The Rogue River 'Hellgate" Jetboat Dinner Excursion.
Yesterday, my wife and I took off from the the office early and picked up our son at home and drove to Grants Pass for a dinner cruse on the Rogue River. My wife's birthday is still weeks away but we wanted to celebrate it before our son leaves for Kentucky for graduate school in a few weeks. We got to Grants Pass and got our tickets and looked around the large gift store with home decoration items and then had some ice cream while we waited for the cruse to start. We then got on the boat with about 50 other people and headed down the Rogue River to "Hellgate." It was a nice day but not too hot.
(My wife and I on the boat)
Once on the river and into the "wilderness" the Presidential campaign seemed a million miles away. The people on the boat were from all over with about 60% from Oregon and the others from other states. There were some business men from Mississippi and our son even met some ladies from North Dakota and Minnesota. The driver kept up a constant commentary we had heard before.( We have taken this trip several times) At the start of the trip you see the "Million Dollar" homes that have river frontage in the Grants Pass area. You then head into the "wilderness" area and the driver does some "circles" with the boat to get everyone wet. We saw an American Eagle and other birds.
("Hellgate")
We then sailed through Hellgate" and saw where a number of movies have been made including John Wayne's "Roster Cogburn" with Katherine Hepburn. We then turned around and went back through "Hellgate" again and stopped at a lodge type building high above the river called the "OK Corral" for dinner.
(Son below the "OK Corral" dinner spot)
We sat outside on a large outdoor veranda and were served family style at tables where there were name plates for each group or family. They served a
BBQ Dinner of chicken and ribs. They included beer and wine and a nice desert.
(Our Son and I)
(Son and Wife as we go back to the boat)We then headed back to the boat for the trip to Grants Pass and of course were gotten wet again as the boat driver caused the boat to stop quickly or turn on a dime. When we got back to Grants Pass we bought a picture of all of us on the boat taken by the Excursion Company. Since our son and I had beer with dinner my wife drove us home.
Summer is good!
