Fortunately for us, we stayed in Sisters longer than planned and found our darling Ollie.

Olliebobs, Holly Ollie, Jolly Ollie, It's a Jolly Ollie Day, Olz, Ol, Olliebaba, Good Golly Miss Ollie, Boo Boo, Curly Wurly Girly.

​Our sweet girl.

As April 1st approached, Kim and I drove up to the pass to see first hand what the roads were like. We did not anticipate the banks of up to 20 feet of snow at the height of the pass. However the roads had been salted and ploughed and if the day time temperatures reached 40 degrees or more, we felt pretty confident we could maneuver the trailer over the mountains.

We checked the weather every day and made contingency plans to stay longer if necessary, but on April 1st the sun was up, the sky was blue and the temps were in our favor and so we said a fond and grateful farewell to Sisters (and Cibelli's Pizza) and headed off towards the Oregon coast and our next site, Whaler's Rest in Newport.

We made it out!

My Dad had been struggling with his mental health since moving into the Collingtree Care Home back in Northampton in the UK. Depression had set in. I made plans to fly back and visit him for his birthday in March so he could have his three daughters with him on his special day. Flying from Redmond in central Oregon to San Francisco, California, with an overnight layover, followed by the long haul flight to London Heathrow, was a long journey.

The day before I flew I learned my dad had been admitted to hospital. His oxygen levels were low, he was very wheezy and his asthma medications weren't helping. He had a high fever, all of which pointed to a bad case of the flu, or possibly pneumonia. It was very worrying.

My sister Caroline picked me up from the airport in her lovely white Tesla and drove us to her home. After a quick cuppa tea we decided to go and see Dad at the hospital straight away. I was jet lagged but had my second wind.

Dad was still in A and E which was packed, noisy and generally chaotic. Dad was in a small room and was clearly distressed and disoriented. I sat and held Dad's hand while Carrie grilled the staff to find out exactly what was wrong and if any test results had come through. His x-rays, heart and vital signs indicated he would be in hospital until he stabilized. There was a diagnosis of COPD and some additional heart issues.

We reassured Dad that he was safe and in good hands while they searched for a bed on a ward for him.

And so for the next two weeks, the entire time I was in the UK, including Dad's birthday, I visited dad in hospital every day. 

Hospitals have such a powerful energy. I felt it.

It was the same hospital where my mum passed away, where I'd had a miscarriage and where my Grandmother had been admitted many times. Painful memories.

Dad was slow to recover his health and mobility and was grumpy the entire time. He was desperate to get out. At 83 years old he worried he would never get out. A legitimate worry.

Finally, the day before I flew back to Oregon, he came out of hospital and returned, with great relief, to his room at Collingtree. He was so grateful to be back with all his carers and back to his own routines. It took another couple of months to fully recover his health.

I am so glad, honored actually, that I could be there with him and advocate for him while he was in hospital. 

Happy Birthday Dad! 

Our first Christmas in the trailer!

​After a trip into Sisters to see what decorations I could acquire at the thrift store and the dollar store, I found these amazing Christmas Nutcrackers, some fairy lights, candles, a tiny but real Christmas tree and other Christmassy bits and bobs. All for under twenty bucks! Win! I dried out slices of orange for festive tree decorations.

Christmas lunch was very traditional. Prawn cocktail followed by roast turkey and all the trimmings followed by Christmas pud, mince pies and ice cream. Considering we only had a small convection oven and three burners on the stove, it was a triumph. We had our bottles of Mexican Coca Cola and some Asti for the table. With our Santa hats and fun Christmas jumpers, we pulled the crackers, shared the silly jokes and of course retold the joke from the Vicar of Dibley;

What do you do if you see a spaceman?
I don't know, know, know, know.
​Park in it, man.

We toasted absent family and friends, particularly our mums, and tucked in to our delicious Christmas dinner.

It was Ollie's first Christmas with us and she had some special treats and was very well behaved. What a gift she is! Best. Ever.

After a leisurely Thanksgiving dinner of meat and potato pie and lashings of gravy, we were full up to the brim. Black Friday just passed us by. Can't buy anything. Nowhere to put it! Silver linings and all.

By Saturday morning, we were all ready for some fresh air. Sisters had a Thanksgiving Parade and Christmas Tree Lighting planned so I rallied the troops and we set off into town. We parked in front of the Sisters Saloon, home of the now famous Marionberry crumble, adjacent to the Sinclair Gas Station with the green dinosaur at the entrance wearing a Santa hat. The streets were crowded with people wrapped up in their winter woollies; thick coats, hats, colorful scarves and mittens, exhaling misty breath into the air. The temps had plummeted, it was icy on the roads, but it was a clear day with brilliant blue skies.

We got out of the truck, crossed the road, and on the corner of S Fir Street and E Cascade Avenue, an elderly gentlemen with a thick, grey beard and crinkly eyes had a red tagalong bike trailer full of his belongings and a litter of mewling puppies. Henry and I were eager to see them and have a cuddle. Well, as soon as the man unzipped the canvas, Henry popped his head in to take a look, and immediately locked eyes with a brown eyed puppy right at the back who seemed to be the calmest of the litter of five. I can tell you, it was love at first sight for both of them.

We were told the puppies were 10 weeks old and that they were labradoodles. Clearly the man was struggling and the puppies were a burden. They looked very underweight and more than a little unkempt. The man explained their Mom had given birth to them, unplanned, and he was looking to offload them at the parade. As soon as he saw the love in Henry's eyes, he decided a sale was in order.

We walked away. 

Kim and I explained how a labradoodle would grow too big for the trailer, would limit our travels and just wasn't in the family plan. Henry reminded me what we had talked about after our beloved Snowy passed away a couple of years back. If there was a stray puppy or a puppy needing a home, we would adopt them. We literally talked about finding a puppy on the side of the road that might just need a forever home. It's like Henry manifested the entire situation.

We hummed and hawed.

We watched the Thanksgiving Parade.

All that time Henry was begging us to reconsider. He knows his own mind. By the end of the parade we caved and returned to the corner where the grizzly man had been. He wasn't there. We then said to Henry, if you can find him, we will talk to him. Henry dashed off in search of the man and his pupper. He had been gone for ages and finally came back close to tears. I said we should have one last look and have a long walk up and down the crowded streets. Maybe it was meant to be this way.

About half way up the street, I spotted the man ambling down the street pulling his tagalong with his belongings and the puppies. Henry got very emotional. He picked up his brown eyed puppy. I saw love in Henry's eyes. So did the man. Suffice to say, money changed hands, and both parties got an unexpected Christmas gift.

This was our Gotcha Day. The day we got our darling, beloved, beautiful, bouncy, clever labradoodle. It was the day we got our Ollie.

​Best. Day. Ever.

After a mellow and misty Autumnal journey across the top of the Cascade Mountains, peaking at Santiam Pass and a sprinkle of snow, we descended into Sisters, Oregon and our next campsite at the Sisters Rodeo Ground, about five miles south of the quaint little town. Rainbows marked our arrival.

We were excited to rest in Sisters for three weeks and enjoy Thanksgiving.

​Kim was especially looking forward to catching up with a dear friend, Dawn, who he had worked with for many years at Intel. Not only had she been a steadfast friend to Kim, she had always been a very kind friend to Henry and me, supplying us with baked goods galore over the years. Banana bread was a particular favorite. We were also excited to explore the adventurous town of nearby Bend, a young, outdoorsy, trendy Oregon town.

I'm sneaking this in as I am pretty confident they're not reading my blog 😜

​Also, this is my milestone 100th blog post.

This morning a gang of elk came sniffing around our trailer at Honey Bear By The Sea.

We love these unexpected animal encounters!

Sisters do indeed rock!

I am fortunate to have two wonderful sisters, an older sister, Louise, and a younger sister, Caroline. I am piggy in the middle. We are very close and I love them dearly so I am always drawn to locations that celebrate sisters, particularly three sisters.

The first occasion where Louise, Caroline and myself found ourselves in front of a rock formation called The Three Sisters was in the Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney, Australia. This is a very hazy photo of that moment taken in 1977.

So I was delighted to happen across Sisters Rock State Park in Oregon just north of Gold Beach and our campsite at Honey Bear By The Sea, where we stopped for some quick pics of three rocks sitting out in the Pacific Ocean, called the Three Sisters.

​I took a happy moment to send love to my sweet sisters and all my family back in England. Lovely xxx

The Prehistoric Gardens on the US101 between Gold Beach and Port Orford was first established as a tourist attraction in 1955 when 23 life size dinosaurs were sculpted and then homed in the most beautiful ancient woodland. 

It was a misty morning when we arrived and there was not another soul in sight as we were greeted by a huge T-Rex in the car park. Nestled in a valley pocket and protected from the elements, the vast ecosystem of temperate rainforest appears to flourish in a tropical, prehistoric fashion.

The garden itself was made up of huge ancient trees, many over 300 years old, with an undergrowth of lush ferns, moss covered rocks, common skunk cabbage with the most enormous leaves, and prehistoric algae clinging on for dear life wherever it could find purchase. The early morning light lazily blinked its way through the mist and the trees.

A gentle walk around the hushed garden was magical. It cast its morning spell over us as we wandered through the garden to find one colorful dinosaur after another. It was glorious. I can't quite express how lovely and perfect this mystical morning stroll around the Prehistoric Garden was for us all. 

After some rainy days, finally the sun came out and we ventured out to find the barking seals in the dockside area of Crescent City, California. We could hear them barking from our trailer about a quarter of a mile away.

We explored the dock area and could see seals and sea lions flobbed out on the floating docks. Some were barking and jostling for position, but most of them were basking in the sunshine and sleeping.

The fishing season was over. Someone on the campsite had told us they had been able to buy tuna straight off the boat the previous month. Alas, we did not find any fishing boats loaded with tuna, so we had to make do with visiting the restaurant for some hot, deep fried fish and chips with lashings of salt and vinegar, but no curry sauce I am sad to report.

Gorgeous weather and beautiful views! Lush!