So you want to know what we've been up to since my last post? It's a good question - now, can I remember? I do recall going for a bike ride on Friday morning - although I only know that because I've posted it on my cycling blog. What else happened that day I do not recall now - I obviously didn't take any photos to remind me.
Saturday was different - I managed to persuade Jo to try riding a bike and she, Lucy and I rode to nearby work colleague Judy's place to pick blueberries. It was lovely, but, when we came to leave, heading down the gravelly slope that leads to the small farm, Jo panicked a bit and slammed on the anchors, thinking she was going too fast down the hill. The inevitable happened - skidoo - with the following result:
Lucy happened across an article in the local paper - which was also mentioned on the morning TV - about a Craft Beer Festival in Medford, so she drove us down there and Jo and I spent a very pleasant couple of hours there before heading back to Grants Pass, where Scott was busying himself in the vegetable patch:
Sunday was a bit of a blur too, but I got out on my bike again on Monday morning - and again on Wednesday - discovering some nice new mountain trails at the end of Elk Lane. Check out my cycling blog for details, including a link to a short video of some scary jumps - http://bvetscycling.blogspot.com/2016/06/euro-interruptus.html. The trails here are deserted and it would be quite easy to get disoriented and get lost. Lucy's also warned me about the possibility of coming across bears and cougars in these areas. The only slight disappointment is that there are no clear views from the top as there is too much vegetation to see all the surrounding area:
Scott and I have been going along to Cade's school after Scott finishes work to watch Cade in football practice. The facilities there are excellent and there's a bunch of kids who take part, as witnessed by this photo:
Yes, Cade is in there somewhere!
In my last posting to this blog, I showed Cade's fancy pair of shoes, but I didn't realise what a shoe fetishist he is. Would you believe it, he has 14 pairs of hardly used shoes - here's some of them, which he lined up the other night to show us:
At prices normally between $100 and $200 per pair, that's quite a wardrobe! I just hope his feet don't take a spurt now!
Lucy hadn't managed to get Jo's birthday present over to her back in March, so we had a (very) belated birthday tea for her the other night:
Still on the subject of shoes, I've been out bargain hunting in Ross' stores and managed to pick up a couple of pairs for very reasonable prices - summer golf shoes and some casual walking shoes.
I also finished my second book of the holiday in double quick time - Peter May's The Black House, the first in a trilogy of books based on the Hebridean island of Lewis. We paid a visit to Medford on Tuesday and went to our favourite book store - Barnes and Noble - where we spotted the second in the trilogy - The Lewis Man - so I'm now working my way through that. While we were in Medford, we went for a short walk along a bit of Bear Creek Greenway, a 20 mile stretch of off road walking and cycling track (http://www.bearcreekgreenway.com/). Apparently, the longer term intention is to have it running all the way from Grants Pass to Ashland, which would be amazing. It's certainly something I miss as most of my cycling here has to be done on roads shared with traffic. Jo was sufficiently encouraged by her short cycle on Sunday and the flat tarmac'd surface of this trail that she feels she would like to do a bit of it with me. Next week might be a good time for us, as the Lesinas go on their annual long weekend camping trip with Scott's family.
Last night, we booked a couple of rooms in Seaside, Monterey Bay, California. We'll break our July journey down to Newport Coast and also see the July 4th celebrations there. We're having trouble, however, in booking rooms in San Francisco for the night before we fly home. Lucy has booked tickets for us all to go to Alcatraz, but accommodation in the city is so expensive and even that out at the airport is hard to find. More work needs to be done here.
