We started the week sleeping on the floor in an abandoned house. Reid, Eike, Heidi and I drove over to the coast for the weekend to hang on the beach and hopefully fill our dinner plate with fresh crab. After visiting the Tillamook cheese factory we found a picturesque beach to make dinner and ate fresh Cod over the hot coals. The next morning we were unable to use the bathroom with no running water so Heidi and I found a nice spot to relieve ourselves and a huge huckelberry patch at the same time! The crabbing adventure payed off and after a few tries our skills were sharpened and the crabs started flowing into our boat. We only caught one keeper of the Dungeness but many smaller rock crabs. We dined that night on fresh huckelberries and sweet crab meat! 
The next several days we moved over to my sister Laura's house with Dan and Kai and we enjoyed several days running errands and picking up last minute items for our trip. We also took a day to design and sew pack covers for our backpacks to make them less conspicuous and slightly waterproof. Heidi and I made ourselves useful and took up some house projects for Dan and Laura in the midst of eating great food and enjoying Laura, Dan, and Kai's company.
In order to get Mom and Dad Robertson to ourselves for a day Heidi and I left early for Maupin Oregon before her brothers, Nathan and Jared, arrived. We filled our days with them seeing the sights including the local Bible camp, hiking the gorge, seeing White River Falls and scoping the Deschutes river for our rafting trip. When the boys showed we headed down to the river and Heidi and I tried our hands at the rapids first. The first section was punctuated by long flat stretches on the water where I became convinced that days in these little crafts might not be all that comfortable. The second half of our journey made me forget my aching legs and concentrate on navigating the walls of water ahead. Shooting the largest rapid just as planned we hooped and hollered as the family watched from shore. The good sections of river came in quicker succession and we rallied through them all. At the end Heidi didn't quite get up her speed and a big standing wave caught her and sent her over. A short swim later we met on shore with all our parts and pieces. Twenty pushups on the rocks made me the loser as neither of the boys flipped their rafts as they plied the same waters.
In order to get Mom and Dad Robertson to ourselves for a day Heidi and I left early for Maupin Oregon before her brothers, Nathan and Jared, arrived. We filled our days with them seeing the sights including the local Bible camp, hiking the gorge, seeing White River Falls and scoping the Deschutes river for our rafting trip. When the boys showed we headed down to the river and Heidi and I tried our hands at the rapids first. The first section was punctuated by long flat stretches on the water where I became convinced that days in these little crafts might not be all that comfortable. The second half of our journey made me forget my aching legs and concentrate on navigating the walls of water ahead. Shooting the largest rapid just as planned we hooped and hollered as the family watched from shore. The good sections of river came in quicker succession and we rallied through them all. At the end Heidi didn't quite get up her speed and a big standing wave caught her and sent her over. A short swim later we met on shore with all our parts and pieces. Twenty pushups on the rocks made me the loser as neither of the boys flipped their rafts as they plied the same waters. 
Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.
C. S. Lewis
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