Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Day 5 - Klamath Falls, OR - Crescent City, CA

Motor Lotto - Jared is the winner today. That makes our grand total so far Zander 1, Arielle 1, Jared 1, and ME - TWO! I’m gonna take it all guys!

Quote of the Day: Jared: “Why are there so many hitchhikers here? Is there a prison nearby?” ::snort:: To which Mike replied, “No, we’re in the land of hippies” exactly as we passed an aging hippie napping in the trees.

We made it! The scenery on this day of the trip is breathtaking! It’s really spectacular. The nice thing about pulling the trailer is that Mike has to go a bit slower than he is used to….none of us got car sick. ::snort::

We are really camping now. I was told that there were showers, we wouldn’t have sewer, but would have water and electric. Guess what? We have nothing at the site. Mike and the boys went scouting and found a faucet to fill our water tanks. We’ve never used the battery; Mike says this will be a good trial run to see how long it will stay charged. The SHOWERS are COIN OPERATED. They neglected to tell me that. I’m feeling snookered, but I‘m determined to quit feeling snookered and to feel adventurous…and to choose joy! We had reservations at an RV park up the hwy….but I thought this was way cheaper…yeah …well…..The site is beautiful. Lush. When I told Mike about the reservations at the RV park he remembered it as a horse pasture and took offense at camping in a horse pasture. ::snort:: This really is GORGEOUS and if we can figure out how to charge our techie toys and iron our clothes for the big party, we’ll be o.k. YIKES - the new toaster will get NO USE without electricity. Guess we’ll have to make our toast over an open fire.

It was a tight squeeze to get us in here…but we fit. We had to park the van at the visitor center….They assured me it would fit in our site. I don’t think the gal I talked to had a concept of either the size of the trailer or the van. She certainly lied to me about the water/ electric. I am learning from this trip to GET NAMES each and EVERY time I make a reservation etc. ::snort::

Mike is excited. His grandparents lived here. His mother was raised here. He was raised here. We’ve brought our children here, often, to visit. They will bring their children here. This is HOME for him. While I don’t have a location to call HOME - he does. It is thrilling for him to be here. Zander and Stacia will meet Grandma and Grandpa G for the first time. Actually, Zander met them in AK - but he was 2 and doesn’t remember. We are here to celebrate Mary and Earl’s 50th wedding anniversary. I am excited to see them too. I’ve not seen them in 5 years. These next 5 days are going to be a wonderful time of relaxing and reconnecting. It is also going to be a hoot to introduce Zander to swimming in the Smith River.

Mike used to work at this state park. He says it’s “not the park I remember”. There are little lectures posted everywhere about conservation and such…which is why we have to pay .50 for a 4 min shower, why we no longer have water or electric, and why we should take our recycling home with us.

Mike and the children have run to his parents home. All but Stacia and I. She woke while they were setting up and was saying “hurt, hurt” and fell back to sleep. I’ll call them to come get me when she wakes up. I’m blessed that there is a pay phone at the visitor center as we have no cell service while in the park. I didn’t want her to debut with her grandparents to be when she is screaming and fussing!

We are all in awe of the beauty here. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to post updates - but I’ll keep writing…because most of all I write to create a family record. Beth, friend of my heart, sister friend of mine….I’m not sure you’re reading but I’m going to say this now…the children have been talking about my adventures with Chipper the Bear last time your family and our family camped here. ::snort::

Later - Stacia woke - we went and visited Mom and Dad....will post photos next time I can find a connection and have time to sit. Read Phil 4 - "let your gentle spirit be known to all men" and realized my spirit this afternoon when discovering the bare sites was abrasive....don't have time to read this - but know that I no longer am irked. LOL
Spring Reading Thing - Conclusion....

Yep, I'm going to call it quits. I didn't sign up in time to be eligible for a prize, but I wanted to go ahead and share my thoughts.

Thank you to Katrina for hosting the challenge.

I set a goal to read a few 1/2 finished book and to make progress through the stacks I've been collecting from PBS. Having the challenge kept me reaching for a variety of books instead of magazines. I guess that's good? ::snort:: I have a few biographies that I'll move to the Summer list. I'll also move a few fiction that didn't get completed because I added all the Yada Yada and Nursery Crime books. LOL

Here's the list of books I completed:

The 7 pillars of Health - Don Colbert, MD

Baby Catcher - Chronicles of a Modern Midwife - Peggy Vincent

The Age of Opportunity - Paul David Tripp

Teaching the Trivium - Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn

Fragments of Isabella - Isabella Leitner

Saving the Fragments - Isabella Leitner

Nicholas & Alexandra - Robert Massie

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Michael Van Dyke

Midwives - Chris Bohjalian

The King of Reid - Jamin G

Yada, Yada Prayer Group Get's Down - Neta Jackson

Nursery Crimes - Ayelet Waldman

A Playdate with Death - Ayelet Waldman

The Big Nap - Ayelet Waldman

Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith

Morality for Beautiful Girls - AM Smith

Yada Yada Prayer Group - Neta Jackson

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Real - Neta Jackson

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough - Neta Jackson

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught - Neta Jackson

I wanted to add a visual before and after photo of my stack...but the photo didn't get taken before we left on our vacation.