Mark grew up within a few miles of his cousins; close enough to attend school together as they were all only 6 years apart. They remained close as they scattered across the country pursuing life. We don’t get to see each other enough and planned a trip to McCall, ID which you all know is one of our favorite places. We planned to stay McCall RV Resort and had lots of fun activities planned.
Then the world went crazy.
We still went, but it was a much smaller group and less activities. Our last night, we plotted and planned the next trip and crossed our fingers 2022 would be better. I am happy to report it was!
Our group totaled 13 with many unable to attend. Three of Heidi and Jeff’s five kids joined us for some activities. I was so happy to see them. We had six states represented with Sean driving the farthest.
We started our cousin weekend at Dunbar Farms, a favorite of Jeff’s. They have a beautiful patio and really good wine. It was a lot of laughing, snacking and picture taking. It was an early night back to the RV for the puppies. Mark’s cousin Sean also had a puppy. After Daisy and Lager were tucked into their crates, we had a nice little campfire.
The love of golf runs deep in Mark’s family. Just about everyone plays, and they play well. Heidi got us tee times at an executive course nearby. Oh boy did we have fun. I hit five trees, one poor tree got whacked three times. I have no idea what anyone’s score was and I don’t care.
That night Heidi’s mom, Aunt Loretta, hosted dinner. She moved to Oregon a few years ago into a cute home that is perfect for her. She has a spectacular mountain view from her back yard and a pear grove on the other side of her fence. It was so nice having us all together.
You know that feeling when you’re with people you love and adore? I sat back and smiled with that feeling multiple times this trip.
Our next day was all about wine tasting and a private concert.
We started at Simple Machine in nearby Talent. Their building was swallowed by the Alameda Fire in the fall of 2020. The patio at their brand-new place was perfect on a sunny Oregon day. Next, we visited Stone River Vineyards. They had a great covered patio and a giant guest wall that we of course signed. As you can see by the box, we liked their wine!
We gathered at Jeff & Heidi’s hillside home to feast on their famous Tri-Tip. I say famous because they have been the featured fare at parties and weddings for years. They smoke it in a metal drum. Our private concert performed by The Brothers Reed had us singing and dancing for hours. You should check them out when your travels take you to Northern California and Southern Oregon.
Our next day had us up early to drive to Grants Pass. Mark and I were excited for this. Our entire group was going on a jet boat ride on the Rogue River! We’ve done the jet boat ride in Moab going up the Colorado River. This was going to be completely different scenery.
It was a fun ride. We passed river front homes, great fishing spots and more. We saw bald eagles high in a tree. We saw a clear wildfire burn scar to our left and our guide told us about some of the firefight. He dropped off hotshots and shuttled necessary gear from town to a spot he pointed out. I thought how cool that was, how so many people jump in to help during an emergency.
We did lots of high-speed spinouts. Lots of them she says smiling.
The farthest point of our ride was Hellgate Canyon. The huge rocks making the canyon that rose from the water reminded me a little of the tall canyons of our Moab jet boat ride. Our guide told us about animals that were in the area and high-water marks from previous floods. We learned that the movies The River Wild, Gunsmoke and Rooster Cogburn were filmed here.
Our ride included brunch at their lodge. It’s a beautiful and enormous log structure with the largest patio. Huge piles of food are served family style. We had bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes and fruit that kept coming and coming. Everyone was stuffed and we waddled ourselves down to the boat for our ride back. We saw more deer and enjoyed more spinouts.
The next part of our cousin time was the reason we towed the RZR all the way from home; some fun riding at the Oregon Sand Dunes in North Bend! Jeff grew up riding and camping here and was excited to show us the best rides of the dunes. North Bend is just north of Coos Bay with miles and miles of riding. Our base was in the parking lot of Myrtlewood Factory with easy access to the dunes.
Riding in the sand is different that our desert, it’s much cleaner. You need to be careful of cat’s eyes and other sifting sand pitfalls, Jeff led us around all the dangers. We rode through the trees and blasted along some rolling hills. Each night, we ventured to the ocean for a beautiful sunset.
This was the perfect way to end our cousin trip. We left with big smiles and happy memories of a great trip.
We’re up on the next trip, tentatively scheduled for summer 2024.
Way cool – I have on cuz in OR. on the coast near CA border – TTL