Oregon
After 2 years of not coming to Oregon with us, Tim decided he wanted to go back---and bring Faith. Turned out to be a great decision. Little did we all know that my Mom would die in just 4 months! So glad we all made it out there this year.
Even Angie came---this time with Faith as her friend (and Tim's, too).
chowing down on the Fruit Loops.
the girls playing crochet in the back yard---at least that's what they were suppose to be doing.
Ken trying to fix a fan
with the encouragement of Dad.
we had many good visits out here!
So glad Angie and Faith get along so well!
front of Mom and Dad's house.
one of the many gorgeous sunsets we've seen in Oregon. This is looking west from the front of Mom and Dad's house.
Faith hamming it up at Carolyn's family dinner.
Mom and Dad.
Mom and Dad chilling out on Carolyn's lawn.
a rare photo of Ken and me.
I'm so glad we took a group photo. One of the last photos I have with Mom
We did take a few day trips----one to our favorite mountain spot---Clear Lake
even made the kids to the rowing.
the rowing must have worn Faith out.
took them up to Dwight D observatory. Quite a view from up there.
inside the observatory
We also took out mini vacation to the Oregon coast. In those days we didn't have timeshare "points", so we use to rent a condo.
Eating again.
We loved wandering around on the coast and checking out the tide pools in the rocks.
We also loved riding up and down the coast and checking out the views.
I think tim and Faith thought it was cold.
Always loved checking out Yaquina Head Lighthouse , too. It use to be free, but Oregon is now starting to charge a fee for a lot of their parks.
I guess it's worth it for a place like this with the museum and "beach" access.
This was a great place to listen to the waves rushing through the tumbled rocks. It was also a great place to see sealions.
They even built a tide pool walkway.
the tide pool area from above.
The Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport was still free. It's pretty neat little place with lots of aquariums and guided tours. And it's only a couple miles from the Oregon Aquarium that charges up around $20/person.
Another free atraction----the flowering flower farms in the Willamette Valley! --- Poppies, tulips, whatever these are, as well as many other flower farms.
the Wooden Shoe tulip farm in Woodburn, Oregon.
Vancouver, BC
Carolyn and I even took a mini-vacation to Victoria, BC.
Toured a historic, Victorian-era
Scottish Baronial mansion--Cragdarroch Castle. Pretty neat place
and toured the famous Butchart's Gardens.
Robert Pim Butchart (1856–1943) began manufacturing Portland Cement in 1888.
He and his wife Jennie Butchart(1866–1950) came to the west coast of Canada because of rich limestone deposits necessary for cement production. Several prominent citizens, Jennie Butchart among them, commissioned Japanese gardens from Kishida for their estates. Jennie turned it into the Sunken Garden, which was completed
in 1921 and
began to receive visitors to their gardens. To this day, the Gardens remain within the Butchart family.
I even enjoyed the ferry ride over to Victoria (on Vancouver Island).
Las Vegas
Now that the kids were both in college, Ken and I took another trip by ourselves to Las Vegas. It was another of those free promotions for going to a timeshare presentation. This time our trip really was free. I tried to upgrade us, but they said we couldn't. So our accommodations were something like the Best Western a couple blocks off the Vegas Strip. But it turned out to be another great trip---even without the upgrade.
We rented a car this time and checked out more of the area. Don't remember what this garden was called, but it was pretty neat, and close by.
We did wander the strip again, too.
had to take a picture of this car---a Metropolitan. This was the car we had when my Mom was in an automobile/train accident back in 1967 that left her a quadriplegic. They got it when we lived in England and brought it back to the states with them. I always thought it was a neat little car.
We also went up into some of the nearby rock formations.
Oregon---last visit with Mom
I also use to go to Oregon by myself sometime around Christmas. I'd help Mom and Dad decorate for Christmas and transport presents to and from there. This year I had award travel tickets for sometime in Dec., but a TWA weekend super savers fare came available in late Fall. I debated not going, since I was going again in about a month, but decided I couldn't pass up the ridiculous fare.
It was a good visit. I had been somewhat concerned about Mom back in the Summer. She was weaker then I'd ever seen her before. This trip she actually seemed better then I'd seen her in years.
us girls sitting around shopping for Avon.
I was only there for about 4 or 5 days, but I'm so glad I went. A couple weeks after I got home, Mom died in her sleep. That was before we had cell phones. I remember coming home from work at about 3pm and seeing Ken's car there. Dad sent him and email and told him to call stat! It was a total surprise to me and I hysterically called AA.com and had my award ticket changed to a flight leaving in about 2 hours and handed Ken the phone to book his flight as I went and packed. Talk about a tough flight! 4 hours of crying. They even stuck us in the back row by ourselves. They even offered me free drinks, which Ken declined on "my behalf". So on Nov. 15th, I was heading back to Oregon for the 3rd time this year---unfortunately not the kind of trip I was looking forward, too.
Around Florissant
Back on the home front----Angie was away at UMKC. But when she came home for Christmas, she had her wisdom teeth removed.
And we took our usual Christmas photo
This was the year when changes started---empty nest syndrome was upon us!
