West To The Sun And Almost Spring....

This sky was a great improvement on the gray, cold, fog of Grants Pass.

We thought Sande may be taking her title of Birthday Queen too seriously til she came out of the Dollar Store sporting this new "fashion accent!"

That chocolate cake was so decacent it had the birthday girl up dancing to her tunes long after all the rest of us were down for the count.
Karen can always be trusted to come up with a creative cake decoration idea for birthdays.
I'm not sure even she could explain the significance of this one for Sande????
The Winchuck is a tiny stream that sits in a real rainforest ecosystem. This color is uniquely its own.


There were 10 trucks with boat trailers parked at Social Security Bar on the Chetco. The rainbow chert shimmering in this clear water reminded me of the trips we have taken through the upper gorge. Boulders the size of cars and small houses of this splendid rock are common up there.
George, King of the Autoharp just keeps getting better and better.
Billie wowed the audience at the Winchuck Open Mike with her blues number. Karen and Marko put the frosting on her Spanish tune.
A real Cabaret Evening at the Palace was quite a treat.



The trip started out with a sacred winter squash being sacrificed and consumed to assure the success of all crops in this coming year. Karen treated us royally at the Palace on Saturday. The Whinchuck Open Mike was held in town for the first time instead of upriver at the fire hall. All agreed it was a warmer place to spend a January evening.
Sunday AM I went to the beach to watch the light come. A flicker in a driftwood pile, with just a bit of help, turned into a great veggie-dog roast. Yup.....they are good for breakfast. Some of the the rest of the tribe preferred Karen's fruit salad and Els's banana bread. I think they were saving room for the hamburgers at the Church of Rolling Thunder. Only a couple of games of air hockey were played before we headed up the Whinchuck to Ludlum House.
The puddles in the road as we approached milespost 11 became iced over. Such a change from the warmth in the sun, and the fragrance of the flowers down at the ocean!
We celebrated a belated birthday for Sande. Karen, once again, came up with some hightly creative cake decorating ideas and garb for the celebrant. This trip to Ludlum had Carole asking that we make a pact....."Let us promise ourselves to never come camping again!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjlsdU2MxP0