Hello friends and family!
This post was written but never published last October. In spite of major surgery on her wrist, Lynnae and I had a great time in Oregon during the late summer and fall. Read on to hear about it:
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When I last posted on this blog in mid-summer, it ended with Lynnae falling and breaking her wrist at Little Zigzag Falls near Mt. Hood. From that point, our trip became very different from what we had planned. In addition to mountain hikes and beach walks, the trip became about x-rays and doctor appointments and surgery and physical therapy. It also became about acceptance and adaptation and finding the joy in the small progress steps. At this point, about 10 weeks since her accident, we are preparing to return to Tampa in a few weeks and in spite of the setbacks we can look back on our time in Oregon and be thankful for the beauty and fun we were able to enjoy in spite of our change in circumstances. Lynnae's journey toward healing will continue when we are back in Florida and we will both remember this time in Oregon as an opportunity to roll with impermanence and live in the present moment!
Two days before Lynnae's scheduled surgery, we went to Mt. Hood and took a lift up the mountain and did some hiking. The wildflowers were gorgeous and the mountain was spectacular.
We also visited Timberline Lodge, a historic hotel finished in 1938 that features the work of CCC and WPA craftsmen and was featured in the movie "The Shining".
Surgery day, the start of a long road to recovery!
We tried to make trips to Portland for doctor visits as fun as possible, here we found some awesome vegan Mexican street food.
Heading to the coast for an extended stay, we first camped In Seaside and explored nearby Cannon Beach.
Awesome huge jellyfish!
We traveled to Newport, one of our favorite Oregon coast towns, and did some hiking around one of the coastal lakes and explored the largest sea cave in North America.
On to Florence our campground was on a bluff overlooking the Suislaw River mouth. We did more beach combing, including finding a beach side restaurant with really good vegan pizza! We also visited a meadow that is year-round home to a herd of elk where we saw a group of young males in full antler.
Heading away from the coast, we revisited one of our favorite Oregon State Parks, Silver Falls. We weren't up to doing the full 8 mile, 10 waterfall hike, but we caught a few nice ones!
On our last night camping for the year, we were visited by a flock of wild turkeys, wishing us safe travels and come back soon!
We ended our trip where we began, back in Bend. The fall color is just peaking right now and the aspens are particularly spectacular at Shevlin Park near our son's house.
We are very grateful for the opportunities we have to travel and live in the woods, near the ocean and in the mountains for part of the year; But we look forward to being home near friends and family for the nice time of year in Tampa.
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