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| Mom, Dad, Katlin, and Me on July 4 playing Pinochle and waiting for the fireworks |
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| Katlin, Lisa, and Scout on the U-C mine tailings |
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| Old mine cart at U-C Mine |
July
5 we decided to go on a horse ride. At first a few of Lisa's boys were
going to go, but it ended up being just Lisa, Katlin, and me. So all
three sisters got to go on a ride together up to the Union-Companion
Mine. We rode up there and then got off our horses and went exploring.
We went over the side of the tailings (creating small rock slides as we
went) and then went down by the ponds that were created by the water
coming out of the mine. We found all sorts of old metal and glass
objects -- nails, spikes, a squashed mine car underneath the edge of the
tailings pile, and even a metal gear which had to weigh 40 lbs. Then
we looked through the tailings pile to see if we could find any gold and
Katlin and Lisa both found some. We couldn't get into the mine itself
because the entrance collapsed during the last major snowstorm a few
years ago. But, we could ride up to the old manager's house (what the
mine workers referred to as the mansion). Its foundation is still
standing and you can see the chimneys which still reach 3 stories into
the air. We also looked at where the other old outbuildings used to be
and found lots of historic debris (bedpans, springs, porcelain pieces,
etc.). Then Katlin took us down the mountain via another route which
was in the trees and very pretty.
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The
next day Dad put us to work on the zip line. He has been wanting to
get the zip line up and running so that we can ride it before we leave.
There have been several major challenges though -- one of the most
difficult to conquer has been trying to get it tight enough to not drag
the person on the ground. So, this time he was trying a location where
it didn't matter if there was some slack -- over a large ravine.
Daniel, Katlin, Dad, and I worked for several hours to try to get this
zip line to work. We got the starting point finished (finally, after
many attempts) and then tried to get it so the line would run to the end
point. Our problem was that the drop wasn't steep enough. We tested
the line using the fence post driver and heavy metal pipe and they would
only go down about half way before they'd stop and we'd have to climb
down the ravine to fetch it and bring it back. Finally we though we had
it about right for a person, so we sent Daniel down it. Unfortunately
he still didn't go far enough and I had to go pull him up. The harness
was also too tight on him and now he's slightly worried that we won't be
able to have children (he said the ride down was "painful."). So, I
guess we need to put some more slack in it or tie it off on a lower
tree.
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| Grandma Ream and Heidi |
July 7 we headed to Portland to get Moritz. We left
Cornucopia after breakfast and gathered two loads of dirty laundry to do
at my parents' house in Union and then drove to La Grande. We stopped
there to visit with my Grandma Ream. When we stopped she had a project
for me -- try to figure out where her camera was saving her pictures and
where it was making new folders for those pictures. I tried to figure
it out, but I'm not sure I was successful. We also got to see some of
the old pictures from when my mom was a kid. My Uncle Kenny had them
stored in his attic and they were all on slides. My grandfather had
numbered and labeled every single slide in the box (all 480 of them),
but they had gotten out of order. So, David and I volunteered to help
put them in order and then take them to Walmart to be put on a disc. I
was quite impressed that they would be able put them on disc so quickly
and that it would cost so little - around $15). We ordered 6 discs so
that all of the kids in the family could have one (Uncle Michael, Uncle
Kenny, Aunt Diane, and my mom), she could keep one, and we could keep
one. There were pictures of when my mom was a kid, Yosemite (my grandma
and grandpa climbing some of the exact trails we just climbed at
Yosemite), and their big cross-country trip which is similar to ours.
The main differences is that they were much more careful in taking their
pictures because film was much more expensive than digital. I mean,
I've taken nearly 7,000 pictures thus far on our trip. Not all of them
are great, but I can just hit the delete button if they don't turn out.
They didn't have that option back when my mom was little (or even when I
was a kid)! Daniel and Erin only know digital and have no concept of
film cameras, much less slides and slide projectors. My how the times
have changed!
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| Rainbow colored soap at the car wash |
Also when we were in La Grande we got the car washed
(it was filthy from the dirt roads in Cornucopia) and the oil changed
(since we just passed the 7,000 mile mark). They said everything else
on the car looked fine, so I guess it is holding up on this trip! After
finishing up in La Grande and dropping off my Grandmother's slides to a
Walmart person (who said they planned to pawn off the very tedious job
of turning slides into digital photos to someone else), we drove over to
Pendleton. We stopped at the Pendleton Woolen Mill to look and see if
there were any more wool socks that would fit Erin. We found an outlet
store in Seaside and had bought several pairs of socks for me, David,
Daniel, and my mom, but Erin insisted that she'd never wear them because
she didn't like long socks. I still bought a pair for her and insisted
that she take them to horse camp with her. When I saw her at the 4th
of July celebration I asked her if she had used the socks and she said
that she had worn them several days and really liked them. But, David
and I came up dry -- no socks in her size. After that detour we headed
to Portland to meet up with my mom who had driven down earlier in the
day to drop off horse camp girls. By the time we made it down there she
had finished up her Walmart run and was ready for dinner. We went to
Shari's because I know David loves their pies. He got the last piece of
blackberry lemon sour cream pie and was in 7th heaven! It was a very
good pie piece! Mom and I shared a chocolate lava cake with ice cream
which was also quite good. Then we checked in to our seedy motel (a
very cheap Travelodge) and went to bed. Mom had to leave early in the
morning to get two girls from an 8:15 flight and then leave Portland by
9:30. We were going to be a bit later because Mortiz's flight wasn't
scheduled until 11:25 am and he would have to go through customs which
would taken even longer.
Also,
we heard from the girls that were leaving horse camp today that they
really liked Erin and that she had made several friends who
planned to keep in touch with her.
So, it seems like she is having a really good time!
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| Lisa on Rex |
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| Old building at Union-Companion Mine |
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