Jacqueline and I spent the winter trying to figure out what our next step would be. My term was coming to an end very soon and she was stuck mired in the world of continual seasonal employment. We both had teaching degrees just sitting there and the chance for a career where we could buy a house, raise our children, and have a pretty predictable schedule to make all their school events and even spend summer vacations with them. The allure was there and we began applying for jobs in the winter and spring. Sure enough, we started to get some phone calls about interviewing for jobs.
There were not many of them that were sounding too appealing until we heard from a school district along the McKenzie River in Oregon. I went through the preliminary stages of interviewing with them and sure enough, they wanted me to come out and have an interview. Making that work was going to be a challenge. I had some vacation days built up though, so we got my mom and Carl to watch the kids and then we went and drove out to Oregon.
We went through the desolation that is Nevada and up through Lakeview, Oregon eventually coming in from the south. The drive itself was not that interesting, but when we showed up in the Pacific Northwest, the green was very enticing. I knew very little about the state of Oregon even though I grew up in western Washington. For some reason, we never seemed to have a need to come through Oregon and instead seemed to just pass through more often. So here was a new place that looked interesting to explore. We even made time for it coming out for the interview. We spent a night in Springfield, Oregon, then the next day drove up the McKenzie River valley. I was impressed just how open this area was. There were nice homes along the highway next to the river and I think every bit of it, we were imagining ourselves living in this area. After about an hour of following this river, we drove past the school and could see ourselves teaching there. We continued up river to where there was a trailhead for the Blue Pool. This was supposed to be the hike to do in this area, so we went for it. The trail took us right by the McKenzie River through the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest. We were enjoying the cool day as we knew we were in for the heat in Zion in the near future.
Jacqueline and I had not had much time to go hiking with just the two of us, so this was great. The trail was short and put us out at exactly what it said it would a blue pool. It was a large spring coming out of the volcanic rock. Previously the river used to flow over this spot but was diverted for hydroelectric power. It would have been a pretty neat waterfall had that not been the case. Still, it turned out to be a pretty excellent spot and we had the trail to ourselves during a weekday. We headed back to the car and drove up to the two waterfalls above. Koosah and Sahalie Falls were running very powerfully as we did the hike between them. We could truly see that this area had a lot to offer as far as natural beauty.
I longed for some new trails and some new areas to explore. The rest of the trip was spent preparing for the interview. It went very quickly as I showed up at the school the next day, did the interview, and five minutes later we were heading back to life in Zion. I would wait to hear whether I got the job and whether or not a position for Jacqueline awaited also. We could hope as there were some opportunities for something new to challenge us. It would be sad to leave Zion behind, but we were not thinking too much about that yet as it still seemed somewhat of a long shot. I think we both agreed that given the opportunity, though, we were in.
Jacqueline and I spent the winter trying to figure out what our next step would be. My term was coming to an end very soon and she was stuck mired in the world of continual seasonal employment. We both had teaching degrees just sitting there and the chance for a career where we could buy a house, raise our children, and have a pretty predictable schedule to make all their school events and even spend summer vacations with them. The allure was there and we began applying for jobs in the winter and spring. Sure enough, we started to get some phone calls about interviewing for jobs. 
There were not many of them that were sounding too appealing until we heard from a school district along the McKenzie River in Oregon. I went through the preliminary stages of interviewing with them and sure enough, they wanted me to come out and have an interview. Making that work was going to be a challenge. I had some vacation days built up though, so we got my mom and Carl to watch the kids and then we went and drove out to Oregon. 
We went through the desolation that is Nevada and up through Lakeview, Oregon eventually coming in from the south. The drive itself was not that interesting, but when we showed up in the Pacific Northwest, the green was very enticing. I knew very little about the state of Oregon even though I grew up in western Washington. For some reason, we never seemed to have a need to come through Oregon and instead seemed to just pass through more often. So here was a new place that looked interesting to explore. We even made time for it coming out for the interview. We spent a night in Springfield, Oregon, then the next day drove up the McKenzie River valley. I was impressed just how open this area was. There were nice homes along the highway next to the river and I think every bit of it, we were imagining ourselves living in this area. After about an hour of following this river, we drove past the school and could see ourselves teaching there. We continued up river to where there was a trailhead for the Blue Pool. This was supposed to be the hike to do in this area, so we went for it. The trail took us right by the McKenzie River through the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest. We were enjoying the cool day as we knew we were in for the heat in Zion in the near future. 
Jacqueline and I had not had much time to go hiking with just the two of us, so this was great. The trail was short and put us out at exactly what it said it would a blue pool. It was a large spring coming out of the volcanic rock. Previously the river used to flow over this spot but was diverted for hydroelectric power. It would have been a pretty neat waterfall had that not been the case. Still, it turned out to be a pretty excellent spot and we had the trail to ourselves during a weekday. We headed back to the car and drove up to the two waterfalls above. Koosah and Sahalie Falls were running very powerfully as we did the hike between them. We could truly see that this area had a lot to offer as far as natural beauty. 
I longed for some new trails and some new areas to explore. The rest of the trip was spent preparing for the interview. It went very quickly as I showed up at the school the next day, did the interview, and five minutes later we were heading back to life in Zion. I would wait to hear whether I got the job and whether or not a position for Jacqueline awaited also. We could hope as there were some opportunities for something new to challenge us. It would be sad to leave Zion behind, but we were not thinking too much about that yet as it still seemed somewhat of a long shot. I think we both agreed that given the opportunity, though, we were in.
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