A Joyless Festival and a Joyful Return to Oregon

Aloha all,

in just the first two weeks back on the road, we reunited with our Oregon ohana, returned to our favorite mainland town, attended a piano concert in a 40-million-year-old venue, finally went RailRiding, and visited a brothel.

Those are just a few examples of how wonderfully diverse life on the road can be. But you'll have to read the whole story—or at least scroll through the pictures—to find out what else happened during our first two weeks on the road this year.

Avid readers of this blog may remember that the small town of Ashland in southern Oregon is currently our leading contender among places we might move to if we were ever forced to leave Hawaii (which we have absolutely no intention of doing). We love Ashland because it combines small-town charm with world-class entertainment, thanks largely to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

We enjoyed both the town and the festival so much last year that we decided to start this year's trip by returning for more plays. This time, however, we skipped Shakespeare entirely and saw three modern productions instead.

Surprisingly, it was a Joyless affair.

Before anyone starts worrying, by "Joyless" I simply mean that we left Joy in winter storage for a few extra days and took a road trip with our friend Mindy instead. We stayed in a hotel (the stationary kind) and drove in a car instead of in our beloved RV.

With Mindy at Crater Lake National Park

Rest assured, despite the absence of Joy, the trip itself was extremely joyous. We love Joy, but Mindy proved to be a very capable substitute travel companion.

On our way from Redmond to Ashland, we stopped at Crater Lake National Park for a fabulous picnic. As far as lunch stops go, it's hard to beat eating next to maybe the bluest lake on the continent.

Our bluest picnic spot so far

It's actually remarkable that our experience at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival can best be described as joyful, considering that the three plays we saw were about 9/11, racism, and death.

"Come From Away" is a heartwarming musical about the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, where 38 jumbo jets were forced to land on 9/11. We'd seen this musical before, loved it just as much the second time, and will happily see it again.

"A Raisin in the Sun" is a 1959 play about a Black family in Chicago. We enjoyed it immensely, although it's unsettling how relevant it still feels more than sixty years later.

"You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!" is a 2025 play about cancer, death, and climate change that somehow manages to be laugh-out-loud funny without diminishing the seriousness of any of those subjects.

One of three fabulous plays at the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland

So yes, three days on the road without Joy turned out to be a very joyful way to begin this year's travels. Back in Redmond, we also got some kiddie and some doggie time in, both of which we enjoy very much, as long as it involves games and long walks...and they are somebody else's responsibility at the end of the day;-)

Game Time with our Oregon ohana

Cruising with Cruz at sunset

After catching up with the rest of the Miller/Foster/Sanchez ohana in Redmond and getting Joy out of storage and ready for the road, we started heading east. Further east than we had ever been in Oregon.

Eagle watching at Smith Rock SP
outside of Redmond, OR

We spent two days exploring different parts of the John Day National Monument, then we visited the town of John Day, and today we swam in the John Day River. Makes you think this John Day fellow must have been a pretty important guy around here, doesn’t it? We were told multiple times that John Day is mostly known for having been robbed. Yep, that’s it. Not for discovering anything. Not for founding anything. Just for getting robbed and returning home naked.

Yep, these hills look painted

The Painted Hills section of the John Day National Monument is very appropriately named. Due to the heat—and due to the little tumble I took on my first scooter ride—we only did a short hike, but the views were well worth it.

In the next section of the monument, we did a slightly longer hike around Blue Basin, which everybody seems to agree is rather green. The John Day National Monument is known as one of the most abundant fossil sites in the world. Its full name is actually the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. I have to admit that, overall, I enjoyed the colorful hills more than the science behind the fossils. But I found it remarkable to learn that scientists identified a new species of tree from fossils found here before discovering its living descendant in China, making it a true "living fossil."

The green "Blue Basin" at John Day NM

A fellow traveler told us about the talented pianist Hunter Noah, who combines his love of music with his love of the great outdoors. Rather than touring concert halls, his "In a Landscape" events take place in spectacular outdoor locations, such as the historic Cant Ranch at the John Day National Monument, with a backdrop 40 million years in the making.

Pretty amazing background and
pretty amazing sound under the grand piano

These outdoor concerts are very different from your typical classical music experience. You are encouraged to bring a picnic, wander around, doze off, and at one point even listen from directly underneath the Steinway grand piano. What a sound! When not lying beneath the piano, wireless headsets provide excellent audio quality. They also help drown out the sound of your neighbors enthusiastically attacking their picnic baskets.

The most interesting thing we did in the town of John Day was visiting the historic Kam Wah Chung store. It tells the surprisingly diverse story of Chinese immigrants in Eastern Oregon. It’s also a real-life time capsule. Purchased by two Chinese business partners in 1888, it served as a store, apothecary, doctor’s office, and community center for 60 years. When it was abandoned because of health issues, the doors were locked and it remained untouched until 1968, when it was "rediscovered" and opened as a historic site.

Kam Wah Chung - store, apothecary,
doctors office and time capsule all in one

 
With the racist laws of the Chinese Exclusion Act in place, it must have been incredibly difficult to run a successful business as a Chinese immigrant at that time. The owners even had to lie about where they were born. Apparently, the locals were more than happy to believe the stories, since the two partners were beloved members of the community and both Chinese and non-Chinese residents relied on the medical services provided.

At the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, we were once again reminded how lucky—and spoiled—we are to travel this country in 2026 instead of 1846, and in Joy instead of a covered wagon pulled by oxen. Those were some hardy souls.

Joy at Original Oregon Trail ruts

What would possess you to give up your life in the "civilized" East and embark on a 2,000-mile, six-month journey across treacherous terrain toward an uncertain future? I guess the influencers and TikTokers of the 1840s must have been posting up a storm about how spectacular the Oregon Territory was. I suspect some of it was AI-generated fantasy. About 10% of the pioneers on the Oregon Trail died along the way, but enough of them succeeded and convinced others to follow. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think I would have waited just a little over 20 years and taken the transcontinental railroad.

The exhibits and films at the Oregon Trail museum were excellent, but my favorite part was talking with a woman who had actually grown up at Cant Ranch, long before it became either a national monument or a concert venue.

Tales from the Oregon Trail

Maybe our favorite activity of the trip so far was the RailRiding tour along the Minam River. Just as Hunter Noah combines his love of music and nature, the RailRiders combine a love of trains and bicycles. We took an 18-mile ride on an abandoned railroad track. It was surprisingly easy, incredibly scenic, and uniquely fun. I bet those Oregon Trail pioneers would have loved that transportation option.

RailRiding along the Minam River

Even though it wasn’t as much of a workout as I expected, it was still nice that we were staying at Grande Hot Springs RV Resort, where we could enjoy a late-night soak in the hot-spring-fed pools after our rail-riding adventure.

Late night soak at the Grande Hot Springs RV Park

For my birthday, Sandra and I went to an ice cream parlor, a bar, a butcher shop, a brothel, and an opium den. And that was just the underground part of the cute town of Pendleton. The Underground Tour was the most intriguing attraction in town. But the town of Pendleton gave me a nice birthday present and let us stay overnight at the parking lot by the downtown visitor center so we were able to also enjoy the above-ground sights: a riverwalk, a factory tour of the Pendleton Woolen Mill, and a fabulous birthday dinner.

Birthday Party in the Pendelton Underground

Now we are heading back west along the Columbia River. Our campsite is located at the mouth of the John Day River, very close to where John Day was robbed about two centuries ago. The campground seems quite safe these days, so I am hopeful there will never be a Chrisandra River, Chrisandra National Monument, or town named Chrisandra around here.

And that’s the news from Lake John Day, where all the RailRiders are strong, all the piano players are good sounding, and all the days are more joyful than average.

Aloha,

Chris & Sandra

Maui, Sweet Maui!

Aloha all,

the summary of our last seven months on Maui may sound somewhat familiar. Life on Maui is always wonderful, but admittedly a bit more predictable than life on the road. I was tempted to simply recycle last year's blog post, change a few names, update the weather report, and let AI rephrase a few sentences so it wouldn't be obvious that I was plagiarizing myself.

What another 7 months over already?
I just laid down...

Sandra went back to work at Maui Brewing Company at their beautiful oceanfront location on Kaanapali Beach. It is undoubtedly the prettiest office either of us has ever worked in. Then again, my office as an Uber driver on Maui isn't exactly shabby either. I still get a kick out of the incredible variety of people I get to drive around our beautiful island. My favorite moments are when I pick up visitors from some tiny town in rural Iowa and can honestly tell them, "I've been there and I loved it!". They are usually confused or proud that their Uber driver with a German accent on Maui had even heard of their neck of the woods.

"Bring your Friends to Work Day"
at the Maui Brewing Company

My little vacation rental business continues its slow transition from "business" to "interesting hobby". Luckily, I enjoy Uber driving as a fun and flexible alternative. The only downside this year was getting sideswiped at the airport and then discovering that dealing with insurance companies and repair shops is not as fun as talking to Iowans about our road trip shenanigans.

Just one week after returning to Maui, we went scuba diving again. It was wonderful to blow bubbles underwater after a long break. As tradition dictates, when we surfaced, we looked at each other and said, "This was amazing—we should do this more often!" Having fulfilled our annual obligation to say those words, we can now safely avoid scuba diving again until next year.

We really SHOULD do this more often!

After taking a year off, I also made it back to Colorado for a ski trip. It was a somewhat abbreviated visit, but I got to reconnect with some of our Colorado friends. Besides skiing, seeing our hanai family there is a main reason for the trip. In somewhat ironic timing, Kelly, Paul & Bunt left just days after I got there on a trip of their own... to Maui out of all places! Well, at least I could rest assured that Sandra was well entertained while I was gone. I loved skiing with Cody and Trevor at Loveland. I also explored Keystone for the first time, which was a fun mountain to explore, even by myself.

Lovely Day Skiing Loveland

Snow conditions weren't exactly legendary this year, but apparently I managed to pick one of the best weeks of the season. Fortunately, there was enough snow covering the beginner and intermediate runs. The lack of snow on the terrifying double-black-diamond slopes didn't affect my skiing experience in the slightest. It's nice when your limitations align so perfectly with snow conditions.

I like my winters in two week doses

In March, Linnea and Torben came to visit us on Maui. During the first week, they experienced the Maui that appears in travel brochures: zip lining, disc golfing, whale watching, snorkeling, and even a goaltimate tournament. Pretty easy to enjoy yourself. 

Zip dee dee doo dah!

Snorkel trip on the Gemini

Then Maui decided to show them something different.

During the second half of their visit, we were hit by back-to-back Kona storms that dumped more rain than we had seen during any two-week period since moving here nearly 30 years ago. Streets flooded, rivers and waterfalls appeared out of nowhere. On the plus side, an island that had looked alarmingly brown in February suddenly transformed into a lush, green paradise.

No rain, no rain forest

To their credit, Torben and Linnea remained remarkably cheerful throughout the rain. It turns out there really is no bad weather if you have the right attitude—or if you're visiting Maui and can tell yourself it's all part of the authentic tropical island experience.

The Kaanapali Beachwalk after the storm

In fact, Linnea insisted on going on yet another whale watch before they left, despite the wet forecast. It rained during most of the trip, but it turned out to be the most spectacular whale watch I've ever experienced. The whales apparently enjoy stormy weather even more than Torben and Linnea. On a typical whale watch, you're lucky to see a couple of breaches. We counted only the breaches that Torben managed to capture on video and came up with an astonishing 117!

Just 1 of 117 breaches
on Linnea & Torben's last whale watch

We also had several friends who have moved away from Maui come back for visits. It's always reassuring to see that we don’t lose friends just because they move away

To celebrate Uncle Tommy's 80th birthday, Missy and Rich managed to get much of the old gang back together. Tommy even played Ultimate Frisbee at age 80, which I find completely mind-boggling. Most Ultimate players retire at half that age. Frankly, many of them retire after one particularly ambitious layout catch.

80's themed party for Tommy's 80th birthday

We also escaped to Oahu twice this year. On the first trip, we enjoyed two very different joy rides:

The first was a ride on Honolulu's new "Skyline" train—a public transit system apparently designed to avoid any areas where it is actually needed. The second was a bar-hopping tour through Kaka'ako with our Oahu friends. Interestingly, both routes seemed to have been planned by people operating with remarkably similar blood-alcohol levels.

Bar Hopping on Oahu

The second Oahu trip got cut short by another storm, but the one party with the old Oahu gang at Laura & Matt to celebrate Tommy's 80th (yes, again!) was well worth it!

The more-than-two-decade-old Tuesday Night tradition also continues.

Every Tuesday we still gather at the same oceanfront location on Front Street in Lahaina to watch the sunset. Jill and Bern have been every bit as welcoming as Bunt and Ann always were. Everyone is welcome, or as Bern calls it: "An open house without a house."

Tuesday Night: Open House sans house

Tuesday Nights have become a gathering of former, current, and hopefully future Lahaina residents: a community rebuilding itself while waiting to rebuild its homes. The residential rebuilding away from the ocean after the 2023 Lahaina fire is progressing faster than many people expected. Occasionally I help Bern with his rebuild, and their first building should be completed this year.

The Lahaina rebuilding continues...

But the owners of homes and businesses along the shoreline are discovering that rebuilding can be a test of patience, particularly when local government agencies decide to contribute their own unique interpretation of "helping" with their sometimes absurd requirements. But just like on the national level, there is hope on the horizon. November 3rd are not just congressional elections in America, but also local elections here on Maui. 

But before this gets political, here are some more random impressions from our seven months on Maui, sweet Maui:

Ute's Rocky Horror Birthday
party with Eric Gilliom

One of many fun golf scrambles this winter

Mele Kalikimaka!

Captain Jack's - our local hangout

The part of the Lahaina Banyan Tree
that is still there is thriving!

Weekend in Hana with Bern & Jill

Bunt's first return visit to Maui

Great music at our old beloved Royal Lahaina

Even though we'll see them soon in Oregon,
great to see Mindy & family here on Maui

And that's the news from Lake Maui, where all of the island is beautiful, all our friends are good-looking, and most days are considerably more pleasant than average.

Aloha,

Chris & Sandra

Au Revoir, Oregon! See you soon, Sis! A hui hou, Hoh!

Aloha all,

the mystical Hoh Rain Forest, meeting our hanai sister at Lake Quinault, the colors of fall in Oregon, spending more time with our Maui friends in their new Oregon home…we enjoyed our time in the Pacific Northwest so much that we already know we want to come back here next year. So we say ‘Au Revoir, Oregon! See you soon, Sis! A hui hou, Hoh!'. Until next year when it’s time again to say 'Ahoy, Joy!’

Another road trip in the books,
but there is still so much left to discover...

When we woke up in Oregon this morning, it was 24 degrees Fahrenheit. As much as we enjoyed ourselves here, we are ready to trade that for 24 degrees Celsius, which is the current low of the day on Maui. It’s always bitter-sweet to leave Joy behind, but we found a nice winter home for her and we are looking forward to our own warm winter home on Maui. But first, here is the last blog post for this year:

This is a board of a wood fence,
you can imagine how pretty the actual rain forest is.

We visited three of the four temperate rain forests on the Olympic Peninsula. They were three very different experiences for us: First, we went to the Bogachiel Rain Forest. It’s pretty remote and the road was a bit of an adventure for Joy. We actually parked a mile before the trailhead to spare Joy the last bumpy incline. We went on a hike and had all the trees, all the moss and all the mushrooms pretty much to ourselves; we only met two other humans on the whole trail. 

The Hoh Rain Forest is so pretty,
Sandra and I could not shut up
about how speechless we are.

The next day we went to the Hoh Rain Forest. The trees are even more terrific and the moss is even more mystical, especially on the popular “Hall of Mosses” trail. We had been there 15 years ago and loved it then, but this time it was a little later in the season and in addition to the trees, mosses and mushrooms, it also boasted some beautiful fall colors. But it’s no secret how beautiful the Hoh Rain Forest is, so this time we shared the trail with lots of other humans, most of them equally in awe.

Just 5 of my 500 mushroom pictures

The third day rain forest experience was around Lake Quinault. More towering trees, more magnificent moss and more marvelous mushrooms…and most of all: More Kelly & Paul! They were there for a wedding and we timed our trip to spend a couple of days with them. This time we went on a guided rain forest tour with an excellent tour guide. He told us everything about what we had seen the past few days. I am afraid we already forgot most of it, but I hope we will never forget how pretty the rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula is…and that’s the most important part!

With Kelly & Paul at Lake Quinault, 
the Rest comes Easy.

I can hear some people saying: “Oh, Chris, you like everything!”, but that’s not true: I very much dislike some of the ugly stuff that is currently happening. And over 7 million people seem to agree with me. Ocean Shores was the closest “No Kings” protest for us to join. For a small town, they had a really good turnout and it was very peaceful and respectful, with lots of American flags. Nothing un-American about it in my view. I have no illusions that our attendance makes a big difference. But I am pretty sure a lot of people of our grandparents generation would have been proud if they had a picture of themselves at a “No Führer” rally. Judging by the infantile reaction from you-know-who, not just democracy, but also just regular human decency is under attack. 

No Kings protest in Ocean Shores, WA

We made it to the Mount Saint Helens visitor center, but no further. One of the roads is closed due to a landslide, an observatory is closed due to the government shutdown and the view was closed due to low clouds…three good reasons to go to Mount Saint Helens…next year.

We almost went to Boston. But the two guys who founded that city at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers flipped a coin in 1845; the guy from Boston, Massachusetts lost and the guy from Portland, Maine won and therefore got to name what was to become the biggest city in Oregon. And that’s why we went to Portland instead of Boston.  

Portland,
aka 'Almost Boston, OR'

We almost stayed away from Portland, because not just in the news, but even some reasonable sounding people said, how terrible that city has become. But there was an old house we wanted to see and a Japanese Garden we wanted to visit again, so we went to Portland after all and learned one more time that you just can’t believe all the doom and gloom.

Our impression of war ravaged Portland

Portland is most definitely not “war ravaged”, it is not “burning down” , neither is it in a state of “anarchy”, like some orange guy claims. Apparently, there was a time after the pandemic when Portland had some serious issues, even the locals we talked to agreed. But now, they are just shaking their heads at how their city is portrayed. From what we saw in two days in Portland, it’s a very nice city with less homeless people on the streets than many other cities that size. It felt perfectly safe and offers so many beautiful things: There is lots of public art in downtown, the Portland Japanese Garden is called the most renown and most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan and their history museum was delightful. And offered way more than just the coin that kept us from going to Boston.

Immigrants must have eaten all the cats & dogs,
locals resort to using donkeys as pets in Portland

Looking through the calendar of events in the city, we saw that “Lorde” was playing at the Moda Center. I have to admit that I barely knew who she was, but the first song that popped up on YouTube was “Royals” and that was enough to convince us to go. Lately, we have seen so many bands from the 80’s and even before, it was nice to see a more current artist. Of course that meant that we were amongst the oldest people in a crowd of 20,000 young people and the ones with the least knowledge of any of the lyrics to sing along…but we loved it. Even in a big arena, it felt very intimate and Lorde comes across as a very down to earth human being, just with an above average musical talent. 

Lorde concert in Portland

The “Gorden House” is the only Frank Lloyd Wright building in all of Oregon. It is one of his more modest “Usonian Homes”, meant to usher in a new style of building beautiful homes for the middle class. We love Frank Lloyd Wright’s timeless and unique architectural style. And apparently, we are not the only ones, there were other “pilgrims” on the tour who try to see as many of his buildings as possible (…or at least find one that never leaked: We have seen over a dozen of them now and they all did!). But not everybody loves Frank Lloyd Wright: The Gorden House had to be ‘rescued’ and moved because the people who bought it wanted to tear it down to build a MacMansion. What’s wrong with people? Why not just fix the roof and have the first non-leaking Frank Lloyd Wright house?

Frank Lloyd Wright's Gorden House

I want a bookshelf like that!

Do you like waterfalls? Not in your house, but in nature. If so, do you like walking behind waterfalls? Of course you do, who doesn’t? So if you have not been to Silver Falls State Park in Oregon, we highly recommend going there, they have some of the most spectacular waterfalls that you can marvel at from above, below and behind. Even if you have been there, but not during the fall, we recommend going there again. The water falls might seem silver anytime, but it looks even better with the golden yellow of the Bigleaf Maple trees. We only had time to do the “Loop of Ten Falls”, but it was truly spectacular.

Golden colors at Silver Falls State Park

Most waterfalls are even prettier from behind

Then it was time to get Joy ready for her winter hibernation. We did that in the cute town of ‘Sisters’, which has a very nice campground, great restaurants and a very convenient laundromat. The last three nights we stayed with Mindy in Redmond. Such a nice family, we were glad to spend a little more time with them, get one of the grandkids hooked on one of our games, go bowling together, get to know Mindy’s dog and reminiscent about the good old days on Maui. And by storing Joy close to Mindy in Oregon, we guarantee that we see that beautiful state and that beautiful family again next year.

Oregon is getting cold,
that's why we are leaving.
Oregon is pretty,
that's why we will come back.

For the past five months, we never spent more than a few nights in the same place. So we are excited to be back home; very excited to see our Maui friends again and also excited to do it all over again next year.

And that’s the news from ‘Lake End of the Road’, where all our memories are strong, all the photos are good looking and this, like any road trip, was well above average.

Aloha,

Chris & Sandra