Fabulous Friends Fabulous Days Fabulous Fun

Continued from this post:

As I wrote yesterday, Jeanne (my friend from Vermont) arrived on Monday, Labor Day, a very short time after Phil and Joanne left for Eugene.  I haven’t seen Jeanne since her wedding last year, when I traveled to Vermont to participate in one of the most wonderful weddings I have ever experienced.

Jeanne has many friends in Klamath Falls, and it gets pretty crazy when she visits trying to fit everyone in.  Most of her friends are high energy, very physical folks.  Big time bikers, runners, hikers, and white water boaters.  Just like Jeanne.  Thank goodness I have a couple of decades on them as an excuse for not being able to keep up, not wanting to, actually.  I’ll settle for a flat water paddle and a long walk any day!

Still, Jeanne made sure she had time for us, spending a couple of days and a night in the cabin.  After a nice walk in the neighborhood, we settled in at home for some of Jeanne’s favorite ribs.  I don’t think I have made them since the last time she visited, but I am sure glad that was her request.  Got the recipe from a local Rocky Point resident famous for his cooking.  Something about a few hours braising in pineapple juice and seasonings before they go on the grill with sticky sweet gooey sauce makes them fall off the bone tender and so tasty.  Yum.

Once again we pulled out the dominoes.  Jeanne and Alan found out while visiting us a couple of years ago that our domino game was one they actually liked, but  forgot how to play it.  Alan, now her sweet husband, actually bought her a set after they left here last visit.  Hopefully this time she will remember.

The next morning dawned the most gorgeous, smoke free, bluebird sky day we have seen in weeks.  By nine Jeanne and I were on the water, launching at Malone Spring and traveling north to Crystal Spring.  

The canoe trail is within the boundary of the Upper Klamath NWR, and parallels the steep eastern flank of the Cascade Mountains.  As you can see, it winds through the marsh, with lots of meanders.  The water is crystal clear, but filled with plants and fish and birds abound. 

In this photo, from a larger perspective, you can see the upper part of the canoe trail in relation to our place in Rocky Point, in addition to Pelican Bay where we kayaked with Phil and Joanne, and the spring run to Harriman Springs where we took Judy and Phil and Joanne as well.  It is nice to have options based on how much time we have and how many miles our guests wish to paddle.  The run with Jeanne, (and the same run later with Jimmy and Nickie) is about 8 miles round trip.

I would have loved to linger at the spring, but we had only 4 hours to make the round trip because Jeanne’s friends were picking her up for another adventure.  Hiking down to the water of Crater Lake for an icy swim and the long steep hike back up were next on the list. I begged off this one, even though invited since I wasn’t sure my recently rebuilt innards could handle the climb back up the long steep trail.

After Jeanne left, Mo and I had a day to get the new wood stove moved into the apartments, finish up a few details, and buy groceries for the next round of guests.

I was so excited to have Nickie and Jimmy (The Intrepid Decrepit Travelers) send a text message saying they were heading our way and would we be home.  I had already practiced a couple of days of food, so I just did it all again for our new company.  Good thing we all like salmon! 

They arrived on Thursday afternoon, and didn’t take long to arrange Tergel in the shop driveway, get her leveled with the slides out and join us for more make it yourself wraps and fruit.  I have found this to be a great way to do lunch for a bunch, laying out spreads, hummus, cheeses, veggies and several kinds of tortillas for everyone to put together their favorite.  Takes a lot of the pressure off!  

Mo took a break from our guests to try to catch up on getting the lawns mowed while the three of us took Mattie for a nice long walk along Rocky Point road while we chatted and got caught up on all the recent doings.  I was really impressed with Jimmy’s recovery and his strength walking after such recent knee surgery.  Way to go, Jimmy!

We had so much fun with dinner and conversation I completely forgot to take photos.  Guess that is a good sign. 

The next morning we were again up early to get out on the creek before the warm temperatures took over.  Sadly, the bluebird skies had disappeared and smoke from the California fires was once again muting the horizon and the distant mountains.

Still it was beautiful out on the water.  Jimmy and Nickie have a tandem Sea Eagle, but opted instead to try our hard side boats.  It was just at the point of being a bit too long, but everyone did fine and instead of having to rush off when we reached Crystal Spring, we had the luxury of lolling around above the beautiful springs before taking our time going back downriver.

The current is almost negligible, just enough to feel it a bit as you are paddling upstream, but not enough to really get you moving downstream.  Nature was good to us on this day because the afternoon winds never appeared.  Good thing there isn’t much current!  Mattie is new to kayaking, and this was only her third time out.  She is just a bit nervous.  For who knows what reason, she decided to jump right out of the boat into the water.  It was COLD, and I think she was quite happy that Mo was able to haul her back in within seconds.  She didn’t try it again.

While floating around the spring, my phone rang.  What??  I didn’t even remember that it was on and certainly didn’t expect to have a signal. Sure enough my friend Marti, from Idaho, was calling trying to figure out how to get to Rocky Point.  I told her we would be there in a couple of hours and that hopefully she could relax on the porch till we arrived.

When we got home, Marti was waiting patiently enjoying a book and the shady porch with her dog, Rueben.  Rueben was a very excitable dog, and we had no idea how he and Mattie would get along, but they were just fine, if a tad rambunctious. I offered the cabin to Marti and Rueben, and Jimmy and Nickie decided it was nap time in Tergel!

Understand, Marti is a river rat from way back, guiding on the Rogue River in years past, and running the Grand Canyon and so many others I have no idea about.  Still, I had offered to take her out in our lake kayaks, but after so many trips I felt a bit worn out.  The look of disappointment in Marti’s eyes when I started to beg off another kayak trip was enough to get me back in my boat once again that day for a second paddle down to Harriman Spring.

I got a good deal of paddling in during that week, for sure, and I loved it.

We had planned to go out to supper, down the road once again to the local resort, but everyone was so relaxed, and there was so much food left over that we decided to eat at home.  I marinated and broiled some chicken and made another fresh salad to go with all the rest of the goodies.  We feasted, laughed and talked until everyone just plumb gave out and meandered off to bed.

Saturday morning dawned smoky and warm, and I think Nickie and Jimmy were not happy about having to return to Nevada City and the huge Butte Fire smoke that was affecting their area.  Still, everyone was up early, sharing coffee and fruit before they buttoned up Tergel,  hooked up Smartie and headed down the road toward California and Marti continued her Oregon travels heading toward the coast. 

This last photo might just give an idea of how much fun we have with these great friends of ours that we never would have known if not for RVing and blogging about it.

I think this may have been the busiest week I have experienced with company since my family reunion back in 2007.  It was so much fun to see everyone, but I must say next time I hope all our visitors won’t have to schedule during the same week.