Trees of Mystery- Dave's Version

The Family Tree

On the Sky Trail going back down.

The bottom of a horizontal tree.

In front of a small waterwheel.

Hope no one feels that our life is all fun and games. Truth is these weekend trips are a very tiny part of our life and take quite a bit of planning especially in the food and clothing department for Jason. It's certainly worth the trouble although it would be easier to stay at home. I'm grateful that both sets of our parents were willing to take us some cool places when we were young irregardless of the trouble involved. Thanks mom and dad! We are fortunate that there are quite a few interesting destinations just a few short hours away from our home. We have endeavored to visit all the ones we can as time and resources allow us. The smiles on these pics show me that it's definitely worth it. Where to next?

Dave

Trees of Mystery-Annalie's Version

Here I am in front of a tunnel through one of the trees. I didn't want to go alone, so Mama crawled through with me.

It feels good to rest and pick my feet up!

Ouch! The sea snake got me!

Here I am in the Sky Trail having fun!

Trees Of Mystery- Jason's Version

The best part of our trip! I jumped up and down when it was almost our turn going up and then going back down! I was just so excited!


Here is Paul Bunyan. Look how big he is next to us!

My two favorite girls! Maybe we can have a sundial in our yard someday.

Wow! That's one big bear! Look how Sissy is hugging the smaller bear cub.

Memorial Day "Date" with Annalie

Dave and Annalie went on a "date" to the Memorial Day Parade in Brookings! Annalie had fun posing on these restored antique tractors.

Jason's new therapy hammock

Here is Jason's new sensory hammock (from his state program) and as you can see he and Annalie both love being in it. It holds up to 250 pounds so even the three of us can snuggle together. There are times Jason needs to be rocked to get to sleep and works great. (Except he usually wants Mom in it with him and I don't have the stomach for much swinging! It actually made me sick the other night). You can also see the new trampoline with a jumping handle the program also sent him in the background.

Shipwrecked

Just over 2 weeks ago this sailboat ended up on the beach at Gold Beach. From what I understand it was on it's way from Portland to the San Francisco bay area and only made it this far. There has been precious little reporting on how this actually happened but I heard that the caption walked away from it. One newspaper said that a salvage company was to remove it but so far they are sure taking their time. Meanwhile it's made for some interesting photography.

A Fond Farewell-Our Last Adventure with "Uncle Ralph" at Adam's Prairie

As the saying goes "All good things must end" I guess that's true at least this side of eternity. This was a bittersweet trip because I new this was probably my last adventure with my good friend Ralph Scott. He is retiring this year as a grade school counselor and will be move up near Lyons OR along the Santiam River. This was my final picture of the day looking back at Ralph and Annalie coming out of Adams Prairie. What a beautiful place in the spring!!

We took a brief rest here in some shade since it was of 80 degrees in the sun. Ralph's motorcycle a Rokon is the equivalent of a 4 wheel drive. I had seen these things before but they were always 30 or 40 years old. He actually bought this one brand new a couple of years ago. Needless to say there are few places this thing can't go as long as you can stay on it.

Shortly thereafter we decided to ride down closer to the Rogue River. This is where things started to get really interesting. Annalie decided to walk ahead of us for awhile. She actually was running down the trail and nearly stepped on this guy. What a mess that would have been. Fortunately she heard the rattle and did the right thing which was STOP! She decided it was time to get back on Ralph's motorcycle. I know that I was in my 30s before I saw my first rattlesnake. Annalie made it till she was only 4 years old. I was also suprised to see one in mid May. Also this was by far the closest one to home that I've ever run into. He definitely didn't like getting his picture taken! Just for the record I figure it was probably between 15-18 in length but still potentially dangerous. Guess I've seen bigger and smaller ones.

Here's another reason why I'm going to miss my friend Ralph so much. Immediately after reaching the river Jason broke loose and started running down the gravel embankment for the water. When he got there he tried to put on the brakes but his momentum caused him to keep going falling headlong into the drink. Fortunately Ralph was in "hot pursuit" and immediately grabbed him by the shirt collar and fished him out. The water got deep quickly and there was also a strong current just a few feet out from shore. We actually had extra clothes for him but I decided not to change him since it was quite warm. Again it reminded us how careful we need to be so that a fun outing doesn't turn into a tragedy. It's sad to think that with my good friend moving out of the area it will be virtually impossible to go on adventures like these with the kids since I can't carry them both on my machine or look after them as I should. Ralph was always ready and willing to make the time so that these special outings were possible. We'll miss him.

This is a "living stump". The tree has been cut down but for some reason it grows a cap over the cut and continues to live. Pretty cool. I don't see these too often.

Dave