Griffin is here!

We have been lurking in southern Oregon and northern California for the last several weeks waiting for the birth of our first grandson, Griffin Andrew Rhodes. He arrived Monday night, June 8th, and we hotfooted it down from Eureka,where we had been at our friend, Bob Brown's 85th birthday party. So we were able to meet Griffin when he was only a few hours old. 8 pounds, 12 ounces,a full head of wavy dark hair. He is, of course, beautiful. His mom and dad think so too.

Icebreakers

This was taken on Saturday, May 16th. The ice was thick enough in places that Frank could beach himself on a flow and then power through, breaking it in half. By the next day, the ice was almost totally gone. Amazing transformation from winter to spring. We are down near Klamath Falls now, where Judy was born), in a beautiful little state park on the Williams River.

Frank and Judy

Diamond Lake

Spring is funny here in the mountains. The kayaks are going to get to be ice breakers tomorrow, and the air is going to be in the seventies, with 80 degrees promised for Sunday. We're camped between snow piles across from the Diamond Lake Resort with a big fire going and clear skies. The stars should be brilliant. We're considering getting a one day license and going after the rainbbow trout that are hungry after a long winter. One kid in a kayak came back with a whole string today. Can't believe we get to do this.

Judy and Frank

Surprise!

When we last wrote, we were on our way home after a wonderful year. We wound through southern California, dipping into the Sequoia National Forest, and on to the Pinnacles, spent a weekend with Brad and Janie, and a week looking at Jacksonville, Oregon as a potential retirement spot, then on home---except that we're not. Our Renter, Michael, is looking for a house to buy, and needs a few months to make his selection, so we have agreed to another three months. It gives us a chance to spend most of the summer seeing some of the things we missed last time around. So we are making a list, and thinking about Banff, and Glacier, and Yellowstone, and the central Oregon forests. In the meantime, we have spent the last part of April getting business done, and visiting family, and are now in our all time favorite camp spot, the Elwha, out on the Olympic National Park. Who was it who said, "There's no place like home."?

On the Road Again

Haven't written in a while. We have spent six weeks at Sunrise Superstition RV Park outside Phoenix, Arizona. (The Superstition part refers to the Superstition Mountain just to the east.) It's been a fun, relaxing time here in the sunny desert. We managed to try only a small fraction of the activities available. Judy concentrated on Pilates, bridge and jewelry making, Frank on woodworking. We've enjoyed it all, but we are ready to move on. We will head west into the desert for a while, to Quartzsite and then to Joshua Tree National Park, and then on to the coast. The circle is closing. It's been a great ride.

Border checks

Driving down I-10, some fifty miles from the border, we are suddenly greeted by cones narrowing traffic to one lane. This isn't the usual construction bottleneck, this is the Border Patrol slowing all traffic to a stop while they look in each car and truck. We are not crossing a state or national border, there is no hunt for a felon. This is a cursory search of all citizens in a particular area, without warrant, without specific reason, without acquiescence by the searched, as there is in an airport. Nor is the search thorough enough to find any contraband. The patrolman looks in each car, automatic cameras take pictures. No trucks or rv's are searched. All that is achieved is a theft of time from travelers and Border Patrolmen, and one more link in the chain that hampers the free movement of our citizens from place to place. Bit by bit, our freedom is being abridged, and, like the frog in the hot water, we don't notice as the temperature creeps up.

Happy New Year!

We're here on the Gulf Coast, heading west again, after a delightful stay in Florida. We've had wonderful visits with friends and family, we've kayaked in the ponds and spring -fed streams, played with manatees, (who come over to the boat and roll to have their bellies rubbed), and watched the porpoises feeding. Now it is time to head toward Phoenix and our month in the craft studios there. And yes, we were awake to see the sunrise on New Year's Day. Needless to say, we were not awake to celebrate midnight.