October??

Yeah, we all have that feeling.... October?? What happened? Did this summer fall short, ... was it not so hot or is an Indian summer on it's way? Either way, the kids are back in school and the salmon are spawning. It must be that fall is around the corner. Yes, July was colder and more wet than June and business was slow, but here came August. Some of the highlights: - the Reppert/Weinberg bi-annual family reunion took place with even more participants then before, but even that week with Bocce ball, rafting, golf and great food was over before we knew it. Came September. Sure we had a great rafting adventure with a group of people from the Leatherman company from Portland which was awesome, because I met again with James Schmidt and his family and I hooked up with some great people, Tanya and Tim Moomey, relatively new guides on the river, from TnT White Water Rafting and what a blast we had going through Martin Rapids four times in succession.
So here we are, August and September made up for July regarding over night bookings and October is just a couple of days shy from changing the calendar.

Earlier this week I heard on the radio, I 'm sure it was on OPB, that scientists discovered 'new' sub-atomic particles that can travel faster than light. Although this need to be verified by the scientific community it would make a big impact since it would throw over Einstein's theory that nothing can travel faster than light and therefore time travel is not possible. But if this is true and scientifically established and those particles are faster than light, ....well, ...can we than go back to June 2011?  For I just loved this summer with all its weather idiosyncrasies and those many guests we saw coming back to our spot on the river and all those rafting and fishing trips I have been doing with so many people, young and less young, familiar and new!

Annual BBQ and Wine Tasting

For our 10th annual BBQ and Wine tasting we wanted to do something different. So we had Alphonse (www.rollingbaywinery.com) doing the honors of serving a variety of wines to our guests. For our musical needs Bert played light acoustic songs along side with Rachel on cello. It turned out to be quite successful. Guests raved about the wines and appreciated the musicians efforts to please everyone. Isabelle's (Hubertina's and Bert's daughter) birthday was celebrated with a sing along birthday song and in return Isabelle sang, shy but not overwhelmed, "Midnight Sun" into the microphone accompanied by guitar and cello. You have to start somewhere!

Next day family and friends could enjoy rafting and a driftboat float. We put in at Hamlin boat ramp to float down to the McKenzie River Inn. The weather was outstanding and the kids loved the excitement.

This weekend also means the spin-off for the summer season and it turned out July as one of the busiest months of the year. Two weeks in July we welcomed back the Weinberg/Reppert reunion and what a great week that was. From Bacchi Ball to Badminton tournaments, from rafting to hiking, this family is able to cram in quite some activities in a week stay. If you work, or start working, in the hospitality business and read this blog, I can tell you right now that guests like these are one of the highlights of being in this business. We are grateful to have them coming back every other year and to share our spot on the McKenzie river with them. With the help and exchange of pictures (thanks Jill!) we can look back on other great and successful summer.