Beach and Waterfall Weekend

For those of you who don't know, our trips have been rather limited over the last 2 weeks because Alee was spayed on April 4th.  The surgery went fine, but she was up and ready to go within 24 hours!  Although it was nice to see our girl feeling better, she unknowingly ripped a stitch through her muscle by either a jump or a stretch at some point on the second day.  As a result, she had to go BACK to the vet to have surgery again and we were under STRICT instructions to limit her activity till this past weekend and even after that to not let her exhaust herself till today (when she got her stitches out!).  SO - the past couple weeks have been filled with lots of chew toys, bones, car rides and naps for Alee and this past weekend she got to enjoy herself a little for the first time!  We knew we couldn't do too much with her, but we got the "ok" from the vet to play with her on the beach and do a little hiking/walking.   As a result, this weekend we headed out to Coos Bay for a little fun!

On the way to Coos Bay, we stopped at Abacela Winery for a tasting and a picnic lunch in their gazebo.  The temperature was warm enough to eat outside, but the rain made it a little less than ideal.  The winery had a beautiful view though!

Abacela Winery along the way to Coos Bay

Alee waiting patiently for us to enjoy our lunch...

Once we got to Coos Bay, the weather was awful!  So we decided to grab a seafood dinner at Hide Tide Cafe and then head to our hotel room and wait out the rain.  Sunday the clouds were still out, but the rain was gone - so we headed to the beach!

Alee playing in a little hut on the beach

Here's a video of Alee getting into the cold ocean water for the first time...I don't think she was pleased...

After the beach, we headed home via the scenic route on Hwy 138 to see some waterfalls.  Before the waterfalls, we stopped in Glide, OR to take a look at "Colliding Rivers" where the North Umpqua River and the Little River collide head-to-head to form the Umpqua River.  The place where they joined was intense!

Alee checking out Colliding Rivers

 A little after Glide, we stopped off to hike up to Falls Creek Falls - a waterfall that we hadn't checked out yet.  April is the best time for waterfalls because it's when all the snow is melting and creating the highest flows of the year!

Falls Creek Falls - Alee was not happy about getting wet from the spray...

Ed standing on top of the beginning of the Falls

Ed and Alee hiking back down to the car

After the falls the rain decided to catch up with us so we headed home with a slightly tired pup for the first time in weeks!  Now we can get ready for our next trip: Reno!

Ashley Visit!

This weekend Ed, Kristin and Alee got a special treat - Ashley and Reeces came to visit!  Ashley made the long drive up to Klamath to see a little of Oregon.  Friday night they enjoyed a new favorite restaurant in K-Falls: Pho Hong!  This is really the best Vietnamese we have ever had and the staff is so friendly and nice!

Saturday morning we loaded up the car and headed to Bend for snowboarding, good food and some sightseeing.  After dropping Alee off with SYM, we hit the slopes...and we literally mean "hit" - it was all ice!  Really awful conditions!  The weather at the bottom didn't look so bad, so we headed to a lift to try out some blues and greens.  At the top of the lift...TOTAL WHITEOUT!!!  We literally couldn't see ANYTHING!  The crazy part is that people were jumping off the lift and flying down the mountain at full speed!  We luckily got a ski patrol to guide us out of the cloud to where we could see trees and variations in the snow.  Even out of the whiteout, conditions were icy and rough.  We soon headed out to enjoy some more of Bend...which had absolutely beautiful weather off the mountain!

We did a little shopping with the pups at Pet Express and explored some fantastic deals at the Columbia Outlet store before heading to 10 Barrell Brewery for some great beers and a fantastic dinner.   There was a little bit of a wait, so we enjoyed some beers out on the patio with Alee! (They allow leashed dogs on the patio!)  Dinner was fantastic so we'll definitely be back!

Patio with Fire Pit

Ashley and Ed enjoying local brew - "Irish Red"

Dinner time!

Sunday we tried to hit up a waterfall on the way back to Klamath Falls but our trail was covered in snow!  We could hear the falls and see the river, but couldn't find the falls...we'll try again in June!

After the failed hike, we headed to Crater Lake to show Ashley the beautiful site of former Mount Mazama!

All 3 of us at Crater Lake

Kristin and Alee next to a snowbank near the Crater Lake Lodge

Ashley and Reeces!

Once we got back to Klamath, we had to say good bye to Ashley so she could make the long drive home to San Fran.  It was great to see her and Alee was happy to have a little doggy friend for the weekend!