Rogue River Jet Boat

Jet boats! Doesn't that just sound fun? I went on one with a big fan in the back when I was in Florida last year. When I heard about these, I wanted to go. Susan wasn't too enthused, but even she had a good time.
Here we are at the beginning, waiting in line.

And this is what the boats looked like. They put about 50 people a boat and there were 4 boats that went.

This is what the river looks like in the beginning while we are still in Grants Pass. There were also a lot of gorgeous homes on the shores. We went slow when we were in town.

And this was a salmon swimming by.

Can you see the bald eagle in this tree? It looks better if you make the picture bigger.


This is what it looks like when the boats go fast. They also periodically spin in a 360 for the thrills and to get you all wet.

Here was an Osprey.



And we saw lots of Osprey nests.

We went all the way up to Hellsgate. This is where they did the shot of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid jumping off the cliff. They also shot the movie "The River Wild" with Kevin Bacon here. It was pretty, but a relatively short section of the river.

This is where they fed us dinner. They called it the OK corral and it was very nice. We had a great time although pretty windblown and wet by the time we got back!

Random Oregon Photos

So on our way to Crater Lake, we found Salt Creek Falls.They are supposed to be one of the highest falls in Oregon. They were really beautiful.

And then I was rather fascinated by this moss. It was a bright lime green and all over some of the trees.

And this is at the beginning of the Rogue River and called the Rogue river gorge. It was also very pretty. Later in the day we road a jet boat on this river. It was much bigger then.

And this is the Rogue River from the balcony of our hotel in Grants Pass. This is where we rode the jet boats on the river.

Covered Bridges in Oregon

There are several covered bridges in Oregon. Susan and I visited two. There is something picturesque and romantic about a covered bridge that doesn't exist in the metal ones of today. There are some really awesome modern bridges, but these are just fun and charming. Susan hates to have her picture taken, but she actually gave me permission to take this one. I usually have to sneak it or take it really quick.

Crater Lake

I was in Oregon last week visiting my friend Susan. One of the things we did was go to Crater Lake National Park. I had been there once before, briefly, when I was about 13. I always thought that it was a volcano that had blown, left a crater and then a lake formed. Well that is only sort of the truth. There are several volcanoes in the area. What happened, thousands of years ago, is that some of the surrounding volcanoes blew. There was sort of a common pool of lava that centered under this mountain. When the lava was decreased by the other eruptions, the peak collapsed in on itself because there was nothing under it to support it anymore. The lake was formed by rain water falling into this hole over the eons. The result is an almost perfectly circular calm lake with beautiful reflections. It is almost 2000 ft. deep in the deepest area. And yes it really is that blue.

I loved the sunset and full moon and tried to get a few photos with them. These were some of the better ones. I loved that you could see mountain range after mountain range in this one.

I thought this log looked like a big lizard or a small dragon!

It's All About Me!

Okay, this is rather narcissistic, but I finally got my "after" photos done! So here are my 2 befores.

It would be fun to find out which 2 of the afters folks like best so I can decide which ones to post on facebook, etc.

My photographer was expensive, but she did a good job! I felt like a model!

LOVE Julie/Julia!

I went to see the new movie, Julie/Julia yesterday.

I thought it would just be pleasant. I have to say I LOVED this movie and I don't say that very often. I didn't even notice feeling tired because I had been out a bit too long, post surgery. Such nice people in this movie. And it was so pleasant to spend time with them. Go see it, you won't regret it. And it's not just a chick flick. Get those men there.

The funny thing is, I had a Netflix movie at home and I went home and watched it in the evening. It was Doubt, starring Meryl Steep and Amy Adams! How funny is that?

I liked it too, but nothing like Julie/Julia.

A day in the Kitchen

I had a hernia repair last week and so have been somewhat out of comission the last little while. Today I felt somewhat normal and thought I would tackle making some nice homemade food. So I picked up my latest edition of Food Everyday and picked out 3 recipes, Eggplant Parmigian, Bulgur Salad and Plum cake. It may sound a little odd, but I already had some of the ingredients for those things and wanted to use them. They also all sounded good to me.

I went to the store and got a few other things I needed and come home to start cooking. I got started around 11 am. I was thinking I was making lunch. Well, just so you know, Eggplant parmigian is a rather involved process. I don't believe I've ever made it before. And I had to soften the butter for the cake and then the bulgur needed to soak for 30 minutes. It was all a lot more involved than I had planned. Especially for my first real foray back into the kitchen.

So I finally ate lunch around 2pm! It was very good though. Here are some photos of the results.