Pumpkin Carving 2023

 We had a bountiful crop of pumpkins this year and the grandkids did a wonderful job carving them.

Sayulita 2023

 We spent fall break with Roseben Smiths at Sayulita, one of our favorite vacation spots. This time we rented a  lovely house right on the beach and we didn't feel the need to do too much adventuring. 

Sylvan with a flashlight under the palapas on the beach

Our last morning as Rachel spotted some turtles hatching out of the sand so we got to help some tiny little turtles reach the water without getting eaten by the birds.

Gualala 2023

We spent a lovely week in August exploring around Gualala on the northern California coast. We had spectacular weather for wandering along the bluffs and exploring the redwoods.  We even saw a blue moon and a blue heron.

On our way home we rented a canoe and paddled a section of the Russian River we hadn't paddled before.

Rogue River 2023

 This July we rafted down the Rogue River, repeating a trip we first took in 1991. The river hasn't changed very much, but we have.  This was our family then, just before the river trip.

Sarah and I in 1991

Sarah's Family on the River in 2023

There was a lot of rock jumping this trip starting with a stop at McCloud Falls on the way to the Rogue.

Sadly I discovered after the first day that my waterproof camera is not water proof if you don't close the battery hatch tightly.  The camera survived but most of my pictures after the first day are kind of fogged. 

The first day had a big rapid that all the people in the paddle rafts had to walk around but Toby and Calvin were in the "Duckies" so they got to navigate the fish ladder around the falls.

Toby went first

Then Calvin

My big adventure was when Calvin and I were riding on the big oar boat and we got stuck on a rock in the middle of a big rapid. WE managed to finally get off the rock without tipping and then promptly got stuck on the next rock in the rapid.