Finally we reached Bubbe's house in Gold Beach. The drive was a bit white-nuckled- blowing 80, raining sideways- semi overturned in front of us- van shaking in the wind. But it was gorgeous, and we were so happy about it being over 40 degrees that we couldn't care less. Once we got to Gold Beach the rain came in spurts, and we were able to run outside between gusts and gales, and to play in the woods, and occasionally, just to get wet, then go get dry by the wood stove. All was well. Everybody was in heaven and full of relaxation. A few highlights of the trip:
1. The search for the muk-uk-uk puzzle trees (Alutiiq for Monkey). This ancient tree, originally from Chile, has been transplanted here and there in the right growing conditions. They are just rare enough to make the search super fun, and the girls (including now Grandma) were thrilled to be able to spot (and yell) "MUK UK UK!" Our entire 4 months in Europe we only found 30-some, but the week in Oregon we got up to 38. I know, nerdy. But fun!
2. Hanging out at Bubbe's beautiful house
3. Watching the hummingbirds out the window.
4. Playing with the 18 chickens, especially Nude-Neck & Buffy (whose beak is twisted and needs to be hand-fed).
5. Trips to the beach!
6. Going to wood and junk shops (this is an old bandsaw blade that Fish sawed in half and brought back with us to make into knife blades).
7. Enjoying the little shops in Gold Beach. The most fun of all was to send the girls in looking for glass balls, which the Visitor's Center stashes in business for kids to find. You find a ball you get an entry into a drawing. They also stash glass balls on the beach, and if you find them you get to keep them! What a great idea...
8. Going to play in the myrtle wood forest- and climbing INTO the biggest myrtle wood tree. Wow. Magical.
Our last day in Oregon was spent driving. From Gold Beach to Eugene is about 3 and a half hours, but the drive was beautiful. Lots of evidence of mud-slides and downed trees, but we made in to Eugene in time to visit a winery, go to Costco for vitamins, go to Trader Joe's (Balika's fix), meet John and Patty Mahoney for dinner, along with cousins Christine and Nathan, drive by Hans' house to see him, and repack our bags for an early-morning flight. The cherry blossoms were in bloom and it was sweet to see old friends and spend time with family.
On our drive to Eugene we drove through Bandon and saw a big beach debris eagle. Bella and Fish were the only ones to climb out in the rain for a photo, and as they were getting back into the car the artist (the one who's brainchild the Washed Ashore project is!) ran out and gave us a pamphlet, asked where we were from, and asked if we knew Bonnie Dillard! What a treat...
