Road Trip Day 6- An Afternoon at Conrad Links

The grass had been mowed. The course had been plotted. and my son had been saying "Golf ball" all morning long. The day had come for the Annual Conrad Links Golf Tournament and barbeque. This is not golf in typical tournament fashion with country club sophistication but rather a gathering of friends out in the woods of Western Washington to chat, laugh, eat and chase around a wiffle ball for a couple hours. 

This was Ben's first tournament. It was as if he had been waiting for this moment his whole life. A day entirely devoted to sticks and balls. And he was pretty dang good if I do say myself. He may not hit the ball with any particular destination in mind but he can certainly whack the heck out of it. Better than alot of grown men I might add. He also found another use for the golf club. It made an excellent weapon in a game of imaginary medieval war. Ben managed to find an unsuspecting victim to beat the ever loving crap out of while onlookers winced in pain and laughed their butts off. Good show! Good show!

Mari, on the other hand, couldn't be bothered with plastic balls. She had bigger fish to fry. She had her choice of dogs to boss around the property and take on endless walks to wherever she deemed fit. She had guests to charm with her attitude and independence. She had obscene amounts of fruit to consume.

I chose to sit back and watch it all from the edge of the pond. How strange it was to have total strangers come up to me and tell me they were at my parent's wedding in Hawaii over 30 years ago.  Other's told me about meeting me back when I was too young to remember. They knew me before I knew me. Often I have people remember me because of my tall stature but this was different. They remembered me as their friend's little girl. I wanted to ask them for tales of my father in his younger years but couldn't muster up the courage to listen because their was a huge part of me lost in my wishes that he was there. 

I saw an old friend who I hadn't seen since I was a kid.  It was so weird to see someone who had been child in my minds eye for so many years suddenly in the flesh as a full fledged adult. It was great fun to listen to stories of his family and reminisce about the times us and our siblings shared around this very pond. It felt like it could have been yesterday.

In the end far too many golf balls ended up floating on the surface of the pond. Victims of a water hazard that had gotten the best of most of the golfers it encountered. The sight of the balls floating out of reach was just too much for Ben so he had devised a plan on how to get them. He would just walk out there and pick them up. Mommy wouldn't let him jump directly into the pond but he could stand in the stream, so he would just walk on out from there and get them. Too bad the stream was full of mud from some irresponsible upstream loggers. He didn't get far. Two feet in and there he stood. Sunken to his calves in muck. The plan failed. Mommy came to the rescue and freed him from his muddy shackles. And eventually, the balls floated to shore and back into his little hands.  Yes, it was a great day for golf ball.

Road Trip Day 5- 4th of July, Tenino Style

Independence Day is different out in the country. Less hustle and bustle and more enjoyment of what's just outside the front door. The day was spent watching Ben perfect his golf swing (and I have to say, the boy is really impressive), helping Mari catch skidders, and watching the men prepare the field for the upcoming golf tournament. I piddled around the pond and daydreamed about my childhood. I spent some of my favorite days catching frogs and snakes in that yard. Growing up, I also spent more time in the water than I ever intended. I had a tendency to fall into the pond almost every day. Whether I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was walking or I was reaching just a tad too far for something gliding across the water, I ended up wet far too often. I prayed my klutziness didn't carry over into my children's genes because fishing a two year old out of a freezing cold body of water was not on my "must do" list this go round.  My paranoia led to my decision to have them wear life jackets when were playing near the water. The kids were not very happy about having to wear a constricting vest in the hot sun but they eventually realized it was the only way they were going to get anywhere near that water. Luckily, they managed to stay out of the pond and satisfied their need to get their feet wet in the stream.

Fireworks tend be less of the sparkler variety and more the M80 style. Families spend hundreds of dollars to put on a display for the whole neighborhood. Sitting in a field watching fireworks explode in the sky through a clearing between fir trees was so different than the 4ths that I have become accustomed to. There were no crowds to fight. Just family laughing over a couple beers at stories of alien abduction and years past. Sure it was loud. Fireworks do tend to let off quite the resonating boom. But it was also incredibly peaceful. It was just us, the trees, and the sparkling sky.

Road Trip Day 4- Northwest Trek

One of my dreams in life is to go on an African Safari. I want to pull up in a jeep next to a pride of lions at twilight and watch them share a kill with their cubs. I want to see giraffes graze on acacia trees and see wildebeests cross the Seregenti in a never ending herd. Africa may not be in the cards for me right now but North America is and there are plenty of amazing animals for me to check off my " spotted in the wild" list. As a patient and aware adult, I may be able to spot an elk peaking out behind a pine tree off in the distance but my two year olds probably won't. I want them to be able to get the same excitement and satisfaction that I do from spotting an animal but realistically a more controlled environment will probably be best for them to develop their wildlife viewing skills. This is just one of many reasons why I loved taking my kids to Northwest Trek.

Northwest Trek takes you on a safari through America's Serengeti. Here you board a tram, ride through the woods, and get up close an personal with elk, caribou, moose, bighorn sheep, and bison . You can watch animals living life in a habitat very similar to their wild counterparts and get a thrill out of spotting a moose in a marsh or behind a fir tree. I mean where else will my kids get to be 10 feet away from a bison having a dust bath?

 

 

In addition to the tram ride, there are exhibits with predators such as mountain lions, lynx, and bears. If you are wondering why the mountain lions aren't out in the forest with the other animals its because mixing predator and prey is a deadly combination. Throw a mountain lion into the mix and suddenly the bighorn sheep population is bound to take a dive.

 

Smaller mammals such as beavers, skunks, wolverines, and fishers are also on display in nicely designed habitats with viewing windows that showcase not only the outdoor enclosures but the dens as well.

Northwest Trek is a must do for anyone visiting western Washington. It is located near the base of Mt Rainier (another must see) in a gorgeous setting that makes you seriously consider packing up everything you own and moving to the Pacific Northwest. Now if only it didn't rain so much...

Road Trip Day 3- Washington or Bust!

Funny thing about right turns- you take them too soon and they lead you in an entirely different direction. Sometimes you end up discovering wonderful things you might not have never seen had you taken the expected path. Other times you just want to get the heck back on I5 so you can get out of the car already!

Silver Falls State Park was our big stop to break up a long day on the way to our ultimate destination, Aunt Dianne's house in Tenino, WA. It is an absolutely gorgeous place highlighted by ten waterfalls on a seven mile trail. We didn't have the time nor the ability to hike to all ten but we able to walk under the spectacular 177 foot South Falls. It was truly an oasis from the scorching heat and made me feel like we were on a tropical island instead of central Oregon. I loved being able to walk behind the waterfall and gaze at the solid rock that had been carved by thousands of years of pounding by water. Its a place I can't wait to return to as soon as the kids are old enough to make the full seven mile hike.

After we stopped to take a couple pictures of North Falls we started to make our way back to the interstate. Everything seemed to look the same. Wheat fields and Christmas tree farms. Was that our turn off? It looked like our turn off. But I don't remember passing that school. I certainly don't remember passing those fields of fluorescent orange flowers. No. That was definitely not our turn off. We had already driven so many miles. Was it worth turning around? We just needed to keep heading west. And so we did, in a round about sort of way. Finally after a few u-turns to follow the tiny signs the pointed us in the direction back to Salem, we reached the interstate. We were all drained. And we still had three hours of driving left. Or so we thought. Then- we hit Portland. The traffic in Portland is horrendous. It rivals anything I have ever had to deal with in LA. At 3PM on a Thursday we were barely crawling. It took every ounce of mental strength I had not to just drive down the shoulder like a bat out of hell. We drudged. And drudged. And then after what felt like 5 hours later, we left the Portland metro area. From then on it was smooth sailing. I had never been so relieved to pull onto a dirt driveway in my life. We were free! The kids were in heaven. Acres of land for them to run free and a dog to trot along side them. Cows in the forest across the street to clanging their bells and popping out their heads every once in a while to say hello . Hummingbirds to watch zip around and feed off of the vibrant flowers in the front yard. And Aunt Dianne happy to spoil them rotten.