Pre-penultimate Day

It's Saturday morning - our second last full day in Grants Pass. Last night we went to Scott and Lucy's friends Rich and Jen England's for a lovely BBQ. Don't think I've seen so much protein for a while - steaks, chicken and sausages - all cooked to perfection. Of course, we also had the benefit of a driver - Cade took us there and back and spent time at the Englands with his pals.

Earlier on we'd had lunch at the new Red Robin franchise in town. The food was good but they were somewhat short-staffed.

I'd been out on a short bike ride early on and had picked some blackberries for breakfast, so Jo and I went back to the Allen Creek Trail a bit later on - this time in the car - and picked some more, so now Lucy's fridge is full of cups of berries. She took some along to Jen's last night and the girls had them in their champagne.

It's hit 100 + F a few more times this week and it looks like it's not going to cool down until after we leave. We've been waiting for the pressure build-up to bring some storms - hopefully with rain - to help clear the air and reduce the heat a bit, but, despite a couple of brief threats, nothing has happened yet. There has been talk locally of the smoke from distant fires and sure, the hills aren't as clear as they were a couple of weeks ago, but I have neither smelled nor tasted anything in the air this time.

We did get some heavy peals of thunder and some sheet lightning through the night earlier this week - enough to waken us, but still no rain. Holly, however, is the really sensitive one and she trembles any time there's any kind of electrical activity in the area. You can usually find her hiding in the bath, cowering in terror. Lucy eventually had to sleep with her to try to calm her.

The other night, Scott and Lucy were at Cade's pre-season football family BBQ and Jo and I were (mostly) home alone. There were a few distant rumbles and Holly went in to fear mode again:

Nice reflection from the camera flash!

Meanwhile, Shelby and Buster are lying down, very relaxed:

So it looks like we're going to hit a couple of wineries this afternoon. We have to be back before 6 pm as it's Cade's Senior photo session for the yearbook.

Tomorrow we'll probably go out for breakfast and then it's early to bed in preparation for the absurdly early rise on Monday morning to start our nightmare convoluted journey home - Medford - Denver - Atlanta - Heathrow - Aberdeen - and no Business Class this time!