Mt. St. Helens Visit

On our last leg of the trip home from Ashland, we took a detour for the afternoon and introduced Leila to Mt. St. Helens. We stopped at the Visitors' Center and Leila earned a Jr. Geologist Badge. Then we continued the drive up the mountain. We stopped for lunch and then proceeded to Johnston Ridge Observatory. 

 Leila earned her second Jr. Ranger badge of the day! This time, the process was a little different than any of the other badges she has earned. She participated in a program with a Park Ranger, answered questions from the program and demonstrated that she had listened to the ranger. Then she earned her badge. I just love the Jr. Ranger Program!! Go ahead...make fun of me. My husband does. 

Jr. Ranger, Jr. Geologist Leila

A Two-Adventure Day!

 We left Ashland Saturday morning and headed toward Medford. Our plan was to check out one of the two Table Rocks and spend some time hiking. We ended up choosing Upper Table Rock (they get their name based on the Rogue River that runs past both of them, Upper is up river and lower is down river). We drove to the trailhead for Upper Table Rock, changed into long pants (to protect from ticks and snakes...yikes!) and hit the trail. It was quite steep! Leila was not too pleased at the elevation incline, but after about twenty minutes, she realized she could do this. When we got to the top, she was thrilled that she had stuck with it! The views of the Rogue River and Rogue Valley were amazing! These pictures really don't do it much justice. The smoke from the forest fires was pretty thick in the valley, but we could still see for miles!

We picked a great spot to eat lunch...on the remains of volcanic rock that makes the Table Rock special. The Native Americans that lived in the Rogue Valley region regarded Upper and Lower Table Rocks as sacred and holy places. The emigrants traveling along the Applegate Trail used the Table Rocks as landmarks as they were heading through Oregon. 

A few more looks before we hiked down. 

 On our way down, we almost stepped RIGHT on a snake. It was huge! He was stretched all the way across the trail. Thank goodness Chris spotted him before Leila took another step! Leila usually hikes in the middle of us, but she was ahead blazing the trail. Once she realized why her Dad calmly, but firmly, said "Whoa! Leila, back up. Back up." she burst into tears! All Chris and I could think was Thank God it was on the way down! If that had been on the ascent, the hike would have been over! We made it back to the car about mid-afternoon and continued north on I-5. 

 As we approached Grants Pass, we decided to pull off the freeway and try to make a jet boat ride. We had no idea if there would be any space available, but as we didn't have a schedule to adhere to, we gave it a go. We pulled into the ticket office at 1:30 and were able to purchase tickets for the 1:45 boat! We just barely had time to change our clothes and shoes before our boarding time. The next round of boats weren't set to head out until 5pm...talk about perfect timing! Chris was the only one of us that had been on the jet boats before. Oh my goodness, our ride was amazing!! Along with seeing countless herons along the Rogue River, we also got to see an osprey swoop down, grab a fish and fly RIGHT over our boat! We were so thankful that we pulled off the road!! 

We spent the night just a little while north in Roseburg. The next morning, we drove to Dad and Holli's for lunch together. From there we headed to Mom and Jim's for swimming in their pool, dinner and much needed rest. 

Farewell, Ashland

Our last full day in Ashland for the summer of 2014 finally came. Leila and I opted to spend our last morning and afternoon at the splash park. It was overcast (because of the forest fires in the area), which made the 94 degree weather feel chilly. 

For dinner, the three of us walked around the block for GAP Co pizza one last time. Then we walked all the way downtown to spend some time in Lithia. Of course we saw deer along the way. 

 We played at the park, walked around the duck pond, checked out what was happening on The Bricks and finally ended at Zoey's Ice Cream Parlor. We each had our usual - salted caramel for me, cookies and cream for Chris and vanilla for Leila. 

Thank you, Ashland! We had a lovely time. See you again in July! 

July 31st

Thursday was spent at the pool with Leila honing her dog paddling skills. That night we picked Chris up for dinner and got to see this doe and her fawn waiting outside of the Theatre Arts Building. Ashland is the deer capital of the world....at least that is what the Taverns think! For dinner that night, we met the Baker Family and enjoyed chatting all things OSF and Ashland. We ate at L's favorite; Montorro's. 

Backstage at OSF

 Leila and I dropped Chris off at school and then headed to Lithia Park (see, that really was our routine!). We had tickets to tour the backstage area of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival at 10 so we walked the park to kill some time. We saw two deer walking down the creek. If I haven't already mentioned this in previous posts, Ashland is FULL of deer! It is such a peaceful town that deer are everywhere! Really!! Our backstage tour was fascinating! 

 After our tour, we moved our belongings to our new place. We couldn't stay the entire time in the first house, as it was rented out already. So, we had to move for the last few nights to a second little place, not far from our first.

We had dinner that night in town. Luckily, we drove to town because on the way home a HUGE storm rolled in! HUGE! 

Leila was scared. Thankfully, Chris handled the bedtime routines so I could stand outside and take some photos of the amazing storm. This was the last picture I took before heading inside! 

Tuesday - July 29th

 Tuesday was spent mostly at the pool! Leila SWAM BY HERSELF! What an accomplishment! She was thrilled with herself. All that practice paid off. 

 After the pool, we picked Chris up that night we all drove into Medford for dinner and a search for new headphones for Leila. Her old ones broke that morning and we knew she would need them in a few days when we headed home to Tacoma. On our way back to Ashland after dinner, a storm rolled in. 

Chores

 Leila and I spent our Monday morning at the laundromat washing our last load of the vacation. After the chores were finished, we hit the Daniel Meyer Pool for three hours of sun, water and swimming. Leila practiced swimming relentlessly!

Crater Lake

 Chris had ALL of Sunday the 27th off! Mom and Jim were leaving for home that evening so we all headed northeast to visit Crater Lake. It is gorgeous! Even with cloudy weather it was a site to see...I can only imagine how beautiful it is with a blue sky reflecting in the deep waters. Amazing! 

  
I'm pretty sure I took pictures of Mom and Jim, but I don't think I ever used my own camera! I don't have any of them on my computer, but I promise you they were there too! 

Leila completed her junior ranger booklet to earn another Jr. Ranger Badge! Grammy, Granddad, Mom and Dad all helped her finish the required 7 of 11 pages in the booklet. She was so excited! 

Mom and Jim left for home (they still had quite the drive to Portland) and the three of us stayed to do a little hiking. We hiked through the meadow and over some creeks. All around the base of this rock Leila is sitting on is the creek. 

On our way home to Ashland, we stopped to see the upper Rogue River winding its way through the canyons. These pictures really don't convey the strength and beauty of this viewpoint. 

We were all wiped out, but only one of us got to sleep on the way home. 

Picnic in the Park

 Chris had most of Saturday, July 26th, off from classes so we started the morning at the Farmers' Market so Mom and Jim could see the goodies too. Then the temperature started to climb so by noon we hit the swim reservoir. The water was SO COLD! Granddad didn't make it too long. 

Leila worked on putting her face in....she has some work to do still in this area!

 We left the swim reservoir and headed back to Mom and Jim's hotel pool. The water was a little less frigid and we all enjoyed the pool time. Then Chris and I headed back to Lithia Park for his class picnic. The seniors had a graduation ceremony on stage, followed by a picnic for all three cohorts in Lithia. I was lucky enough to come and meet all these folks in Chris's cohort whom I had been hearing about for the previous two weeks. Here are the first years: 

 While we were at the park, Leila took Grammy and Granddad to her favorite pizza plaza; GAP Co. 

The waiter brought Leila an apron so she could help wash dishes. She wasn't having that!