Deron & Erin's Wedding (late post)

August 11-14, 2006

On August 12th I was privileged to attend my good friend, Deron Carter's wedding at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. It was great to see two awesome people making a commitment to each other. And it didn't hurt that we all got to celebrate by getting drunk and hang'n out in the woods! Erin and Deron seem to be perfect for each other and I wish them all the best on their new life together.

Silver Falls is a beautifull park and turns out to be a great place to do a little trail running. I did a little run on the falls loop trail and had a blast running by something like 10 waterfalls.

After the wedding I took a trip up to Opal Creek in the hills outside Salem. This is a truly special place and would be even more so if it wasn't quite so crowded. But what can you do. When you have both a beautiful ancient forest, a refreshing stream with swimming holes and easy access you're bound to have a lot of people. On the drive in to the trailhead I was absolutely surprised to see a mama lion and her kitten on the road. The mother quickly dropped off the downhill side of the road while the kitten tried to climb the steep and rocky face on the uphill side. Consequently, I got a pretty good look at the baby cougar as she/he knocked rocks loose on the steep slope. The slope was a little too steep for her/his climbing abilities and I felt bad about separating the mother from her kitten so I only lingered for about a minute before continuing on down the road. I felt truly blessed. Now I have seen 3 of the stealthy mountain lions in my lifetime! At Opal Creek I did a little bit of running and hiking and took a short dip in the crick. I also got a look at the Ancient Forest Center. This looks like an interesting place. By the way I met Joe at Deron's wedding who mentioned that he will be working here soon. Quite a rustic looking little settlement up in the woods. Looks kinda like a place I might like to live!

After Opal Creek I buzzed over to Beth, Lance and Caleb's house to visit and hangout for one night. Jen and Vincent and their kids were there as well as Van and Sara. It was nice to get to see these friends and acquaintances, who I haven't seen for such a long time. On Monday morning I watched a little Caleb's football practice with Beth and then took off for the drive home.

This time instead of making the boring trudge back up I-5 I decided to follow the Oregon coast and take in some new views. Although it took a lot longer, I had a great time stopping every once and awhile along the coast and trying out the beaches. I will definately need to come back here and spend some time on the beach, especially around Oswald West.