#WYFF Mount Pisgah

Our Friday began with a bang. We enjoyed breakfast with Krista and Ms. Kutz at Ye Olde Pancake house. Ms Kutz is the best English teacher I've ever had. She "retired" last year; we are thankful for all the hours she's invested in us and in our daughters. 

Ms. Kutz with 3 former students - Michael, Krista, me

 Michael and I headed back to the Caboose. The kids and I finished a solid week of school. THEN it was time to get out and PLAY.  Our RV park is very manicured and the spaces are fairly close together - but we noted signs to a recreation area and to Mount Pisgah. Krista and mom joined us to explore!

Nolan, Krista, Stacia, Alex and Michael in the back 

Yuuki was thrilled to find the dog hydration center

 This is  a beautiful area and we have more exploring to do. The trees and wildflowers are a treat. We also saw tadpoles, turtles, water lilies and even a Redwood or two...and a bit of poison oak.

Maps can be helpful 

Wild Iris

Dandelionus

 I love this picture. I've gone on many hikes trailing far behind Michael. One of the joys in the midst of the "boo" is that I can keep up with him these days. Some are sure to ask how Michael is able to hike....well....we stop when he needs to. He has arthritis in his back, hips, knees and ankles. We've found that a mile - mile and a half is about max. He pushes for hikes - and rests for a few days afterwards.

A man and his camera

Camas

 

Our hiking team  - lots of great benches to rest on 

Nolan, Krista, Stacia, My Mom, Alex, Me

Water Lilies

 Note Alex's walking stick - a win from the Big Game Dinner at Calvary Open Bible

Me, Stacia, Krista, Nolan, Alex - think Stacia is passing up Krista

Don't judge me for texting in a mountain meadow - I was taking photos and texting them to Mom G!

 

My feet

Back side of the barn 

Poison Oak

Michael, Mom and went about 1/2 way up the mountain and then headed back.....we found a nice place to wait while Krista, Nolan, Alex and Stacia climbed the rest of the mountain.  

Michael's walking stick was a win from the Big Game Dinner too

At the top! 

Feet at the top of Mount Pisgah

A Full Week

We have had a full week - and we're ready for Friday!  The kids and I are trying to finish all of our Tapestry Core by the end of next week. We've also had lots of time to play this week. 

Monday - I went for lunch with Bre and her mentor, who happens to have been my 5th grade Sunday school teacher.  Nolan went to New Hope to see what college would be like. Here's a selfie with Nolan, Arielle, myself and Cory - Arielle's guy.  This was to prove I scored Mama points - I met Cory in person before Michael.  ::snort:: And they take lots of selfies so I figured they wouldn't mind taking one with ME. LOL 

Nolan - back right - investigates college

Tuesday, Michael dropped Stacia and I off at the mall in the afternoon. BreAnne joined us. Our  mission was to find a dress for JaRissa's wedding. I did. We also made a stop at the Bath and Body Works.  No, I'm not going to share a photo of the dress at this time.  Michael and the boys spent the afternoon at Krista's working on school, reading and doing laundry.  BreZaak had us over for a BBQ in the evening. 

Bre is 39 weeks. 

Wednesday, I made scones in the a.m. and then Stacia and I went to BreZaaks. Bre had prepared a tea for one of the professors at New Hope, Stacia, me, and her. Stacia and I stopped at Winco and bought groceries before heading back to the trailer.

Thursday - today! We are right on schedule for the week of school. We'll need to be MOTIVATED in the morning, but I think we can get it done.  When school was over today, we headed for Mom and Dad's. We got there as they drove up with two new recliners. Michael and the boys unloaded and set them up.  Stacia and Grandma made blondies, and the boys mowed the back yard. Michael and Dad went to Jerry's - a fix-it store around here.  He wanted to extend a black water tank wand.

Stacia and Grandma

Nolan

Alex

Look what Michael found on the front porch! They're inside a fake greenery arrangement. 

Lorri (my cousin) and Mom taught us Farkle

We ended the visit with a BBQ in their back yard. 

We Beat Bella!!!!!

Refreshed with a leisurely night in the hot tub, we rose to tackle the day. TODAY we WOULD make it all the way to Eugene. We only had 90 miles to go - certainly we could drive 90 miles without an adventure.  The first thing we discovered is the RV'ers equivalent to the saying, "They put their pants on the same way you do."  Regardless of the swankiness of the RV resort you stay in or the fancy-ness of your RV - you have the same stinky slinky to deal with before you travel.

However, a swanky RV Resort will send you down the road with hot drinks! 

We knew Arielle had to work today, Krista is buried in homework for her graduate work, Arielle is swamped with New Hope homework, Bre was preparing for tomorrow's Kids Rock, Izaak was helping with a Big Game dinner and Mom and Dad had company. We settled in to our new home for the month of April. We found a really nice RV park just south of town....really glad we didn't settle for Franklin Blvd. 

Krista said to come over - so we did. We had planned to arrive on 29 March - it is 2 April. Four EXTRA days to go without laundry is a long time when you live with a scaled down wardrobe. Our plan was to start laundry and then go find something to do. Krista said she'd rather visit for a bit and work on homework tonight.  Worked for us. 

Michael and I needed to run to Walmart for a new drinking water hose....the kids opted to ride to the library and a park. Krista ordered the book Nolan hadn't been able to finish reading in CA. He has a month to "get er done."

We left to meet up with Mom, Dad and BreZaak at Calvary Open Bible for a "Big Game Dinner." This is a fund raiser the church does annually for one of their mission outreaches. Krista stayed to knock out homework.  The meal was yummy - and we won two really cool walking sticks and an amazingly bright flashlight. 

We headed back to the girls' home. Arielle had said she wanted to meet up with us before starting homework - Mount Neverrest. Michael proof-read a paper for Krista, Arielle got home, BreZaak stopped over, and we visited far longer than we should have. We kept the girls from homework. We'll do better the rest of the month. 

  We love spending time with adult Gherkins.  

We beat Bella to Eugene! 

#WYFF - God's April Fool's Day Joke

Today is a travel day. We have a "quick jaunt" to Eugene and will celebrate at Bre and Bella's baby shower.  Michael's Parkinson's meds has turned him into a morning person. Go figure....blessings in disguise and all that. I enjoy our mornings before the kids wake up. ::snort::

This morning we got up early and set about breaking camp. Remembering the blown van tire on the last travel day, Michael set Nolan the task of checking air pressure and filling tires. We ARE careful travelers.

We laughed and talked about how fun it would be to arrive in Eugene....stopped in Grants Pass and turned in the van repair estimates.  How did we miss there was a Baskin and Robbins right across from Les Schwab? I guess we were focused on tires and lunches when here a couple of days ago.  The kids all had gift cards to Baskin and Robins from volunteering at the chapel, and so we hopped over for a treat while Michael took care of the automotive details.

Our first #WYFF photo for the day

We left Grants Pass in high spirits. We thought we'd arrive between 12:30 - 1:00 p.m.  I had just turned to Michael and said, "We'll be in Eugene in two hours," when we heard a loud pop...which kept up. We thought maybe a fan belt had broken. Michael pulled off...the best spot we could find. On our left was two lanes of I-5 and to our right was an on ramp to I-5. The kids found the timing of the breakdown, right after I said we'd be there in 2 hours, hilarious. Alex said it was, "God's April Fool's Day" joke on us.

"Did you check the blinker fluid?" 

It's not the fan belt, the 3 visible spark plugs on each side seem o.k. 

We thought we'd drive into Canyonville, OR - the nearest town, but it sounded HORRIBLE, and the check engine light came on when we started the engine. The code reader told Michael, "Ignition coil J Primary and Secondary." We called a shop and were told they'd be able to see us next Thursday or Friday. We called our insurance company, and they began arranging two tow trucks to meet us while we kept investigating where to be towed TO...the nearest RV park was an easy call for the trailer. RV Parky (a great app) told me Seven Feathers was closest, and the price was surprisingly cheap. They have a few spots they reserve for "emergencies" and booked us into a spot for a week - just in case. 

Michael found Bill's Auto was coming to tow us, AND they could fix it...turns out we were the second v10 engine with this problem TODAY. It's a design fault - which often shows up after a tune-up. If the spark plugs are cranked too tight - they blow the spark plug and coil right out of the engine block.

Seven Feathers RV Resort is the nicest RV park we've stayed at to date (review to follow).  Bill's Auto called, and they had the van done!Michael picked it up.

While Stacia and I were disappointed to miss Bre and Bella's shower, we enjoyed a night in the pool and hot tub....we'll think about the rest of the trip in the morning. 

#WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above.