Monday 23rd September
Quietish day - Scott and Lucy back at work while, apart from me doing a short growler fill cycle, Jo and I spent most of our time at Delsie Drive.
Tuesday 24th September
Lucy was off work today but Scott did a few hours in the morning, after which we all jumped in the truck and drove across to Medford to meet Barry and Helen. We picked them up at the airport then nipped over to nearby Kaleidoscope (https://kaleidoscopepizza.com/) for pizzas and beer.
Barry and Helen did the reconnaissance tour back at Scott and Lucy's, unpacked a little and settled in for the evening, looking forward to 5 clear days in Southern Oregon.
Wednesday 25th September
After breakfast all 6 of us plus the dogs - Philly and Buster - set off for a short hike at the local Cathedral Hilla trails:
Now the decision was - which outlet shall we go to for drinks and pies - nearby in Grants Pass at Powderhorn Cafe or out in the Applegate Valley to Pennington Farm (https://www.pennington.farm/)? The latter won and we had lunch there, each couple sharing a savoury and a sweet pie - and, naturally, we took home a large strawberry rhubarb pie for us all to enjoy that evening.
Back in GP, I decided I needed a growler refill and Barry joined me in a short cycle downtown. While I was in PNW getting it filled, Barry stayed outside looking after the bikes. He chatted to a passing stranger who then jumped in to his car, then stopped again to engage Barry in further conversation about the monarchy. He was pretty opinionated and sounded off about Charles and Camilla and enquired about the Stone of Destiny. His next move alarmed Barry a little as he picked up his gun from the front passenger seat in a demonstration of what law-abiding Americans required.
Thursday 26th September
It was decided to take a longer drive today and go up Mount Ashland. The first part of the journey on the I-5 was easy but then we began to climb the winding mountain road. Finally, we arrived at the ski centre, some 7,500 feet above sea level where we had spectacular views across to still snow-topped Mount Shasta (14,000 feet) in neighbouring California:
The Pacific Crest trail - like the I-5 - goes all the way from Mexico to Canada - some 2,300 miles. Well, we managed 0.1% of that before jumping back in the truck and headed back down to the lovely town of Ashland for a spot of lunch and a stroll round the town.
Friday 27th September
A much shorter drive today over to historic Jacksonville, but without Jo who had a bad night with a rasping cough and aching limbs. The rest of us took the historic trolley ride round the town then had lunch on the balcony at La Fiesta (https://www.lafiestamexicanor.com/), a place that Jo and I had been to last year. On the drive back, we took the more scenic route through the Applegate Valley, stopping to sample one of the many wineries - https://redlilyvineyards.com/. We took our samplers - in test tubes - down to the riverside:
The drive from there took us past Pennington Farms again - we couldn't resist a quick pit stop to pick up another family strawberry rhubarb pie.
Saturday 28th September
Just 3 of us on today's adventure. Scott and Lucy had other matters to attend to and Jo still hadn't recovered sufficiently. Table Rock was the plan but we stopped on the way to take in the Ti'lomikh Falls:
We got a bit confused between the 2 Table Rocks but eventually made it to the trailhead at the Upper one. Very nice path - new stones and an easy zig-zag to the top where we took a walk around the lava-covered plateau with turkey vultures riding the thermals above us and with terrific views of the pointy Mount McLoughlin (9,500 feet):
One penance that had to be paid - it was Barry and Helen's first visit to USA after all - was a visit to the Oregon Vortex/House of Mystery (https://www.oregonvortex.com/). It's a bit weird - Helen likened it to a school physics experiment.
For our penultimate meal as a group, we decided to eat out back:
Sunday 29th September
Still without Jo, who was a bit better but opted for another recovery day - a wise decision in hindsight - 5 of us headed out to Hellgate Canyon and beyond Galice for a hike out to Rainie Falls. We had hoped to take Barry and Helen on the jetboats (https://hellgate.com/) down the Rogue River to Hellgate Canyon but the rides had stopped earlier than usual this year. We were able to stop at a spot en route overlooking the narrow canyon where films and TV shows had been made:
The walk to the Falls was 2 miles out and 2 miles back along a fairly narrow, dusty and eventually rocky, path. I had ditched the old sports shoes I had brought on holiday, thinking I could get one more year out of them, and was today wearing a pair of Scott's trainers - they definitely helped but my poor old knees struggled. I managed in the end - just:
Back in Grants Pass, Barry and Helen had insisted they wanted to take us all out for a meal - mostly to thank Scott and Lucy for their hospitality. We'd had a number of excellent meals at Delsie Drive, with Scott, as ever, the barbecue king, and Lucy on full support with salads, sides, wines etc. Now we were all dining out. After one false start we ended up at the Horny Goat (https://hornygoatgp.com/), which describes itself as a gastropub - and it pretty much lived up to that.
Monday 30th September
Scott and Lucy had a full day at work so they said their goodbyes to Barry and Helen, while Jo and I drove them to Medford airport and saw them get checked in and through security safely before we headed off on a shopping expedition to get me a new pair of shoes:
Tuesday 1st October
Barry had kept in touch and by the time we had breakfasted they were back home again. Jo and I had an easy day at Delsie Drive while Scott and Lucy were on catch-up hours at work.
Wednesday 2nd October
It was laundry day - including bed linen - but we had enough time in the afternoon to take the fairly short walk down to Schroeder Park and the Rogue river:
We used to do this walk regularly but didn't do it last year, nor in the 3 previous Covid years, so were amazed how much housing had been completed in our absence - it threw us off course briefly.
Thursday 3rd October (today)
Jo, feeling a little better, agreed to go for a walk this morning. We returned to the trails at Waters Creek - another place we hadn't been to for a few years. The start wasn't very promising:
We took heed but carried on, making sure we made enough noise to warn animals of our imminent arrival:
There may be a slight look of relief on my face at the end:
So that's it - a mammoth post, but we're back up to date again.
