Day 4

Day 4 was one of the more adventuresome since we spent it on the Rogue River. I need to point out that although we went to Oregon last year, I tried to plan new and exciting activities to make this vacation different. Rafting was not something we did last year and it turned out to be one of the family favorites.


Here Tobias models the very hip looking river wear, including very rugged water booties:

(Someone looks fabulous!)

Gill was our guide:


Delaney and I stayed in the big raft with him while the guys kayaked alongside us. Gill was a nice and informative guy. He taught me the difference between a rainbow trout and a steelhead. (I find things like that interesting.)

Pictures speak louder than words, so here you go:


When we were packing our wet selves back into the Vibe, we caught sight of the "C OOL BUS":


Note to self--when using spray-on sun block, still use your hand to rub it around a bit for even coverage:


(No, those hairy things are not mine!)

After the river fun, we cleaned up in our hotel room, went out for Thai food and drove over to one of Ashland's many theaters to see "The Music Man" performed live.


It was very well done. Although I knew most of the songs from childhood (my mom LOVES musicals), I resisted the urge to sing them out from my seat in the audience and just enjoy them silently.

It was about 11:00 pm when we got back to the room and finally went to bed. It was a very full day.

...and that was Day 4.

Day 5

We bid Ashland and all of its organic citizens adieu early Friday morning and headed north to Eugene. The I-5 there was so mountainous, it was hard to think of it as a freeway. It's a beautiful drive.

Once we arrived in Eugene, we went straight to Shawn and Erin's house. Here, the kids encountered Guinness, the world's most lovable pug:


Apparently, it's not illegal to walk around Eugene naked. We all resisted the urge to strip off, but another fleshly temptation that we did give in to involved going to this place:


It's a patisserie (which is just a euphemism for a-place-where-you-can-indulge-your-gluttonous-self-at-full-tilt). They have a million desserts to tempt you no matter what your persuasion. Here, Shawn and Erin enjoy some sort of pie:


After stuffing ourselves, we thought it would be prudent to go for a riverside walk. There are some very nice things about Eugene, one of which is the presence of tons of berry bushes growing all over the city:

Delaney, especially, enjoyed plucking the juicy little orbs from their prickly perches and popping them into her mouth, one after another after another.

While we walked, Erin and I had a nice long chat, something us ladies love to do. :)

...and that was Day 5.

Day 6

On Saturday, Portland was our goal, but we stopped at Silver Falls State Park outside of Salem on our way there. (We did go there last year, but we loved it so much that I really wanted to go back.) It was still very lovely, but last time that we were there was in June when the falls were fuller from the spring thaw, so it wasn't quite as beautiful this time around.


Have you ever bought a Christmas tree from a lot that was advertised as Oregon grown? I have and when I did, I envisioned lumberjacks climbing high into the mountains to chop it down. Well, that little fantasy was dashed when I saw this reality:

Sigh...I guess those Oregon-grown Christmas trees are grown on tree farms just like all the tree farms around my own house. Oh well, I suppose there are more important things to be sad about.

Once we were drawing nigh to Portland, I called Elisabeth and told her how close we were. Jeff was craving pizza, so she directed us to a place that is well known to Portlandians:


Elisabeth and Jon met us there with their ever growing brood:


Together, we imbibed on some serious pizza:


Jeff tried to take a couple of pictures of the Beloved Brynn who was literally dancing in the aisles, but our camera's shutter isn't fast enough. Check out the one shot he got of her:


(Hee hee. That's her fleeing foot in the bottom right corner.)

The other kids' personalities were a bit more conducive to portraiture. Delaney and Ava found a common love in drawing:


(Don't these two cuties look like they could be sisters?)

I asked Jonah what he'd like to be doing in the picture I planned on taking of him. He immediately ran off and grabbed his firearm:

(He's got the stance down pat.)

Elisabeth invited me and Delaney back to their house while Jon took the guys disc golfing. Their home is a 100 year old Craftsman beauty and they have the coolest cat I've ever encountered. Elisabeth and I talked in the kitchen, talked in the living room, talked during the house "tour" and talked in the back yard. All in all, it was a great time. :)

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the gabbing ladies, Jeff was enjoying one of the most exciting moments of his life.

You see, at the end of a long throw at a disc golf course in Portland...

...was a hole labeled number 5...



...which went down in history as Jeff's first ever (and possibly only ever)...

...hole-in-one.

(Cue the angelic choir music.)


Naturally, the pictures can not capture the true insanity of such a perfect shot, but I included them anyway.

Here's the play by play: Jon and Jeff were at the hole 5 pad and Jon had just tutored Jeff on a new way to hold and throw the disc. Feeling uncomfortable with this new grip, Jeff went ahead and hucked the disc in the right direction, hoping it would snake past all the menacing trees between him and his goal. Suddenly, he heard off in the distance a strange noise. He had no idea what had just happened until Jon, with both arms extended high in victory, began to holler, "Hole in one! Hole in one!" A warm joyous feeling flooded Jeff's entire being. (Okay, so maybe that's a bit over the top, but still, it was a moment to remember.)

Jeff couldn't wipe the huge smile off his face when he returned to Jon's house and told us ladies about his accomplishment.

It was with a note of sadness that we said farewell to our Portlandian friends since we knew we'd be unlikely to see them again anytime soon. I'm sure that if we lived nearby we'd spend a lot of time together--the guys disc golfing and the girls talking. :)

...and that was Day 6.

Day 7

First thing in the morning, Jeff was still thinking about his hole in one:


On our final full day of vacation, we plunged ourselves neck deep into Portland and visited the OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry):


There, we partook in various science experiments. Here, Delaney is playing with pie plates and static electricity:


Tobias took a turn at the same experiment (or maybe he was just thinking about that amazing girl to whom he sent all of those post cards):


One of my favorites was the Aging Machine. It gave us all a horrifying peek into our futures:



After leaving the OMSI, we inadvertently took a little detour through Washington state (those freeways were difficult to maneuver, okay?), but we didn't regret it.


It enabled us to see the Columbia River Gorge from a Washingtonian's point of view.


We took the bridge near Cascade Locks back to Oregon and drove the Historic Columbia River Highway which took us past some gorgeous waterfalls.



...and that was Day 7.

Day 8

On the morning of our final day, we set out to find Mt. Tabor, a park that Elisabeth recommended to us. It was a great place to kill the hour and a half we had before going to the airport at 11:30 am. From the top of Mt. Tabor, we had a beautiful view of Portland:


We also found a statue of the all important Harvey Scott (whomever he is), whom we mocked mercilessly:


Soon it was time to drive to the airport and say goodbye to our lovely little Vibe.

Once we were on the airplane, Delaney got a case of the giggles caused by the invasive nature of this foot which crept its way out of its own designated area and into Delaney's.


(Over the two hour journey, it edged its way ever closer to Delaney from behind.)

Tobias snapped this terrific shot of Mt. Hood from his window seat:


Once we were back on the ground, we fought our way through a bit of traffic and had dinner at a place that Jeff has wanted to take us to for several months now. They serve, according to him, the best fish tacos in the world. (I must confess that they were delicious, but I could feel my thighs thickening once we were back in the car due to all the grease I had just ingested.) Jeff said that that was the best meal he had on the entire vacation!


Back home, we found that both dogs were safe, sound and happy to see us.


...and that was our entire vacation.