Trip to John Day, Oregon

We finally made it to John Day in Oregon--Alyosha's birthday wish come true. If you ask him a question he will find a way to include dinosaur, paleontologist, fossil, petrified wood or something of that genre in the answer--no matter the question. We had a beautiful time and a peaceful weekend in Eastern Oregon. The geography is just amazing there. While we were rolling through we couldn't help but imagine what the pioneers were thinking when they were traveling this way to make their homestead somewhere in this vast silence yet enormous explosion of land. I describe the great rifts and bulges almost like being on the moon. Enormous hills and valleys--then cracks so you can see 50 million years worth of layers like an epic tale unfolding as quickly as you can lay your eyes on a new inch of earth.

On the road to John Day. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We were all beginning to get a cold-or maybe the swine flu, you never know, but as soon as we got into the dry sunny high desert, the sniffles and coughs disappeared.

The kids were pretty good--reading books and marveling out of the window

Alyosha put his eyes on every piece of dust floating around John Day. He found a fossil or imprint in everything--and even though we weren't allowed to disturb the environment in the monument, Alyosha still came home with a ton of rocks. (most were legitimate finds in places that are legal--Alyosha follows the law to the letter, no matter how much he would want to keep something, he wouldn't if it isn't allowed.)

Barry, the camp host, told us about a special place that had exposed volcanic ash from a volcano that erupted about 12 million years ago. The ash has been compressed to fragile rocks--kind of like chalk. If you look closely, you can see imprints from the plants when this area was a swamp and horses, camels, bear-dogs and rhinos lived in the area. So much to discover if you search out. Alyosha's best find here was a 'rock' that had tree ring imprints--a tree that lived 12 million years ago.

adventures of a paleontologist

Luka was more interested in finding poop--not the fossilized kind. You can even tell what he is saying in the photo!

We stayed 3 nights in the Fish House Inn in Dayville and Barry was our host. He was wonderful and warm. He told us some secrets about the area and just shared about life in general in Eastern Oregon--pretty opposite from life in Portland, but still interesting. People come from all over the world to study at the fossil beds. This is pretty much in the middle of no where. There is one cafe, occasionally open and a Mercantile--for sale--by the way. I will admit that we imagined buying the little Mercantile and fostering the kids interest in everything ancient and turned to stone. Even better, there is a little ranch for sale next to the Dayville Mercantile--perfect to host a R.V. and camping site...any takers on our Eastern Oregon adventure?

The Fish House Inn is in the background here. We cooked out on the grill they provided every evening. I am sure the cafe in Dayville was nice, but we had German brats and steak with Washington state Merlot and whole milk, depending on your age... It was DELICIOUS.
We did a 3.4, can't leave out the .4--you will see why, a 3.4 mile hike with the kids up and down the Blue Basin Trail inside the fossil beds monument. The kids, excluding Niki, walked the entire trail. According to the official travel guides, the Blue Basin Overlook hike is "Strenuous, 600 ft. elevation gain. A strenuous, but rewarding, loop trail brings you to a spectacular vista overlooking the John Day River Valley. It is dusty in places and may be impassable in wet weather" Alyosha and Luka hiked every step of the 3.4 miles and they explored and wondered at everything-the complaining was minimum and only for food--which we stopped for 2 snacks along the way. They enjoyed the hike and the beautiful fresh air. Four hours for 3.4 miles isn't too bad. I love it, and it is really encouraging for when the boys get older; we are going to get into even more amazing adventures together.

Papa and Niki at the start of our hike. It was chilly, but perfect for our hike. The sun was shining and the air was crisp and fresh. At the beginning of the trail we had 2 choices; either the .75 mile walk inside the valley or the 3.4 mile hike around the valley. We looked at each other and wondered which road to choose--the difficult one was a thousand times worth it.

Alyosha and Luka spotted a deer that was finished off by a cougar a while ago. Of course, the deer skeleton wasn't a deer on our discovery mission--it was a plant eating dinosaur who stopped to take its last drink in the ancient river then got attacked by a velociraptor and died here.

One of our picnic stops. We had sandwiches and apples on the side of the trail and only a couple of other hikers passed us along the way. October is definitely the best time to come here. You can really experience the quiet and the significant spirituality of the area when you have it to yourself.

Look at that view in the background. Luka kept saying "it is dangerous, dangerous" because the trail was so steep on one side. He kept imitating falling down the slope with his sounds..luckily not his body. I held his hand the entire walk!

Bench brake on the walk. Luka didn't want to sit still--keep going, keep going. We are only a third of the way through at this rest stop.

Here we are at the peak. The blue-green claystones began as volcanic ash-falls deposited 28 million years ago by the ancestral Cascade Mountains. These volcanoes were precursors to those active today like St. Helens. I want to emphasize--that is volcanic ash--that has been compressed for 28 million years. Can you imagine the volcano that erupted? Those eruptions are inspiration for almost every picture Alyosha paints right now.

Niki needed his snacks about every .75 miles too. He loved the fresh air and the hike just as much as we did. Roma made sure not to miss a step either--I don't think that Niki would enjoy a roller-coaster fall down the Blue Basin into the valley.

Roma's reasoning for staying ahead of Luka and I on the downhill of the trail was so that he could catch us in case we fell down the 'dangerous' slope. Can you picture Roma jumping with Niki to grab onto Lukas 'arm' (leg in Luka language) before he slips over the edge? That is a scene for a movie.

grand

Luka looking over his triumph.

Here is a picture of all of us on the downhill slope of our hike.

The daze after a hike is a good feeling

Exploration in the old West

This barn has been here for over a hundred years--this used to be a prime sheep herding area. Unfortunately sheep wool production doesn't pay off anymore and cattle have taken over.

Alyosha the photographer

Our car is comfortable and made the trip smooth and cool. We don't use it in the city much, but I am so thankful that we have it--and that it is paid off!

That is Sheep Rock in the background. Sheep Rock, is 1,100 feet above the John Day River.

Here we are on the 45th parallel, exactly between the equator, my home climate, and the North Pole, Roma's home climate. It is a perfect compromise for us--maybe we should move here.

Camping at Timothy Lake

The boys are off on a journey to explore Timothy lake. These are three fossil hunters on the search for deep sea, high mountain lake, ancient sea monster fossil ekletons (skeletons in Luka language). You will not believe how much evidence of their existence in this lake there is on the shore. Did you know that there were THOUSANDS of million year old rocks to look at?

Niki is a little skeptical of the million year old rocks. He prefers sitting in my lap to going out on the expedition. Maybe he is the CEO direction all operations from shore.

Here is the stash of the million year old rocks with evidence of ancient life. Every one was carefully chosen and 'scienced out' as Alyosha puts it. Only 3 made it home, much to the fossil hunter's chagrin.

Here they are. Always looking forward to their next expedition.

Possum Kingdom State Park

This is the train that we took out to Possum Kingdom Lake for our 4 days of camping out in Texas in June just before the official start of summer. It was hot and we sweated our way through the day and listened to the crickets chirp us to sleep at night.
It actually wasn't too bad. When you keep in mind that this area has been inhabited by people for the past 10,000 years, you know that the luxury we had of modern tents to keep out the flying and annoying bugs and the soft air mattress to get us up off the hard ground--it makes it easy to enjoy roughing it. We even had air conditioner to give us some reprieve from the hottest part of the day. The lake was cool and felt wonderful. I actually enjoyed sleeping outside under the blanket of stars and the quiet night. It is funny that it still feels quiet even though there are a million crickets chirping in unison.
Patricia and Jeremy joined us for the first two days. They are babysitting Harley while Stacy is off exploring the Greek Isles. They supplied us with plenty of beer and bratwurst, two necessities when you are camping out! The boys loved that Aunt Trish came to swim with them.
Niki had his first experience with the red waters of the Brazos.
Granny came and camped out with us too. Harley kept her company in her camper during the night. Luka was pretty wary of the boat at first and he stayed put right next to Granny so he wouldn't fall off of the boat.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was just riding on the boat in the lake. It seems so peaceful and the air is so fresh.

Trisha and Alyosha on the tube behind the boat. Luka didn't like it too much, but I think Aleks will be the first on the water every time. I am sure Luka will join him when he is just a couple years older.

Niki had his own life-jacket and stayed in my lap while we were speeding on the boat. He was happy most of the time even though he was in his cocoon of water protection.



It seems like Niki has found his tongue and likes to show the tip of it to anyone who is interested in watching him.
Grandpa let Alyosha drive his first boat. He did a great job and didn't run over any fish or run into any docks.

Even Roma, the man from the cold North, enjoyed the heat. It may not be something he wants to experience every day of his life, but for these 4 days, it was actually a nice change of environment--it is 50 in Portland! I will take a nice crisp 95 and a cool dip in the water anytime over that!


Luka is now king of the world by the end of the boat trip.
Possum Kingdom at sunset is probably one of the most beautiful sights in the world!

Slip N' Slide

We are having a beautiful time in Texas, even though the heat index is 110 degrees. Yes, you read right-with the humidity and storms and heat-- 110, 43 celsius!! BUT, we are having a nice time. Tomorrow, Sunday, we are packing up to go camping for the week at Possum Kingdom State Park-so no pictures or updates for the week. Today we had a wonderful party with many friends, check back for the pictures. For now, enjoy Roma and the kids and their Slip N' Slide adventure.

A day at the Lake!

Oh my! I haven't been to the water in Texas since the summer of 2003 and I have been dreaming about it for years! AND the water is just as good as I remember it! The water is warm and nice and we all just jumped right in. Well, Niki only stuck his toes in but he liked it too. Next week after Roma arrives we are camping on the lake for 4 days-right beside a nice little beach and hiking trails.

The boys are building a sand castle with the most important feature, a moat. We just happened to run into Sara McCall and her boys just as we pulled up to Sandy Beach.

Mama and Luka taking a swim. He is a little hesitant but if you take it nice and slow he likes it.

Auntie Trish is looking on while Luka fills my hair with sand--this is also a warning of the week to come. I just have to get used to being like a piece of sandpaper while we are camping.

That is our boat behind Luka--Joe Hall was great to let us just use it as much as we want while we are visiting. We will use it a lot!!! Niki rides well on it--he doesn't like his life jacket too much, but the motor of the boat puts him to sleep so he forgets about the thing around his body and head. (sorry no pictures, but it is kinda cute--next time maybe). The best thing about this boat is that next week when we have me and the 3 boys and Grandma and Grandpa and Trish like we had today, we will also be adding Jeremy, Roma Granny and maybe even Jeb and we will all fit comfortably!
Niki dipping his toes in to the lake

Swinging in the Sun

We are swinging in the sun, what a glorious feeling....!


Niki thinks he is too cool on the swing.

No Excuse

Ok, I know that this page hasn't been updated in a while...and threre really isn't an excuse. I could find time once a week at least to jot down something so I can look back and remember what we did, what we looked like, how we played etc...

I am growing a baby! Inside my tummy--that takes some effort! And there are 3 other boys around here who are always expecting me to feed them! I do have an excuse!

Well, I did take the time to upload a few photos....I want to try and go back and put more--but here are some. Enjoy!

Click on the picture for more!

Weekend at Government Camp

Click on the picture for larger view

What an amazing weekend we had at Government Camp on Mt. Hood! Kirsten (tubing down the tube hill that we build ourselves in the front yard) invited us up to her mom's home in Government Camp. The little ski village is right at the base of Ski Bowl (downhill skiing) and next to some beautiful cross country ski trails-- if you are brave enough to forge the trails yourself.


Here is Kirsten's Mom--Grandma Jeanne. She is such an open and inviting person and shared her entire home with us and another family who also have 2 kids--a 5 year old and 10 month old. It is pretty brave to let into your home a 3 and 5 year old AND two curious 1 year olds who explore pretty much every nook and cranny. On top of all that--she didn't even know us until we drove up with our pillows and pajamas! She (and her family) is a rare altruist.


It snowed and snowed and snowed the entire time we were there, from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. The branches were hanging so low, almost vertical, from the heavy snow. And the snow was piled on, defying gravity.

Alyosha is "cleaning the snow" off of the fence.

The snow plow comes twice a day to clear the roads and at least once a day to clean up as much of the driveway as it can get to. So, the front yard has a 20 foot (at least) snow mountain--a perfect mountain to make into a tubing hill! Going down on one tube is good, but if you get two, you fly (and bounce). Jen's fun is bouncing down the hill.

Roma and Luka are sitting in their snow cave. On the second morning, the snow plow completely covered our wonderful tubing hill. So we decided to turn it into our igloo apartment building.

Luka LOVES the snow. He was warm and dry sitting on his little sled wrapped up by the sheep skin. He just sat and enjoyed the snow falling down on his face, the perfect little snowflakes hitting every millimeter of his little face. He watched the two older boys jump and play on the sledding hill and shovel the snow...next time he will be right beside them.

Alyosha was like a camel in the desert eating the snow. (to understand you have to see the Planet Earth series and the wild Bactrian camels--who eat snow little by little to survive) He kept saying that he wouldn't eat too much, only a little at a time like the camels do.

Jen cross country skiing. You have to really know where you are going--I went when the tracks were already made by a local. The danger is that this field isn't actually a field; it is a swamp. A swamp with little creeks and deep holes that you could fall into unaware because it looks like a beautiful flat meadow. Roma decided he would go early in the morning--and Kirsten offered to guide him through the meadows full of pot holes. (8 ft. deep pot holes) They made it back from the 2 mile trip just fine.

Alyosha got caught by Papa, eating snow. He tried to explain about the camels in the desert, but Papa hasn't seen that Planet Earth yet.

Luka is going to be our downhill skiier--he practiced all weekend on the stairs. He is already an expert at 'down stair' skiing.

Here is Luka in his little waterproof pouch we made for him from old waders filled with sheep skin.

Romka grilling the shashlik that we made for dinner on Saturday night. It was delicious!

Here is Rachel and Kirsten--all getting ready for dinner.

Notice the snow? It literally snowed the entire time we were on the mountain. Nice puffy white snow--

Here is a pic of the house we stayed in--it is almost necessary to have a warm place to go when you are playing in the snow with little kids! This was ideal--just down the street are literally hundreds of people clamoring for parking spaces and looking for the best sledding spot. We are so grateful!

Here is the downhill ski slopes--Grandma Jeanne's backyard.

The car ride home. I think that this is the face of someone who really loves the mountains.

Женька с детишками отправились в Эстонию

Сегодня утром первыми словами заспанного Алёши были: "А где мои билеты?"

Хорошо, когда все путешественники встают с правильной ноги и вообще в курсе происходящего.

В Портленде шёл дождь, в который так хорошо уезжать, настроение было на подъеме, вещи были заранее упакованы накануне, поэтому отъезжающие не спеша позавтракали, проверили наличие паспортов и пелёнок и отправились в аэропорт.

Когда Алёша заносил в машину свой маленький чемоданчик на колёсах, то попросил, чтобы его (чемоданчик) кроме Алёши никто не трогал. Мы как-то не обратили внимание на эти слова, о чём немного пожалели в аэропорту. Уже проходя перед кассами авиалиний Алёша остановился и тихо сказал, глядя на чемоданы, которые забирала служба безопасности для досмотра и отправкой как багажа: "Я не отдам свой чемодан им". Мы его успокоили, что мол его чемоданчик это ручная кладь и он всегда будет с ним. Однако при регистрации на рейс всю ручную кладь нужно было взвесить и прицепить наклейку, то бишь чемоданчик надо было отдать тёте, причём с подозрительным немецким акцентом. Неожиданно для всех, включая весь персонал Люфтганзы и пассажиров, Алёша, вцепившись в свой чемодан, дико заорал во всё горло и бросился бежать из зала регистрации.

В конце концов Алёшу вернули с чемоданом, но наклейку так и не смогли поставить.

Ну, будем надеяться, что полёт пройдёт удачно: 9 часов до Франкфурта, 6 часов во Франкфурте, пару часов до Таллинна и потом ещё часика 3 до Силламяэ.

Спасибо Олежке за встречу моих цыганят в Таллинне.

Trillium Lake

Мы уехали на озеро Триллиум в Орегоне. Вернёмся в воскресенье вечером. Телефоны недоступны.

We are off to Trillium Lake, Oregon. Coming back on Sunday evening. No cellphone connection.

More on The Secret

Maybe it isn't such a good idea to watch The Secret and allow attraction to affect your everyday life like I have been talking about. Here is what happened to us this weekend:

It was supposed to be a 3 day weekend for us. Romka took off on Friday so that we could go visit a friend who moved to Yaccolt. We were going to spend a wonderful day outside in the gorgeous weather and the kids were going to play together like angels and we were going to grill our dinner over the fire--the idea was perfect. Then, I am not sure why, except for the fact, maybe, that the friend that we were going to visit has a broken hand and foot and if there was anything that she needed help doing we would of course do for her--but, Romka took a sick day instead of a vacation day.

Well, as attraction laws work, Romka attracted himself a real sick day. He got to deal with 3 sick people at home, with liquids and foods flying out of their bodies in various directions. He got to spend half his sick day cleaning up puke and the other half of the day in the Emergency Room.

We are all better now. Over our stomach virus--and Roma never got it. Let me suggest the next time you are really sick, take a vacation day -- you will be automatically better and maybe some plane tickets will just fall into your lap.