to a horrible noise.  I knew they should have found something at the dealership! I needed to get off the freeway and quickly jabbed the brakes. Then the horrible awful no-good noise stopped. Just like that. Gone. 

The rest of the journey home was uneventful. 

Thank goodness. 

Adventure dates: June 4-8, 2015
Miles: 604  
Nights: 1

I Worked in the Garden Today!

It's no secret that gardening is not my thing.  
Really.  
I pretty much hate it. 

Then I read this article:  

Antidepressant Microbes In Soil: How Dirt Makes You Happy

So I thought I should at least give it a chance.  

I've been in the dirt 2 or three times in the past week.  Just a little at a time.  And when I say "little" think minutes, not hours.  

The results?  

I like being outside. 
My little patches of work are looking nicer each time. 
My dog & cat both like me being outside.  

For Bailey it means I'll throw her toy every time she brings it back to me. 

For Zori it's just being outside, because she won't go out unless the dog or one of her people is out with her.  

So I think I'll keep at it.  Just a little each day, although every time I spend a little longer than the time before.  Maybe I will grow to like this. 

It's Just Little Things That Usually Make Me Smile The Biggest

My pup has become a night owl, wanting to go out and play after midnight.  

After Midnight

We're gonna let it all hang out!
After Midnight
We're gonna chug-a-lug and shout!
We're gonna stimulate some action,
We're gonna get some satisfaction.
We're gonna find out what it is all about.
After Midnight
We're gonna let it all hang out!

(musical interlude completed) 

Last night I took her out and threw her frisbee for her.  It was a beautiful night and called to me for a walk.  Bailey never strays far from me so without a leash I decided to walk with her around the cul de sac.  She was happy as a hairy clam, stopping to sniff and mark and just wallow in the fresh cool (finally!) air.  

I stopped for her as she took a longer than usual sniff and saw Timid Cat was walking right along with us.  She stopped when we stopped and walked when we walked, enjoying the midnight adventure as much as my pup.  

There was just something special about my fur children playing in the moonlight. 

Take a Gander at This

It appears I've lost my resource for my daily photo prompts, but I haven't stopped shooting.  I was leaving the house to go vote this morning and I noticed this family at the bottom of our yard on their way to their morning swim.  The photos are taken with the telephoto on my phone camera which means the quality is less than I wanted.  

But....  such a cute family deserves to be shared!

They had bunched up when I first came out to the car but soon relaxed and started out again.  Dad strutting his stuff out front, the chicks falling into line and Mom bringing up the rear looking for stragglers.

 

 

Be sure to click on the photos to get the enlarged view. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Mother's Day! A List About Mom

I've wanted to write about my mother for so long and I still don't have the ability to express what I want to write.  It's so frustrating.  But being Mother's Day I thought I'd share some of the things that I know and remember about my mother.  Don't expect much, this is basically a list about mom. 

• Born January 27, 1921, Mom was the 2nd and last surviving child born to her parents.
  
  
• My mother was a very bright woman. She graduated high school early and went on to college to earn her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.
  
   
• She went into veterinary medicine to help her parents raise foxes. The enterprise didn't work out so she joined the army during WWII, expecting adventure and companionship.
  
  
• She was stationed with a Calvary unit until her Superior's wife complained of having a female in her husband's unit.  She was then sent to do FDA inspection at an egg plant, living in a boarding house, no companionship and no adventure.
  
  
• She met my father and married him in 1948. In seven years they had three children.  In 12 years he died leaving her a widow with an almost-four year old, a six year old and a ten  year old.
  
  
• She moved her family across country from Maryland to Washington to be closer to her parents. She gave up small animal practice for the security and benefits of a government job doing meat inspection.
  
  
• She taught herself and her children to camp.  The first outing was with no tent.  My brothers slept under the picnic table to keep out of the rain and my mother and I slept in the back of our station wagon.
  
  
• She taught me to love hiking in the mountains, how to backpack and fish.
  
  
• She took us charter boat fishing for salmon off the coast of Washington.  We had our salmon canned to bring back home with us.
  
  
• She took us to Disneyland, driving from Lynden, Washington (close to the Canadian border) to southern California.  We didn't stay in hotels until we got to Disneyland, instead we camped along the way, making and breaking camp each day.
  
  
• I didn't give my mother an easy time as a young adult, but she patiently continued to love me.
  
  
• My mother always saw me as someone better than I truly am.
  
  
• When she retired she volunteered for numerous organizations at home.
  
  
• She traveled the US to different Elderhostels, continuing to learn about the many subjects that interested her.
  
  
• She traveled around the world, including Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries, Mediterranean countries, China and parts of Africa.
  
  
• She never remarried.  

It took me far too many years to really appreciate who my mother was.  I was lucky enough to be able to have her come live with us the last few years of her life and I got to appreciate her more in those years than I ever did before.  Sometimes I'm sad because it was too little, too late.  But then I remember it might never have happened at all, and I am thankful for it.  

I love you, Mom, and I miss you so very much!!