Friday, September 15, 2006

Back in Mississippi

We are back in the magnolia state after 3 and 4 week vacations in the Northwest. We had such a great time seeing friends and family. As we talked with people I realized what a support network we have from our friends and family around the northwest and the country. We truly feel loved and cared about and we are grateful for it.

We had a great time with Em's family in Sunriver OR. Thanks to the network of bike paths we were able to ride bikes everywhere.
Julian and I golfed several times and enjoyed playing the nice courses of central Oregon. Emily's Aunt Carole bought a raft so we could float a beautiful section of the Deschutes river that runs through Sunriver. Emily and I floated it twice. The first time we did about a three hour float the last half hour of which was in the dark. There's nothing like being in the middle of a river in a tiny raft in the dark with bats diving all around your head. We loved it.


Playing in the Sunriver open tennis tournament


Emily floats on down



check out our make-shift snow shovel paddle, it worked great!

At lunch with Em's mom


Outdoor office on the back deck of our sunriver house

Emily's Dad Dave snapped this shot while waiting for us to come down the river. 30 min later we made it

Em and her son

on poker night Paka the cat says, " im all in"



Our time came to a close with 3 days in the Rose city where we visited Powells city of books, Petes coffee and tea ( again), Old wives tales cafe, Henry's Cafe, Everyday music, Music millennium, the Laurelthirst Public House, and many other places we love in Portland. We also got to see one of our favorite bands, Old crow Medicine Show, perform at the Aladdin theatre. We met up with Katie, Bobi and Mike at the show and none were disappointed.

Last night when we got back in to Mississippi Emily and I we're trying to figure out whether we'd just got home or just left home. I guess we have a lot of homes which is nice. We are looking forward to this next season in our lives. I am particularly looking to re-invest myself into our community here in Jackson. I want our time here to continue to be one of growth and learning. I want to find the passion again that drives us to get beyond ourselves and to become concerned with the needs and wellbeing of our neighbors. Im sure seeing the children later today will help to inspire that passion. We have missed our young friends.
come visit us,

Johnny

4 comments:

Matt Basinger said...

Great use of the snow shovel!

How did the floating compare to the Boise River? Any rope swings?

Johnny said...

The floating was a bit more mellow than the boise river but much more scenic. the Boise float has those 3 mini waterfalls that are always a bit fun.

All the rope swings had been cut down on the Deschutes because a teenage boy had drowned about a month earlier after going off a rope swing.

alicia marie said...

mellow is good sometimes! the Boise river is like the maximum rapids you can do on an innertube...but so much fun! Emily, your cat CRACKS ME UP! He looks like he should be on a postcard. what a grumpy face! and Johnny, thanks for the links to the cd download. Hearing you sing again makes me cry...in a good way. the songs sound great! congrats! i miss you and love you

~~alicia

Anonymous said...

Hey JB, Noticed you added a "Currently Reading" section to the blog--cool! I'm always interested in what others are reading--it tells me something about the person and gives me good reading suggestions. I've got the audio version of "The River Why" from the library and intend to read it next.