Floating down the Deschutes River

Today, Amy & I braved the chilly water and did something that we wanted to do last summer and just didn't get around to doing... too chicken, I guess.
Our friends, Rosie & Alanna, who are veteran river floaters inducted us into a Bend summer tradition.

Here are Amy, Alanna & Rosie as we started out.



Rosie has the ideal float. She hardly got wet at all! Just enough to stay cool.



You may have noticed that in order to navigate the current you must use your flip flops. They work great as long as you hold onto them. Luckily, they float!



Amy & Alanna stuck together and tried to pretend that they weren't with their Moms! I did manage to get close enough to get a few pictures.




Of course, there were lots of Canadian Geese sharing the river with us.



As you can maybe tell, the weather is spectacular! 80's and no humidity... After talking with my sister, Cindy, today and hearing about their string of high 90 degree weather with 'out of this world' humidity (southern IL), we can't complain!

Oregon Coast 6/15 - 18

School is out - Summer is here.... so we took off for a few days at the Coast. We stayed in Lincoln City which is somewhat in the middle directly west of home. One day we drove south from our hotel as far as Strawberry Hill State Park - definitely our favorite spot on the coast (so far). All kinds of sea creatures, from mussels to Seals and everything in between. On our way back we stopped at the Oregon Aquarium in Newport and paid to see everything we had just seen in the wild for free. Go figure! OK, the aquarium did have a few things we did not see - sharks, jellyfish, etc.

The next day we drove north as far as Tillamook, which is home of the Tillamook Dairy & Factory. Ice Cream, cheese, fudge... need I say more? YUM!

The weather was typical Oregon Coast - cool, breezy, cloudy...luckily no rain. So different from home that it was a pleasure to feel humidity - my hair even curled/frizzed! Dan felt the dampness in his joints, so we are glad to be home in the desert.

Here's a slide show of our trip. Enjoy!

Summer Vacation!!

Thursday was the last day of 6th grade for Amy. It was a very successful year from an academic standpoint (most important to her parents) but for Amy, the social aspects of school are paramount and will be missed this summer. She does have many friends right here in our neighborhood and, I'm sure, will spend many hours in the pool with them but today we were volunteers.



They received their yearbooks yesterday and she was quoted in it regarding the transition to Middle School from home schooling.

When we 1st moved here and had more free time Amy & I began volunteering at the Central Oregon Humane Society, walking dogs, playing with puppies and cats, and checking out all the misc. other animals that showed up on a regular basis.... rabbits, ferrets, turtles, etc. We didn't have as much free time this past school year so we hope to make up for it this summer. Today I took Amy and her friends, Alanna & Miriam to spend some time loving the animals.

Amy picked 'Ben' as her favorite kitty today.



All the girls fell in love with 'Twinkle Toes'.



Here is a brother/sister pair of Great Danes that are victims of the economy - their owners have lost their home to foreclosure and can no longer keep them. They were gorgeous, gentle and gigantic. Such a beautiful pair!



Amy & Alanna were especially taken with this 4 month old Chihuahua. They both wrote sweet stories describing her and urging the right person to adopt her.



We'll be back soon to visit with these lovely animals.

Charlie is ready for Summer!

Yesterday a strange van pulled up to our house and Charlie, our 'intrepid leader' (as Dan refers to him) was kidnapped by 2 women and transformed into an alien being! No really....
We had made an appointment with a mobile dog groomer and a very unwillingly Charlie spent about an hour and a half getting a much needed bath and haircut or should I say shave!



He is now ready for daily swims in the river, which he enjoys very much.

It will grow back!