Crater Lake – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

05-07-2018 Magical May brings Erin and Mui to Oregon

I told our friends that May was the best month to visit Oregon. Not early summer when the tourists show up in droves. Not late summer when the wildfires in the western forests fill the days with murky smoke. They listened and began their trek north to Washington State at just the right moment. Lucky us, their route brought them close to us. We had four Magical May Days with them.

I am enamored with the progression of Spring this year. I have watched the progression for a bit more than a month now, with changes every single day. Every trip to the grocery store or to town or to the Grange to buy annuals or Bi-Mart to buy mulch is rewarded with another evolution. I don’t think I have actually noticed before that the flowering trees come and go in a beautiful sequence, slow motion waves of color beginning with that first blush of pinky pink on the flowering plums. The leaves aren’t out yet at that stage, but the pinks are everywhere, and some whites as well, with the early flowering pears sprinkling snowdrifts of white blooms against the skies.

In just days, the plums begin to fade and the cherries begin their ballerina pink show, fluffy big flowers that up close look exactly like tutus. I noticed this year that Grants Pass must be a perfect climate for the cherries, especially the magnificent Kwanzan cherries, with some trees covering half a parking lot with their pinkness and solid trunks the size of oak trees.

About this time all the yellows begin, with daffodils everywhere, especially along the roadsides where they seem to have naturalized on their own. I can’t imagine anyone could actually plant that many daffodils. In our own yard, where I planted a few dozen when we first got the property, they seem like a small dab of yellow compared to those huge drifts I see along the roadway. I kept wanting to figure out a way to park and take photos of some of those drifts, but with narrow roads and fast traffic I never quite figured it out.

The cherries must have lasted three weeks, with a world dominated by pink and yellow but still very few leaves. As the cherry flowers began to mature, the rhodies burst into their brilliant reds, pinks and purples, and right about that same time was the magical “leaf day”, the moment when suddenly a backlit tree in the late afternoon sun is glowing with fluorescent green. It is an amazing moment, with willows showing first and then the birches and aspens, the maples, and finally in a crazy wild burst of incredible magic, the oak leaves unfurl from their pale reddish curls into full green magnificence. Suddenly the world is somehow completely different. The oak leaves leave shadow traces against the house and make sunlight flicker through the living room windows. This time of year, the green is still new, still lime colored and shades of chartreuse, unsullied by dust and hot summer winds.

The cherry blossoms are giving way to leaves as they begin to fall, but just as that pink fades, the brighter coral pinks of the dogwoods have burst into bloom and other white dogwoods light the skies with their clouds of happy flowers. The daffodils have faded but in their place the irises are opening. We are a mere 300 feet in elevation above the main part of town, but the irises bloomed there a full week before mine opened up. Now we are in full on iris season as the brilliant flowers of the rhodies begin to fade and fall. Other shrubs are beginning to bloom and the colors shift from pastel pinks and yellows to brighter shades of late spring and the lime green leaves turn a darker green with every passing day. The roses and peonies are now covered with fat buds, waiting for their turn. I have a lovely pink oriental poppy that is opening in the afternoon sun today, one flower at a time, joining in the noisy wild joy of spring.

Erin and Mui arrived Monday, after a long 300 mile day driving north from Reno, landing at Valley of the Rogue State Park late in the afternoon after a bit of a scary moment on the highway. I’ll let Erin tell you about that one in her own blog. (Erin writes one of my favorite travel blogs of all time, with amazing photography and wondrous detail. Don’t miss it!).

I put together an early summer supper of Copper River Salmon on the grill with pineapple-mango salsa, an “interesting” side dish of quinoa, lentils, and pine nuts that they were kind enough to enjoy, but Mo said maybe don’t make that one again. Ha! Plated Greek salads with reduced balsamic drizzled over the feta dressing were a hit, though, and kept us all entertained while the fish cooked.

Crème Brule for dessert, a choice of vanilla or latte flavors were fun. The only glitch in the day was the failure of the culinary torch to fill with butane. I panicked, drove wildly to the kitchen store, bought another torch and another canister of butane, only to get home and have it not work, again. More panic, the brule’s were sitting on the counter with the raw sugar waiting for the fire! A quick internet search and a You Tube video informed me that I was holding the canister right side up instead of upside down. What in the world did we do without online videos?!

Even though we have not actually visited with Erin and Mui in person since our trip through Texas in 2014, it was as though no time had passed at all. Erin and Mui are so incredibly delightful and easy to be around. We sat on the porch of Sunset House long into the evening, and confirmed sight seeing plans for the upcoming week before they returned to the Phaeton at Valley of the Rogue. Sad to say, even though we have a sewer hookup and 30 amp, our drive cannot accommodate a 40 foot rig.

Mo missed out on our first day sight seeing due to a required follow-up visit with her doctor. She was just a week out from an emergency appendectomy and needed to be sure everything was OK. We have been to Crater Lake often, so it was an OK day to miss, although we all really missed having her with us.

I picked Erin and Mui up at the park and we headed up the highway, over the hills, crossing the Rogue River several times before we arrived at the mandatory Natural Bridge Viewpoint where the Rogue roars in and out of lava caves and tunnels through a gorgeous wild canyon. Erin and I share a love of photography, and I enjoyed following her around and watching how she framed shots so carefully.

Continuing up the mountain toward the lake, we saw the green leaves of springtime give way to the more somber greenish black of conifers at an elevation where spring is still to come. Mui wasn’t yet 62 when the price of the Senior Lifetime Pass went from $10 to $80, but with that birthday behind him, he was happy to go into the visitor center and purchase his new pass. Even at $80, that pass is a fabulous deal for visiting national parks for free for the rest of your life, among other benefits, including half price camping at federal facilities.

I was excited to see my home country through new eyes. Somehow showing people our beautiful part of Oregon who are seeing for the first time, reminds me to really look at my surroundings in a different way. Approaching the Rim View area is always thrilling, but this time not quite so much because the snow banks were so high that we couldn’t yet see the lake. We drove toward the beautiful historic lodge, which was closed until May 18, and finally found a snowbank we could climb to at last get that first view of Crater Lake.

So gorgeous, and the blue really IS that blue. Somehow the surrounding snow on the cliffs and mountains added to the drama, and the ribbons of cloud in the sky make the lake reflections even more interesting.

I had planned a picnic, thinking we might find a table, but all the tables were deeply buried under the snowbanks, so we opened the tailgate and had a picnic right there in the parking lot. As we were finishing up our lunch, I mentioned that during the winter the Park Service has free snow shoe trips around the trails and even provides the snow shoes. Within minutes after I spoke, a big long line of kids appeared over the ridge, clomping on the snow shoes as they reached the parking lot. I had no idea they did the tours this late in the year, but we decided it must have been a special school tour of some sort.

The road around the lake was still closed with deep snows, and we were only able to drive up the west side road for an additional mile to Discovery Point for a few more amazing photos. With a twinge of sadness, we left the lake behind and traveled east and down the hill into the beautiful Wood River Valley, not far from our old Rocky Point home. We took a side trip to the Headwaters of the Wood River, but by the time we got there the skies were gray and threatening, and the mosquitos were out, so we were quite happy that we had already had our picnic. Still, I think Erin got some photos of the gorgeous blues of the spring where the Wood River emerges almost fully formed. I didn’t even take out my camera this time!

As I said, I didn’t take out my camera. This photo of the Headwaters is from last summer

Continuing back toward Rocky Point I showed them our previous home in the woods. It looks very different now, since the new owners have yet to live there full time and the gardens and lawns are unkept. I felt no sadness as we drove past the house, our new life and our new home is wonderful and while we have great memories, I am so happy to live in the sunlight and openness of Sunset House.

For our next day, we had originally planned to do a shorter trip through the Applegate Valley, viewing some of the wineries, maybe picnicking somewhere along the way, visiting Jacksonville and then home. A nice short day for people who have been on the road a LOT lately. That all changed as we checked out the weather and Mo and I started talking about maybe going to the coast instead. I wrote a note to Erin suggesting a change of plans and they were right on board.

Neither of them have seen the Oregon Coast, or the Redwoods, and with Brookings just a short 2 hours away, they were up for another long day of sight seeing with a great destination. Once again, I loved driving 199 with guests so I could appreciate the drama of the Smith River below the winding road, and savor the ferns and waterfalls along the way.

Mattie even got to go with us on this day, with Erin and Mui being great sports about sharing the back seat with her. Mattie loves company, and made another set of good friends who enjoyed her almost as much as she enjoyed them.

We got to the coast in early afternoon, just in time to find a perfect picnic table at Macklyn Cove Beach where we once again brought out the goodies for lunch. Mo and I love this little beach because Mattie can run free here in the off leash area, unlike Harris Beach State Park where leashes are required.

After lunch we decided to hike the Chetco Point Trail, a perfect little jaunt to a beautiful spot overlooking the ocean, the town, and the beach below.

A short drive north after our hike led us to Harris Beach, but along the way we found a small 55 plus community that had the biggest rhododendrons I have ever seen in my life. It was like something out of a dream, with these huge pink trees completely covered in blossoms dwarfing the small modest homes beneath them. Amazing.

Another walk down the South Beach Trail took us to the water once again. Mattie had a great time running and playing ( beyond the state park boundary) and Mui did his favorite thing of walking right along the water. It was a bit early for sea stars but the weather was incredible, with warm temperatures, full sunshine, and no wind. What an amazing lucky treat for a quickie day on the Oregon Coast.

The trip home along Highway 199 gave us a chance to stop in for a drive through Jedediah Smith State Park to let Erin and Mui experience the huge redwoods for the first time. We had great fun trying to get the phones and cameras to do the proper vertical panoramas to capture the incredible height of these ancient trees.

By the time we arrived back in Grants Pass it was almost 7, and everyone was tired and ready to retire to their own space. Mo and I talked about how we live here most of all because it is so accessible to everything we love. We can do the beach in a day, do the high Cascades in a day, can kayak our favorite creeks in a day, and can even get to the high desert in just a day if we choose.

Erin and Mui are thinking about the long term future, where they might want to settle down someday. Mui asked me specifically what I DIDN”T like about living in Oregon. I spent three days trying to come up with something and all I could think of was that what I like least are the late summer fires and smoke season. Maybe a bit more fog in the winter than I might like, or a bit more heat in the summer, but nothing at all that would convince me to live anywhere else. Ever.

The next day was to be a quiet one, with Mui preparing for our luncheon feast. Mui brought Erin to the store where I picked her up so she and I could play around in Grants Pass with our cameras and I could show her a bit more of our charming small town. We wandered about taking photos of the murals and the town bears that are brought out every summer to grace the street corners.

Wonderful to have a great photographer around to take really good pictures. Thank you, Erin

Back home, we picked up Mo and Mattie at the house and drove again to the State Park where Mui greeted us in his fabulous Harrod’s apron. I learned that Harrod’s is NOT Harrah’s. The first being a very classy high end place in London and the second a big casino in Reno and Vegas.

Ha! Mui definitely earned his apron stripes with the lunch he has prepared for us, including homemade hummus with olive oil and paprika, Turkish ‘cacik’ cold yogurt soup, grilled beef and lamb kofte (Turkish meat patties) that were moist and tender, a delicious ancient grain dish that was exponentially better than my attempt, and home made brownies and ice cream for dessert. I love Mui’s cooking, and he loves doing it as well.

We visited the rest of the afternoon. laughing and sharing stories, talking about future plans and upcoming adventures. We talked about ‘friends’ and ‘acquaintances’, and agreed that we are truly friends. It was a bit sad when we left, wondering when we might cross paths again. I am sure we will, and in the mean time, we will share blogs, and photos, and emails, and facebook posts, and private messages about whatever. It’s what friends do. And when we get together again it will be as though no time has passed.

July 26 27 28 Crater Lake and Best Friends

Current Location: Running Y Resort, Klamath Falls Oregon

It is so incredibly smoky this morning, with the Crater Lake fires billowing smoke into the skies and the northwest winds bringing it our way. The Klamath Basin is exactly that, a basin, and as such it tends to capture everything, including smoke in late summer and fog in winter. Have to admit I am tired of the smoke.

This photo was taken by Brian Gailey, who does some amazing work, especially of the night skies

The culprit at the moment are fires from Crater Lake, started by that amazing lightning storm I spoke about in the last post. Before that it was the Modoc fire, started from another lightning storm, and as almost always in summer, lightning started fires from the Trinity Alps to the southwest of us in California. Oh yes, can’t forget the Chetco Fire, burning in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in the coast range west of us, and a few fires near Warm Springs in Central Oregon, and a few more in Cascades on the Umpqua National Forest. Yes, it is ongoing, and it is tiresome.

Needless to say, when our friends Maryruth and Gerald asked to visit us in late July we were delighted. They have a new to them motorhome, and wanted to take a little trip to a bit cooler climate than the hot Sierra Nevada Foothills and Oroville where they live. I did warn them about how hot is was going to be in our area as well, but they were game, ensuring me that their air conditioning in the rig was up to the task. What I had no control over were the fires, and the most amazing thing of all was that we had gorgeous clear skies during their entire visit. The Crater Lake fires were still in their infancy, and the winds took most of the smoke away from the Rogue Valley. Lucky us!

Thanks to Jimmy and Nickie’s experience the week prior, we knew to warn Maryruth and Gerald that in spite of the posted 1pm check in at the Valley of the Rogue State Park, they should double check. Sure enough check in was delayed until 4pm. They took their time driving north from Oroville, planning their arrival late enough that they wouldn’t have to hang out in the parking lot with the air going for any length of time.

For this visit, Mo and I had decided to take the MoHo to the park as well, unhooking the rig from her semi permanent home at the house build, and driving the 12 miles south to the park. Even with such a short distance, it was fun having a different view. The park was completely booked due to a huge country music jamboree scheduled for the coming weekend, so we were lucky that Maryruth had arranged reservations for both of us. Our sites were close, just across the road from each other, with only a short distance needed to move chairs and food back and forth between the two sites.

In spite of the heat and fire weather watches, at the time we were still allowed to have a campfire in the designated firepit at the park. With an easy supper of burgers and salads, Mo started the fire and we sat around enjoying each other’s company, toasting marshmallows, and catching up on our family stories. Maryruth and I go back 54 years now, and have lots of stories to share.

Gerald and I took Mattie for a walk along the park pathway, a beautiful greenbelt trail that will hopefully someday fulfill its promise of a 50 mile bike and hiking route between Medford and Grants Pass, following along the beautiful Rogue River and meandering through the hills. It is a great vision. The trail is so lovely, I told Mo it was worth the short drive with our bikes to get there for some nice easy biking. There aren’t a lot of easy, traffic free and non hilly bike trails in Grants Pass proper, so we haven’t been out on the bikes much yet.

We had exciting plans for the next morning. Mo and I left early to pick up our guests at the park in the car for a day trip to Crater Lake. Skies were blue, the morning was lovely and not yet unbearably hot even in the valley. Before we traveled south to connect to the Crater Lake Highway, however, we took a short jaunt north to show them the new house. We were early enough to miss the contractors, at least most of them, so we were able to wander around the house sharing all the recent developments without getting in anyone’s way.

The route to Crater Lake from Grants Pass isn’t terribly long. A couple of hours of beautiful valleys and the climb to the 7,000 foot elevation of the park is gorgeous, with beautiful timber along Highway 62.

We stopped near Union Creek to view the magnificent Rogue River Natural Bridge area. Hiking wasn’t on the agenda for this day, but this trail along the river is gorgeous. Mo and I have camped nearby and hiked in this area several times in the past.

Continuing up the mountain, we were shocked as we approached the entrance to the park. It was the middle of the week, around 10 in the morning, and there were long lines from each direction at the southern entrance. Such a surprise. I have never experienced any line ever coming into Crater Lake National Park.

We were a bit apprehensive as to what it would be like being in the park, but it actually wasn’t nearly as bad as the lines portended. Once past the entry station, and on the main park roads, traffic was decent, I would even say light. The overlook parking areas were a bit full, but not so much that we weren’t able to park for the views.

Even the Rim Parking Lot was accessible, and the four of us got out and walked around some, enjoying the views and taking photos. Maryruth is recuperating from pneumonia, and I am so grateful she didn’t have to cancel the trip, as we thought she might a few days prior. That high elevation is killer if you aren’t used to it.

We took our time meandering around the rim, noticing plumes of smoke rising toward the west, a fire that later became the Blanket Fire, and another one, the Spruce Fire, both creating all our smoke that I mentioned earlier. In spite of this, the air at the rim was crystal clear, the skies incredibly blue, the water as gorgeous as ever. The color is legendary, photos aren’t enhanced, and actually need to be toned down a bit to look real. We especially enjoyed the high altitude cooler temperatures, at least 20 degrees less than what they were that day in the Rogue Valley.

There were a couple of delays for road construction, but that kept the line of cars driving the west rim road at a reasonable speed, and we still managed to see all we wanted to see. The Watchman trail was closed, and I was glad that we hadn’t made a special effort to get to Crater Lake with Nickie and Jimmy last week. The Watchman was a trail I had planned to do!

Circling back around the east side of the lake, we took photos of the Phantom Ship from the iconic spot, and only a week later the Phantom was almost completely invisible due to smoke. What a lucky break for us to be able to enjoy this gorgeous place before the smoke took over. My heart breaks for people traveling from all over the world to see this beautiful place and finding thick smoke and no views. The park is still open, but I just can’t imagine what a disappointment it would be for distant travelers.

Traveling back west down the mountain, we stopped at the historic Becky’s Cafe. Any time you mention going to Crater Lake, locals will say, “Are you stopping at Becky’s?” The place is most famous for its berry pies, but we had a delicious late lunch as well, with crowding not unbearable due to the mid afternoon timing.

I stole this one from the web since I forgot to take photos

Back to the Valley of the Rogue state park in late afternoon, with triple digit weather, we retreated to our motorhomes for a refreshing air cooled nap before emerging once again for campfires and marshmallows. What a gorgeous day it was to share with good friends.

The next morning, per Maryruth’s request, Mo made a campfire breakfast. In the past, when we have camped with Maryruth and Gerald, these big and bacon fragrant outdoor breakfasts have been a highlight. Morning sunlight, good coffee, great bacon, good friends, who could ask for more!

At checkout time, Maryruth and Gerald continued their journey northward in Oregon to visit more family and Mo and I returned the MoHo to her spot in front of the new house. Time to settle in, catch our breath, and enjoy some down time after a whirlwind July.

September

Current Location: Rocky Point Oregon Mostly Sunny and 77 degrees F

I have procrastinated writing a blog all day. The month has been full, with both difficult and delightful moments. I want to talk about the fun, but I do need to get the hard stuff out of the way. Often I think that people who share their feelings about life and the good and the bad things that go on are the best bloggers, the ones I like to read the most. But it can be a fine line. I read Mark’s moody musings with recognition, with “aha’ moments, and Al’s sometimes down days along with the good ones are part of what makes his blog good to read, real. I so appreciate the ups and downs of Sherry and David’s journey, and her willingness to share with us.

There are others who are more reticent, but magnificent photography and wonderful words describing exotic travels are a delight. Now and then my favorite blogger and friend will let some musings slip into her detailed travelogues, and I always enjoy those moments. As I said, a fine line. I have stumbled onto blogs that are terribly tiresome, not because the blogger talked about how they felt about something, but maybe because they went on and on in a way that was …well…whiny and boring. Needless to say, I don’t read those blogs any more.

I do talk about feelings in my blog, maybe more than some, not as much as others. The surprise for me was my need to shut up and shut down when I had to deal with letting my cat Jeremy go. It was and is hard to talk about it somehow. Every animal owner knows the feeling of saying goodbye. It happens to all of us eventually. Even though I found I didn’t want to talk about it, I did discover that I needed to say it had happened, and the flood of condolences and support that came in was a good thing for me. Thank you to everyone who made comments, and especially to MZB, a fellow blogger/friend who recently lost a loved pet as well, and sent long letters to assist me through the process.

I miss Jeremy, of course. Somehow I miss him even more in the MoHo. He loved to travel because he knew we were all right there close together, he didn’t have to go crying around the house trying to find us. In his old age, he hated being alone. He was either on my lap, on Mo’s shoulder, or riding shotgun on the dash whenever we were on a trip. Still, nearly two decades with a cat is a blessing, especially a cat like Jeremy, so I won’t complain any more.

In case you are wondering, Abby is OK. Not exactly fine, but OK. She is still happy and eating and drinking and sticking to Mo like glue as usual. We still have some time with her it seems.

Just a day after Jeremy went to cat heaven, my grandson Xavier was in another play, “The Skin of our Teeth”, at the Linkville Playhouse in Klamath Falls. Daughter Deborah came over from Grants Pass to spend the weekend and go to the play with us. It was a fine evening, and nearly 11pm when I pulled into the driveway back home. I saw some movement on our porch, with dark hulking figures by the door, and started to panic, when a closer look suddenly revealed that the big hulking man on the porch was my grandson Steven!

From left: Deborah, Sue, Deanna, Mo, Steven, Jeremy, Axel, Melody

Daughter Deanna had picked him up in Moses Lake where he now lives and brought him to Rocky Point as a birthday surprise for me. It was a great surprise, in addition to having Deanna here for a few days, I finally got to spend some time with Steven. We have great shared memories of the years when I took him on work camping trips into the wilderness of Idaho when he was a teenager. This was the first time I have seen him since 2007 and since he returned from his second tour in Iraq. Even nicer, Steven was born on my birthday, so it was his birthday too!

What a great weekend we had! I had previously requested a family hike for Sunday the 14th, choosing the Mt Scott trail in Crater Lake as a good place for a family trek. I knew that Melody and my grandkids Xavier and Axel would be there, along with daughter Deb, but had no clue that our little family hike would include Deanna and Steven. Deanna’s husband Keith remained home to do some home time chores in Richland as they are waiting for delivery of a new semi to replace the one they currently own. Deanna has some fairly horrendous stories about California emission laws for truckers, but I won’t go into that right now except to say that it has cost my trucker kids more than 100K in after market fixes and down time.

The fires in the west this year have been terrible, and the skies have been smoky for several weeks now. On the morning of our hike, we still were under smoke from the 790 fire just 9 miles northwest of Rocky Point, and much more smoke from the huge Happy Camp fire just across the border in California. I had so hoped for clear skies for our hike, but decided that we wouldn’t let the smoke get in the way of our family celebration.

If you look closely, you can see the trailhead parking area below

The weather was actually perfect, with cool morning air warmed up by the midday sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, and even with the smoky skies in the distance, once we were above 7,000 feet or so at Crater Lake, the air was clear. Our hike wasn’t so much about the fabulous views of Crater Lake as much as a place to be together as a family and enjoy the outdoors doing something a little bit different.

Mt Scott is the highest point in Crater Lake National Park, and the trail to the lookout at the peak is 2.5 miles each way, with a 1,200 foot elevation rise to the summit at 8900 feet. Unlike some peak trails, however, this one is well graded without a lot of boulder hopping steps. Perfect for all levels of hiking skill. I loved it. Just enough to get a good workout, but not enough to burn anyone out.

Steven put photoshop on my computer so I could get everyone into one frame, but I haven’t tried it yet!After our hike, we continued around the Rim Road that encircles Crater Lake, stopping a few times to enjoy the views. Probably due to the smoke, the park wasn’t especially crowded, but the lake blues were a bit subdued. Even so, as I looked at the lake, I wondered out loud to Mo, “We live here, why don’t we visit this park more often!?” I promised myself more Crater Lake hikes in the future.

With a two hour trip home after the hike, we were all starving, and I was happy that I had slow cooked the ribs all night in the oven. All they needed was a quick glaze on the BBQ. They turned out to be the best ribs I ever cooked. That little trick in George’s recipe for the WeberQ, using sauerkraut between the ribs, makes for fall off the bone tender tasty meat.

Deb and Melody had to go home and back to work, but Deanna and Steven stayed for another two nights, spending a great day talking and sharing stories. Steven was a computer security hacker for the Army, and had some great tricks and ideas for our computers that were really helpful. He also had some rather interesting stories. Whew! The world can be a scary place. Mt Scott family hike (89 of 91)

Deanna took Mo and me (I sounds better, but nope…Deanna took me is the rule, right Sherry?) and Steven to a great birthday dinner at Lake of the Woods Resort, just 15 minutes up the highway, with a beautiful view of the lake from our table. Speaking of the highway, we at last have a name for our pass. I often talk about going over “the unnamed pass” on Highway 140 to Medford. I now have a name. The highway department dubbed our pass “High Lakes Pass” and we now even have a sign at the summit! Good name. The Sky Lakes Wilderness is on the west and the Mountain Lakes Wilderness is on the east side of the road so High Lakes is a great name.

Birthday dinner (15 of 15) Birthday dinner (4 of 15) The final celebration for the week culminated in a trip over the mountain to enjoy a play at the Shakespearean Festival in Ashland. What a treat it was to sit in the gorgeous Allen Elizabethan Theater for a magnificent production of “Into the Woods”. The Festival is world class, and people come from all over the world to see the plays. Mo and I have been to a couple of the plays in two of the other theaters in the past, but seeing a play on this famous stage was first for both of us.

No photography allowed inside the theater, so I took this from the web

Best part of the story, however, was the seat choice. The theater is an open air venue, with rain a rarity in Ashland this time of year. I ordered tickets months ago, and even then the “best” (more expensive) seats were sold out, so we had to settle for row M, toward the back. Lo and behold, it rained! And those “best” ticket holders got all wet while we were completely protected by the balcony above us! Amazing! Even more amazing was the professional way that the cast continued the dancing and singing in those fabulous costumes with barely any acknowledgement that they were getting soaked as well. Pretty incredible!

It would have been a great way to end the month, but instead we are going to end it with an even better plan. We are off to Seattle and the San Juan Islands. Just a short jaunt, because we know that the San Juan’s deserve much more time, but this will be an exploratory trip with a longer visit to come in the future.

As much as I struggled with writing this blog, I knew I had better get it done before we get on the road and I have photos to process and stories to write about another new destination for us! Onward.