Life's Short! Go RVing!: Sweet Ashland

Bam!

Ashland was a Trip in its self. We rolled into town Saturday afternoon to the recommended Jackson Well Springs Spa/RV Park to find the place overflowing with visitors for their Mother’s Day and Birth Celebration. We turned the wrong way, a few times, and eventually found the office, thanks to a skinny guy in a leather vest and a goatee. It took a while to check us in as everything seemed a little distracted, but I did walk out with a $21 deduction on our stay (don’t ask me how). A lady with a buzz cut, on a bike introduced herself as the camp host and directed us to our site….a 10 foot opening, surrounded by cars in overflow parking. Not an easy task to park our 51 foot rig. We played with the idea of moving to another site, but if we could squeeze the rig into spot 54, it was obviously the BEST one!

The residents called it “Neptune’s Garden”. It had a great covered cement pad with some old furniture that reminded me of being back in PDAP. There was also an overgrown garden and “shed” with a bed in it. Random....but cool.

We did manage to squeeze into that sweet spot, mostly cause Joe’s The Man! Once we set up, it became apparent that our sewer connection wasn’t working, but we didn’t care at the moment, there was a Mother’s Day Celebration going on for goodness sakes! Unfortunately, we got there just for the tail end of it and missed the free massages and children’s arts and crafts, belly dancing, and birth story circles. I did get to sit and read my favorite book, “Oh the Places you will Go!” to Loralai and walk around the gardens where we saw a few "medicinal" plants growing.

By this point Joe and I were both aware that Well Springs was a special place and we would need to be open to what it had to offer. It was not your typical RV park and we were glad for that. It had a really cool, kind of kooky, relaxed vibe and we were excited to experience it! That being said, sometimes adjustments aren’t easy. Along with this great vibe, our sewer still didn’t work, and the water smelled strongly like rotten eggs. The major attraction of the park was that it has mineral spring fed pools (hot and cold) that visitors can swim in that are medicinal and healing waters. Well this same healing water is what flowed through our RV pipes and reeked! But by the end of the week, we'd gotten used to it and our sewer did get fixed.

A huge bonus and main reason for visiting Ashland, OR is that my God Mother, Patty Groth, lives there. She’s this amazing, fun, super energetic woman who owns Morning Glory Restaurant on the town’s main drag. Joe and I only get to see her about every other year, but love each and every time we do! She sweetly invites us over our first night in town for margaritas, despite having one of her busiest days of the year cooking at the restaurant, Mother’s Day, the very next day. We are all elated to go to a HOUSE!!! A REAL HOUSE, with separate rooms, and a porch, and a bathroom big enough for two people to stand in! It had been so long! Happiest of all of us was Loralai! We had told her about the tree house in Aunt Patty’s backyard (which we somehow missed getting a picture of) and she couldn’t wait to play in it! She got her wish right away as we all went in and played with her. The following night, we bathed the kids in the claw-foot tub, also in the tree house. Yes, a tub in a tree house! We did a little catching up while the kids played and left with plans to return the next afternoon for dinner.

The next day was Mother’s Day. I was feeling under the weather, which may have been partly due to the 3 margaritas I’d had the night before? So Joe took the kids out to explore the town and also to play at Ashland’s AMAZING Lithia Park. I got a good nap in and executed a contract on a listing to boot. When Joe returned, we headed to Patty’s for a FANTASTIC Mexican dinner, including cheviche, and grilled shrimp and scallop tacos. WOW! Best of all, the girls ran around in the sprinklers while we talk and sipped our drinks (only sparkling water for me that night!). Really amazing night and good time meeting some of Patty’s friends and seeing Adrian, her son, again.

Ashland is picturesque. It’s the perfect size, walkable/bikable, with lovely shops and the most amazing park I’ve ever seen in my life! It also had LOTS of delicious restaurants, which we had SO been lacking in most of our journey. So needless to say, we ate well during our time there and often!

While Joe worked during the day, I took the girls to Lithia Park and walked around the town’s shops one day.

Climbing large rocks in an Easter dress and making friends! Just another day in the life of Loralai.

This river flowed right through the park and next to the playground.

Another day I took them to get ice cream and then to story time at the library, which by the way is the cutest library ever! It’s enormous and located in a 100 year old building. The girls loved it so much that we ended up spending 2 hours there.

Patty also took us to the Farmers Market one day where we got handmade soaps and honey, and veggies and lunch! And then we drove to a near by town called Jacksonville that is historically famous for being a gold mining town, and also the location of Patty’s prior Bed and Breakfast. Cute town!

Girls playing at the Nature Center sand pit, taken by Joe.

One evening, I took Loralai swimming at the Well Springs Spa, just her and I. It was ladies only night at the pool and clothing was optional. Loralai was totally cool with it and went with it herself and we had a great time together and she made a friend. Sorry no pictures. Wink! Joe also took the girls swimming in the mineral pools another day while I got a facial (Happy Mother’s Day to ME!). So nice!

Patty's Restaurant! The BEST place to eat in Ashland!!! HIGHLY Recommended! ...get the oatmeal pancakes.

Silly Patty!

Specially Made Pancake! She LOVED it! ...And then she ate his face off.

I won't sit in my high chair, but I'll squeeze this bunny!

One major highlight of the week was when Laney and Patty watched the girls one evening, so Joe and I could go out for our 7^th wedding anniversary. Wahoo, DATE NIGHT!!!! We found a great little sushi restaurant and walked around the town and Japenese Gardens in the park. Had to stick to a theme. :) Oh, and got ice cream too! We really didn’t know what to do with ourselves and NO KIDS for the first time in 7 weeks after that! I wish I could say that we went wild and went swimming at the mineral pools after that during "clothing optional" time, but that was about it and with a bottle of cheap wine in hand, we headed back to Patty’s where we found a sleeping Bean and a very happy Loralai who was having so much fun with her “girls” that she didn’t even want us there. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU Patty and Laney for our date night!!!!

7 Years!

Sleep Over Pals! "Get out of here Mom!"

Friday, our last day in Ashland, Patty was kind enough to let us all hang out at her house while she was at work and let me do ALL of our laundry. Oh the piles!!!! Joe worked in the back room while Loralai watched “The Wizard of Oz” and Bean stayed under foot while I did load after load.

Later that evening we came back over and ordered pizza, and talked, and decided we would miss Patty and Ashland terribly! We even considered staying an extra week, but reservations and costs to change won out. And we had to say "Good-bye" to Sweet Ashland and Patty.

We stopped in Grants Pass, OR the next day as our overnight stop at Moon Mountain RV park ($30.76 with Good Sam discount. Recommended, very clean, hilly, and lots of services available). The drive was only 45 minutes from Ashland, so we had some time to do some things. While we were there, we visited an organic farm/restaurant that Patty's sister, Nancy, owns. The farm was gorgeous and got Joe thinking about our garden when we get back! He's got big plans y'all!

After the farm we took a river boat dinner tour to see Hells Gate ($60 adults, $40 kids 4-12). Recommended. They take you down the river in an air boat and point out all the wildlife along the way. We saw bald eagles and lots of osprey, Canadian geese and cranes. I was hoping for a bear, but we've still got Yellowstone ahead of us, so I was okay. They also do a good job of getting you soaked by spinning the boat around as you go down the river. Loralai loved that part! Hells Gate is cool, as the river runs through with tall rocks on all sides of you.