Simon Says Stop...

...so that is exactly what we did!  

Over Memorial Day weekend we made plans on one of our final weekends in San Diego to celebrate with our good friends Bryan and Tyneal Simon and their kids Bryce and Alysha.  It was to be our second annual Memorial Day get together with some of our favorite people.  Bryan and Tyneal were the first people we met when we arrived in San Diego in the Winter of 2013 and we have cherished their friendship.  While at their house we spent time with Bryan's mom and dad, Paul and Barb, who were visiting from Cave Junction, Oregon for the holiday.

Our plans to spend time in Oregon were wide open. All we knew, from the stories of friends, was that Oregon was a wilderness state that had mountains and coastline that were some of the most beautiful on the west coast.  We knew that Portland was a preferred destination and was often compared to Austin, TX and Seattle, WA, both very cool places.  We planned to spend a good week to a week and a half in the state.  We were really excited when Bryan mentioned to his parents that we should stop by his parent's home while in Oregon and spend time exploring his childhood stomping ground.  Paul and Barb insisted that we come too. This was an incredibly kind offer and had we booked our first week on the road already we would have had to say thanks but no thanks.  Turns out we had no plans...yea us!  I worried for a minute that we might be imposing but this was long gone by the time we left that night just after Paul gave me their home address.  Cave Junction was in our future! Fast forward two weeks...

We arrived at the Simon homestead late in the evening, sevenish, and were welcomed by a big black labrador named Howie. Paul and Barb came to the door and welcomed us with the promise of two cold margaritas after we got the RV in place. What great hospitality already.   We were ready to kick back and relax for a few days in one spot after over eight hours on the road.  We felt at home.  That evening we sat on their back porch looking into the beautiful fields topped with mountains as the sun set (it's setting at 10pm), sharing in each other's lives for a bit.

The kids really took to the freedom of the farmette's open space. Their many vehicles, tractors and their collection of automated antique musical instruments were amazing to learn about for all of us. I asked Paul if he knew how to play real musical instruments amd he sharply replied, "yes...I am about to play one for you now!" They were fascinating and sounded so clear...museum worthy!

We had orders from Bryan to make sure and check out his favorite spots in and around town.  Here are a few of those spots.

We learned about Paul's experience fundraising and building their local church from the ground up and then toured the pristine white little country church that he spent months in the late nineties building. Anyone who has done either community fundraising or building a church knows the commitment and love of stewardship that one must have to follow through to completion.  We were impressed!

We also learned about the history of Cave Junction from Paul and Barb, including the water rights they share with their neighbors that has been passed down for generations since the White family established the irrigation creeks in the community in the 1800's.  We spent our last evening there down at the mouth of the creeks where the river is. Very refreshing to once again find ourselves in a river.  It never gets old.  

Paul and Barb were such wonderful hosts and gave our family the gift of their family homestead to use as our own for three days.  We will forever be grateful.  We left feeling a bit sad yet so happy for having shared our time together.  Simon said come back again in the future...we would be honored to do so!