Winter Travels, 2008- Ashland

Stop 4: Ashland

The beginning of January saw Haley and I in Ashland for a couple of days. We had a safe trip over the pass down into the Oregon Valley of goodness, and hung out for a day with Dad/ Bear. We took a small trip to Shasta and skied the local terrain; hit a few jumps and worked on our partner skiing. All good fun, and I'm very much looking forward to next ski season with my new Rossignals.. hoorah :)

Da Brothers-- Bear's Jacket is Siick(er)... then again, he's working
on a Ski Mountain.. siiiick :) Hope the weather's still good up there B.

Dad and I are mos' def Anti- Pollution.
.. and Dad likes to grow trees out of his head.

We are nearing Shasta!!
See? There it is!!

Dude! That's sooo cool.. I like, wanna kiss the snow..
Hey Wait! I'm not snow!! :-P
Awww.. this looks Just like Mammoth, except I have a cooler hat
the second time around.

Skiing really was a blast, and Haley got her ski legs back by the end of the day!! Yaay!! We had a lot of fun with Haley's dysfunctional goggles, which were decomposing and left little bits of black foam particles on your face (and in your eyes).. we got rid of 'em (the goggles I mean).

My impersonation of Hancock.

The next day, the sky cleared up and Haley had to journey back over the pass to be with her family in Modesto. There wasn't enough time to fully explore Ashland.. I think Haley has all the cool pictures, as we took a walk in Lithia Park and looked at the duck pond (filled with Alligators, riiight? ;). I was a little sad to see Haley go, but immediately Mom and Ash were there to cheer me up. The next few days involved us all running around town, up to drop a canoe on dad's car, or down to try to catch a yoga class with Mom. We kids had the best of it, as we all ended up together on the top of Mt. Ashland doing some ridiculously stupid sled stunts (Bear, props to you for that one wipeout.. I so wish I had a camera for that one.. For those who weren't there, Bear took his sled as fast as possible down one hill, over a road, and then up a snow drift and into a 5-10 foot drop into powder on the other side.. at some point all I could see from my view beneath him was his sled and an arm stuck out akimbo, floating 10 feet in the air). Bear survived, and it was good. He even found the refrigerated beverage that some kind Ashlander accidentally left for him.

The Indomitable Schleeb!! (we were all still recovering from Sushi the night before)
Aww Bear!! This was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.
Floored, dawg. lol
But Barret is still THE MAN, especially after dominating the Sled Run.

The Chamberlain trio had a blast wandering around Ashland at night.. Ashleigh decided to use her hew "21" powers to feed me too much whiskey, which led to unfortunate consequences (note to self: don't EVER combine whiskey, beer, and sake again). For her part, Ash decided it would be fun to wander around Ashland at 2 AM looking for her cell phone, which was on the floor of the hotel room. The three of us also had fun doing some river-trekking along Ashland creek, hopping over various rocks and navigating dense foliage in our quest to boldly go where none have gone before.. Barrett led the way, and Ash kept us from doing anything too stupid :)

The stay in Ashland was wonderful, and it was truly great to be back with my family. I felt re-charged at the end of the trip, and able to get back into the swing of things in London. It's been two weeks, and I'm still going strong, waking up at 5-6 AM and getting my day going with yoga stretches/ breath exercises. I feel very focused and happy, and am enjoying the time here, with the knowledge that all parts of my family are moving along with their lives.

The final night before my trip to London we all went, on the flip of a coin, to the local Ashland hot springs, which, albeit a bit shady at first, were very relaxing. There was a HUGE freshwater pool heated to 70 degrees that you could swim in under the stars.. I spent a lot of time there. Also the springs included a giant freshwater jacuzzi, which was relaxing as well (though the nudists made the whole setting a tad awkward). I wish London had baths like Ashland-- there's something deeply relaxing about floating in a pool in the dark, with no sounds and the stars above. When I left that place, I felt ready to come back to London.. so I'm thankful for that coin toss, although we still have to catch Bear's movie the next time we're all together.

Lotsa love family- be well, take care, and I'll see you all soon.