This week in Grants Pass

Well, we arrived in Oregon on Monday. The Lesinas were driving back from their annual family camping trip in the wilds of Northern California and and had arranged to pick us up in Medford. We landed slightly before they could get there, so we took a taxi to our favourite Pizza Bar/Restaurant - Kaleidoscope - and had lunch there, finishing in perfect time, just as they arrived.

We all drove over to Grants Pass and started to settle in. The rest of the week has been spent mostly in Delsie Drive as Scott and Lucy returned to work - Scott is doing 10 days in a row prior to us leaving for Southern California next weekend to meet Gary and Luca.

It's been getting hotter each day - yesterday (Friday), it reached 108 F and today must be at least as high - it feels that way anyway.

The boys are happy to be home, back in the comfort of their own rooms again. We've only taken them out twice this week - once to our favourite book store Barnes & Noble in Medford, and the other time locally to Fred Meyer to try to get a game for Braeden, who still has birthday money to burn. The price of our book store trip was another lunch at Kaleidoscope - not at all painful - and we took the surplus Mozarella sticks back home in a box.

Scott has been busy on the BBQ and Lucy has delivered a steady supply of various cocktails - it's nice to be back here.

I've been out cycling 3 times this week. On one of my excursions through Rogue C. College grounds, I came across this totem pole:

The rest of the week can be told in pictures:

My Father's Day cards - Cade's on the left and the rest of the Lesina's on the right, with the "stubby cooler" below

On their camping trip, Scott came across these relics of a long-lost railway line in the wilds. We couldn't quite figure out exactly what they were.

This was taken in Grants Pass today to try to provide a comparison.

Grants Pass always has a selection of bears in different poses Downtown each year

Lucy took us to her work - a new building that she moved in to last year. This is the treatment pool.

No, it's not a gym - this is Lucy's work again. The equipment is for patients.

Cade tries on some of the OT mechanical aids.

Practising certificates in After-care. Lucy's on the right, second down.

Judy, one of Lucy's work colleagues has some blueberry bushes at her home and allows the public to come in and buy - pre-picked or pick your own. 

Judy's husband, Pete, was constructing this tree house and he showed us around.

Back at Delsie Drive, Lucy shared her birthday present from Kelly - frozen cheesecake lollies.

Sunday - last day in Breckenridge

We've checked in and head off for Denver at the crack of dawn tomorrow to catch our plane to Medford, where we'll meet up with the Lesinas, who are at camp at Ballard just now.

Jo went to church this morning. I walked her there and then came back to get our boarding passes printed. We had a lazy lunch and early afternoon and then set off to walk to Broken Compass Brewery - one of the few we hadn't visited.

It was hot and we took a wrong turning - my fault - which added probably 40 minutes or so to our walk, but we got there in the end. It was a brewery and tap room and the beers were very nice - although I broke one of the samplers. I was too hot, sweaty and tired, but they were very nice about it.

We caught the bus back and went to Bubba Gump's for tea:

So it's bye bye Colorado tomorrow - and look out Oregon - here we come!

Saturday - Gondola & Beer Fest

Saturday morning was time for another free ride - this time on the gondola. We traveled up to Level 3 where all the attractions are - not that we were interested in them - we just wanted to have a look and go for a walk.

The gondolas up to this level were all enclosed and Jo was fine with that:

At Level 3 there were chairlifts up to the higher slopes, but these were open, bench-style, and there was no way Jo was going up in them, so we settled for coffee:

We then headed down the Four o'Clock Trail back to the village. Most of it was a ski slope but it was a pleasant stroll downhill:

It didn't take long - it was only a mile or so downhill - so we thought we had plenty of time to travel back to Dillon, where there was a beer festival on in the afternoon. We jumped on the (free) bus to Frisco and stayed on it as it moved on to Silverdale and then Dillon.

It was a beautiful afternoon and the setting at the marina at Lake Dillon was splendid. We worked our way through the products of 16 different Colorado breweries (32 different beers) - but fear not, dear people - the glasses were only one-thirds of a pint, and they were mostly only half filled, so we didn't really drink all that much - honest. Here's Jo just after we left the festival to catch the bus home:

Is she happy? You bet!