OH MY!

NOW THAT you've all stopped reading my blog! I've gotten the chance to throw some words on the screen. Watch out, it's a long one!

We're currently in Coos Bay, OR, which is on the southwest coast of the state. This here is the Coos Bay Public Library! 1 hour free and printing equals 20 cents per page!

Anyways, this state is very full of trees and logging trucks! So overcast and only about 50-60 degrees daily. We welcome the cool, relaxing weather though, and there hasn't been rain at all.

Thus far, we've hit Crater Lake Nat'l Park, Redwoods Nat'l Park, and in about 5 days we'll be in Yellowstone Nat'l Park.

One of the highlights was definitely going white water rafting down the Rogue River. It wasn't bad enough that we needed helmets, but it was still really exciting and fun. We rented a cool raft for $60.

The best city/town experience we've had was in Bandon, Oregon. Just a quaint little town with a hoopla of little shops in what they call "Old Town". Learning the local history has been such a nerdy treat!

But, I shan't speak too soon, b/c Coos Bay is quite neat. Kind of trashy in parts (oddly) but the downtown looks like a 1940s town with old theaters and hotels.

Throughout the trip, we've stayed at state parks that mostly employ hikes and lighthouses as attractions. The best one was Bullards Beach State Park, near Bandon, OR. It had those so cool ocean boulders like in the Goonies movie, and when we arrived it was sunny and beautiful.

There are special boulders with legends and all, but the funnest ones were "Face Rock" and "Elephant Rock". You'll have to see our exciting pictures of rocks! HA!

This is the campground I was trying to tell Matt about. You guys should go up here some time with us---however it would be like 10 hours from Chowchilla(?). For sure though we could start at Bandon and go south on 101 all the way to San Fran and Santa Cruz.

That would be sweet! (Highway 101 goes all the way up here! Crazy!)

Bo has been with us the whole time of course, and he's been doing super good. For real! In the back seat of our truck cab (while driving all these hours) he just sits there, not whining and never barking.

Mostly he just puts his head out the window and smells everything. He's absolutely loving the outdoors, especially the super wild and scenic ocean beaches. This is the "storm coast" according to locals.

At the campsites, he gets a little whiney if he thinks we're leaving him, and then there's the pure obsession with other dogs that walk by.

Tomorrow is our last day in Coos Bay area (we're at Sunset Bay State Park on the ocean), and we'll head half way to our Northen Idaho camping. We're treating ourselves to a hotel Wednesday night near Kennecwick, WA.

Side note:Hope we meet up with Mike. They are in Yosemite today and he said they'd try to make it up here by tomorrow.

I've been getting excited to be home, especially when I knew Matt and Tracey got to go home--but sadly they won't be there when we get there.

Tracey---onto Triathlon business: I've done tons of hiking, but only yesterday, yes only yesterday June 20th, have I done real workouts. I ran 2 miles and biked 30 mins.

Have you seen my purple t-shirt that says, "Yes, Let's Go! Yes, Let's Go!". Well if not, just know that it applies to our motivation.

P.s. Matt and Tracey--Casey said he thinks it would cool to come down to S.D. that August 5 or 7th-ish so that he can hang out with Matt and Ryan, while the girls have a night out! What do you think of that! WOO! If it's too much, no prob. Just throwing cool ideas out and about!

Well, I skimmed through a lot of blogs here in the timed minutes on the computer. Kim I've read half of the Purpose Driven with my teacher buddies, and can't wait to hear about the reunion.

Dad, your blogs were great! Mom, dad said you didn't blog, but I saw one. Justin! You! Others, I'll have to comment later---the lady is kicking me off the computer (as I add these sentences in)

Talk to you all soon! I know this was a long one, but I don't think I'll be blogging much more on the trip, unless there's a random internet cafe---which by the way I always love those (except for paying for the computer part). PEACE OUT!