Cabin and Bed Rest

It has been an interesting summer break so far.  It started out with Rachel having early contractions during finals week.  As it turned out, she was placed on modified bed rest and smooth muscle relaxants to control dilation.   Things progressed last week to where she is now on full bed rest due to continued dilation and the baby beginning to position his head for early exit.  Most of the early contractions are likely due to not enough rest and two active kids.  We decided to do a risky divide and conquer tactic.  It is much easier to manage the kids individually (most of the time).  I was also itching to get over to the cabin to check things out.  I took Owen to the cabin and Rachel stayed with Ella with the help of the Apples and as it turned out Shirley Barret and her daughter Megan.
Owen and I took off for Mazama early Sunday afternoon.  We unpacked which took about 2 minutes, and then got on our bikes.  We visited the Karr family who were leaving the next day for 40 days in Costa Rica.  Owen biked with Bellamy and Sebastian. 

Lost River Bridge

It is amazing how competitive boys can be.  Everything was a race.  Bellamy and Sebastian are both 8 years old (both adopted).  I was proud that Owen managed to keep up.  I have never seen him kick it that "high gear".  When I bike with him I am amazed but this was a whole new level.  We all biked to the Methow River.  After wishing the Karr's a safe trip, Owen and I biked down to the Lost River.  The river was flowing strong.  We biked back to the cabin for dinner.

On the bike ride home, Owen had his first major pedal bike crash.  He was flying downhill and hit a pothole.  His handle bars got squirelly.  He landed  in a face forward slide and skinned up his hands, knees, and banged his forehead.

At the cabin, we bbq'd some chicken dogs and had that with some watermelon, and chips and hot cocoa.  We took a shower and cleaned Owen's wounds which was a huge ordeal.  He has a huge fear of anyone treating his wounds.  After countless attempts to pour hydrogen peroxide on the wound, Owen finally offered "Let I do it".  He did and put a band aid aid.  This took about 45 minutes, but he did it.  We slept outside under the stars which was really special.  Other than the Karr family, we may have been the only folks in the near area.  There were deer every where.  You could here them crashing around.

June 28th-
We started the morning early.  We were both up by 6 AM.  I made Owen some hot cocoa, I had some coffee, we then powered down some hearty oatmeal and a banana, filled up on apple juice, and loaded our bikes in the car.  My old camel back fits Owen so we filled up the bladder with water and packed some granola bars.  We were not sure where we were going other than it was going to be a flat trail, and somewhere near Winthrop so we could call and check up on Rachel. 
We decided on the Big Valley Trail which is on the south side of Hwy 20 towards Winthrop and apart of the community trail system.  The weather was phenomenal, about 60 degrees.

We rode to the river.  The trail was flat.  Owen pedaled 95% of the time.  The trail was extremely green.  We saw a snake and also pedaled upon a protective grouse and her babies.  She fluffed up her feather and made this odd sound.  The ride was about 4 miles total, and we ate several granola bars.

After the ride, we called Rachel and everything was fine at home which was good.  We then bought a wrap and some corn in town and had a picnic lunch at the Red Barn.  The funniest thing happened at the store.  Owen had a cherry-type scrape on his forehead and was limping from his crash.  The cutest little girl came up to him and asked him if he was ok.  He shrugged and said "I wrecked on me bike.  I bike really fast and got an owwy, but I'm ok."  We drove home, unloaded the bikes.  Owen played with cars outside while I weeded the front and pulled out some of the weeds around the perimeter of the cabin.

Next, we hiked up the Methow River Trail.  It was awesome.  This is an area that is recovering from a forest fire that occurred 7 or 8 years ago.  This is a trail that you can hike/bike/ horse ride that goes about 8 miles up to the Pacific Crest.

We then headed back to the cabin, cooked up some corn and broccoli and had left over chicken dogs.  We also built a fire, roasted some marshmallows.  After we showered, Owen cleaned his wound.  We both slept under the stars again. 

June 28th

I packed up while Owen slept in until 6 AM.  When we woke, I made him some hot cocoa and he ate a banana.  We loaded up the car to head home.  We checked out the awesome camp sites at Klipchuck and the trail head to Driveway Butte.  This trail head is almost due south of our cabin.  

After Klipchuck we went to Cuthroat Pass and trail head here.  There was still some snow.  We saw mountain gout tracks and some possibly mountain lion tracks.

Our final stop was the Washington Pass Lookout.  The views were amazing.  Owen played in the snow as soon as he got out of the car.  He has always been one to take in views and enjoy the scenery.

We hiked the overlook trails and viewed Kangaroo Ridge(I think) and Liberty Bell.

We had a final snack and then headed home.  When I got into cell range I called Rachel.  As turned out, she had bad contractions late that night and ended up going to the hospital.  So the plan for rest did not work as hoped, lessons learned.



Here is what was happening June 28th, 2010





A picture of the cabin on June 28th, 2010



Dan Bitterman, using his master carpenter skills to figure out how to make the weather tortured posts turn into an appealing deck.