August 23-25, 2013

Humbug Mountain State Park, OR

Friday-We have presented the ten JR Ranger programs so often that we don’t have to refer to our notes anymore. 

Our program today on animal fur is one of my favorites. 

While I was setting up the props

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monte went across the way to chat with Daralynn.

 

 

 

 

 

Norm was out and about picking up litter.

 

 

 

 

 

I began to feel the telltale signs of cabin fever so we took a ride into Gold Beach to browse around at the flea market that Hospice hosts twice a year.  Monte found some cables and I bought some paperback books.  I had purchased a Tablet just prior to leaving Florida last year with good intentions of using it to download books and eliminate paperbacks.

BUT I just can’t get into using the device because I like the feel of a paper book.  I usually keep a book in my purse when we go out so if Monte wants to spend time in a store I’m not interested in, I can opt to stay in the car and read.  When I am finished reading a book I will either pass it on to someone I know or donate it to a library or thrift store.

It was 2PM by the time we left the Hospice flea market and we were getting hungry.  We were in the mood for pizza and were not disappointed with the pie we ate at Sunset Family Pizza. 

 

 

 It had gooey cheese, just the way I like it. 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were eating we noticed a deer crossing the street.  It stopped across the way to munch on a bush.

Monte wanted to stop at Radio Shack, located in a mini-mall/art gallery. 

 

 

 

 While he went into the store I walked around admiring the art displayed and read the background of the various artists.

 

 

We stopped at the market for a few grocery items. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last stop, before leaving town, was at touristy area near the water. 

 

 

 

 

Monte spoke with the guy who was unloading fish from a boat.

 

We had just finished eating so we weren’t tempted by the ice-cream being offered at Cone Amor in The Cannery.

 

 

 

 

After browsing for a few minutes in the gift shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

we walked through the museum that housed artifacts found locally and depicted, on a timeline, the history of the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monte took pictures of the stuffed animals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  I am NOT a fan-they creep me out. 

The marina 

 

We arrived back home just in time to join the rangers, Greg and Sarah for a Whale watching program. 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked the trail leading up to a viewing area. 

Me, trying to catch my breath. 

Sarah 

Greg, leading the group.  He stopped to discuss some plant or tree-I was just grateful for the break. 

 

 

While Greg presented a program on whales, Monte set up the spotting scope.  The fog had rolled in so we didn’t see much of anything. 

We stopped and visited with Mahlon and Daralynn, for an hour or so before heading home.

Saturday-Dragonflies.  For some reason Monte kept referring to them as butterflies.  Every time he did it the kids corrected him-it was adorable.

 

 

 

We were kind of lazy the rest of the day. 

After dinner we took the high trail above the road leading to the lower loop. 

I almost stepped on this little guy.

 

When we got to the bottom of the trail we only stopped for a few minutes to chat with the co-hosts because I was tired.  It’s exhausting doing nothing all day.

Sunday-Birds of the Park-The first couple of times we presented this program I found it really boring.  But then Greg suggested we use the binoculars available in his office to include bird watching in the program.  To make sure we had birds around for the kids to spot, we place enlarged pictures of birds in the bushes.

Normally we finish off by making a hummingbird feeder but today we decided to take the kids down to the bridge along the beach trail to view the nests of cliff swallows. 

 

 

 

It was a huge success.  I wish we would have thought of doing that from the beginning.

After the program we went into the office to make copies of our JR Ranger Activity Books. 

 We thought we were going to have enough to last us for the last week we will be doing the program but we gave out more books than we had anticipated this past week. 

I ate something that didn’t agree with me and spent the remainder of the day being a couch potato and munching on Tums.