Time Flies – Part III – Spring in S.O.

We drove away from the Rogue Valley, Grants Pass, OR – where Leah and began our married lives and family – in June of 2019, and rolled back into town in February of 2022. Much had changed for us and the world in that timespan, yet the awesome friends and community there allowed us to slip right in and pick up where we left off. Those types of friendships are so special and are not to be taken for granted!

Right out of the gate we were able to hang out with friends we made through church and doing life together as young families while enjoying special events, casual social gatherings, and recreation. Reconnection always feels good!

Another cool part of being back in Grants Pass was being able to spend time with my Great Aunt and Uncle (my mom’s side). As I was working, Leah was able to help out, provide some company and allow Uncle Andy to spoil the kids with his famous ice cream sundaes. Unfortunately, Uncle Andy passed away shortly after we left, making that time with him even more special.

Besides providing us with a community and friendships we will always be close with, Southern Oregon has some of the most beautiful and accessible outdoor recreation available. I’m pretty sure one of the first things I did was take Fisher to Graves Creek to hike the Rainie Falls trail with me. Man, I love this river! As a family we enjoyed many other local hikes, showing the kids all the places that held so many fun times for us, including the Rogue River – did I mention how much I love this river? Although the temperature was a bit cool, we were able to borrow a friends pontoon(cat) raft and get the kids on some class II whitewater for a day trip!

We were certainly here to recreate and reconnect, but a “normal” routine was established as we worked and lived in Southern Oregon for the spring. I worked a full three months at Jackson County PT, my prior employer, while Leah homeschooled the kids, finding many enriching outings of which usually ended up in a Dutch Bro’s stop (if you know… you know).

Faith and I were able to attend the Father-Daughter dance at the local YMCA (where our yearly tradition began – and still continues BTW). We celebrated Easter with our church family, celebrated Leah’s birthday with her friends, and just “chilled” locally, finding ways to beat the out-of-the-blue heat Southern Oregon can throw at you occasionally during the spring.

Finding time for a few “bigger”, yet local trips was a must while visiting. One of these included a drive through the Redwoods, hiking through Stout’s Grove, and playing along the iconic rocky coast line. Another outing included a stay with friends in Klammath Falls, spelunking lava tubes, and playing in the snow at Crater Lake. We also took a family trip up to the Umpqua valley where we rented a cabin, chased waterfalls, disc golfed and soaked in the hot springs!

As you can guess, although so fulfilling for all four of us, our time in Grants Pass flew by. Our last week in town was actually the weekend of Mother’s Day when it hailed, snowed…and I wasn’t even there to celebrate the best mother my kids could ask for! Nope… I was deep in the Rogue River Canyon on a three-night rafting trip with the Core Four!

Oh yeah – we made it happen! Dan flew in from Chicago, and Mike from Minnesota to join George and I on another amazing trip. I describe just how special this trip is to the four of us in a prior blog post: Closing Time. To have it again, rain, snow sleet, hail could not wipe the smile off our faces as we packed, squeezed, and jammed ourselves, gear and food for four days on the river.

I had planned this trip with our first stop being at a familiar location with a lot of tree cover because I saw the forecast – and it was not good. Highs in the mid-30’s with precipitation for most of the middle two days. We’d be able to use the tree limbs, oars and tarps to make due and hunker down here. Unfortunately, there was another large group (crazy enough to float on this weekend) that put in right before us and beat us to this location….so we floated by when we saw it occupied. My backup plan was near waterfall on the opposite side of the river we had not yet explored with good tree coverage. Mike was nice enough to spot the crest of the falls in the trees….as we floated by – there’s no way I’m strong enough to paddle that heavy raft upstream! OK…without a good third option, a spot I kind of felt I remembered from my very first trip was worth stopping for – because recalled remembering it had some kind of rudimentary shelter.

Tired, a little unsure of where we’d camp, and pretty wet and cold by now, I spotted an eddy to catch and land the raft. We clambered up the hill to find what I thought I faintly remembered. In that moment, what we found seemed like mansion waiting for us to squat for a few nights. We instantly decided we’d spend two of our three nights at this dry location (with a fireplace!) and bum around cooking, playing cards and grunting a lot! Dude, for one meal, we cooked sausages with peppers, grilled bass, fried up some fresh morels, and roasted corn on the cob!

The snow and rain intermittently stopped long enough for us to explore our location a bit, and we were nearly all dry when we suited up to float through Blossom Bar and camp our last night at Tate’s Creek. We saw black bear and had some great sunshine on our last two days on the water!

The boys and I arrived safely back to the family on May 10th, Dan and Mike flew back to their homes the next day. And on May 12th we hit the road for yet again on an unbelievable adventure back to Indiana! Hold on tight, because the next installment is going to blow your mind!!!!