Going Rogue

Warning: This entry is long and wordy and some details may seem to be pointless...However this is my memory...so enjoy!

This last week we were able to go on our annual family rafting trip. Max has had this tradition as long as he can remember. As for me, my first Olson Family Rafting Trip was several months after I graduated high school. I couldn't ask for a better vacation. The preparation that goes into these trips is very thorough and detailed. All the work and preparation is worth it to spend a week in Paradise. This year we rafted down the rogue river. This was my favorite river so far because of the beautiful landscape. I love the green everywhere! It all began on Friday the 18th when Max got off work early and we drove to Antioch to our friend Kelly's house. We spent the night there so her mom could take us to the airport. We got about 2 hours of sleep and left for the airport about 5am To make a long story short we missed our flight by a couple of seconds due to the busyness of the airport on a Saturday morning. We literally watched them close the gate and not let us get on the plane. It was incredibly lame and frustrating and we were extra grumpy due to the lack of sleep. We were lucky and able to get on the next flight a couple hours later. My dad picked us up with my little brother and we went out to Breakfast. Max's day consisted of loading up the cars and getting the camping gear ready while I got our camping meals ready then visited a bunch of family members. It was a great day.

Vacation Day 2: We woke up got our bags all packed and worked on loading the rest of the trucks. We hoped to leave at nine but pulled out at noon. Not too bad for this family!

It took about 5-6 hours to get there. The Rogue river is in Southern Oregon. Upon arrival we partly prepared the boats, ate dinner, then camped under the stars on the riverbank.

Day 3: Woke up early, packed up our stuff, ate breakfast, and loaded the boats. This is where the hard work is...Loading the boats can take several hours.

The gear being strapped down to the boats

After everything was secure on the boats, we rafted down the river for the next couple of hours. Max did the rowing so I just enjoyed the beauty and got pretty wet.

Day 3-6 We camped at Whiskey Creek. Our tent was beneath some trees near the bank of the creek. Beautiful!! While at this campsite...

~Max got creative with my hair
~We played games

Max would gather flowers daily and add them to my hair...

~Caught and released wildlife

~Max showed the younger boys how to make wood rafts out of branches

Then they raced their rafts down the creek, They were occupied for hours and only stopped when it got dark and their boats were lost.

Then, Uncle Jay said he would pay us 10 dollars if we carried him around the campsite. We totally agreed. It started out easy until we got to the sand...then we had to take him uphill. It was harder than we thought.

Up past the outhouse...

This was the hardest part...down a steep hill with blackberry bushes but we were almost to the finish line.

In the end he paid us 20 bucks, he said we earned 10 bucks each but I think he only had 20 dollar bills in his wallet.

Then Uncle jay made the same offer to Spencer but spencer (Who's 13 years old) carried him alone.

He just barely made it and earned 20 bucks!

We hiked up to an 100 year old cabin from the gold rush days...pretty impressive.

Jenna and I signed the visitor guest book

This out house had two seats...pretty classy...and romantic

Welcome to my kitchen!

Dinner time was fun...that's when everyone came together.

Delicious Chili-dogs!

Day 6-8 We loaded up the boats and rafted to our next campsite. This campsite was the coveted site of the Rogue River. There was a creek with a swimming hole, a huge grassy field with sprinklers and a huge ranch house with a museum and some other old buldings to exlpore. Our tent was far from any others in a huge beautifuil meadow.

This is the beauty we saw for miles as we traveled down river.

When we were in still water (not intense rapids) we would jump out of the boat and float down in our life jackets.

Exploring the old buildings on the ranch.

This was a bar.

Then we went to the old Tabernacle where Jay gave us an important sermon. Notice the confused looks on everyone's face.

In a room to the side of the Tabernacle there was a coffin up against the wall...I don't really know why but we enjoyed taking pictures in it!

After exploring the ranch we treded down the creek to our campsite.

I love my Max!

We danced on a Log...Just like in Dirty Dancing!!
So talented!

Later...we went on a hike to see the next rapid...It was a class IV so we needed to scout it out...For some reason we didn't take a picture of the rapid but we did see this neat waterfall on our hike.

That evening we tried to take a couple group pictures.

Then we just took some pictures with Jenna and Justin (this is a common pass-time for us)

Ugly faces...

Laughing...

Group shot #2 on the dinosaur/giraffe tree.

Picture time with Mum-Z

Grumpy faces

Lisa taught us how to make funny faces...

Max enjoyed this new opportunity to make an ugly face!

Day 8 we had to leave the river :( it was somewhat sad but the knowledge of a shower in the near future gave me great satisfaction!

On our drive home we stopped at a restaurant called Heaven on Earth!. Delicious!

Max was really good at keeping Jordan entertained while they waited for their food.

Day 9: Our last day in Oregon we had a family BBQ with my mom's side of the family. I was finally able to meet my cousin Stephanie's new baby Lexi

Ok...well that's our travel log. The family rafting trip is the highlight of our year and we are so appreciative of the many people that make it happen. we look forward to many more rafting trips.