Friday, October 09, 2009

Portland, Medford and Grants Pass

Central Point, OR

Whew, what a fun few days we have had, and busy ones too. Let me see if I can get it all recorded here.

We left Seattle on Oct. 1 as planned and got to Portland and got settled in. We had dinner at Ron and Melanie's that night and Melanie, Lori and I went to the People to People Ambassador meeting which Lori had been accepted in. It is a good program and she will have a great time this next summer. She will be visiting England, France, Belguim and The Netherlands. It will be good for her.

The next day while they all worked or went to school we vegged. Friday night we drove to Salem and had dinner with friends Arley and Betty Freauf. It was fun to get caught up with them. Saturday we met up with Ron, Melanie, Victor and Lori and had sushi for lunch, then rode MAX (the light rail) into Portland. What a great system MAX is...too bad Seattle can't come up with something like this. Sunday we went out to Eagle Creek to look at some property they are thinking about buying. It is beautiful out there. All in all we had a great visit with our kids, just too short.

We wrolled down the wroad towards Medford on Monday, but not before we had to have the break away emergency brake repaired on the trailer. I was amazed, it only took 10 minutes to repair and only cost $9.98. I am still sure they didn't charge me enough, but I didn't argue.

After getting set up at the RV park in Gold Hill, we went to my sisters in Central Point. Nieces Pam and Sue were both there as well. Had a great dinner and got some visiting in. Tuesday we went to Jacksonville and met up with my other niece Kay. Jacksonville is such a neat little town and I always enjoy going there. Wednesday sister Jean, niece Pam, Al and I went to Crater Lake. This has been on my "bucket list" for many years. Even though I was born in Grants Pass and lived there 10 years, I had never been to Crater Lake. Once, some years ago when we had our motor home we tried to go to Crater Lake, however, we had a gas leak on the motor home so we got to get out, look over the edge and we were gone! This time we spent all day there. It was breath taking. God's work is beautiful. We stopped at the lodge and had lunch and then went to the Rogue Gorge. Saw the lave tubes, and where the Rogue River actually goes under ground for a bit at the Natural Bridge. And Gordon, we even went to Trail! We had a great day....
Sister Jean, Niece Pam at Crater Lake





Thursday we did nothing but rest and run some errands. Had dinner at my niece Kay and husband Mark's house in Jacksonville. They have a lovely home there and we all had a good time just being together.

Today we drove to Grants Pass to take a trip down memory lane. I was born in Grants Pass; Jean has lived there off and on for years and niece Sue graduated from high school there. We drove the "old road" Hwy 99. On the Rogue river since 1921 has been the Savage Rapids Dam. Been there forever. As of about 10:00 a.m. today it is gone. We got there just about an hour after they had let the river flow free of the dam. Very sad to see this. The reason? "Although the dam has fish ladders, these ladders are old, do not meet current regulations, and only allow limited fish passage. Dam removal has been proposed to restore fish passage to natural conditions." GRRRRR After shedding a tear at the dam, we headed on into Grants Pass to go past old houses we once lived in -- I got to talk to the person that is living in the house I lived in here and my parents built. It has been changed considerably over the years and he was thrilled with the history of the house that I gave him. We also went by the school we went to and just did the memory thing. Then, as tradition for my sis and I, we went to Grants Pass Drug Store to have a chocolate ice cream soda. Ahhhh...heaven in a glass. YUM!

Weather has been glorious and the changing colors are magnificent. We saw so many pretty trees in the last few days and the colors have ranged from light green to yellow to orange to brilliant reds. I bet I have 100 or more pictures of trees changing color.

Our time here has ended and we are headed down the wroad tomorrow for new adventures. Next stop, Sacramento for a day or so.

I would have posted more pictures on the blog, but it was taking way too long to upload them. Sorry. I will try and post some later.

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