We've Only Just Begun

We've Only Just Begun
More Books Beyond Our Trilogy : We'll Be Filling All These Bookshelves!

Tuesday

I Loved This Place in Bend on the River

Welcome to the River Willow

This is the willow tree that the cottage is named for. It has a ladder that goes up the side of it and a rope that hangs from it for old fashioned jumping!


People rent inflatable rafts up the river and then peacefully float down the river for about three miles. It's hard to believe that there are any problems whatsoever in the world when you are just floating along like that -- or watching others floating along like that! We had a great time just waving and saying Hi to everyone who floated by!

Outside on our patio.

Wish you were here!!


Kayak Jack!



River Willow Garden


This place reminds me of Paul McCartney's song
Little Willow:

BEND, LITTLE WILLOW,WINDS GONNA BLOW YOU
HARD AND COLD TONIGHT.
LIFE, AS IT HAPPENS,NOBODY WARNS YOU,
WILLOW, HOLD ON TIGHT.
NOTHING'S GONNA SHAKE YOUR LOVE,
TAKE YOUR LOVE AWAY.
NO ONE'S OUT TO BREAK YOUR HEART,
IT ONLY SEEMS THAT WAY...HEY.
SLEEP, LITTLE WILLOW,
PEACE GONNA FOLLOW,
TIME WILL HEAL YOUR WOUNDS.
GROW TO THE HEAVENS,
NOW AND FOREVER,
ALWAYS CAME TOO SOON.
... OH, LITTLE WILLOW.

Salt Lake to Bend

There's nothing like simple wide open spaces to put things in perspective.

Beautiful Utah Countryside

What should have been a 10 hour trip turned into almost 14. A five car pile up on the 2-lane highway in Salt Lake started the day. (We considered ourselves lucky, though, we weren't involved!)
We hit Boise at rush hour! And then almost 200 miles of construction and darkness -- with "steep drop off"s on the right and new curbing on the left - no lines painted yet on the road and our car in the lead to light the way for the line of traffic behind us! It was a dark and tiring 200 miles but Kate and I got into Bend safely -- albeit several hours later than planned.

The camera battery died early so there are no photos of Oregon posted here. The prettiest leg of the journey started about an hour over the Oregon border. Not a sign of mankind anywhere except the highway itself running through God's Country. An occasional ranch along the river, whose water meandered along the highway for most of the trip into Central Oregon.


This seems like an optical illusion to me somehow.... But it's very real!
It was somewhere in Idaho, I think.

Sedona to Salt Lake

This was an unexpectedly beautiful trip! MAPQUEST must have taken me the scenic route. Here are some of the stops along the way -- or shall I say some "point and click" moments...


This was on the highway heading north from Flagstaff to Page. So typical of the AZ landscape.

Not so typical once we get into the Page AZ area. Check out the rocky passes.




Mapquest routed me near St. George's Utah, and through Kanab. Then through Zion National Park -- the panoramic views were much more impressive than my camera could capture.
Wait!? Have I returned to Sedona so soon? No, this may be a red rock canyon, but it is the red rocks of Bryce Canyon.



The spires of Bryce Canyon
Tomorrow we go from Salt Lake City to Bend OR. Stay tuned!

Sedona To Salt Lake

This was an unexpectedly beautiful trip! MAPQUEST must have taken us the scenic route. Here are some of the stops along the way -- or shall we say some "point and click" moments...



This was on the highway heading north from Flagstaff to Page. 

 Check out the rocky passes.





Mapquest routed us near St. George's Utah, and through Kanab. Then through Zion National Park -- the panoramic views were much more impressive than my camera could capture.
Wait!? Have we returned to Sedona so soon? No, this may be a red rock canyon, but it is the red rocks of Bryce Canyon, Utah.



The spires of Bryce Canyon
Tomorrow we go from Salt Lake City to Bend OR. Stay tuned!