From Portland, we cruised down to Corvallis to one of Louie's friend's parent's house... where some of his friends were camping out. So we asked if we could join. This worked out best as we'd be on I-5, and this way Louie could easily get a ride home (his roommate Van was one of the guys headed there).
Stopped by Avery Park, as we heard there's a train you can climb on. There's also a HUGE picnic table made of really old-growth lumber... (sob, sob...)
The train was awesome. The kids loved the fact that you can climb all over it and really potentially get hurt. I wonder how long it'll be before it is roped off due to one lawyer looking to get rich...
The flying conductor
There should be a sign taht No drinking beer while texting on the roof the train!
Whale bone replica... random. I approve
I like the make shift grill...
Riding off into the sunset
We put Kai and Nikko to bed in the back of the Prius! It worked out marvelously...
Mon - Eclipse day
Happily snoozing...
So Louie and I went on a quick run.... quick as in short...
I love the kid's faces here.
The discovery of "Strawberry" the mantis!
I love eclipse pics...
The totality was really, really cool. Not life-changing, but almost. Seriously... that cool. I'd love to see it again... I'm really glad that we made the drive. Kai missing the first day of first grade... definitely not as important as this. Seeing the totality was really cool for a dork like me.
The traffic back home was uber hyped. There were definitely more cars on the road and it got congested at times, but overall there wasn't much of a problem.
On the way back we stopped in Ashland to stretch our legs... see some deer in Lithia Park...
And meet up with Cam and Stu!
We went up to the Fairy pools where you are supposed to be dressed like Kai.
The group shot with Stu!
Here's some cool shots of the eclipse from the webs...
Had a great visit to Ashland for Cam & Athena's wedding. After one night at McCloud Falls, we cruised into the Rogue Valley where we stayed with Evan and Leilani. The kids were all giggles, and the boys were boys...
At the reception... a good omen
meanwhile... the kiddos at the dinner table...
Story time...
Next morning went to Lithia Park...
Kai riding up to the upper duck pond
fun murals...
Lots of deer... in town...
And I squeezed in a quick ride on my X-bike with Jasper on some old trails. Amazing trails BTW...
That afternoon we went bowling with Tommy, Justin, Evan and crew...
Perfect form
Nikko...
Kai broke 100!
Kiddos...
We actually loved the Alvord's dogger... he's a snuggler...
had a nice dinner at Standing Stone that night with the Alvords.
The next morning, the boys came over for dinner... and started prepping for the day.
meanwhile the ladies took the boys to the Science museum.
Nikko, ready to rock...
Rael was quite popular with his shuttle service...
Stu... always sloppy. I don't think he slept at all...
The Kuwabara boys looking quite dapper.
Stu was Nikko's favorite...
after another night of staying up til day break, I went on a run back to the winery to get my van.
Checked out my house...
and after a good nap... we were soon back in the bay...
