Catching up from September

Mid September on Wednesday, Bill suggested we take off for the weekend. We already had plans to go to Bend to see Charlie and spend the day on Sunday, and Bill offered to get us ready to go, as he was headed back to school the following week. We figured there was no way that we would get into the State Park between Sisters & Bend, but we gave it a shot. There was one site remaining. This is a park that has half tent sites, and half RV sites, so I figured it was a tent site. Further investigation proved it was one of our favorite sites!! I booked it, and Bill & Kristin got us packed to go. Bill came to get me from work, and we headed out HWY 126--while it was beautiful and a good grade for pulling trailer, it took us 2 1/2 hours from Eugene. Usually 90 minutes for us up 11% grade of Hwy 20. Probably the same amount of fuel!!

We set up and enjoyed Friday night, and had a good 'sleep in' on Saturday. We headed into Bend, and hit the TC store, and got to see Charlie and some of the guys for a few minutes. We ran some errands and then hit Pilot Butte and had our famous tailgate lunch. Back to camp later for a fire, and dinner over the fire.




Sunday we joined up with the TC crew for church,enjoyed a great service with them, and then headed back to tear down camp, and join the guys for the afternoon at the center. It turned out to be a beautiful weekend camping, and a great visit with Charlie.


The following week brought a pig roast at church. So much fun! You can check out the story by clicking here, which will take you to our church blog. You'll notice Bill in lots of the photos, as he got into helping with the pig!



On Thursday, the 29th, Ryan had a game. We see improvement each game as he gets the hang of things! Way to go Ryan...keep working! His football pictures also came back...nice job!






On the 30th, Bill's cousin Kathy (also known as Crickett) & husband Al came for the weekend from Texas. They were celebrating their 30th anniversary, and blessed us with a visit. It was so nice, as we've not had this quality of a visit since Ryan was 7 months old when we went to visit them in Maine. We've had short visits over the years at different family functions, but never get more than "how are things"...you get the brief 10 minute story of the highlights over the last year! It was so nice to sit around, visit, laugh and enjoy some time together. On Saturday, we had a leisurely breakfast at home, then took a tour of Sweet Home, visited the local waterfalls, McDowell Creek Falls, did some hiking through there, and then hit the local winery on Marks Ridge for some wine tasting, and beautiful scenery. We followed this up with dinner, and more visiting. On Sunday, we headed to the coast, where we spent a rainy day. We did enjoy lunch at Rogue Ales Pub House. Good food, great atmosphere, and a walk down through old town on the bay afterward. Too bad it was so rainy. We drove down the coast a ways, and finally parted with Crickett and Al in Florence. We are so happy they finally made it, and we sure appreciated the time they spent with us.






The rest of this week has found me either laying around, or in front of the computer. I've been home sick with a yucky fall cold, and determined to take care of myself this time as I am so afraid of pushing through like I always do, and ending up with pneumonia again. It was not fun, and it taught me a lesson in taking care of myself. It's been a lonely week,as it always is after company leaves.