Camping Road Trip!

For our last camping trip of the summer Mom and I decided we needed to get out of the 106° heat and head up north and explore Oregon. We planed out our trip and booked the campsites where we were going to stay. With our menu set and bags packed we loaded up the car. Of course Gotham came with us so he had a small spot in the back to curl up in for the drive ahead. Our first stop was the Jedediah Smith Camp Ground in the Redwood National Forest near Crescent City. This camp ground was amazing!!! It was nestled in the heart of the redwoods and backed up to the Smith River. Mom and I were in awe as we craned our necks to see the tops of the trees that surrounded us.

That first night we had gnocchi and read our books until it was too dark to see. The next day we went to Lady Bird Johnson Grove for a hike. On the way there we saw a huge herd of elk. I don’t know if you knew this or not but elk are HUGE! There antlers are massive! We saw 2 males putting their antlers together over a patch of grass while the rest of the herd rested in the shade nearby.

After that detour we made it to the grove and started our hike through the massive trees. Every ware we looked was spectacular scenery! Massive trees towering over the earth, tiny delicate flowers and ferns that covered the ground with misty fog that crept in and out as we went along. Some of the trees were 15-20 feet in diameter and some were bigger than that! God’s creation is absolutely incredible! Learning about the trees and how special they are made us more in awe of how God created them to survive some of the harshest and delicate weather environments. We also stopped at a few beaches to walk along the shore. Mom was in search of driftwood for her garden. Side note you can take 50 lbs of drift wood per person per day from the beaches.

Once we were back at out camp we decided to check out some of the trails nearby. We walked down to the Smith River and wadded in to see how cold it was. Much to our surprise it was warm! We quickly decided to change into our swim suites and go for a swim in the river before dinner. The water was so warm and clean. There was a section that was deep enough so we couldn’t touch and we started swimming downstream there. Mom didn’t think the river was moving as fast and hard as it was and by the time we turned around to swim back we were surprised at how much effort it took to go forward and not just stay still. We were pretty tired once we got back to the shore and decided to sit on the bank and watch the sun set into the trees. Dinner that night was taco salad yummmm. The next morning we packed up and were off to our next camp spot in Oregon.

We drove up Highway 101 following the coast. That morning it was pretty foggy but you could still see the beautiful rocky shore line. About half way to the camp site we stopped at a delicious restaurant called the Barnacle Bistro. We had delicious Fish and Chips and then walked over to a little shop and got some jam for French toast the next morning. On our way we stopped at the Coquille River Light House. They directed us to Face Rock Creamery for delicious Ice cream. Wow, were they right! We got to taste a bunch of different cheeses and then our child’s scoop of ice cream was massive and delicious!

 We drove up to Sunset Bay Campground which is directly across from Sunset Bay and there is luscious green foliage surrounding each camp site. The fog settled in that night and we had Sausage and green beans for dinner. We had a fire that night so once it was too dark to read we hung out by the fire until it died out. Our French toast for breakfast was amazing with the delicious jam we bought the day before. After breakfast we drove to a nearby state park that was beautiful gardens. Full of roses and many different kinds of flowers, there was even a Japanese pond. The fog hadn’t lifted and everything was very wet including our shoes. We drove a little further to an outlook and saw tones of seals playing on the rocks and in the waves. Just past there was a great place to go tide pooling. We hiked down a steep cliff on to a secluded beach that was teaming with life. We hung out there for a little while and decided to head back to camp and start dinner. With a good fire going we nestled our potatoes in the coals to bake. This was by far one of the best dinners we had! We gave in and bought marshmallows to roast and chocolate for desert. In the morning we packed up again and headed out to go to our final destination, Silver Falls State Park.

A few miles out of the camp as we were driving a massive spider ( half dollar size) crawled on to Mom’s. We completely freaked out! Screaming just shy from full on panic I quickly told mom to roll down her window and flick it off. Success! We continued up Highway 101 to Newport and stopped at the Umpqua River Light house and the Yaquina Head Light House for a tour.

We also made a stop at Rogue Brewery and got Beer. We got Drew Beard Beer, Mom got Chocolate Beer and I got citrus cucumber soda! So delicious!

From Newport we headed East to Salem. Side note there are so many Dairy Queens in Oregon. Once in Salem we went into the Silver Falls state park and made our camp. Dinner that night was Vegetable ground chicken “spaghetti”. When we booked this camp site they didn’t have one site for both nights so we had to book 2 sites and move. Our 2^nd camp site was so nice! We had tones of room there were more trees and we didn’t have annoying neighbors.

Once we got camp moved we took off for the Trail of 10 Waterfalls hike! 5.5 miles later we saw 8 of the 10 waterfalls and they were beautiful! We got to walk behind many of them which was incredible!

We were thoroughly exhausted by the time we got back to camp and ready for a shower and dinner. We got our fire going early and had taco salad again for dinner. Then desert was marshmallows and I got the brilliant idea to stick a hunk of the chocolate in the marshmallow and roast it. OMG greatest idea ever! Until your perfectly roasted marshmallow with dark chocolate FALLS OFF the stick!

We finally made it to our last morning. We packed up camp and made it fit back in the car along with the drift wood mom had to have. Side note you can take 50 lbs of drift wood per person per day from the beaches. We were ready for our 10 hour drive home. We stopped for lunch at the Rogue creamery and had delicious bread and cheese!

We finally made it home and all the driving was totally worth it! It was so fun to get totally away for a week with nothing better to do than hike and read books until bed time. I can’t wait until next year to do it again!

GDB Fun Day

It is Guide Dog Fun day again!!!

This is one of the highlights of my summer. All the GDB puppies gather together on the San Rafael Campus and have a busy day of learning, playing, and connecting with new and old friends. Mom and I and Gotham piled in the car early Saturday morning and headed down to GDB Headquarters.

When we saw the campus full of raisers and puppies all gathered together catching up. We saw Sarah who raised Hansel’s sister Hominy who informed us that Hominy was graduating that afternoon!!! So exciting! Then we looked around the little booths and got some new bow ties for Gotham so he would look dashing every ware he went.

After that it was time for out littermate meeting! This is a time where all the littermates of your puppies litter gather together to meet, share personalities, and of course pictures.  Even Gotham’s mom Bloomer came out to say hi. The puppies that were there were (left to right) Gonzalo, Galileo, Garman, Gotham, Gwen and Bloomer (Mom) in the middle. Gotham and Gonzalo are twins! There are both dominant, head strong, stubborn, observant, puppies. They are difficult dogs to train. The other puppies don’t seem to be that way but they all love to play especially with each other. Bloomer wanted nothing to do with her puppies especially the crazy boys.

After lunch we watch sever presentation on the whelping kennels and R+ training. We learned a lot and enjoyed seeing all our GDB friends. The last presentation of the day was the graduation ceremony which is so magical. Hansel’s sister Hominy looked amazing now that she was all grown up and an official Guide Dog for the Blind.  I am so proud to be a part of this organization.  

Arts Camp 2014

One Week People!

You know when you start hearing that phrase Arts Camp is near. Arts Camp is one of the greatest weeks out of the entire year! It is filled with music, dancing, painting, crafts, kids, playing, colors, and Jesus! Arts Camp is Oak Hills Church’s VBS and has been going on for 14 years. It is a week ware about 350 students and 150 volunteers gather to learn many different forms of art and about Gods Love. I have been part of AC for 5 or 6 years- I am starting to lose track. Like I have done for the last several years I taught acrylic painting class for 3^rd & 4^th graders. This year AC had the theme of Kingdom Come! Since I will be leaving soon and living in a castle I want all out with the kingdom theme. My class name was Once Upon A Paint Brush and we did 7 different projects that tied into that theme using acrylic paint in different ways.

AC kicks off on Sunday with set up and all the volunteers transform the church campus into a world of creativity. My classroom was adorned with a castle and bright colored paintings and the blank canvasses waiting to be painted on.

Monday morning come and the camp is overrun with kids of all ages singing and dancing in the opening session in their tracks , Dance, Theater, Music, Culinary, Creative Craftsmanship, and my track Visual Arts! It is incredible to see that many people and children praising and learning about Jesus! As the week continues color explodes every ware you can see and every ones creations and performances are leading up to showcase!

Friday after the students leave it is a mad dash to get all their artwork hung in the gallery so all their parents can see all they have done throughout the week. I was so proud of my students this year, they did a fantastic job and our gallery turned out beautiful! Gotham was with me all week and his opinion of AC is “I hate my name tag!”, “Do I have to keep laying here?”, “Why don’t I get snack?”, “I am Bat Dog!” and “I love all the attention!” Over all he did better than I could have hoped for! I am so proud of my little guy! Arts Camp is one of the most exhausting, challenging, trying, creative, joyful, fun, exciting, and glorious weeks I have ever experienced all at once!!! Until next year…

"Live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His Kingdom and glory. " 1 Thessalonians 2:12

Hiking

This summer so far has been filled with hiking and being outside. Mom and I went with my friend Joleen and her mom camping up at Fallen Leaf Lake in Tahoe. It was so relaxing to lay down in the meadow and read a book. We went for a hike around part of the lake and the whole scenery was bursting with new life as the snow was melting away. The water was as still as glass and the aspens had bright green leaves that twirled in the light breeze. Our camp was under Mt Tallac and the brilliant white cross of snow shone brightly in the early June days. Swimming was quite refreshing you might say. Even Gotham got in and seemed to enjoy it a little more than the pool and defiantly more than the ocean. Joleen brought her kayak with her and we tool turn paddling around the shore of the lake. Gotham came too and curled up on the back of the kayak while I paddled around.

Our next hiking adventure was with Kim to Lake Winnemucca off Carson Pass. It was absolutely gorgeous. We started hiking and the sun was warm and the breeze was cool. We were up so high that the snow hadn’t completely melted away yet. We came to our first little patch of snow and I let Gotham go walk in it. He was so funny; he rolled in it, slid his face in it, dug in it, and tried to eat it. We kept going and every other patch of snow we hit Gotham got so excited and just wanted to go play in it. We made it to the lake and it was stunning! There was so much snow tucked into the rocks on the other shore. There was still some ice on the lake. You could hear the low roar of a distant waterfall. Spring had just started up there. All the plants were still squished down after being buried under snow all winter. We took a short snack break on a rock and Gotham totally passed out! After the break we hiked up one of the ridges, climbing over boulders and whacking through the low brush. Gotham did so good, if he got stuck he would look at me and I would come back and show him where to step or carry him over the spot. There were so many little ponds of snow melt that we found. Gotham would run and pounce on the patched of snow rubbing his face and belly up and down the sun cupped surface. On our way down from the ridge we hiked through a huge snow patch. It was a lot easier than boulder hopping. Gotham was running and sliding and face planting the whole way and we were too. One foot would slide one way and the other foot another. Out feet were soaked but in the heat of the afternoon and after working hard it felt so nice. Once back on the trail we made quick work of getting back so we could rest. We had to run through a swarm of mosquitoes before we made it back to the car. We were all exhausted! We totaled 6.5 mile hike!

Gotham and also went to Tahoe for a Guide Dog Puppy camp. We took with us Abby, Gotham’s co-raiser. Camp was fun but in the evening Abby and I left and went for a hike. We went to Eagle Lake just before sunset. We got a cute picture of Gotham on one of the bridges crossing the river but that was the only break we took. We made it to the lake with 20 min to spare. Eagle Lake was like glass! You could see the reflection of the mountains on the surface of the water. There were 2 cute ducks floating by the shore and we fed them dog food. As we were cooling down the mosquitoes were coming out and attacking us! Once we were rested up we were off hiking back down. The sunset was awesome lighting the sky with soft yellows and golds mixed with a little pink on a light blue background. We stopped at an outlook on the way home overlooking emerald bay. Once we got back it was time for some S’mores. The next day we spent some relaxing time at the beach sitting on the pier and under it playing in the sand. Gotham didn’t want to swim with all the other puppies.

 The Summer is not over yet we still have lots more hiking and camping to do!