We started our week with the Birthday Outing for Jude and Eric. We decided to go to the Valley of Giants which is in the Coast Range west of the city named Falls City. Some of the largest Douglas firs and hemlocks in the Oregon Coast Range are located in this Bureau of Land Management's Valley of the Giants. Many of the trees are 20 feet in circumference, 200 feet tall, and 400-450 years old. (The biggest fir tree at Brunner Manor is 13 feet 10 inches in circumference). The biggest one at VOG blew down in 1982 - it was 35 feet in circumference and 600 years old. In 1976 the BLM protected the 51 acre site by designating it as an Outstanding Natural Area and Area of Critical Environmental Concern. With a designation like that, we just had to see it. The area is located on Weyerhaeuser Land and you have to check ahead of time to make sure the roads and gates are open.
Warren, Whitney, Holland, and Copeland were going with us for the day's journey to the VOG. Afterwards we (Dad, Jude, Eric, and I) planned to find a place to park for the night and then return home on Wednesday.
It was a lo o o o n n ng g g drive up into the mountains. A very curvy road made Eric easily display his carsick tendency. We finally got to were the Weyerhaeuser land begins...and we had our plan...we'll go first and you follow. We had a map, and the route was on our phone. After a bit, I read the map directions closely----hmmmmmm --we were supposed to start noting the mileage starting at the post office in Falls City. Nope, didn't do that....but the paper map looked like the map on the phone..... so we continued. After a while, we noticed that Warren and Whitney were not behind us...What happened - did they give up and go home or did they jig when we jagged and are now somewhere else in the woods? We really didn't have an option but to continue on the way....which may or may not have been the right way. Turned out the way we were going was not the right way because eventually we came to a sign that said "Walk In Only". To us that meant that if you continued to drive ahead on the road, you'd not be able to turn your vehicle around in order to get out.
In fact, we had made a bad choice at one of the many junctions we had passed. So we turned around and headed back to Falls City. The boys were restless, I was restless, Dad was restless....where were W & W? Were they lost....were they at the beach....did they make it to VOG. We didn't want to leave the area until we had cell service and could determine their status.
Back in Falls City we discovered a city park alongside the Luckiamute River where we decided to plop for the afternoon while the boys played in the river. We felt we were in another country because the other people lounging alongside the river with us seemed like they were from another dimension in time- like they were loggers and their families from the mid 1900's.
Eric ventured into the water - timidly finding his way along the river's bottom when suddenly he slipped, and bang, he was down, and completely wet. He had a horrified look on his face - like he'd done something wrong. When I told him it was okay and that he could get totally wet, he began to explore and had a great time. Jude seemed most interested in finding sticks to send down the current as tiny boats. Following are photos of "two wet boys in the Luckiamute."
By about 2:30 the boys' teeth were chattering, and my bum was sore from sitting on a rock. We headed into the little town to a place where Dad had had cell service earlier - but there was none at this point. We figured we'd go to Dallas and call Jessica to see if she'd heard anything or maybe we'd even be able to talk to Warren. And - surprise, Warren called us....they had actually gotten to the VOG and were on their way back. While we were frolicing in the water, they were walking amongst giants. I was so proud of them - they hadn't gotten lost and they'd found their way back too!
So yeah - the trees were bigger than our General Lester Brunner at 13 ft 10 in.
W & W said the area was nice but they weren't totally ecstatic....it was a very long drive, there were lots of bugs, the trail petered out at one point so they turned around rather than doing the loop trail, and the area looked lots like Alder Flat. I"m almost glad we got to play in the river.
There was an RV place in Falls City, but Dad didn't want to stay there because there was no cell service to find out if W&W had made it back to civilization. We were nearly to Dallas by the time we found that they weren't lost. Looking on my phone for "campsites near me", there was a listing for Black Rock Camping. It was close! Drove in only to find out that the place had been closed for a couple of years...so much for the accuracy of google. The only reasonable choice for our overnight excitement was the rest area along I5 at French Prairie. Off we went - the rest area is huge!!! There are three big lots to provide parking for all the trucks. And there were a billion very tall Doug Firs that provided a lot of space for the boys, who after they'd each found a perfect stick, began to beat on the trunks of the closest trees. We ate dinner and then let the boys play outside till it was nearly dark. It was quite warm that day, and inside the camper, while lying down, I had to keep repeating to myself, "calm down, shut your eyes, lie still, the temperature will eventually go down". Woke up in the morning, and headed back to OC.
What else did we do this week? On the west side of the woods, down Bridge Trail, we discovered about three long tree trunks that had fallen in times past. I wanted them out of the way for when Travis the Mower Guy comes so I tricked Dad into cutting the logs in to "pullable" pieces and I hauled them up to the wood cutting area.
I also did some spraying and weed whacking with the brush cutter. And I spent some time working on Marvelous Marge, the maple tree = cut off ivy and holly (holly that was growing in the fork of the tree).
We finished six of the six lawn chairs. That has turned into a very time consuming project. We decided if the chairs wear out, we'll just recycle them and buy new ones.
Finally we finished recovering the chairs - it took two weeks by working in the evenings.
Sunday evening we celebrated Haley's birthday with one of Warren's great cakes.
In preparation for Natalie's wedding reception in three weeks, the swing set and trampoline needed to be moved. Now.....I know why having a big family is a good idea. With all hands helping, the move happened quickly.
Next week Is Jefferson Park - four days and three nights!
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