Whew! Susanville is a long jont from Elmira! We left home at 1:30, pulling out onto Territorial Highway, and promptly found ourselves behind a slow-moving tractor. At least it was a Kubota! After a return trip home for sunscreen and sunglasses, we were off again.
Five minutes out of Elmira, here is a picture of what the boys were doing (surprise, surprise!).
Our first stop was a rest stop outside of Roseburg, where Jeremy missed stepping on poison oak by about 2 inches. We won’t be stopping there again! After Roseburg, we crossed 11 passes, the highest at around 5600 feet, and saw some interesting sights, including the following:
Buck deer, two elk, several other deer, coyote, junk metal dragon, a herd of tractors, four emus, and several beautiful alpine meadows.
Buck deer, two elk, several other deer, coyote, junk metal dragon, a herd of tractors, four emus, and several beautiful alpine meadows.
Many of these sites might have merited a picture, except our goal was to reach Susanville, and we knew (or at least Sherry knew) that we shouldn’t “dally” along the way. We did get a picture of leaving Oregon and entering California.
We ate at a Subway in Weed, California, and “threaded the needle” between storms to miss the worst of the thunderstorms. We did see a large bolt of lightning spread out in the sky and strike the ground far out ahead of us. This was not reassuring for Sherry, who abhors lightning.
The boys’ assessment was that the first day was “awesome” and that the scenery was amazing. I am amazed they know that, between the Nintendo DS player and the DVD activities. They brought two DVDs with them, and watched both. Hmmmm….what to do tomorrow….? Ian also read a book, as you can see from the picture below. I wonder why we bothered buying a van with legroom…?
In the end, we had an uneventful first day. What a blessing!
I'm glad the boys took a break from the electronics long enough to enjoy the scenery. That heavily forested Southern Oregon area around Grants Pass is one of my favorite parts of the state. In a few more days, you'll be looking back wistfully on those cool, green spaces!
ReplyDeleteI wish Ian and Jeremy would post something!--Olivia
ReplyDeleteHello Coopers!
ReplyDeleteI laughed at the picture of Ian "sitting" and reading. Noah adopts the same posture while eating, playing piano, etc. How do they get their 6' frames to accomplish such a feat?
I couldn't read about your tractor experience without a shudder of remembrance. My husband purchased a used Bolens tractor 16 years ago when we bought our property. The salesman definitely saw him coming! Chris spent more time repairing that darn thing than he ever spent mowing. And repairs probably cost as much as the purchase price. I always think of the Bolens with a tinge of disgust. Chris eventually tired of the Bolens and bought a new Sears tractor (with no small encouragement from me). But we still have the Bolens. Recently Chris (in cahoots with Ian) replaced the starter and actually got it working to till up the garden. Oh well, I see this as Chris still trying to justify the Bolens as a "wise" purchase. Don't interpret this as lingering bitterness on my part about the whole debacle.
Looking forward to following your adventures.
Fondly, Heidi