Chikuru

Today we visited the Belknap Hot Springs, about an hour east of Eugene, Oregon. This place features a pool heated by water from a 198-degree spring. We didn't swim in the pool, but we did walk around the gardens and pools which were quite something. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area, especially if you like large maple leaves.

Our primary destination was the Terwilliger Hot Springs, which we have enjoyed before. It consists of about five pools of varying temperatures situated on the side of a hill along a creek. It's a gorgeous place and also definitely worth a visit.

Last time we were there, the temperatures ranged from way too hot to just right to tepid. This time they ranged from almost hot enough to--well I don't know what they ranged to because we never left the hottest of the pools. Evidently the recent rains had caused more cool ground water to mix with the hot-springs water. The key seems to be to visit when it hasn't been raining recently.

Terwilliger Springs is near the Cougar Reservoir which features a $52M temperature-control intake tower that allows the reservoir manager to control the temperature of the water released from the dam by regulating which levels in the lake the water is taken from. The goal is to keep the water close to the temperature that it would be if the dam were not there. In Oregon they spare no expense when it comes to keeping their salmon happy.

Lyn had been planning for some time to go to Schlitterbahn as part of her one week of vacation between jobs. (Schlitterbahn has been voted World's Best Waterpark, 10 years in a row, according to their web site.) Since I was feeling busy at work and don't like waiting in lines, I opted out. She was planning to find someone else to go with anyway.

She didn't find anyone else to go with this morning but was going to go anyway. On my way into work, I started feeling like I was making a mistake by not going with her so I called to see if she would be much happier if I went along. She said I'd be welcome but it really wasn't necessary, so we left it at that. But I kept thinking about it and realizing: 1) I do really like Schlitterbahn--not only does it have great rides, but it's very beautiful. 2) Lyn is about to start a new job and won't have any vacation days for a while. 3) I actually don't have any pressing engagements today. If I were to take only one day off this summer, this would be a good day to do it.

So when I got to work, I checked my calendar to confirm that I didn't absolutely have to be there, talked to a few people to make sure they had enough to keep them busy, took care of a few administrative things, then turned around and went home. As I was driving home, I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if all my work days were only 30 minutes long."

Schlitterbahn was nice but busy. We waited 1.5 hours to ride the Master Blaster (evidently the world's favorite water ride). The ride is 60 seconds long and involves being pushed uphill in a few place. It really is a fine water coaster, but we didn't feel the need to ride it twice. We did a few rides; we relaxed with our books; we ate our lunch; we got rained on just a bit. All in all a good day.

On the way back, we stopped in at TJ's Burgers in New Braunfels for a very fine burger and even better milkshake (made with real ice cream).

It was a good day. We started out by sleeping in, then connecting up with Matt, Mike, Mike, Tom, Karina, Annette, Anna, and Tristin (not in that order) for a couple hours of kayaking down the Colorado River near Webberville. I don't believe I had ever been to Webberville (pop. 530) and now feel that my life is just a little fuller for having visited it.

The river was mostly calm. If you looked closely, you could seen an occasional white cap from the wind. At one point, some of us got too crowded near an overhanging tree with the result that, after all was said and done, half of our group ended up in the water. The two pregnant people remained dry through the experience. After our boats were all emptied and righted, I felt I'd gotten my money's worth.

Kayaking was followed by "unexpected barbecue", to use Mike's term. No, not that Mike--the other Mike. On my recommendation we went to Meyer's in Elgin and were not disappointed. The sausage was especially popular.

After a visit to REI and a much appreciated nap, it was off to Nikki's for pizza followed by a couple performances of Constellation. The wind made things a little more interesting than would have been ideal, with dancers running into walls when they shouldn't and running into nothing when they should have been running into walls. A little blood was lost, but not much, and Lyn did have a wardrobe malfunction. No, not the good kind, but rather the kind where the costume gets pulled into the belay device leaving you unable to extricate yourself from your rope without much effort and a little help from one of the stage hands. Fortunately Lyn was already to the ground when this happened.

And now it's tomorrow so I'm off to bed.