On July 4th, we spent a second day moving from a county park in Grants Pass to Valley of the Rogue State Park. Both parks were very busy for the 4th of July weekend. Check-out is at 11 a.m. and check-in is at 4 p.m., so we spent some time at Wal-mart. We picked up some steaks for a barbeque and potatoes for a New Mexican au gratin dish that Sandy would make in our roaster oven. We had already decided to celebrate at home this year.
As we were getting settled into our new space, we became aware of electrical problems. Like we had no power at all and with the heat wave starting up this week, we were going to need that power for some air conditioning. Dan figured out it was the 50 amp, but the 30 amp seemed fine. He notified the park rangers, but we did not hear back from them until the next day when they fixed the 50 amp, thank goodness! Have you ever seen an over-heated cat? It is not a pretty sight! Oh, we had our barbeque, but the au gratin was changed to accommodate the power.
The next morning, we went for an early morning 3 mile one way walk on the river trail from the park into town of Rogue River. We decided to eat breakfast in town at a quaint little diner decorated with all sorts of Cola memorabilia called “Karen’s Kitchen”. The food and the service was great considering they were very busy and there were only two people (1 cook and 1 waitress) working. Dan’s breakfast burrito looked like two omelets with lots of other goodies wrapped in a tortilla. Sandy’s veggie omelet was packed full of veggies with a side of hash browns and whole wheat toast. The diner even had a good variety of herb teas to enjoy. Yea, our 3 mile walk home was a lot more labored than the earlier walk.
We took the Rogue River’s HellGate Excursions. There are several rides to choose from and we decided on the 2-hour scenic ride with a 1-hour All-You-Can-Eat lunch stop on the river. Our driver was great and funny. He explained that the jetboat could go up to 45 mph while skimming over 8-inches of water. He mentioned we would be getting wet especially those sitting towards the front and ladies forget the hair-do for today. That’s when he gunned the jetboat and did a sudden stop. All we saw was a wall of water coming up and over the front. Yea, did I mention we were sitting in the third row?
At the beginning, he stopped (gently) several times showing us beautiful homes and parks. Then we were in a more uninhabited area where we saw quite a few ospreys flying overhead, some were sitting near a nest and we could see their babies peeking out at us. Dan saw one osprey come out of the water with its catch. Another osprey flew right overhead with a fish. We saw quite a few deer, but no bears. We also saw one lone eagle sitting in a tree. She was watching us with her eagle eye. No pun intended!We rode over some whitewater and through a canyon. Finally, the driver asked if we were interested in spinning in a 360 and everyone cheered. He explained what people had to do to be ready for the spin so we would not slide into each other. Once we were ready, he did a mild 360. We were a little surprised that we did not get very wet. He promised to do more on our return trip after receiving encouraging cheers when he asked if we enjoyed the spin.
Lunch was served family style with homemade bread, cornbread, tossed salad, barbecued chicken, potatoes, and a dessert. The food just kept coming. They really meant it when they said all-you-can-eat. Some people at our table were a little worried about their overly full stomachs on the return trip, but we did not hear about anyone getting sick. Oh, they also offer special and vegetarian dishes as well.Ahh, the return trip was quite different and a lot of fun. Our driver had partnered up with another jetboat. They took turns speeding past each other and riding in each other’s wakes. Our driver was very good at getting us wet. Remember, he said the first few rows would get wet? Well, he lied! Everyone was wet by the time he got done. His favorite trick was to stop suddenly in the other jetboat’s wake that would create an even larger wave to come over the whole boat! We did so many 360’s that we lost count. Who cares when it is 90+ degrees?
Oh, one last thing. We could see the eagle was still perched in the same spot watching the river. As we got closer, our driver stopped and explained that the other driver would whistle to the eagle and if she came down, he would give her a fish. Sure enough, that eagle was just waiting for her friend to whistle. She glided right by us to the other boat where she caught her prize and flew off for her afternoon snack. It was just amazing to see.
We are starting our journey south. First stop is in Hat Creek, CA for 4 nights then on to Fallon, Naval Air Station in Nevada 70 miles east of Reno. Happy Trails!
