Happy Birthday everyone! We hope you have a wonderful day!
- Joseph (brother) and Uncle Bob on the 21st
- Aunt Mary on the 23rd
- Mom G. on the 26th
We didn't do much this weekend that's too exciting except for make homemade sushi. OK, so Dohnele did most of it. The only thing I did was lightly grill a couple tuna steaks and mix up some wasabi sauce. Dohnele cut all the vegetables (yellow pepper, green onion and avocado), put together the spicy sauce (a secret) and wrapped the sushi in some nori. The result was not only beautiful, but incredibly tasty! Better than any spicy tuna roll I've ever eaten in a restaurant!
MOVIE REVIEW
- "Drillbit Taylor" was long and fairly boring with only a few humorous scenes. B-
- "Vantage Point" was actually pretty good. Very suspenseful and unpredictable. B+
- "The Spiderwick Chronicles" was a cute movie. Good wholesome family entertainment. Emma loved it. A-
- "Mama's Boy" was long and not as funny as I thought it would be. At least it had a good ending. B-
So many fun things happened this weekend! I want to try and keep it short, however, because we haven't even gotten outside yet today!
I was off Thursday and Friday. On Thursday we did as much as we possible could to get ahead so that we could enjoy the remainder of the weekend. The most important of Thursday's activities included buying Emma a training toilet!
On Friday we had plans to go to a parade in Ashland. We had to get up early - 8am - so that we could make it there before 10am. On the drive there we got a call from Chris (friend from work) who wanted us to meet up with him and his fiance to watch the parade. We met up in the middle of downtown after walking about 15 blocks from where we parked.
The parade was amazing! Approximately 25,000 people turned out which was amazing in itself! The parade was several miles long and people lined both sides of the street about ten people deep! To top that off, the parade lasted for about two hours! Every float imaginable, plus bands, acrobats, politicians, etc. were in the lineup. Very fun. Of course there was food afterwards and we finished the day by walking through Lithia Park.
MOVIE REVIEW
- "10,000 BC" was entertaining, but a bit long and a bit cheesy. The heroine is gorgeous, however. B+
- "Persepolis" was different than what I thought it was going to be. A bit too much about a girls' teenage life than about Middle Eastern politics which is what I thought it was about. C
- "Definitely, Maybe" was really good! A very cute romantic comedy that ends happily. What else is there to say?! A
- "Fools Gold" was entertaining, but not that captivating. Watch it once and call it good. If you want to watch a good movie with similar actors and story, watch "Sahara." B-
- "Jumper" was an alright movie right up until the end where it ended leaving the audience without any closure. The story was interesting, the acting wasn't great, but the special effects were good. B
Unfortunately, this weekend was a short one. Since I missed last Monday, I had to work this Friday which meant I only got Saturday and Sunday off (like everyone else) which was entirely too short of a weekend! The plan was to drive to the Oregon Coast and go camping with a co-worker and his fiance. That sounded great since I haven't been camping in a long time and Emma hasn't ever been camping.
We were going to drive over the Bear Camp Pass or Forest Highway 23 which is a steep, winding, single lane road which goes directly to the coast by way of ridgeline as opposed to the other roads which twist and turn down in the river valleys below. The road climbed over 3,000 feet really quickly and then just followed ridgeline for about 20 miles before dropping down the other side. I'm glad we took this route, because I've been wanting to check it out for some time, but haven't gotten around to it. I don't think I want to do it again, because it was pretty steep and the car definitely got a workout. Plus, although the views were expansive, they were primarily of clearcuts which wasn't too exciting.
Anyway, we finally got to Gold Beach, OR and headed south on US 101. We stopped at places we'd been to before, but that Chris and Jesse hadn't been to before. It was definitely fun and at Natural Bridges we hiked down to and over one of the bridges. Dohnele and Emma stayed back, fortunately, because it was there was a shear drop off into the ocean below which was a bit scary.
We were going to camp on the beach where we could have a fire, but it was decidedly too windy and cold. So we decided to drive up the Chetco River south of Brookings, OR where it would be warmer. Unfortunately all the USFS campgrounds were just sandbars and were covered with dozens of RVs and other campers. The conditions were disgusting. And then the mosquitoes came out and then some lightning and thunder and a bit of rain. I put a stop to the camping before it even started and said "let's go back to the beach." Unfortunately all the state campgrounds were full to capacity. No dice. So we finally settled on spending the night at a hotel. Unfortunately, most of them were full too. We did find one nice hotel to stay at though and it suited us well.
This morning it was foggy and misty on the coast and we decided to head home. We got halfway home and we started to roast. You see, we had left Medford because it was too warm (100+ degrees). The fog burned off and the sun came out. It was hot already. And it wasn't even that scenic, because wildfire smoke covered everything and reduced visibility to practically nothing. Even Medford is coated with a thick blanket of smoke. It was windy this afternoon and when we went outside our eyes burned from the smoke it was so bad!
So that was our weekend. I don't recommend car camping. I'd never done it before and doubt I ever will again. I'm going to go shave my beard off now. It's so thick and itchy... It's driving me crazy in this heat!
We finally made it back from our long trip through northern California. We decided to leave on Friday so we could do the coast and redwoods in addition to Lake Tahoe. With the prices of gas rising we decided to do as much as possible all in one trip.
Only an hour into the trip I got a phone call that my grandma (dad’s mom) had passed away. We pulled over and contemplated what to do next. I decided to keep going because the farther we drove the closer to bigger airports (San Francisco, Sacramento and Reno) we’d get.
The drive to Fort Bragg, CA where we spent our first night was beautiful and full of enormous redwoods! We loved Arcata, CA and developed a new respect for how nice Crescent City, CA was! We went through Eureka, CA as well and didn’t think too highly of it. In Fort Bragg we got all checked in to our hotel and headed for the beach where Emma played for hours! Emma loves the beach! She played in the sand, threw rocks in the water and even dipped a toe or two in the ocean. (note from Jonas: it’s funny, because she hates being dirty so when she got wet and then sandy she couldn’t stand herself and kept lifting her legs for us to “dust” her off. It was precious.) That night we had thunder and lightning all night long which was really neat. The thunder was so loud it shook the hotel at one point! The next morning there were some crazy cloud formations that Jonas got all excited about.
On Saturday we hit the road around 8am. Today was the day we would drive the rest of California Highway 1 which we were so excited to be finally doing. Only a few minutes into the drive we couldn’t wait for it to end. It is the worst road we have ever been on. The entire road is on shear cliffs and there are no guard rails, but lots of hair pin turns. No turn outs, no beaches, gross, gross, gross! We barely got above 35mph at the fastest! The rest of the drive to South Lake Tahoe (once we turned inland) was hot. We had to take a huge detour so we ended up going through Napa Valley which was so beautiful. Sacramento and the rest of central California was HOT! It got up to 107 which was ridiculous. The drive up to the lake was so beautiful! I knew that Lake Tahoe was high up but not over 6,000 feet up! The area was so awesome; full of granite, pine and aspen.
The traffic in town was really bad due to some big event which closed all of US-50 and put us in a traffic jam that took 45 minutes to get about a mile. Since our hotel was in plain sight I hopped out and walked the remaining 100 feet and got us all checked in. Our hotel was the Fantasy Inn and Wedding Chapel and the courtyard where the weddings took place was right outside our window. There were at least four wedding a day which was really neat to listen to.
Jonas, however, went immediately to bed saying his whole body ached and that he had the worst headache in the world. Emma and I took advantage of our in-room Jacuzzi while Jonas napped. After a couple hours Jonas said he could barely move. We tried to figure out what it could be. Emma had been sick on Wednesday and Thursday with a 103 fever and she wouldn’t eat or move for the day, so we thought Jonas might have that. On the other hand Jonas looked really burnt and he never burns - he just tans. He did have the window down in the 107 degree heat. So Emma and I went in search of food and an assortment of meds. We finally got happy enough to sleep all night and hoped for the best in the morning. That night Jonas had the chills but had a high fever and just couldn’t get enough covers on.
I also made the decision of not flying out for my grandma’s funeral. I could go on and name the reason but I won’t. My only regret is to have not flown to Michigan so that my grandma could meet Emma and so that I could have seen her more. My grandma, Jean Galbraith, was a remarkable woman. She lived a full life. She was the mother of eight, Grandmother, Great Grandmother and Great - Great Grandmother. She was married for 66 years! She loved to garden, and cook, but most of all she loved her family. Every time I visited I couldn’t wait for meal time to roll around so I could cook and even come up with my own recipes under her supervision. She is my inspiration and I will always remember her. Down below are a few pictures of us that I found from our wedding.
Anyway, we slept in until about 11am on Sunday. Then we got up and around to pretty ourselves up for the wedding which was at 2pm. We got to the wedding which was at Lake Tahoe Golf Course with time to spare. However, Jonas could barely stand and he felt like he was going to be sick. I felt alright, but a bit sick because I hadn’t eaten anything and my tonsils were really swollen. Plus, Emma was being a beast. She wouldn’t be quiet and kept running all over Creation. So we decided to distance ourselves from the wedding and not spread our “wealth.” We stayed as long as we could, but then had to leave. All of us spent the rest of day in bed instead of going to the wedding reception.
That night Jonas was sick of his ailment and soaked for a couple hours in a scalding hot Jacuzzi. He broke out in a serious sweat and had a high fever and the chills for a couple hours, but said that about at 2am his fever finally broke. On Monday his body was back to normal, but his throat was a bit sore. Lake Tahoe was a different matter. Even though it was crystal clear and beautiful when we drove in (sorry, no pictures) the entire lake basin was socked in with forest fire smoke (yes, we do have a picture of that). We hit the road for Medford. We took the road back to Sacramento and then took the interstate all the way home instead of the twisty mountain route which would have been 50 miles shorter. We walked in the door exhausted. The drive from Tahoe all the way to the stateline was obscured with forest fire smoke; proving yet again that Oregon is definitely nicer than California. Even the grass was greener once we crossed the stateline! Anyway, once we are fully hydrated and get used to our low elevation again we will be golden.
We loved our trip because we saw so much - even though it was a bit miserable. We did the entire Northern California coastline and even made it to Central California. Plus we saw Lake Tahoe which is a place we had wanted to go and see for some time. I don’t think we will ever go back to the northern California coast. Aside from Crescent City and Arcata, the beaches in Oregon are just as nice if not way better.
CONGRATULATIONS JAKE & KARI BONHAM! We are so happy for you guys! Your wedding was so beautiful and you both look so perfect together! Thank you so much for inviting us to your special day. We wish you both the very best!
EMMA UPDATE!
As I may have mentioned before Emma now repeats what we say. She wants to be able to read a whole book by herself so she will follow her fingers along the word or sentences and talk and talk and talk (note from Jonas: it’s actually just babble, babble, babble, but she does it while pointing her fingers to words and turning pages, etc.) Some of the pictures on the pages she knows so in the midst of all the blabbing she says actual words which is so precious. She has said a few sentences lately. “Oh, my gosh look at that!” and “All wet!” Emma hates to be dirty so when we were at the beach the sand would stick to her wet feet and she had a fit and said, “Ewww gross! All dirty!” Her little voice is so cute! One can only smile when listening to her. And I can’t believe she will be TWO in a week and a half.
So this weekend was great, because for us it started a day early. I took Thursday off so that we could all drive up to Eugene (three hour drive) for a job interview I had. The drive was nice except for several accidents which were none too pretty. We first saw a big pickup towing a trailer just north of Medford, completely overturned and wrecked. We also saw another pickup smashed into the back of a log truck (seriously, click on that link) which apparently was fatal. Anyway, we got to Eugene with plenty of time to spare and the interview went as well as could be expected. All the questions I got asked were easy ones that I had good responses to. Hopefully they don't already have someone in mind or have to give preference to any other candidates. I'll supposedly know in a week or so what the verdict is.
We spent the afternoon in Eugene shopping. All we ended up buying was new clothes for Emma; we can never resist spoiling Emma. We toyed around with the idea of driving over to the coast and then heading south on US 101, but decided against it in favor of a more "planned" trip to the coast in some weekend to come. We did fill up at Costco to save some money and the line was as bad as the line for Costco gas in Medford. I figured that at any given moment there are 66 cars in line to get gas or currently filling up for gas which is about 30 cents per gallon cheaper than anywhere else. It's worth the wait just for entertainment sake!
Today we drove down to Ashland, because Dohnele had a hair appointment. I walked around with Emma and when Dohnele was done we went out to lunch to celebrate Father's Day. Happy Father's Day, by the way, everyone! It's gotten to the point where eating out with Emma is no longer fun. She refuses to sit still and destroys or soaks everything within her grasp.
MOVIE REVIEW
- "Rambo" was awesome! By far the best Rambo to date! Rambo spent lest time in flashbacks to a troubled past and spent more time killing people. Definitely a gory movie. Not a good movie for snuggling. A
- "In the Valley of Elah" was dumb. Not a great story, not great acting, not a great ending... What's to like? D
- "Semi Pro" was also dumb. Typical Will Ferrell acting. You either love him or hate him. In this case, he wasn't bad, but the movie was just long, boring and not very funny. C-
- "Strange Wilderness" was very dumb. Normally I like Adam Sandler movies, but this one was too far out in left field. D+
- "The Other Boleyn Sister" was interesting. Not much more than a show of sexual politics in 16th Century England which was very depressing and disturbing, but then again so was the era. If you look at it that way, then the movie was great! A
- "The Happening" was good. Typical, would be a better word for it, considering who put it together. The movie had you on the edge of your seat for the duration, but nothing really happened except for wind blowing in the trees and grass. A bit of a letdown in that aspect actually. I wanted something to... well... "happen!" Other than that, the movie was still good. B
OK, so it's not really that exciting, but she loves the slide so much and has taken the activity a step further. She's no longer content with just sliding, but rather swinging and then sliding. These are a couple pictures I took with my phone yesterday. Good times!
How about a quick movie review?
- "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" was hillarious! It brought together some important world issues and spun them with typical Adam Sandler humor. Definitely worth seeing. A-