Adventures in Entertaining

When the parents come to town, it is absolutely essential to keep them busy.  When they're not busy, they tend to get antsy.  When they get antsy, they tend to want to help.  And when they want to be helpful, that's when things get kind of tense.  Don't let things get tense; keep your parents busy.

We did this by taking them on long forced excursions to enjoy the best of what this area has to offer.  Wednesday we all squeezed into the trusty, rusty Subaru and cruised up to the Hog Creek put in on the Rogue River to await our rented raft.  It arrived on time, but the gentleman in charge then proceeded to back the trailer into the river to the point that it was floating, and the unattached boat took off on its own (a boat floating?  Who would have known?).  As we watched it disappear around the corner, Carl turned to the guy and said, "I think you should get us another boat."

Waiting for boat #2

Carl went with him this time, just to be sure, and soon enough four people and two dogs were on their way down the river in a 14 foot raft.  Bubba and I weighed down the back while the parents and Luna kept an eye out ahead for our escaped raft.

We found it trapped in the willows about 10 minutes down the river.  Carl risked life, limb, and dry underwear to rescue it while we cheered him on.  Captain Awesome strikes again.

The furry kids were not impressed that their loved ones were now in separate boats.  There was lots of desperate whining, leaping into the water, and swimming confusedly from raft to raft.  As soon as they got to one boat, they wanted to be on the other - apparently a raft, much like a door, is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.

Happily reunited after dropping off the smaller substitute, we discovered that the bigger one was desperately lacking air.  A flat boat is miserably difficult to row, so we met our support at the next put-in where he provided us with a pump.  The adventure continued!

We eventually made it all the way to Grave Creek, through white water and sunny lunch spots, with everyone intact and undamaged.  Well, Luna may have some emotional scarring; she was not a fan of the rapids.

Next day took us up Grizzly Peak, the 6,000 ft lump directly across the freeway from Ashland.  We stopped at the farmers' market first to pick up supplies and then drove to the trailhead.  The views up top were crystal clear and the wildflowers were exploding.  Carl took a well-earned break after carrying two pizza boxes up the hill, with Mt. Shasta in the background.

Enjoying fresh, stone fired pizza at the top of a mountain in the sun shine; life doesn't get any better than this.

Oh, wait, it does: they have gluten free ones, too!

Family photo on Grizzly Peak

Wildflowers!  This one is great camas, at least that's what its mother told it.

 Add in a couple plays (this is Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival after all), and you have a perfect recipe for tired, happy, entertained parents.  Mission accomplished.  Love you guys!

Beach-O-Rama 2012

First I'd like to thank Oregon State Parks for wising up and opening their yurts to our furry friends.  Then I'd like to thank Carl for taking advantage of that and booking us two nights at Harris Beach State Park.  We've stayed there before, and so far it's our favorite park in the state.  

The drive there just adds to all the fun.  From Ashland you have to head north to Grants Pass, turn west, and then drive south into California.  The road winds along the twisting, crystal-clear Smith River into the northern-most groves of giant redwoods before dumping you off at the coast.  Then turn north and drive back to Oregon where all the beaches are public.

It was Luna's first time to the beach.  Bubba knew what was going on, so he disappeared over the dunes towards the water immediately.  She followed right at his heels, excited because he was excited until she came over the rise and saw the endless expanse of sand and water.  You could almost see her little mind getting blown.  She's still leery of the surf, but loves all the new smells and kelp to chew and all that space to run.

 The two-legged folks found it pretty blissful, too.

 Carl being creative at the beach.  You can find the most interesting things...

Sunset at Harris Beach - Bubba was so tired he opted to stay in the yurt while we walked down to the view point.

To view the entire album, go to:
 http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.288399401253064.64080.100002490188942&type=3&l=50e1670865

Cunning in the Kalmiopsis

After celebrating two years of hanging out and adventuring, Carl and I decided to test the strength of our relationship by going backpacking.  It's the ultimate masochistic sport where you carry all your belongings on your back and purposely make everything much more difficult than it has to be.  For this endeavor we chose to explore the edges of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, a rarely-visited area in the most south-westerly corner of Oregon.  It was almost completely burned in the Biscuit Fire in 2002 but is still home to some rare plant species and a couple wildly beautiful rivers.

This was Luna's very first backpacking trip and our first together, so we were curious to see how everything went.  The drive in was beautiful but not for those with a fear of exposure: 14 miles of gravel road closely skirting the rugged mountain side, walls of wildflowers on one side and a sheer drop with expansive views on the other. It didn't take us long to gear up and head out from the trail head, and the dogs were soon out of sight.

It was kind of surreal walking through stands of burned, dead trees, and definitely on the warm side.  Neither of us can imagine making that trip in the height of summer.  Ten years after the fire the flora consists of scrubby manzanita and chestnut, and the occasional knee-high pine tree.  Nature recuperates, but it's amazing to see how long the process really is.

The trail conditions made this an incredibly challenging trip.  It seemed that the trail crews hadn't been out there in years, so we got to perfect the art of scrambling up, over, under, and around downed trees.  And even though it's May, those higher north-facing slopes are still covered with stubborn snow banks, requiring some creative path finding and cross country travel.

The dogs were in heaven.  Bubba is turning nine this month but he's still going strong, bounding over logs and trotting resolutely down the trail.  Luna didn't stop moving the entire day, zooming up the hills, sprinting joyfully across the snow patches, and returning every so often with a look of sheer bliss on her face.  Here she's wiggling her approval of our lunch spot.

Of course we had to stop for the occasional photographic opportunity.  Those are the Siskiyou Mountains in the background in the picture on the left, and on the right we have proof of entering the wilderness area.

Just another section of the trail we got to overcome.

We finally found a swath of hillside that had survived the burn and set up camp in the shade of huge pine, spruce, and fir trees, on a ridge with views to both sides.  Bubba was excited to rest his weary paws.

Luna was still going strong but took time out from exploring to help Carl clean his face.

The little puppy (well, not so little anymore) was constantly looking around and checking out the big exciting world, while I perfected the art of the backcountry lounger.

The dogs didn't feel like waiting until the sun went down to crawl into the tent.

The next morning we woke up to find ourselves engulfed in the clouds.  Even though we weren't quite expecting that we were fairly prepared for the cool, wet weather.  Carl was very excited that morning.

Bubba was not impressed and kept wondering where his couch was.

Needless to say, as the day wore on the clouds wore off and it was once again sunny and beautiful for the latter half of the hike out and the drive back.  We stopped along the way to check out some of the amazing plants around here: Oregon azaleas in fully bloom across the hillsides, and California pitcher plants covering a fen (which is cold, alkaline water that moves, as opposed to a bog which is stagnant acidic water.  Who knew).

After all that, Carl and I are still talking to each other and the puppies are pooped; can't wait to do it all over again!