Back from Vacation

The OK Corral where we had lunch overlooking the Rogue River

One of the Hellgate jetboats (not ours)


Don riding the jetboat with the wind in his hair, I was trying the hold my wig on

Jetboating on the beautiful Rogue River

More Rogue River jetboating

We had a wonderful, but not long enough, vacation last week. We headed down to California to visit family and friends but stopped on the way down for two nights in Medford (I had 2 free nights at a Marriott there). While there we toured the Harry & David factory which was soooo interesting and did a little shopping at their big store. But the most FUN thing we did was ride the Hellgate Jetboats down the Rogue River from Grants Pass. It was a 36 mile round trip with a stop on the way back at the OK Corral (a beautiful rustic outdoor restaurant) for lunch overlooking the river. The ride was way more fun than we expected. It was so fast and exhilirating and WET!!! We really loved it and can't wait to go again. We'd like to take the jetboats from Gold Beach the other direction on the Rogue River and also the jetboats in Portland that go down the Willamette to the falls. Don and I decided that since we had so much fun and also enjoyed our trip through the Columbia Gorge in April so much that we needed to make a list of all the great things to do in Oregon and start taking our vacations throughout the state. We've already done quite a few "Oregon" things (Crater Lake, Sea Lion Caves, Columbia Gorge, Covered Bridge tour, Jetboats, Lighthouses, etc.) but there's still so much to do and see in Oregon.

This has been a summer of family and friends. Having so much family come to see us for Joshua's wedding was wonderful and we've also had the Allreds and Burts come visit. Then going to California was great because we spent lots of time with Don's kids and grandkids, saw Jana's family (it was wonderful seeing Kenji again), saw Rebecca's family and went to church in our old ward and saw almost all of our old friends. It was very nostalgic and brought back wonderful memories. I got to spend a little time with my best friend, Janine, and I had lunch with another great friend, Leah. We stayed 4 nights at Heather's new house and swam in her beautiful, huge pool. She was a perfect hostess and we celebrated Jennifer's birthday there with a great meal and birthday cake. Don and I spent one day driving around Napa seeing all the changes there. There are new hotels, apartments, houses, restaurants and shops all over. It was a little strange to see my hometown seem so unfamiliar in some areas. The only thing that made me feel truly homesick, though, was going into my old supermarket, Raley's. How funny to get homesick over a store of all things, but I did. Our old house had evidently been foreclosed on and had sat empty for awhile and so the lawn was dead and so were most of the plants. Also there were lots of weeds growing in the yard. It was very sad to me. It looks like someone has moved in now so hopefully they'll fix it up again. The Saturday morning we were there Heather wanted us to all go out to Suisun to the farms and pick produce. She loves to do that so we went to a couple of farms and picked heirloom tomatoes and peaches. Actually, everyone picked the peaches except Don and I. We decided we'd just buy them already picked so we sat in the shade and ate some while they picked their's. Then we found out they didn't even get a discount for picking them, but they enjoyed themselves.

Speaking of produce, today I went out to our farm stands here in Eugene (I like them MUCH better than Suisun's) and bought some peaches, nectarines, corn and sweet onions. Then Don and I went down the hill (on Timberline) and picked blackberries. I'm pretty scratched up from picking them but it'll be worth it when I make berry pie with them tomorrow.

I'm kind of excited about working on my food storage lately. The Stake gave our ward a booklet and DVD about food storage and there was a lot of information and advice in them that I'd never heard. I found that I've been focusing on getting the wrong things. Now I have an exact menu for a year and have figured out all the ingredients I need to make the things on my menu. I've made a chart that shows me how much I need of each ingredient, how much I have and how much I still need to buy. So instead of just guessing that I should buy more rice, beans or dried milk, now I know exactly what I need to make things we'll really eat. In making my menus I've realized that I need to start bottling meat (it sounds gross but I'm assured it's really delicious) so I have to buy a pressure canner cooker. That's my next big purchase (the good ones are quite expensive). I also want to get a vacuum jar sealer. I'm in charge of presenting the material in the booklet and DVD to the ward next Sunday for our combined Relief Society/Priesthood meeting. The first Sunday of August I taught Relief Society. The second Sunday I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting. Last Sunday I was in Napa and had a part to do in Janine's Relief Society lesson. This Sunday I'm just conducting Relief Society. It's a busy month for me - I think the ward will be sick of hearing from me.

It's always good to get home after a vacation but I must say this one sped by and Don and I both wished it would have been a bit longer. I'm thinking of asking him if he'd like to go camping next month. We haven't gone this summer and it shouldn't be crowded in September - just have to hope it's still warm. There's a beautiful lake about 2 hrs. from here, Odell Lake, that we've wanted to camp near. It's first come, first serve so you take your chances going there, but I'm tempted to try. We'll see.

I'm posting pictures of my beautiful hydrangeas too. They're almost done blooming now but they were soooo pretty this year.