Roots

I decided to change my main photo this afternoon.  As much as I liked the Kew Garden lily, I felt like something new.  The road to this viewpoint was steep, long and winding--as the photo shows--and just seems to fit the "meandering" theme of the blog.  Or my mood today.  Whatever.

Those of you who followed the "Blog America" road trip posts in June, will perhaps remember this photo.  It's looking east, up the Gorge, after scaling the mountain road to the viewpoint.  Shortly before I took this photo we had crossed into Oregon.  I remember breathing a sigh of relief to once again be on familiar ground.

This looks to the west, the direction we were headed.

There's no question I have misgivings about leaving Edinburgh--and fight the urge to return almost daily--but I have to acknowledge, totally and absolutely, that Oregon is one of the most unique, diverse and beautiful places in America. 

That doesn't mean I don't find it strange to be back here.  After spending an early childhood in Alaska, my parents decided it was time to return to the Lower 48, so the sibs and I were raised in Oregon.  In my twenties though, I left for good.  Since those days, I've lived in many places, and over this last decade, I developed a deep and abiding love for another country...Scotland.  

Maybe because of the memory trip to Diamond Lake on Monday, thinking of Dad, and my sisters, and my growing-up years, I'm realizing that, when all is said and done, regardless of where I've been, or where I've lived, my roots were somehow planted here.  If that's the case, I guess it's really not so strange that my winding road has led me back here after all.

Excellent Adventure

We had the best day yesterday. The weather was just perfect, and the road trip was equally so. It was a long drive (over 200 miles round-trip), though we stopped so often, it didn't seem long or grueling. I took many pictures, then had to spend some serious time last night sifting through them all to select the better ones. Be warned though: I will be posting a bunch.

On the road by 9:30am, which was a miracle in itself. We drove along Highway 138, a beautiful road through miles and miles of forest. It's called the Crater Lake Highway as it eventually leads you right there.

Not long after leaving Roseburg, we stopped at a viewpoint for Colliding Rivers.  During the spring, the Little River collides with the North Umpqua and at that point, they make a spectacular display of...well...colliding rivers.  The rivers are very placid in late September so there wasn't much action, though that didn't detract from the beauty.

The colliding part comes from the left where the Little meets the Umpqua, then they both swirl around and merge, exiting to the right. I will have to come back here in the spring to see it. The water was so very clear and blue.

There are a multitude of waterfalls on Hwy 138, though we opted not to hike to the first few we came to. They were both easy hikes (less than a mile), but our goal was Crater Lake, so we put them on our To Do list for another time.


After a little over an hour from Roseburg, we came to a waterfall just off the road that didn't require a hike. It was early in the day, so the light was muted and soft. No one was there and all you could hear was the rushing of the water and a few birds in the trees.

Whitehorse Falls

We were standing on a viewing platform several feet above the water; very cool to be hanging over the froth.  The woodland around the falls was very dense and quiet, and smelled wonderful of fresh pine, clean water and damp moss.

Oz and I walked up the forest road a ways, then took a small trail to the water's edge above the falls.  Isn't this just a great shot of the wilderness..??

Clearwater Falls

Our next stop was about 15 minutes further down the road.  We were able to walk right to the bottom of the falls.  We were even deeper in the forest so the light was very dim; the sun had a hard time getting through the canopy.

Walking downstream, I took this amazing shot of the water below the falls.  It was so crystal-clear, every stone and pebble was visible under the surface.  Again, no one around for miles, and such a peaceful, serene place.  (You might have to click on the photo to see this as more than a jumble of trees.)

We got to Diamond Lake just at lunch time.  I have many memories of this place, so it was wonderful to find it completely unchanged since my childhood.

We  drove to the South Shore and found a picnic spot where we had lunch.  I came prepared, so we had a great lunch right at the water's edge.  Ozzy spent more time staring up a tree where a very irate chipmunk kept up a running commentary on his opinion of our presence in his territory.

I spent some time here thinking about my Dad.  I have so many memories of him here when I was a kid, loading his three girls into the boat and teaching us to fish.  We were his surrogate boys until the Golden Child my little brother came along when I was ten.  Most of the time I loved being out on the water, though none of us ever learned to put that wriggling worm on a hook.  Yuck factor to this day.  I felt closer to him, sitting at Diamond Lake yesterday, than I have since he passed away. It was really good.

After lunch we walked Oz along the lake.  Our trail opened within the trees and as I looked up, I couldn't believe that Mt Thielsen was framed so perfectly.  It is affectionately known as the Lightning Rod of the Cascades.  Understandable, as it spears into the sky.

And then.  The purpose of the whole adventure.

I want to say, first and foremost: I didn't alter these photos at all.  In fact, the reality was even more amazing than my pictures show.  I don't know if it was the atmosphere (we were nearly at 8,000 ft), the perfect mid-70s weather, the clear skies, or the time of year, but I have never seen Crater Lake look more beautiful in all the times I have been there over the course of my life.  Stunning, spectacular, brilliant, amazing...none of those words even come close.  There should be a new word to describe such a sight.  It makes total sense why this is one of America's Wonders.  The surface of the lake was so still, it created a perfect mirror effect.

I wish I could line these three photos up in the panorama I saw.  Unfortunately, my blog format won't accommodate three pictures side by side.  I'll try to get them as close as I can, but to get the full impact of the mirror thing, click on the photos.

Nature, at its most profoundly beautiful:

We drove the 21 miles from the North Gate entrance to Crater Lake National Park, to the South Gate, then back again, taking pictures in both directions.  The sunlight changed the colors of the water and the sky depending on which way I was facing.  What a day to be there.  

We stopped at the Rim Village and while sitting on the stone wall, this cheeky little chipmunk wandered over.  Course, as soon as I tried to take his picture, he turned away.

After a bit of coaxing, he gave me a look, then jumped over the wall and raced down the crater..!!  Must be nice to be fearless.

This is the view we were looking at while sitting on the stone wall, chatting up the chipmunk.

These next photos are of Wizard's Island, the actual top of the volcano that formed Crater Lake when Mt Mazama blew up.  The color of the water around the island is astounding.

Closer views, with me hanging over the abyss to get the right angle.  Can you believe that water..??

Now, as if these lake views weren't enough.  This was the scenery behind me.

To my left.  (Somewhere up there, though barely visible in this photo, is a little ranger's station at the top of the ridge. How much would I love that job..?? Just air-drop me books and food, and I would be a happy girl.)

To my right. 

On our way home, we stopped again at Diamond Lake to check out this new viewpoint area that's just been built.  It was very pretty, though I was shooting straight into the sun.  Still, it was another, different view of the lake.

And one last stop on the return drive.  Watson Falls.  We were thinking it would be an easy hike, but when we got there, it was more rigorous than we had the time or energy to attempt.  It has been added to the To Do list.  Definitely click on the photo as you won't be able to see the waterfall way up that mountain in the distance.

What an amazing, breath-taking day.  Even disregarding the lakes and falls, you can't imagine the magnitude of the forest.  We drove for well over two hours and never left the trees.  Nirvana for a tree-hugger like me.

*****************************************************************

P.S.  Ignore the gaps between some of the paragraphs and photos.  I think the Blogger site is having a bad day.  No doubt they wished they had spent such a wonderful day out yesterday.

Day Off

Today was my day off.  In my mind I was going to sit on the deck and read a book.  Imagine..!!  Read a book..!!

The reality of my day off was:  Walking Ozzy this morning before my first cup of coffee, painting two boards of the house that had to be replaced when Miguel and Chris did the front deck, five loads of wash, taking Ozzy to the park for a long walk, spending an hour reinstalling the frigging printer which suddenly decided to stop working, catching up on very overdue emails, and in a minute, making dinner before Ozzy's last walk of the day.

Nothing like a nice, relaxing day off, huh..??  Oh well.  Tomorrow is the road trip to Crater Lake.  As the day will be long--it's 100 miles to the lake--I most likely won't be blogging on Monday, but plan on a good one for Tuesday.  I'm looking forward to the adventure, getting some great photos, and best of all, having time away from all this exhausting book reading. 

Photo courtesy of Amolife

Time for Fun

On a blistering hot Saturday afternoon (muggy mid-80s), while Alan toils in the front yard, I sit here at the computer, sweltering in the heat, contemplating the past week...month...year. Not a good thing to do when you're hot and tired, let me tell you. Still, the bulk of the house sorting is finally done, and if I think back to this time last week, man, have we come a long way.

So, in light of that, we've decided that Monday we will head out on an adventure. No work, no plans, just a nice, long drive into the mountains to Crater Lake, stopping along the way to take photos of whatever catches my fancy, and enjoying time away from it all. I'm living for the day.

Some random photos of this past week...

My new study/guest room/office (and gulp, NaNo is just around the corner..!!). I haven't moved the laptop in yet, but it will be sitting right in the middle of the table that I've turned into my new desk. I wrote the first book at that very table, so should be able to plot out the second one--in theory. Since I took this photo, I have added some personal stuff around, plus next week sometime we are going to start the daunting task of hanging our pictures around the house. Should be interesting as most of the house is windows.

The duvet from Heaven...and all my pillows (six of them, though you can't see that in the photo). It looks pretty bare, without wall stuff, though that's coming.

We took Ozzy to River Forks Park yesterday. It was a beautiful day, not yet too hot, and he had a great time running hither and yon in the grass. He really, really misses having grass. Up here on Broke Back Mountain, there isn't much that even comes close to grass, and the only things green are the crickets, grasshoppers and trees. Poor Oz.

Another view. We'd been sitting at a picnic table in that clump of trees in the distance, then walked Oz around the whole perimeter of one side of the park. It's truly a big place. We were on the side away from the river, just to see what it was like. It was nice under the trees.

Islands in the Stream.

This morning I got up early, and as I opened the blinds, the sun was just coming up. The valley was in its usual foggy mist and though I have taken several of these photos, I couldn't resist taking a few more. The light from the sun was sparkling in pinks and golds on the mist and was so magical. On mornings like this, it really looks like we're in the clouds and the other ridges across the valley are actual islands in the stream of mist.

[Brief aside here. It was totally hot in here when I sat down to write, so I reluctantly turned on the A/C just to cool things down, but for some reason, I kept getting hotter and hotter. I went outside, where it seemed ever so much cooler, and just now came back in to discover I had turned on the bloody heat by mistake..!! Seriously, I really need a vacation] 

The Comeback Kid 

Remember my deer-decimated Crape Myrtle..?? (And yes, I heard all the laughter).

Well, after hiding it from all deer-related marauders, and putting up the fence, check out the plant now:

It doesn't have any blooms, but it's recovered somehow from being eaten to within an inch of its life..!! Course, I'm afraid to plant it in the front where I'd originally wanted to--the deer factor--but still, IT LIVES..!!

So, all things considered, it's been a very busy time for us, but it looks like we might be getting a grip on things. You can only take it one day at a time and hope that light at the end of the tunnel isn't a big honking train. And, hey, Monday I get to drive away from it all and have an adventure..!!

ZZZZzzzzzz

Final day of hard graft to finish the remainder of the unpacking, sorting and organizing.  I must be getting old.  This past week has just about done me in.  I can't wait to go to bed at night--which is usually my first thought when I wake up each morning..!!

I will be back tomorrow, fresh as a daisy, ready to blog like nobody's business (...yeah...right...)  In any case, I'll be back, and hopefully with something worth blogging about besides this seemingly never-ending move.

Too Funny...

Again, no time to blog.  I'm down to one room left to unpack, then it's just the fine-tuning...and remembering where I've put everything.

This morning I saw this hysterical YouTube video that made me laugh so hard, I just had to share it.  As Alan watched it, I laughed even harder the second time.  I can't recall the last time I had such a good laugh.

I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll be finished with nearly everything and can get myself back on track.  Crossed fingers.  In the meantime, enjoy the video.

Sinking Ships

I wish the ship had gone down--the crew saved, of course, but all our stuff now at the bottom of the ocean.  I liked how the house was before chaos and our belongings arrived. 

To recap:  Saturday I met the driver, Scott, at the designated place for me to pick him up, and one look at his massive, gigantic truck, and I knew he would never, ever get up the mountain.  I told him as much, though he still wanted to see for himself.  By the time we had navigated the two hairpin curves and the narrow, twisting road, he was beginning to see things my way.  When he got a good look at the dead-end part, he agreed there was no way.  I hated being right.

We ended up having to get a U-Haul, and because his truck was so large, he had to park it at a legitimate truck stop (6 miles out of Roseburg), then unload from there and drive back to our place.  Three times.  Why three times..??  Because at short notice, we could only get a 14-ft U-Haul.

This was after the first load was shoved into the garage and they went back for more.

Ozzy was not a happy boy on Saturday.  I was hoping he would smell all the old smells from home and feel better about being moved to the wilderness.  That backfired.  He got more depressed and stressed as the day went on.  I think he's now totally realized this is not a hotel and he really lives here.  As I was taking these photos, he tried to make a run for it down the driveway.  I think he was looking for the airport.

This was after all the driving back and forth business was over.  The only opening between the downstairs and the driveway was this little aisle as the garage was stuffed to the rafters.  When everything had been transferred from the giant truck to the U-Haul, and delivered, Scott and his sidekick Greg began hauling all the boxes and odds and ends of furniture up into the house.  (Notice Ozzy in the distance...still calculating how to get to the airport.)

When the day started, the house was roomy, bright, open...and clean.  I felt bad for the guys.  Though it was a cloudy, rainy day, it was still in the 70s and very muggy.  Scott was starting to lag at this point.  So was I.  I was unpacking things, directing traffic, and cursing that there hadn't been a storm at sea.

Early stage of the bedroom mess.  By the end you couldn't see the bed for all the boxes.  I was trying to keep up with the unpacking, but lost the plot by late afternoon.

The some-day-if-I-ever-get-it-organized study.  By the time we all called it a day, you couldn't see the little table, the futon couch, or the windows for the multitude of boxes.

There wasn't a surface in the house that wasn't covered with stuff. The kitchen was so bad, I lost the camera somewhere in the turmoil so these are the only photos.  I didn't find it again until the next day.  By then, I was too exhausted to push down on the shutter.

Some key points that stand out:

• The monster truck was beyond belief.  I meant to take a photo of it when we took the guys back to the truck stop, but I ended up staying at the house to keep unpacking, plus I'd lost the camera.
• After Alan left with the guys, I thought I would take Oz out for a walk up the road, and discovered that the U-Haul truck had left a five-foot wide swath of oil for about twenty feet down the drive and up the road.  I walked Oz, then spent 45 minutes with dishwashing liquid, the broom and the hose, washing the mini-Gulf oil spill away.  Like I wasn't already tired enough.
• Back in the house, and back to work.  I was unpacking a box in the kitchen, reached in, and stabbed myself with a broken shard of glass.  Blood dripping all over the packing material, the floor, down my arm.  Gross.  All I could do was chant, "Don't be bad, don't be bad, don't be bad..."  I'm alone in the house, no car, no idea where the ER is, and not too sure if I still have all of my finger.  Turned out okay, though if the wound had been anywhere but my finger, I would no doubt have needed stitches.  Many blood-soaked paper towels later, I finally triple-bandaged myself and carried on.
• As I worked, I couldn't help but ponder why we need the things we haul around with us.  If I croaked tomorrow, all the things that matter to me will mean nothing to anyone else.
• When I was unpacking my clothes and hanging them in the closet, this ghastly odor began wafting around me.  I sniffed a handful of shirts and was horrified to smell something akin to bilge water, seaweed and mildew.  OMG, my clothes were apparently dragged behind the ship from the UK, through the Panama Canal, to LA..!!  I will be doing laundry for the next two years.
• Very late into the evening, I made my bed with my much-missed and favorite duvet and pillows.  Bliss.  I slept like a baby.  Whether because of my blanky, or because I was beyond tired, I don't know.

Sunday was grueling, though at least I felt we were making some headway.  Today has been much the same, though I find myself getting snarkier as the hours and days go by.  I need a break from this constant work.  I'm with Ozzy on this one:  Where's the airport..??

Too Tired...

...to write a thing about our weekend and the movers.  "Tomorrow is another day," to quote Scarlett.  With any luck, by then I will finally have some spare time to recount the...ah...adventures of the past two days.  In the meantime, this just about says it all for this particular posting:

Aarrgghh

We're having great difficulty with the delivery of our stuff.  I have talked to the truck driver three times now, and tomorrow at the crack of dawn, I am going down the mountain, picking him up in my car, and driving him along the route so he can see if his 75-foot truck can make the grade.  Never, in all my wildest imaginings, did I think the delivery people would be using a truck so damned big. 

Apparently the company who received our goods from the UK subcontracts to this trucking outfit, then they deliver to several families in one enormous load.  Our stuff would fit in a normal, family-sized U-Haul.  There's virtually no way a 75-ft truck will be able to manuever along our narrow, twisting road; I think the guy can get in, though there's no way he'll get back out.  There is nowhere to turn around and it's a dead-end road. 

To add further insult to injury, they may have to rent a U-Haul, transfer our stuff into it, unload it at the house, and charge us $400.00 for the experience.  Alan is beside himself (justifiably) as we have already paid thousands of pounds for shipping--door to door, UK to US--and suddenly we have a $250.00 charge because the men will have to climb 14 steps to unload our belongings, and now the additional $400 because they are using a monster truck that can't navigate our road.  I can't help but question why we have to pay for their choice in the size of the truck they're using.  What does their method of hauling have to do with us..??  Aarrgghh.

So, it should be interesting.  I won't be posting tomorrow as I haven't a clue how the bloody day is going to go.  Maybe Sunday will be better, and (hopefully) we'll at long last have our stuff...which will be a good thing as every time the frigging phone rings it's more ka-ching, ka-ching.

This photo just about sums up my attitude with this whole thing.  I'm one very cranky cat.

Nothing Much

We haven't done much today that's in the least bit interesting.  A trip to the bank to open a local account, another to the Social Security office to change my status, then a whirlwind trip to Costco.  (At least this time I resisted the urge to buy the King Kong-sized Cheetos, though did succumb to a box of candy bars.  I stashed them away for that time in the winter when I will be desperate for chocolate to chase away the gloom.)

Last night Ozzy was being the lapdog he is supposed to be--rather than the Rottweiler he thinks he is--and I managed to snap this great shot of him as he curled up beside me on the couch.

Course, then he was cranky that I'd flashed a light in his face, so he got down in disgust and went to sit on the other side of the room.

We got a call from the shipping people that our stuff is coming on Saturday..!!!!  OMG, I am so excited...!!!  It will be chaos and confusion, but at long, long last, we will have our belongings.  I will try to take photos of the mayhem, though no guarantees as I will also be directing the movers hither and yon.  With the house being so high up the ridge and off the street, I don't envy them this task.  No doubt we will end up being their least favorite people on the planet by the time they're finished.

And that's all, just a normal day for a change, including the blasted mid-80s heat.  It's cloudy and muggy today with possible thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow.  I don't care about the storms if it cools things down...like for 6 months or so.