Ruby Sees THE TREES OF MYSTERY

As a person, I have a pretty strong sense of tradition; especially when it comes to family.  When I was young, my family twice drove to Joseph, OR (a small, once rural - now resort town in North Eastern Oregon), where my mother's family originally homesteaded as part of the great western expansion.  They were travelers on the Oregon trail, and their land claim put them on very fertile land, near a lake and traversed by a stream in this mountainous terrain.  It is beautiful and members of my extended family still reside in the community, one family just down the road from the original homestead site.  Anyhow, I digress...  On both of those drives north, my family travelled via the scenic 101 along the California and Oregon coast.  And on our way out of California, we made a stop at an kind of run down little attraction called The Trees of Mystery.  It's a privately owned property covered with Coastal Redwoods and displaying some of the wonderfully unique properties of these incredible, enormous trees (3rd largest species on earth, after the Giant Sequoias of the Sierra Nevadas and the Chinese Sequoias - the real name of which I cannot remember...)

This species has incredible survival potential.  One fallen tree remains sound without decomposition due to it's ability to be nourished by the root systems of other trees which have grown over and around the fallen trunk.  Another tree has 11 additional tress with root systems growing into its branches and feeding from it's root system.  The candle abra tree grew nearly horizontally, searching for light to photosynthesize and then it's neighboring trees dropped their cones on its side.  These cones put down roots into the sideways trunk and began to grow vertically.  (I didn't take many pictures of these, but Rhonda did...  They'll be up on her photog soon no doubt.)

Anyhow, even though it added about 5 hours of driving to our 2-day return trip from Seattle, I insisted that we take the 101 home just so we could take our kids... and Ruby... to this attraction.  Incidentally, there are several worthy roadside attractions along the northern 101 for a family trip...  I recommend it.  By doing so, my kids have continued a tradition that first was attended by my parents in their early marriage, before kids.

You'll notice that outside the trail entrance, we were greeted by Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe.  These statues were there when I was a kid, and I remember my parents commenting on them too.  I remember them with chipped and  fading paint, silently and ominously guiding us to the corny but wonderfully educational destination.  Well, on this trip, Paul moved his head to look around.  He waved, winked and held conversations with on-lookers.  Ruby and the kids had a great time climbing on Paul's boot and getting to know this giant Paul Bunyan, who came to rest here after the 1962 World's Fair (which he shared with the Space Needle as their original locations - the Space Needle still being in its original location).  He likes the St Louis Cardinals, even though he has an obvious Giants connection.  And when asked if there was a real Paul Bunyan, he told Molly, "you're lookin' at him sweety..."

Well, Ruby and the kids loved Paul, but I think he was more of a wonder for me than for them; and I feel satisfied that I have continued yet one more small tradition that connects my children to the generations before them.

Ruby Skips the Family Reunion

Well, it was the biggest day of the family vacation and the whole reason we planned the trip to begin with. Rhonda's family gathered in Port Orchard, WA for a bi-annual reunion gathering.  It was great fun and we had a group of 28 together for lunch.  Uncle Denny, Uncle Steve and Aunt Kay, and Uncle Roger and Aunt Linda now are the patriarchal figures of the family and all were present.  We had 12 cousins and 7 second cousins in the mix.  Aunt Linda's Brother and family live in northern WA and joined the party.  They were tons of fun!

From Colorado, Idaho, California, and British Columbia, we met at a lakefront park where the teens and kids swam and where Tim, Mike, and Roger vied for mastery of the BBQ...  Tim won the fray and provided masterfully cooked burgers and dogs.  It was a relaxing afternoon that wound down to a calm supper of left-overs at David's home, motorcycle rides for my boys on new-cousin Mike's bike, and the traditional photographs of the entire group and family groupings.  A terrific day with a pretty great family, of which I am honored to be a part.

Ruby however did not feel like attending.  She seems to share my mother-in-law's dread of large groups, not to mention that all 19 relatives were strangers to her.  So, Ruby hung out at the hotel (this one actually had room service available and in my book that qualifies it as a hotel: 2 stars).  Obviously to fill her time, Ruby dug into my vacation reading stack.

One of the great things about vacations is a good excuse to unplug from all of the electronic media that fills so much of our time in this postmodern culture.  With all of the extra time, I get to read more: real books, with paper pages and the smell of dust.  Pretty early in our marriage, Rhonda and I took up the tradition of choosing a vacation novel and reading to each other.  Rhonda does most of the reading while I drive and the continuity of a story helps me stay awake on long treks.  "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo," was the title of choice for this trip.  (GREAT!)  I also read Michael DiMarco's "God Guy."  (Great for young men, and enjoyable for me.  My Quest Study Bible and guide to prayer are also part of my stack for this vacation.

This is what we caught Ruby doing when we got back to the room...  Evidently, reading is a great vacation for dolls too!

Finally

We have been in Northwestern Washington for 4 days without a single offer of Starbucks...  And quite frankly, Ruby was getting tired of the wait.  Well, at long last at the very end of day 4, we ventured off alone to historic Seattle and found our way to the Pike Place Market and the ORIGINAL STARBUCKS!!!!

Well, the shop is tiny.  (I guess the demand wasn't so high in '71, and today there is just no where to sit.)  The line was out the door and the place was just a buzz with devotees paying homage.  You can see that Ruby is trying to garner some attention here as she has picked out the perfect mug for me to take home as a reminder of a truly perfectly made ToffeeNut Mocha.

Ahhhhh!

Ruby Plays at the Joneses

We had one more play time with the Joneses before leaving Bellingham, and Ruby got in some play time with Tyler. (It was his only real day off during our visit.)  Tyler was tossing his girls in the air and Ruby had to get in on the action.  You can't really blame the girl, the other six kids had been having all the fun for the previous day and a half.  Seriously, you would have thought those 6 kids were 30 kids on a roller coaster if you had measured the excitement.

Mason and Micah made quite a connection.  Merritt became Eden's entertainer.  And Asher and Molly were fast friends, sharing stuffed animals and so much more.  (What more could Asher want?  Molly was someone to mother and someone to play with all the little girl things that she is nearly growing out of...)

Well, Ruby had to get in on this last bit of action and being the oldest of the girls (circa 1950), she had to prove that she could fly higher than the rest of them too.

We shared a last supper with the Joneses, gave hugs all around, and waved a tearful good bye.  I didn't hear Ruby or Molly crying, but the boys in my car sure did.  They really did have a wonderfully fun visit with some terrific friends... AND SO DID WE!


PS.  Sorry Tyler for showing off the bald backside of your head so many times in succession.

Ruby Sneaks off Again at the Joneses

One more stop before the family reunion - visiting Tyler and Dusti Jones who recently moved to Bellingham, WA.  Bellingham is an incredibly delightful community near the water and just below the Canadian border.  The Summer weather is cool  The area is lightly wooded.  The company: fantastic!!!

The wild flowers around the area are very cool, and evidently the "pitter-patter" and delighted shrieks of 6 children proved too much for Ruby.  (Interestingly for me, though north western Washington is obviously inhabited by an environmentally concerned populous, who love, LOVE, LOVE their natural setting, it has not escaped the stain of trashy human disregard for both environment and community.)

Ruby spotted this abandoned lounger on the side of the road near the Joneses apartment and took off to relax and enjoy the local flora and fauna.

Sunday Afternoon, it's off to visit more friends:  the Volz family who are in Federal Way (just south of Seattle) while in the US for a few more weeks before heading back to their vital work in Uganda.  

Thanks to the Joneses who made this stay possible for us and so very fun!!!

Ruby Hits the Pool

We began our vacation time at the World Mark Resort at Angels Camp in California's Gold Country.  The resort was fantastic.  We had a fantastic time.  The Resort had a wonderful pool (a large pool - a kiddie pool - an amazingly large spa) and the kids loved swimming there, but Ruby hated the crowds.  The pool was usually fairly crowded, but all of the guests were very well-natured and it was no problem for everyone to swim and play together.  Along with the pool the resort rec. room became the most popular attraction of our stay in gold country.  (Rhonda and Bruce loved the caverns, the exploration of Railtown, and a all-too-brief stop in historic Columbia - all very near by.)

Each morning, I got up earlier than the rest of the family to take advantage of the resort gym.  (I want to continue my my progress toward better health management.)  On the last morning of our stay at the resort, I looked out the window of the gym to find Ruby alone at the pool, enjoying some alone time.  She seemed quite satisfied to relax with a refreshing drink in a lounge chair.

Thanks to our good friends who generously shared their time-share points with us to allow us these personal days of refreshment and relaxation on our journey to Seattle for the family reunion.  We really appreciate you.