Christmas Round Up

Why must Christmas come but once a year? But indeed, this most Christmas-y of holidays has come and gone yet again. And after dreaming of a white Christmas, Colin and Emily (and Car Woody and Isis) found those dreams coming true.

The town of Blue River, OR, has been hovering right around the 32 degree mark for the last couple days, and when the skies opened up for a typical daily Oregon rain shower, it was the fluffy white stuff that came spiraling gently to the ground. Colin and Emily even engaged in a good, old fashioned snowball fight. Emily went out the front door, Colin the back, each with their own snowball fight strategy. Colin quickly set up a line of defense, lining the porch railing from the back of the house around the side of the house with medium size ammunition. Emily, on the other hand, formed 4 large snowballs, gathered them up in her arms and ran over enemy lines on the attack. Colin’s trap was well laid and Emily, falling victim to Colin’s rapid fire capabilities, quickly retreated. Colin’s biggest mistake of the day was ducking. This was a problem only because Emily, at close range, launched a snowball at Colin’s shoulder. Emily’s biggest mistake of the day was launching a snowball at Colin’s shoulder. This was a problem only because Colin ducked, was hit in the head, and then retaliated by capturing Emily and stuffing snow down her back.


When we last left you, we were headed for Eugene’s Holiday Market, a giant bazaar of all sorts of handmade items – leather goods, candles, toys, hemp hoodies, one of a kind purses (made from all manner of recycled materials, such as horse feed bags or 1970’s-era Little Golden Books), artwork, photos, incense… If hippies like it, you can find it at Eugene’s Holiday Market. But for us, the highlight of the Market was the 11 year old boy screeching out Christmas songs on his violin. Most people were passing by, but a kind woman did go up to him and asked this beginning musician, “How long have you been playing?” He looked up at the clock and said, “About twenty minutes.” It was precious, and who knows, it may have been accurate.

Julie and Oni, Colin’s relatives, arrived in their Mini-Winnie from the Southern Oregon Coast. They were quickly suckered into a game of Poker with the Campbell family’s new secret weapon, Emily. She slow played them until all they had left was their Mini-Winnie and a story.

Christmas Eve Day: We awoke to Dr. Kathy Campbell’s SCRAPPLE, a combination of shredded pork shoulder (“the fattier the better”) and white cornmeal, cooked, cooled, cut, fried, then smothered in butter and syrup!

From there it was off to Harbicks, the local store owned and operated by one of Emily’s favorite TV personalities – Big Brother Season 8’s Kail. To Emily’s chagrin, Kail was not to be found, but Colin and Emily did find 5 varieties of Super Glue, perfect for the Holiday Themed Wedding Monkeys, this year’s Christmas project.

Following in the footsteps of their Holiday Themed Egyptian Christmas Ornaments, and last year’s wildly successful Hawaiian Themed Christmas Dinosaurs, this year’s project would pay tribute to Colin and Emily’s upcoming nuptials.


After spending the afternoon super gluing our fingers together and covering ourselves in glitter, we headed for Belknap Hot Springs where it’s 90+ degrees in the water and 30 degrees out of the water. Refreshed, relaxed with super glue and glitter melted away, we returned home to a Christmas Eve feast prepared by Julie and Oni. Then it was off to bed with strict instructions to stay in our rooms until at least 9 a.m. when we could be sure Santa had worked his magic.

Christmas Morning: Cinnamon Rolls (they were a little doughy this year!), eggnog, stockings stuffed with candy and dreidels (!), plus a variety of presents. In the Holiday Irony department, Santa brought Colin not one, but two copies of the New York Times best-seller, “It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan For Living a Richer Life With Less Stuff”. Colin, take a hint! (First order or business – getting rid of one copy). We spent the rest of the day playing with our presents, including a very nice myrtle wood bowl and a selection of Burt’s Bees products, courtesy of Julie and Oni. (Thanks, guys!) Colin got his traditional Star Trek calendar, but sadly, the package delivery gods at DHL are continuing to transport Emily’s big Lego set, failing to meet not only the pre-Christmas deadline, but, it looks like, the pre-departure deadline as well. (Way to go, guys…)

Other highlights from the variety of Christmas festivities:

--Playing a game of “Newshound” with two journalism doctors, and surviving. (It’s like Trivial Pursuit, but with all questions about the news – Emily played especially well.)


--Doctor Kathy Campbell’s traditional Christmas dinner was a hit; turkey (carved by Oni), stuffing, mashed potatoes and a truly decedent gravy, King’s Hawaiian rolls, black cherry Jell-o with black cherries and cream cheese balls… all of the classics.

--Another two nights of poker; congratulations to winners Oni and Dr. Steve Ponder. Silver medalist both nights: Colin, who can tell you exactly what cards fell on the river to beat him on both nights. (Oni rivered a seven for a winning set of trips, Steve filled up an inside straight draw with a ten…)

--Emily also dealt an hour or two of blackjack for Oni and Dr. Kathy Campbell. This went well… for Emily, who immediately wanted to start a home blackjack game as “the house.” You know, because the house always wins? Other than being totally illegal and a bit immoral, Colin supports this idea wholeheartedly.

--Emergency repairs to Oni and Julie’s Mini-Winnie, as the Blue River snowfall gummed up the works on their deployable side awning. A call to the Good Sam club launched the local Blue River mechanic, who came right over and banged just the right spot to retract the awning, allowing Oni and Julie to hit the road without a starboard wing.


--Doctor Campbell and Doctor Ponder’s Boxing Day River Walk! It’s a two part process which begins with a walk along the Willamette River in downtown Eugene, and ends with a “warming” at a local brew pub. A lovely walk, filled with ducks, geese, and only occasional sprinkles.


--And finally, a planned second trip to the hot springs, which was canceled due to the fact that Colin and Emily were snowed in! Oh, we tried to take the truck out of the driveway and up to the road, but the snow proved too much! So instead, we returned to home base, to update the blog (finally!), stay warm, snack, and even make a snow angel. (Emily is always Colin’s snow angel…)


And that was just fine. Because some of the best times here at the Doctors' house on the river are spent at the dinning room table, looking out at the McKenzie, binoculars at the ready, hoping to spot a merganser or heron flapping by, large, wet clumps of snow falling from the trees while a steady snowfall coats the yard, painting it as white as Santa’s beard.

A snow angel...



... makes a snow angel.



Special bonus for reading this far! A video message from Emily!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and your family, from Colin, Emily, Isis, and Car Woody!

Stealing a Tree (Almost)

First off, let’s wrap up the Amtrak journey, by saying the steak on the train was pretty dang good. Our cabin attendant Brian was kind enough (okay, it was his job) to serve us in our sleeper car, and it was only later, when we were telling him how good the steak was, that he suddenly remembered, “Oh, I was supposed to bring you a steak knife!” Colin told him it was okay that he’d forgotten, as Emily had taken pity on Colin’s strenuous cutting efforts, and had refused to taste a steak piece he had labored (and it was a chore) to cut.

Now, the Amtrak sleeper car for two is many things. (“Made in 1953” comes to mind.) But one thing it is not is roomy. Especially on the top bunk – the bunk that had already made a play for Emily’s finger. But Emily, a forgiving sort, decided to sleep up top. That involves climbing up a shallow set of pseudo-stairs, and rolling ones self in to bed, then strapping in with a multiple strap system held in place by a mountain climbing-style carabiner.
So it’s no wonder that Emily woke up at about four in the morning, yelling for Colin to “get me out of here!” Claustrophobia is a no good at any time of day, much less four in the morning, but Colin did manage to free the princess from what bound her, and, with a calming walk down the corridor to stretch her legs, a bottle of water and her iPod, Emily was back to dreamland shortly.

The next morning, Colin took another chance on social dining, and struck gold, with the very nice Marie and Doug. Stanford types, grandparents, good folks, fun to chat with, and even the shy Emily eventually stopped by to join in the breakfast fun. (Sleeping Car attendant Brian was returning our room to “day mode” at the time.) Colin had the French toast – not bad!

Meanwhile, we were in for a real treat. The scenery on the train – incredible! We got up to about the five-thousand foot level through Southern Oregon, and it had recently been dusted with a good amount of snow, turning the entire landscape into a winter wonderland.

Emily, still perhaps feeling the effects of her late-night bout of claustrophobia, slept.

The train arrived in Eugene about a hour and a half late – not as bad as some times, but not as good as it recently had been doing. Still, Colin’s mom and her husband Steve were there, and soon, we were headed up the river, to a warm house and a hot bowl of chili.

Saturday highlights included French toast – Mom style – and a trip to Walterville to procure a Christmas tree! Lots of fun, especially when it seemed like the people who ran the Christmas tree farm had left for the day, leaving their stock unprotected and ripe for the taking. Someone did show up before we were able to abscond with our tree (we were planning on paying anyway, really, we were!). The holiday cheer of the proprietor was evident, and she sent us home with our seven-foot Turkish fir. Then it was time for a session of decorating and garland making – turns out, it’s not as easy to string popcorn as you might think. (Car Woody managed to get in some mischief with last year’s Hawaiian themed Christmas Dinosaurs, but everything is okay now.) And now, with lights blinking away on a wonderfully decorated tree, the thermometer reading about 33 degrees outside, it’s time to bundle up for a long winter’s nap! More of Colin’s relatives are coming tomorrow… and we’re visiting the all-time Eugene hippie hangout, the Holiday Market. Don’t miss it!

Picking a tree...


Car Woody makes friends...

Steaks on a Train

Live, from the Coast Starlight, it’s our Christmas Vacation! Yes, Emily, Colin, Isis and Car Woody have hit the road again, or shall we say, the tracks, as we set our sights on Eugene, Oregon, and a visit with Colin’s Dr. Mom. (That’s Colin’s “Dr. Mom,” not Colin’s doctor’s mom.)

So far, the ride has been pretty smooth – and, surprisingly for Amtrak, on time! In fact, we’re only about ten minutes late here in Paso Robles, no small feat for this notoriously late-running train.

We’re probably going to have dinner tonight in our sleeper car; the “social dining” aspect of train travel dealt us a couple of duds for lunch, and there’s really no need to go through that experience again. So, more updates as they become available. Oh, and Emily almost lost her right index finger to a particularly nasty top-berth lowering incident. The finger looks like it’ll be fine, but we’re still not sure about the nail. Will it regrow in time for the wedding?

Yikes, since we last blogged, Emily and Colin got engaged! Yay for us!

Love to all of our family and friends, including the nearly ex-cocker JoJo! (And why was he nearly an ex-cocker? More on that Christmas calamity later…)

Coasting Under the Starlight

Car Woody started it.

He's the one who wanted to have a good, old fashioned holiday vacation. And he's the one who suggested taking the train. (It was common sense that led Colin and Emily to decide that for this year's train trip to Eugene, OR, we'd pop for the sleeper car accomodations.)

But I bet Car Woody will love that, too.

So we're packing up Isis, we're packing up Car Woody, we're leaving Siarvee behind, and leaving the driving to Amtrak. Christmas vacation... here we come!