07-17-2021 Fun times in Early July

Early July began with record breaking temperatures for Southern Oregon, and for much of the west.  For us, the 116 degree temperatures moderated a bit to a livable 100 degrees.  Amazing how good that feels even when the thermometer hits 100 several days in a row.  So far, a couple of weeks into the month we haven’t experienced those awful 100 teens plus days since that first week.  I hope we don’t get them again.  In addition, in spite of the seriously hot weather and afternoon winds, we don’t have any fires locally.  The biggest fire in the country right now is the Bootleg Fire, northeast of Kamath Falls, but the smoke is heading east and here in Grants Pass the skies are a gorgeous clear blue.

Going to the Lavender Festival inspired me and on the first day of the month I decided I should cut the lavender.  The bees weren’t happy with me. They seem to love lavender more than just about anything in the yard, except for the bird bath which they have taken over completely as their very own summer water fountain.  I try to be sure it is full every day.  Bees need water and these are very sweet friendly honey bees that buzz around like crazy but never bother me.

A photo from my little shop in Wallace, Idaho

I decided it was time to make a wreath.  I used to make so many of them when I was making a living growing and selling crafted dried flowers on the show circuit and in my little shop in Wallace, Idaho.  After I let that business go to once again make my living digging holes in the dirt, I never made another wreath until now.  I tried a small wreath of lavender.  It took four full large bushes of fully blooming lavender to finish that wreath.  Hanging it on the door, I delighted in the fragrance, if not the tiny little lavender flowers that shed all over the porch every time I open and close the front door.  Who knows how long it will last or how long it will keep shedding.

July 4th this year was a treat.  Especially after our nothing celebration last year because of Covid and everyone feeling much safer just staying at home.  This year I asked Daughter Melody if we could come to her house for the day.  She was thrilled, and even gave up the annual Fourth of July party that she traditionally shares with her Albany friends.  Daughter Deb was going too, and decided to drive her own car since we had a bunch of “stuff” in our car.  Grandson Matthew was going to go but at the last minute he had to opt out due to concerns with the couple that he helps to caretake.  He had no one at the house to help and couldn’t leave Karen alone with the blood pressure and heart rate issues she was having.  Next year we will celebrate minus Melody, but with a local picnic maybe Matthew will be able to participate.  So hard to get everyone in the same place anymore.

The drive north on the Fourth was easy, just 3 hours to Melody’s house in the car.  We opted to leave the MoHo at home since there really isn’t any place to park it at Melody’s house.  Daughter Melody and Robert did a great job fixing up the guest bedroom with a cooling gel mattress pad, new comfy sheets and pillows, and a big fan in the window.  Such a nice retreat it was for us.

By the time we arrived just after 11, Deborah was already there helping Melody lay out the huge feast of goodies she had prepared for the family.  Somehow the giant tray of veggies and dip went by the wayside as we all gobbled up Robert’s traditional deviled eggs.  No longer just for Easter, Robert’s eggs are a tradition whenever we all get together.  Deborah made a delicious guacamole which kept me quite happy. 

Grandkids,  Axel and Xavier, with Axel’s sweetie, Pi, showed up by early afternoon. Axel and Pi are “new” even though they have known each other for over two years.  At 28 years old, it is a good thing that Axel now at last has a solid, good relationship to enjoy.

My grandson Xavier was looking wonderful as well, putting on some weight and working at a job he loves. He is working in telephone sales for Cricket.  Indoors, air conditioning, no heavy lifting, and plenty of percs and benefits.  He likes it a LOT better than working in the produce department at Fred Meyer, which was the job he had before COVID required that he not work in that unsafe environment.  Type 1 Diabetes is nothing to fool with, and he couldn’t risk being exposed to COVID. The entire family is fully vaccinated now and it is such a relief to worry a bit less about exposure to the virus at last.

The day was simple and easy with lots of talking and visiting.  Melody and the kids and I walked the two blocks to the city park and the river.  Pioneer Park is a popular place on the fourth and many families were camping and enjoying picnics at the big tables in the shade.  Mattie went completely crazy with all the excitement of the river, the kids, and all the people. I did not manage to take a single photo of the excitement.  It was hot and we were all quite happy to return to the cool living room for the rest of the afternoon.

Somehow we didn’t manage time for games, and by 3:30 Robert fired up the grill for supper by 5.  It was amazing watching him manage all the different requests from each guest.  Robert cooked filet mignon steaks, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken legs, and four racks of ribs.  Everything turned out perfectly, well almost.  Some of us thought the ribs were a bit too done, but the kids loved them and took all the leftovers home.  Not a thing went to waste….then again I am sure much went to our waists!

After dinner we visited some more. The kids left around 7 since they didn’t want to drive back to Albany after dark.  It’s only a 20 minute drive or so for them, but with holiday crazies running around on the highway between Brownsville and Albany they thought it would be better to lay low in their own apartment for the evening.

The five of us ate some more goodies and waited until about 9 to gather up our chairs and walk down to the park once again for the fireworks.

The show was put on by the Brownsville Fire Department and they did a spectacular job.  I have seen shows in much bigger cities that weren’t as wonderful as this show.  It was also good to know that the fire department was making sure that everyone was safe and no stray sparks were unattended.  I loved every minute of it.

The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast with bagels and Deborah’s egg bake casserole and more visiting before Deborah left for home and Mo and I headed south toward our next adventure.

July 5 Visiting Wildlife Safari in Winston

I think I went to Wildlife Safari a very long time ago, when Melody lived in Medford.  All I remember is being with Melody and her mother-in-law, Donna, and Axel who was just a little one.  I remember the cheetahs behind the fence and how much Axel loved cheetahs.  Mo had never been to the Wildlife Safari.  It isn’t far from Grants Pass, maybe 80 miles or so, and is a popular place to take out of town guests.  Crater Lake, the Coast, Wildlife Safari, and the Hellgate Jetboats on the Rogue are the go to activities for company. Pretty sure Crater Lake and the Coast win hands down.  We have talked about going the Safari a few times, and yesterday when I mentioned it again, Mo said, why not tomorrow on our way home from Brownsville.

In spite of the mid day hour, the heat, and the holiday, we decided to give it a try.  We were happy to learn that even though dogs are not allowed in your car when traveling through the park, there are nice kennels provided for them to be safely housed during your visit.  The kennels are free if you bring your own lock, but they will provide a padlock that you can keep for $5.  Not bad to keep Mattie cool and safe while we explored.  We decided to do the walkable portion of the park first.  The area isn’t too big to walk in a short time and the gardens and shade trees are lovely.  Most of the animals were lounging in the shade, too hot to move around much, and often hidden in their dark lairs so we weren’t able to see all of them.  The tortoise was slowly meandering around his enclosure with a leaf in his mouth.  Such fascinating creatures!  The lions were pacing near the feeding area, but too far from the viewing platform to see them very well.  The wolves from South America were completely zonked in the heat, very little movement from them.

The rest of the area is geared to families and kids, with a couple of eating establishments for snack food, and some exhibits geared to kids enjoyment.  I think we stayed maybe an hour at most before getting in line for the slow meander in our car around the wild animal area where most animals roam freely and humans must remain in their cars. 

Some of the animals from Africa, who seemed to be immune to the intense heat, were roaming about.  Several were eating in the shade shelters which made photography a bit difficult, but as we rounded a curve to the area where feeding cups could be purchased, the emus, rheas, and several varieties of young deer were milling about begging for food from people in their cars.  A lovely rhea poked his head in our window and looked rather disgusted that we had no food for him.

As we approached the cheetah area, there wasn’t a cheetah in sight, but there was a big jam up of cars.  People were instructed at the beginning of the tour to stay to the right to let people pass if they wished, but many folks had no clue about how to do that.  Drivers of cars full of young kids parked in the middle of the road, with no room on either side for passing. 

We finally meandered along with the rest, but not without a few impatient exclamations from Mo and from me now and then.  It was hot and many of the animals were not to be seen.  We missed the rhino, the cheetahs, the yaks, and the hippos.  Actually, we didn’t miss the hippos completely because as we passed I am pretty sure that two large gray rocks were actually hippos.

We enjoyed the Safari somewhat, but I think the most excitement came from Mattie when I picked her up from the kennel.

07-08 Driving up to Recreation Creek and Malone Springs.

With the heat in triple digits for days on end, Mo and I wondered when we might have a chance to get our butts in the boats again.  We scheduled a day trip to Rocky Point for a nice early morning kayak after I looked at the temperatures and decided Thursday was the only day that it was to be less than 100 degrees in the Basin.  We planned to leave early, and I packed a tuna sandwich lunch for us and we were in the truck by 7.  When we travel, the kayaks are lifted on top of the Tracker and tied down.  Requires quite a bit of effort, climbing up and down on a step to reach the straps, and getting all safely balanced and secured.  We decided that for a simple day trip we could take the pickup.  Loading the kayaks is considerably easier with the pickup.  They still have to be lifted, but not nearly as high, and strapping them down is much simpler.

The route to Malone Springs, a few miles north of Rocky Point, is easy, and requires traveling from Grants Pass toward Medford, turning east near Central Point and traveling Highway 140 over the High Lakes Pass toward the east slope of the Cascades.  Malone Springs is about half way between the Rocky Point boat launch and the northern terminus of Crystal Creek at Crystal Springs.  We have kayaked the entire length of the canoe trail from end to end and through the marsh many times.  This time, however, we decided to put in at Malone Springs and kayak south toward Rocky Point.  We haven’t been in the kayaks since last year, and both of us were just a little bit apprehensive about our ability to get back out of the kayaks at the end of our paddle.  We decided on paddling south for just and hour before turning around to be sure we didn’t do more than we could manage.

I was worried about my left shoulder which has been acting up lately with either arthritis or bursitis, legs with muscle atrophy which may or may not hold up when I try to rise from the boat, and now a silly trigger thumb that has been giving me a bit of trouble.  Mo had been dealing with knee and ankle issues.  It was time to get back in practice and see just how much we could manage.  We also wanted to paddle in a place that didn’t have too many people around to witness our attempts at exiting our kayaks.

Nothing to worry about in the least.  I was thrilled to be on the water again after so long.  The morning was marred a bit by smoky skies from a large fire to the east of the Klamath Basin.  Our views were up close, with the distant mountains of Crater Lake and Harriman Peak completely obscured by the smoke.  Still, the wocus were blooming, although this late in the season there were only a few blossoms.  The creek level was quite low, but not so much that we had any difficulty paddling, and the section of the creek that we followed wasn’t terribly weedy. 

The water was clear and we were completely alone for the entire route, up and back.  We turned around after an hour and 15 minutes to paddle upstream.  As often happens on Recreation Creek, a slight breeze from the south made paddling against the gently current nearly effortless and the return trip was a bit shorter than the trip downriver.  The views were limited by smoke and in the distance where we usually see the rim of Crater Lake to the north and Mt. Harriman to the south, we only saw murky skies.  Birds were few and far between as well, except for the red winged blackbirds, many little brown twittery birds, a kingfisher and one great blue heron. 

The canoe trail sign is very high above the water, indicating how low the water level is this year already.  Often those signs are only a foot or two above the water level.

After all that time alone, I was exclaiming to Mo how lucky we were to have the creek to ourselves on this gorgeous summer day when suddenly ten kayaks rounded a curve and entered the Malone Springs area.  We looked at each other, wondering if they planned to lunch there, and wondered when we would have the nerve to try to get out of the kayaks with ten people observing!  The young woman who was guiding the group said they were leaving, and began loading all their kayaks onto a big trailer.  Whew.  Mo and I paddled around a bit in the spring waiting for everyone to leave.  Along comes another kayaker, with a young lab puppy, and she kindly agreed to wait until we could get Mattie out of the boat.

We had nothing to worry about.  I decided to exit my boat on the side opposite the shoreline in knee deep water.  It was perfect.  I didn’t even have to roll into the water as I did last summer to get out of the boat.  The knee deep water did a great job of giving me the extra boost I need to rise from a sitting position.  Mo tried the same maneuver and did just fine.  We are now much more comfortable with our planned kayak day with family during the first week in August. No matter how understanding folks might be about our ungainly attempts to exit the kayaks, it is much nicer to not have to look silly in front of everyone.

After loading up the boats we settled in to the nearby picnic table for our packed picnic lunch.  Malone Springs is known for having hordes of mosquitoes and yet with the heat and drought this year there were very few around to bother us.

We returned to Grants Pass, happy that we could do a simple day trip to find good kayak waters.  Of course, being in the outdoors triggered the need to check for possible reservations available at any of the many campgrounds in the Cascades, or even perhaps farther east.  We try to be sure to get at least one trip away in the MoHo each month and July was passing quickly.  Lo and Behold…everything was blocked out and reserved every place I looked, except suddenly an opening appeared at a campground we have visited in the past and loved.  The reservation was open for three days beginning on the 12th, giving us just two days to make the decision to go.

But that is for the next story….

08-01-2019 A Watery July Part 1

Current Location: Sunset House on a clear non-smoky day at 94 Degrees F

First of all, and most important, did you notice that Non-Smoky Day introduction?  It is August, and hot, and for once, the skies are crystal clear.  There is a fire about 30 miles north, just west of I-5, and the last few days have been smoky.  Thankfully, the fire isn’t growing as fast as it did initially, and is about 25 percent contained, and the smoke is blowing somewhere else at the moment.

Last year at this time we were buried in thick, dark smoke that never gave us a break for more than 2 months.  It was a horrendous summer, and when this fire started everyone in this area sighed deeply, thinking it had started again.  But the weather isn’t as brutal, and so far, things have been a lot better than last year, or the year before that and the one before that.  Who knows how long it will last, but for the moment, it is incredibly gorgeous.

I hope it stays that way, since my lifetime friend Maryruth and her husband Gerald will be here to take possession of their new home on August 19.  They are leaving the California foothills to escape the fires that have plagued them in Oroville with repeated evacuations and fear.  We do get fires here in the surrounding forest, but they were careful to buy in an area that has plenty of defensible space, in the city limits, rather than in the urban forest interface. 

I didn’t realize just how much of our month of July revolved around water until I started the final processing of my photos.  Unlike the Lumix camera, which I shoot in RAW format, I shot lots of Galaxy S9+ photos this month, mostly because of the aforementioned focus on water.  Lots of it.  The phone photos don’t take a lot of processing, and even though they look nice most of the time, there are certain subjects which really do need a camera to look good.  Especially closeups of birds on a bright day with lots of water reflections.  Still, I love not having to pack the camera for a simple lake kayak, and especially love not having to pack it on a river raft trip!

Even though the “water” I am talking about for the month of July has to do with lakes, rivers, and oceans, it was also a watery July because we don’t yet have automatic sprinklers at Sunset House and I spend at least an hour or two each day watering “stuff”.  With a low producing well, I have to be especially careful  and pay attention to how much I am using, how full the cistern is,  and how much water is being produced by the RO unit.

I love the quiet time outside with the hose, and hand watering like this gives me a chance to visit each plant, each area in person and make sure I have an intimate connection with what is happening as the hot, dry summer days progress. The morning light coming through the trees illuminating the flowers is especially lovely from the bedroom windows.

We started the month with a lovely little simple July Fourth celebration with Mo and I and daughter Deborah and Grandson Matthew.  Instead of driving somewhere to find a lake, we decided to take a ten minute trip to the edge of town and the Whitehorse County Park on the banks of the Rogue River. 

In the past, we have shared this holiday in many different ways, including days at home with Bocci ball on the lawn.  In dry summer Grants Pass, extensive lawns are non existent, at least at home, and we thought it might be fun to pack up food and drink and head for a park for a real picnic.  It was great fun, and so easy, except we forgot to bring the Bocci Ball game. 

So much grass to enjoy, all green and all watered and level.  I sent photos to Melody and we all got excited about planning our bigger family celebration for next year at Whitehorse Park, even deciding that we could probably all camp there easily.  The park wasn’t crowded at all, and a perfect place to simply hang out with family. 

The short walk from the park down to the river was overgrown with blackberries but once there we enjoyed watching the Hellgate jetboats going by, and getting our feet wet while we looked for rocks and let Mattie play.

Until I remembered that on July 2, next year, Mo and I will be embarking on a cruise around Scotland on Oceania’s Nautica.  Oops.  Guess we will have to celebrate the holiday early.  Not a problem for any of us since fireworks are no longer a requirement for a fun day. 

This photo is from a year ago at Applegate Lake when the water was quite a bit higher.

A few days later, with more gorgeous clear summer skies to inspire us, Mo and I decided to take the boats out for a day of kayaking.  Initially we thought we might try a section of the Rogue River nearby that seemed innocuous enough, but a bit more research led us to think hard side lake kayaks on the Rogue might not be very smart. 

Instead we headed south toward the Applegate Reservoir, about an hour and 15 minutes from home.  Unlike last year when we kayaked that lake a bit earlier in the year, the water level was down enough that launching wasn’t very enticing. 

We drove to the southern end of the lake, looking for the park we had seen from the water last year and found a nice picnic table and for a $5 fee parked in the shade.  There were some people around enjoying the sunshine and the water, but it was a long rocky walk to get into the river, clambering over boulders.  We have done worse, but somehow just couldn’t get excited about the whole thing.

We drove around the lake a bit, checking out some of the other launch sites, but with the water lower than last year, the steep brown banks weren’t the least bit enticing, and we decided the day wasn’t a total loss with the lovely picnic we had enjoyed.

We left the boats on the car and within a couple of days decided to make the trip over the mountains back to Rocky Point and our favorite launch site.  It only is about 90 minutes from here to the Rocky Point boat launch.  Not the 5 minutes it used to be for us when we lived there, but definitely worth doing for a beautiful day trip.

The water was still nice and high, and the launch at Rocky Point is so very easy.  We decided to paddle east toward Crystal Creek, thinking that with the high water it would be a great day to take the Wocus Cut back toward Recreation Creek and Rocky Point.

Navigating through the Wocus Cut, deeper than we have ever seen it.

We were right.  It was a lovely paddle, not too hot, not windy, and nice deep water.  The wocus plants were taller than I ever remember seeing them, and the bulrush “tules” were at least 10 feet tall.  A rich, luscious, verdant landscape.  We saw pelicans, an eagle or two, least terns, red winged blackbirds, Canada geese, unidentified ducks, gulls, and some little brown birds that I think were either catbirds or cowbirds.  Who knows, but they sure had a great call.

We paddled about 2 1/2 hours, and Mattie did quite well.  Often after 90 minutes or so she gets restless in the kayak and vocalizes a bit to let us know.  Something I forgot to mention: at the Rogue River she decided that water wasn’t so terrible after all and waded in up to her knees, something she has avoided at all costs in the past.  This time at Rocky Point, she also walked in up to her belly.  She is a great swimmer, but doesn’t like to do it much, so just getting her into the water is fun to see.

By the time we got off the water, it was lunch time and we headed back up the mountain to Fish Lake Resort for lunch on the patio with Mattie.  When we were there last month, we had the MoHo and did our own cooking, but those hamburgers looked really good.  The breezes coming of the lake were cool and lunch was delicious.  Funny thing, though, I asked for some kind of amber beer and they had nothing.  So she offered me a cider and what showed up on the table was something called hard seltzer, lime flavored.  Interesting drink, but I won’t be seeking it out anywhere.

It was just a few more days until our scheduled family trip once again to the northwestern part of Oregon, and we left the kayaks on the car so we would be ready.  In the mean time, however, daughter Deborah had planned a nice adventure for the four of us, Mo and I, Deb and Matthew, with a paddle raft trip on the Rogue River.

We were excited about this and looking forward to checking out the Rogue in a rubber boat that should be good enough to handle the rocks and the rapids.  Deb picked a rafting company that sounded good and had good reviews, and by 9:30 AM on Saturday morning of the 20th we were lined up with lots of other people for our day on the Rogue.

We had a 13 foot 8 inch rubber raft with four paddles, and they hauled us up to the launch point in an old bus.  Along the way, the driver (who was an old river guide) told us to “stay to the left at the first four islands and go to the right at the 5th one”.  He also mentioned that if you get caught in a tree, don’t grab the tree, or the boat will continue downriver and you will be hanging in the tree.  Ok then.  With that little bit of instruction, we launched our boat and piled in.

Now Mo and I have paddled kayaks and canoes, but I haven’t paddled a paddle boat for years, and Matt and Deborah have never paddled much at all.  A few days on a lake in our kayaks doesn’t really count much, as we discovered when we entered the strong, swift current of the Rogue River.

Within minutes we were at the first hard bend in the river, with strong current, rapids, and rocks to avoid, and yes, trees on the shoreline. Sure enough, we ended up right in the trees, with a cut off branch knocking Mo in her rib (yes it is probably broken) and another really big branch almost knocking me out of the boat by my head.  Deb was having visions of her decapitated mother left in the boat.  I managed to slide under the big branch scraping the underside of it with my thick life vest.  Thank goodness.  None of us were knocked out of the boat, but Matt lost his paddle, and Mo was hurting quite a bit.  Not a good way to start 18 miles of river!

I didn’t get too many photos while we were on the river, but I did get this shot of Deborah retrieving the lost paddle that flew by us quite a bit later in a shallow area.  She got it, but not without a bit of a mishap in the strong current and a busted baby finger trying to stay upright.

Taking advantage of a quiet spot as we approached Shady Cove to get a photo

We obviously didn’t know the river, and had a hard time counting islands.  Once we thought we had better go right because the rapids to the left looked too rough, but at the last minute decided to change our minds.  Not a good thing.  We got hung up on a really big rock and it took a LOT of crazy Matthew energy to get us unstuck.  Scary stuff.  The river was really too low in some places and we hung up on the bottom a couple more times before we finished.  Farther downriver things eased up a bit with deeper water and stronger current, and we finally had a few fun rolling rapids that were actually fun, the way rapids are supposed to be.

Another quiet fairly deep spot in the river for a bit of relaxation.

The funniest part of all, only in retrospect, was the constant battle between what each person thought should be done in the way of paddling.  Mo and I had our ideas, we were in the back of the boat, Matthew had his ideas, in the front of the boat, and Deb couldn’t figure out why things didn’t work right the way she expected when she paddled.  Every river paddle needs a boss, someone who knows the river to call the shots and tell people when to dig in and when to turn or stop. 

We stopped in Shady Cove for a break, and made the choice to get back on the river to finish the final 6 miles to the Dodge Bridge takeout, the place where Deborah had arranged for us to be picked up by the rafting company.  18 miles was a good run and it took us about 6 hours to do it.

Each of us had underestimated that river, expecting rolling class 1 and 2 rapids, but not expecting hang-ups,  and really big rocks and hard turns.  Sadly, others underestimated the river as well and just two days later a 54 year old doctor was rafting and fishing with his son, became entangled in an anchor rope for their raft, and died.  It happened near Shady Cove, where we rafted as well.  If we get on that river again, we will be more prepared.  However, we both decided that we will stick to lakes, slow big rivers,  small streams, and estuaries and probably leave the Mighty Rogue to others.

We were all darn hungry by the time we got off the river and really enjoyed dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, had some good laughs, and the river arguments about how to paddle slipped away as we remembered how much fun it had been to share the adventure. Later I made a google map of our route on the river with a few notations of where we ran into the tree and where we got hung up on the rocks.  Just for fun, check it out Rafting the Rogue

We ended our watery month of July with a lovely trip to Cannon Beach with family, but I’m getting rather long winded so I’ll save that for the next story. In the mean time, enjoy this watery photo that I took one evening from the hot tub as I watched the sunset.

07-05-2018 Playing Close to Home

Current Location: Grants Pass Oregon at 86 degrees F with strong breezes and mostly clear skies

It has been a precious summer so far.  For the entire month of June I breathed in the blue skies and fresh air without a touch of smoke from wildfires to mar the loveliness.  Sometimes during a simple quick run to the grocery store I would be completely awed by the technicolor blues and greens that made me wonder if I hadn’t perhaps ingested some sort of mind altering substance without knowing it. 

The colors were almost psychedelic, cartoonish, so brilliant that I would just breathe and drive and gasp out loud all alone in the car.  I know the fires will come eventually, the clear air will go gray and dingy when the smoke from the wildfires that are already beginning to dot the maps of the west finds our valley once again.  Then again…could we really be lucky enough to skip the smoke this year?  I haven’t lived here long enough to really know if that is a possibility.  Smoke always seems to come when everything is at its most beautiful.  Maybe not this year, I’ll wait and see.

This is our first summer actually living in Grants Pass full time.  Mo and I are enjoying having more time to fiddle around with projects.  Mo’s most recent creation was an arbor for the old front gate area, where she used two old doors that we saved from the cottage as side walls.  Thank you, Pinterest, for the ideas!  We loved the old doors in the cottage, built in 1926, and I think these doors were originals.  Mo cut and sanded and painted, figuring out the puzzle of using the old existing gate posts as standards, and making the whole thing fit in, level and even.

I love the arbor, and the old gate that it surrounds.  Somehow it feels like a portal to me, a portal from the outside world into a magical world of our own making.  I love the feeling of memories of the old cottage contained in those old doors.

July 4th was quiet this year.  Daughter Melody and her family had other plans.  For years she has missed sharing time with her old theater friends from the days she lived in Albany, and now that she is in Eugene, just an hour away from Albany where those friends live, she was able to attend the annual Fourth of July party with the theater group.  She told me a year ago that she would NOT be available this year for our traditional family time.  

Instead she and Robert drove down from Eugene on Saturday to spend the weekend with us, and on Sunday daughter Deborah showed up for yummy brunch, family time, and the traditional game of Bocci Ball, which seems to show up every year on the 4th, no matter where we are.

On the actual 4th, Mo and I decided that we needed some sort of entertainment that was out of the ordinary house work, yard work, book work, and such, and decided to try out the trails in our nearby county and BLM park.

Cathedral Hills is a big park, with several miles of trails for mountain bikes, hiking, and horseback riding, no motorized vehicles allowed.  Still, when hiking, a mountain biker barreling down those trails can seem quite fearsome, especially when getting off the trail involves negotiating the thick stands of poison oak and corralling Mattie!

This view from the Hogback Trail is facing east toward our house, which lies on that terrace at the base of the mountain to the right of the big pine tree.

Close friends know that Mo has been having some ankle trouble lately, and it has kept our hikes short and to a minimum.  She has been seeing a physical therapist and felt good enough that she thought she could handle at least a couple of miles of walking.

We started early in the day, while it was still cool, and found our way to the main entrance to the park, farther west than the Walker trailhead that is just half a mile down the road from our house.  I hiked the Walker trail a couple of years ago, and knew it was terrifically steep with tight switchbacks to the Hogback trail on the ridge.

There were quite a few people in the parking lot when we arrived, but the multiple trails were not the least bit crowded.  In our entire 3.5 mile hike we passed just a few people, horses, and dogs.  Mo’s ankle held up well, and she was only a little bit sore the next day.  Both of us were encouraged, since for the past 16 years one of our major forms of entertainment has included hiking and walking.  We surely don’t want to give that up!

My crazy hip did fine as well, with the buckets of Aleve that the doctor said I should take, insisting that my kidneys were strong.

After our hike, we came home and relaxed a bit, did some chores, had a early supper, and decided to brave the city crowds for the fireworks show at Reinhart All Sports Park in Grants Pass.  Once a long time ago, when we first bought the property in Grants Pass, I discovered the pedestrian bridge, but hadn’t explored the park.

Official parking was less than a mile from the park grounds where the fireworks were going to be set, and the walk through the park and across the river was lovely.  Mo’s ankle did start barking, and we decided that if we do this again, we will save the big hike for another day and save our steps for the park.

The music was loud, but in the distance, the crowds were pleasant, and not too thick, the police presence was there but not intrusive.  We set up our chairs and waited, hoping we were in the right place.  Many people around us hoped for the same thing since the city fireworks show hadn’t been in this location in the past.  In fact, last year, Grants Pass didn’t even have a fireworks show.

The show itself was interesting, and quite different from any I had seen before.  Gone were the big loud booms, with the wait, and then the bursting flower of color high in the sky.  Instead, some sort of machine shot out many bursts at once, in all directions.  They were lower in the sky, but very colorful and there were a LOT of them.  We enjoyed the show, but I did miss the big ones.  There were no fireworks allowed in the park, so the scary prospect of a firecracker set off underfoot by some crazy person wasn’t a problem.

The parking was handled exceptionally well, and we were surprised at how orderly and easy it was to exit the parking area and within minutes afterward we were back home.  It wasn’t a typical July 4th celebration for us, and I did miss the family time on a lake somewhere, but it was still very nice.  My kids know I get all silly about July 4th if I don’t have family around, but this time I was perfectly fine.

When Mo and I returned from our trip to South Beach, we left the kayaks on top the baby car, thinking that we would find a lake to kayak soon enough.  On the last Wednesday in June, we traveled south through the Applegate Valley beyond Ruch and the wineries, to Applegate Lake.  It is actually a reservoir, with only a little bit of shoreline showing and the water wasn’t terribly low as is the case in some of the other reservoirs in this area on the west side of the mountains.

I remember a couple of decades ago when Melody lived in Ruch, and saw Applegate Lake for the first time.  I still lived in Idaho, and she called me in a panic saying, “What is wrong with this lake??  It has a huge bathtub ring?!!”.  She had the luxury of being raised in the Northern Idaho Eastern Washington lake country, where every lake is real, and very few have dams that let out the water to levels that make for those ugly steep brown exposed shorelines.  Here on the west side, every lake we have found is actually a reservoir, with associated levels that are affected by the spring rains, snowmelt, and irrigation.  This year, with a drought officially claimed, those levels are going down fast.

Still, our day on the Applegate was perfect.  The skies were again that technicolor blue, with only a light breeze.  We first checked out the official campground and boat launch site, but it really didn’t have much to offer and was at the northern edge of the lake, without much to see on the shoreline.  There was also a $7.00 fee to launch and the manager of the place was rather rude.  I told him nicely we would look for another launch, and he said, “Your stuff won’t be safe there, why in the world would you want to be on that end of the lake?!”  Duh, we are kayakers, not boaters, and we want complex shoreline, little coves, and no big fast boats getting in our way!

The Copper launch was just about perfect.  Clear water, no silty mud, and nice long paved launch where we could take the car right to the water. Something I read on Wiki was fascinating.  The boat ramp is the upper part of the road that once went to the town of Copper, buried forever when the lake was filled in 1980.

Once on the lake we traveled south, and found a beautiful little cove the meandered back into the forest, shrouded with shady firs, and huge rock cliffs.  It was back here that we did see some birdlife, mostly geese, but with their little ones they were very entertaining.

There were a few more kayakers on the water, but they weren’t intrusive, and told us about another cove farther south past a place they called “The Orchard”.  Sure enough, we continued south and found this inlet, along with a big open park that looked like a campground.  Still planning to check if it is a day use area only or includes overnight camping. 

We spent about 2 1/2 hours on the water, enjoying every single moment of crystal clear skies. clear clean water, and brilliant sunshine. I am sure we will return to this lake in the future, since it is the best place so far on this side of the mountains for kayaking.  As I said before, the mighty Rogue River is a bit much for us, with a strong, fast current.  It is a big river, with lots of rapids in between the quiet places, and neither of us is particularly interested in that kind of kayaking in our long lake boats. 

I packed a picnic for us and we shared it on a real picnic table overlooking the lake.  I have no clue what we did for the rest of the afternoon, but were back home by 2. 

Being on the road and traveling in the summer can get so tiresome, with overcrowding, parks full of kids, hot weather, and no vacancies plaguing so many folks any more.  Our idea of good summer times is enjoying all the beauty of our own local world.  I think we are off to a good start.