Jacqueline’s Jaunts

Thursday, October 19, 2023

2023-09-20 Wednesday, Oregon Trip to Visit Family and Friends

Ryan and Amanda’s to Deerwood RV Park in Eugene

Jeeps - 5

Steps – 3,814

Ryan worked from home today so he could see us off. It's hard to believe it’s been a week. I cleaned the RV, floors, bathroom and dusted this morning. Tucker received his questions for his school ancestor project, so I spent the rest of the morning answering his questions. He seemed interested and asked other questions in addition to the ones assigned. There were two I didn’t have time to respond. We made plans to Zoom when we got home. I needed to look up a few things before answering the rest of the questions.

With lots of hugs and kisses, we said our goodbyes. We left Ryan & Amanda’s this morning around noon. We were sad to leave but ready for the next leg of this trip. We stopped at Fred Myer’s for gas and propane. There seemed to be an issue with propane. It was leaking. We think it is our propane fill valve since we had the same issue in Red Bluff. We will have to try again in Eugene. We told Ryan and Amanda about it, and Amanda sent me a link to a propane company in Eugene that also does service. We might check them out.

The drive on US126 was beautiful once we started into the mountains. It’s so lush and green, with ferns growing alongside the road. Also, in some areas, there are large lava rock beds. I thought these were so pretty, with small trees growing in some places. We also passed areas that have burned in the past.

It rained a bit off and on until we got to the top of the mountains, and it stopped, then the sun came out. We hit numerous road construction areas where we had to stop. We never had to wait too long. At one point, we followed the McKenzie River for miles. There were beautiful homes along the river. We noticed quite a few homes for sale. In some places, the river was wide. The water was flowing swiftly.

Once in Eugene, we missed the exit we needed to take for the Deerwood RV Park. We soon found a way back and headed in the right direction. I am beginning to question our GPS system. We pulled into the Deerwood RV Park around 4:00 PM. What a beautiful park. All the sites are large and surrounded by trees. This is one of the most beautiful parks we have stayed at.

We found our spot and set up. I made guacamole dip, and we sat at the table and chairs provided and had a glass of wine. Barry cooked dinner, and we walked the RV park and counted Jeeps.

Amanda sent this photo only a short time after
we left. Hot air balloon in the distance.

Lava rock beds on the way to Eugene.

More lava rock beds on the
way to Eugene.

2023-09-19 Tuesday, Oregon Trip to Visit Family and Friends

Ryan and Amanda’s

Steps – 4,006

Today is the day before we leave. Barry was up and started packing his BBQ and our chairs, firepit, etc. Kids have school today. We went to Fred Myer to check out how to get into their propane area and gas up the jeep, also off to Safeway, then to a liquor store for Prickly Pear Margarita mix for Roma and tequila for us.

All humans are home by four-ish and ready to eat dinner. We planned to go to Blacksmith’s tonight. It’s a Pub with fixed food trucks. The Pub area is a big open warehouse with many tables and chairs. Amanda and I had Margaritas. Not as good as Diego’s, but not bad. Barry was happy they had RPM IPA. I think Ryan got an Old Fashion. We went to The Kilted Kitchen; Barry ordered The Bruce, a brisket sandwich, and me, The Wallace, a pulled pork sandwich. He wanted The Scotty Dog, a hot dog, but Tucker ordered ahead of us and got the last one. The fries were sliced very thin and scrumptious. We have never had them that way. Everyone loved their dinner. Addison, Barry, and I bought tee shirts. It was the perfect place to end our last night with the kids.

Oh, wait!!!! One more crazy game of Sequence. Amanda was still trying to maintain her “game composure.” During the game, Ryan had to try sips of our scotch, ‘Ol Pultaney,” which is Barry's ancestors' scotch from Scotland, and Sassenach, Sam Heughan, from the Outlander series Scotch. He loved both. I do not think I mentioned before, but Tucker calls his dad Ryan while playing games, and it is just too funny. We won one game, and I think everyone else did too. We played a few—so much fun.

Off to bed since we have a travel day tomorrow.

Saturday, October 14, 2023

2023-09-18 Monday, Oregon Trip to Visit Family and Friends

Ryan and Amanda’s

Steps – 2,390

We woke up to a smokey sky. Somewhat better today, but not much. Ryan was off to work early this morning; the kids had school, cleaned up the RV, and Barry cleaned up his BBQ today. I was on a few calls today and going through email. I played ball with the dogs. They wore me out!

Before Ryan got home from work, Amanda took Tucker to the pump track to ride his new bike. He said it took a little time to get used to it, but it felt great. From the photos Amanda took, he looked like he was enjoying himself.

Addison spent part of the afternoon riding Josey. No barrel practicing, just for a ride.

Ryan BBQed chicken on his Traeger, and it was delicious. We had everyone taste Aunt Reba’s BBQ sauce (see previous blogs). They all agreed it was the best BBQ sauce they had. They couldn’t get enough. I informed him if they came to our Annual Griffin Christmas Dinner again, they would get some, but we did leave them some of ours.

The sunset was beautiful tonight due to the smoke. Amanda and I sat on the porch to watch it. We also had a little green visitor on the front door. It was only about 1.5 inches, a tiny little guy. He was staying high to hide from the one chicken Amanda let out to roam for a bit. They love frogs; at least Amanda’s chickens do.

Another rousing game of Sequence, and this time, Ryan and Tucker lost...YEA. Barry and I won. I do not think Amanda was very happy. She is still trying to maintain her composure. Addison was very vocal about losing again. We couldn’t let Tucker and Ryan win again.

BTW-Barry hates mosquitos, and they are eating him alive.

2023-09-17 Sunday, Oregon Trip to Visit Family and Friends

Ryan and Amanda’s Home

Steps – 4,066

The area was smokey due to the fires. The temperature was 85º, which made it worse. Today is a utility day. Amanda made an excellent scramble for breakfast.

Tucker’s new BMX bike came yesterday, and today was assembly day. His dad helped him assemble it, with Uncle B overseeing the task. Ryan taught Tucker a few things about his bike he needs to be aware of, like tire pressure and keeping the chain clean. Tucker could not wait to ride it. This bike is for the street and pump track only. His other bike he can use on his dirt track at home.

We decided on pizza for dinner, so Barry went for gas, groceries, pizza dough, and toppings. I stayed home and did laundry. He could only find wheat pizza dough. Everyone made their own pizza and loved the wheat dough. The kids had a great time.

After dinner and pizza clean-up, we had a rousing game of Sequence. The teams were Barry and I, Tucker and Ryan, and Amanda and Addison. The last time we played Sequence with this group was when we all went to the coast in February 2022. We saw the other side of Amanda’s personality and how competitive she is at games, especially this one. This time, she promised to be a bit more subdued.

Ryan would get upset with Tucker because he felt Tucker was not paying attention. Ryan would do his best to get Tucker to pay attention and try to hint to him, without being too obvious...right!

Tucker kept saying, “We got this, Dad. Don’t worry.” This is a nine-year-old that cannot stay still. But in the end, Tucker would make his play and Ryan and he would win the game! I swear that kid can read the board and remember what everyone plays.

Night All.

Unpacking Parts

Checking things out

Checking out the seat

Lessons from Dad

Height seems to be OK

One happy boy!

Thursday, October 5, 2023

2023 - 09 -16 Oregon Trip to Visit Family and Friends

2023-09-16 Oregon Trip to Visit Family and Friends

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Ryan and Amanda's Place

Steps – 9,006

Playing with our shadows

Up early, packed a lunch, and was on the road by 7:30 AM. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, here we come. It was a two-hour drive to the park. It is on the eastern side of Oregon—Tucker decided to go with us.

The road was through the mountains. This is a volcanic area that was once underwater. Volcanic rock is everywhere and looks desolate.

Our first stop was the Painted Hills. The hills have a different color for each period after the dinosaurs went extinct. The colors were gold, yellows, browns, and reds. We hiked three trails around the hills. Each hike was short, but we had better views of the painted hills.

We ate lunch in a nice picnic area with plenty of shade trees. I'm glad we got here early this morning. Today's temperature was around 97º and would have been too hot to hike. After lunch, we drove an hour to the Thomas Condon Visitor Center.

The visitor center has a great display of the fossils found in the area. This area is post dinosaurs. It was a swamp area, so most fossils are fauna and marine life. We enjoyed the exhibits. Tucker's favorite was the bear wolf mural. I found the place to get my passport stamps and buy stickers.

After the visitor center, Ryan, Amanda, and Addison headed home because they had to feed the horses. Barry, Tucker, and I drove to the Cant Ranch House. We toured the house and displays, then walked to the grounds and the barn. The Cants were born in Scotland and bought the ranch in 1910. The original homestead was established in 1890. I do not remember the names of the original owners. The history includes the cattle and sheep wars over the grazing lands.

As we walked to the barn, we saw a coyote with an apple in his mouth about seventy-five feet in front of us. He did not seem too concerned with us and slowly wandered away. The property has apple, pear, and apricot trees.

The barn was used to house sheep having newborns and for shearing the sheep. The barn is huge with small corrals. Outside was the area where they would do the shearing. It was an interesting setup, and Barry and Tucker had a great time playing with what was hanging around and used for sheep shearing.

After the boys were done playing, we headed back to the Jeep. As we got into the Jeep, a tour bus pulled in behind us. We put the Jeep in reverse, and at about that time, the bus started pulling into the parking spot next to us. Wholly sh**, the bus will hit us on the driver's side back corner. Tucker was on that side, and I told him to move to my side. I quickly got out, ran over to the bus, and was pounding on it to stop. In addition, Barry was honking the horn and yelling at them. The tour bus was so close to us that Barry could not open his door.

The tour director is calling someone to tell her what to do...just turn away from us and back up, Idiot! Tucker heard words out of me he had not before. The tour director was a total idiot. They finally figured out how to get the bus away from our Jeep. Luckily, there was minimal damage to the license plate and license place cover. The damage could have been much worse had we not reacted so quickly. I was more worried about Tucker, but he seemed to be OK. He told us he was sending a text to his mom, "We were hit by a bus," but it did not go through since there was a lack of cell phone coverage. Barry and I said, "No, don't send that!" We then had to explain how his mom would have reacted to a text like that. It was a funny conversation explaining why that was not a good idea. We decided to wait until we were all at dinner and he could tell his version of what happened. He liked that idea.

The ride home was a little stressful. Barry said we needed gas but would not hit Prineville for a while. We were driving on fumes! We had two miles left on the tank as we pulled into the gas station, 400 miles on a tank, and 398.7 miles showing—more for Tucker to share at dinner. We told him his mom would not let him go with us after today.

After getting gas, we noticed smoke was coming in and covering the Powell Butte Valley. It was thick and from one of the fires. The valley was clear, and suddenly, it was filled with smoke.

We made it home and then off to Diego's Spirited Kitchen for Mexican dinner. Tucker road with his family in their truck, and when we got to the restaurant, everyone said he kept dropping hints, but he did not spill it.

We had to wait for a table, and Ryan bought Amanda and me the "special margarita." Wholly cow was it strong, but after today, I needed it. Once we sat down, we told Tucker he could tell everyone what happened. He could not wait to spill the beans, even the part about us not wanting him to text his mom. We all had a great laugh listening to Tucker.

Great food, drinks, and, of course, company. It was a great day, and we all had fun.

Hope your dreams are filled with painted hills colors.

A few days later, Amanda sent me this short story Tucker wrote about our day. He permitted me to post it on my blog....thank you, Tucker.