Thursday, April 28

We are not sure who is happier to be in Eugene- Neal or the U of O Duck who was at the airport to greet him!

 Fortunately, Rebecca and Gil were there too, as it was just after midnight.  We immediately noted that it is significantly cooler here- sigh.  We all went home and to bed. Then, after a relaxing morning doing much needed laundry, we met R. for lunch, and then let her go back to studio/school to work and Gil, Neal and Deb set off ( in a light drizzle, of course) on a hike up Spencer Butte - about 5 mi round trip and 1000 feet..  Cool- about in the 50's.  During the afternoon we actually only had some light rain and drizzle, and then even some occasinal sun, so reeally we were pretty luck. Rebecca later reported to us that there was hail in Eugene this afternoon.
Our hike started off through an orchard -

The forest was wet and cool.  Note the moss on the trees:

We determined that we could not use moss as a direction finder, as it seems to grow on all sides of the trees here. Fortunately, the trail was very well cared for and clearly marked. Saw a lot of these Trilliums in bloom, which was a special treat:

As we reached the summit, it got quite steep and rocky and Deb let Neal and Gil enjoy the last few hundred feet of the climb without her, letting her take some photos:

Neal and Gil descending:

So then we hiked back on down, had a break ( rest) and then had to go get some dinner, with Rebecca as well at Yumm

 and 2 hearty eaters-

Then Rebecca has had to go back to studio to finish a project that she is presenting tomorrow in Portland, and we have gone home, after stopping at an excellent dessert cafe- cream filled eclair for Gil, raspberry buttercrumb bar for Neal, and almond baklavva for Deb. All gone.
We admired the cats- Tellulah and Nitro---

And now, after truning on some heat in the bedroom -  off to bed- as we are going to Portland with R. tomorrow as well.
Love, Deb and Neal