Off to Medford this morning. Medford is about a 2 hour drive from Broken Arrow Campground and we were meeting my Uncle Dick and Aunt Julie for lunch at 12:30. The plan was to leave at 9:00 to get to Julie and Don Gray’s house around 11:00 where we were going to drop Slinky off then after lunch with my aunt and uncle we would return and spend the rest of the day and night with the Gray’s. Broken Arrow has nice hot showers just around the corner from our campsite. Diane took her shower at about 8:00 while I cleaned up and packed the van. When Diane was done with her shower I grabbed my stuff and walked over to the showers. Just as I was turning the corner to the showers the maintenance man was closing the men’s shower room for cleaning. I found it odd that they would clean the showers in the morning when a lot of people take showers. Anyway, I was not getting a shower this morning as we were on a schedule. I knew I could take a shower at the Gray’s prior to our lunch date.
The drive to Medford was very scenic. Hwy 230/62 basically follows the upper Rogue River and early on a Monday morning had very little traffic. We saw our first bald eagle of the trip glide over our car a bit east of the reservoir.
We hadn’t seen Uncle Dick, my godfather, and Aunt Julie for quite a few years. They had just moved to Medford the week before and it was a great coincidence that we got to visit with them. We had a wonderful time catching up on each other’s families, their move from Santa Barbara and our trip. Their new house is up on a hill and they have a spectacular view of eastern Rogue Valley. Their new community is well kept and quiet. They seem very happy about their move.
Julie and Don Gray are good friends. We worked with Julie at Bridgeville School and Don did all the maintenance work at Grizzly Creek State Park where they lived amongst the redwood trees. We watched their daughter Samantha grow up. Monday evening and Tuesday morning were filled with an overload of reminiscing and learning about their 20 years in Medford. They have over 7 acres of land just a bit southwest of Medford. A creek runs through their property and native Madrone and Oak trees are about. They planted 2 Redwood trees 20 years ago that are now about 30 feet tall. They have a cozy, well taken care of piece of property. We enjoyed sitting with them on their decks where you could be in the sun or shade with a partial view of the Rogue River Valley and a full view of their beautiful garden.
