A Full-time Life

Category: Exploring Oregon

  • CHINESE GARDEN

    Today I have pictures featuring off-shades of red.  VISIT RUBY TUESDAY  to see more photographs featuring real reds!

    Pink lily and koi pond 15-1

    Pictures from the Chinese Garden in downtown Portland, Oregon taken last Summer.  This lovely garden spot is right in the center of downtown.  People who work or live in the City must  appreciate having this place nearby for a break from the stress and hustle and bustle.  

    We enjoy visiting big cities and certainly weren't under any stress, but we loved the Garden's quiet beauty and were glad we toured it.

     

    Koi 13
    Gate 17-1
    Garden willows 06
    Stone path 18

  • LONG TOM COUNTRY TRAIL

     

    Winery 21 These pictures are from a recent Saturday drive on the Long Tom Trail (in rural Lane County Oregon).  We went with our friends Donna and Sherm and had a lot of fun exploring a part of the Willamette Valley that we didn't know well at all. 

    Even though we lived in this area for thirty years and still visit every summer, there are still new places to go right here at "home"!   This country trail covers some beautiful scenery and has a number of places to explore.  Some of these stops – flower farms and fields, sheep and alpaca ranches — might be best in the Spring, but there are several wineries on the trail.  Fall is a perfect time to visit those.

    Grapes hanging16 It was one of those Oregon days when the weather varied — every few minutes — from bright sun to clouds and spitting rain.  We were lucky because the sun came out each time we wanted to stop.  Our wine tasting was just meant to be!  

    Grapes were heavy on the vines and harvesting and pressing were in various stages at each of the places.

      

    High pass vineyard barrels 15

    We visited and tasted at High Pass Winery, Pfeiffer Vinyards, and Benton-Lane Winery. Pinot noir is the wine Oregon is most noted for.  All of these three also make good white wines.   Grape vines 22 

    Another smaller vineyard, Rainsong, was closed to visitors because they were all busy with the fall press.    

    Winery 20

    The three wineries were quite different from each other in atmosphere as well as in the taste of their wines.  

    High Pass is small and friendly, like visiting a neighbor and being offered a taste of their favorite wines — which were really delicious.

    Pfeiffer has a kind of dark formal tasting area, built like an Italian wine cellar/bistro.  Their wines are sold only on their premises.  And they charge for their tastings.  We know they do that now in California, but this is the first time we'd ever encountered tasting fees in Oregon.  

    Benton lane winery wine tasting 19  Benton-Lane has a large bright and open tasting area, with a full wine bar.  Their pourers were friendly and very knowledgeable.  It is set up for parties and receptions, but is always open for drop-in visitors as well. 

    (That's Bill and Donna & Sherm sampling the local products)

    Good friends, good wine, pretty decent weather.  A fine Autumn weekend!

     

     Below are a couple of links for maps and more information about the trail:

    Long Tom Country Trail

    Travel Oregon

  • TWO CANALS

    When we took our boat down the channel here on Fern Ridge Lake this past summer, it was easy to forget exactly where we were.  It's a day-dreamy kind of thing to do anyway and sometimes it reminded us a lot of when we were out on the water last Winter in Florida.  There really are some similarities.    

    And a lot of differences.

    Alligator 008 FLORIDA ALLIGATOR

    Oregon alligator32 OREGON (not an) ALLIGATOR
     
    And here is one of the differences:  We could tie our boat up to the "alligator" in the bottom picture.  Not advised for the one on the top.  

     

    Click here for more water views (usually without alligators):  Watery Wednesday

  • WILDLIFE SAFARI, WINSTON OREGON

    Last weekend we drove to Winston to visit Wildlife Safari.  We went with our grandson Collin, who lives in Eugene (about 20 miles from where we're staying at the Lake).  Just 80 freeway miles from Eugene, it was a great day trip.   We like places like this a lot, but it was even more fun with a ten-year old.  

    Cheetah The 600-acre Safari opened in 1972 with the goal of helping to save rare and endangered animals from around the world.  It is most well-known for its successful cheetah breeding.  The highly endangered species is very difficult to breed in captivity but at Winston they have a lot of room to roam naturally, so breeding has been successful. We learned that Cheetahs have very little genetic variability, so extreme care must be taken with pairings.  The Safari works with the International Species Survival Plan to create long-term genetic health.

    ShepherdIn Africa, Anatolian Shepherd dogs are being used to save wild cheetahs.  They are given to farmers to protect the cattle herds.  Cheetahs are very shy and just the bark of the dog will scare them off of the herd.  One of these dogs lives at Wildlife Safari.  Her name is Ellie and she is a companion to Sanurra, a cheetah who was rejected by her mother.  The dog and cheetah grew up together. They live next door to each other and are given supervised play dates. 

    Learncheetah23 All three of us really enjoyed learning about the Cheetahs.  The young ranger in the Village had us entranced with his stories and information about this beautiful animal.  One cheetah, also a single birth who was rejected, is kept here at the Village and is an ambassador for the Safari.  She is leash trained and goes out to community events and schools.  We watched the ranger feed her.

    The drive-through portion of the Safari has four areas:  Asia, Africa, Wetlands, and The Americas.  You can drive through twice.  We had visited the Safari several times back when we lived in Oregon.  In those early years it stayed open until after dusk and evening was a great time to view the animals.  Because of budget constraints, it now closes at Five p.m.  But the second drive-through (just before closing) was still worthwhile.  

    Click  right here to see the Safari's Website.

    Here are pictures of a few more of the animals we saw.   Collin took some of the pictures, but I don't remember which ones.  I think the bears were our most favorite.   We saw lots of other animals.  We spied lions and tigers and cheetahs in their wide-open areas, but because it was a sunny day, they were mostly sleeping and not giving us real good  photo-ops.  The rock in the picture right below surprised us when it moved.  It turned out to be a hippopotamus.  But it still looks like a rock.

    Bear chew toy 17

    Ducks on hippo35

    RHINO 14-1 Bearsplayfight20

    Seeing spots 39

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Giraffe bldg34

    Bigbird21

  • BEAUTIFUL CRATER LAKE

    Oregon may not have 10,000 Lakes like another state we visited on this road trip, but it has this one.  Lake view w trees str 66 It's deep, it's beautiful, it's blue, it's Oregon's only National Park.  It's Crater Lake. 

    We hadn't been here for years and years.   We are happy we took the time to see it this time.

    Enjoy our pictures and  CLICK HERE to read all about the geology and history.   I can't explain it better than the National Park Service can.

    Go see it!

     

    Lake wiz island 37 Wizard Island

    Phantom ship59

    Phantom Ship – still a trace of snow, even though it was quite warm and sunny the day we were there.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Pinnacles77 The Pinnacles (on the East Rim Drive around the Lake)

    Pumice castle 54

    Pumice Castle

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Lake 17 Another Lake View.  Who needs Kodachrome?

    Vidae Falls78

    Vidae Falls — another one for the Waterfall collection.

    What a beautiful day.  I'm so glad that our route from Colorado to Fern Ridge Shores took us through this area.   

  • JUNIPERS RV RESORT, LAKEVIEW

    Warner valley road 86 Here we are driving down a road cut into the side of a canyon near the small town of Lakeview, Oregon. We almost forgot that here in Oregon's outback, nobody finds it necessary to post warning signs or put up a guardrail, even on roads like this.  It would be quite a drop off down to that beautiful valley.

    We stayed for three nights at an RV Resort called Junipers, ten miles out of Lakeview.  I've never written before about an RV Park when we only stay a few days, but this one was so charming and well-run that really it deserves its own post.

    Cow parade 13 Some people who own a cattle ranch have taken a few acres of it and turned it into an RV resort.  (It's still a working ranch.)  The park is super-clean and neat, with nice wide spaces, very private.  When we woke up in the morning, it was as if we were looking over acres of ranch land and our own cattle on parade. 

    Brush eatin' goats 04 There's a six-mile loop trail around part of the ranch.  We drove the trail our last evening (mountain bikes would work for those who wanted that much exercise).  We saw some pronghorns (antelope) and this herd of weed-eating goats, getting ready to settle in for the night — beats trying to mow all these acres!

    The resort was totally quiet and peaceful and it had all of the facilities individual RVers or groups would ever need.   The picture below is the well-kept center building.  There were lots of bird-houses and flowers and green, shady gathering spaces.

    Junipers bldg 10 

    Birdhouses009

    Lakeview isn't on our usual travel path back to Lane County and the 200-mile (one-way) distance makes it way too far for a sidetrip.  But we were glad we picked a different route back this year and that we had a few days to spend here.   Junipers Resort would be great place to stay as part of a scenic trip through Oregon's outback.

     Or outback2

     

     

  • A REAL WINTER POST (GUEST PICTURES)

       

    Winter is simply not something we do any more.  In fact, we've been spending the season where it's warm and dry for so long now that the idea of snow and cold has completely lost its appeal.  (Although we used to ski a bit, that appeal was never terribly strong anyway on my part.)  And now, like all snowbirds, we both really really hate getting cold.  Sometimes it's even hard to remember what time of year it actually is.

    BUT when our grand-daughter Kelsey sent pictures from an Oregon trip she and her husband took in January, it made me long for a magic carpet.  It would have been so much fun to spend the day with them (from the warmth of the ski-lodge of course). 

    Kelsey and Bradley live at Vandeburgh AFB in California — and they had gone to visit their folks (our daughter and son-in-law, Cyndi and Jeff) in Alvadore, Oregon.  These pictures are from their family day-trip to Hoodoo Ski Area, which is about two hours east of where our Oregon kids live.  

    So just to celebrate the end of real Winter everywhere,  I thought I'd share these pictures.  

    Bradley kelsey and cyndi070 Left:  Three ways to get down the slopes at Hoodoo Ski Bowl.  That's Cyndi on the right, with the snowbike, and Kelsey and her husband Bradley  — with skis and snowboard.   

    Cyndi skibiking down058

    On the mountain060

     

    Jacob and Jeff 048

    Our son-in-law Jeff and grandson Jacob, just before they hit the slopes.

     

     

     

    These pictures were so much fun to look at because, of course, there are times when we miss seeing our family and it's great to have their pictures. 

    But when I look at the snow and remember that it is as cold as it is beautiful — and that the rain in the lower elevations of western Oregon lasts such a long time….and can be so wet and dismal ….

    and then remember how much we've enjoyed Florida sunshine this whole winter, it makes me feel pretty darn good about where we are.

    Still wish I'd had that magic carpet though.

  • LANE COUNTY SUMMER

    Lane County, Oregon — it's a great place to spend a summer.  When we're here, it feels just like home, except in a smaller and more manageable house than the one we lived in for so many years.    That house, in Springfield, was a great place to raise a family but at this stage of life, our traveling home gives us more time and less work. 

    Ryan catfish aug 08 32 The best thing was just hanging out with our family and having a chance to visit with friends. 

    We had great times with our Northwest kids and their families — including all six of our grandchildren.  What could be better?  Most of the time, there were no special occasions, just the gift of having time to spend together.  The picture is our grandson Ryan, with two catfish he caught from our little boat at Fern Ridge Shores. 

    We did have one big family event, Andy and Denae's Labor Day wedding at Buford Park in Eugene. (He's our oldest grandson.)   It was a lovely day.  Click here to link to their blog where you can read about their fantastic adventures in India.  There's a wedding picture in there too.

    Click here (and scroll down) to read previous posts about our Oregon summer.  Here are a few extra random bits.  

    Spooky island g 6 This picture is Spooky Island on the lower McKenzie River.  It's about three miles from the RV Park in Coburg where we stayed in July and just a few blocks from where we used to live in Springfield.  Our kids used to play here.  There is a huge new modern hospital now right across from here (where there used to be bean fields that provided summer jobs for all the neighborhood kids, including ours).This is it:Peace health hosp riverbend11

     

     

    Oly trials 14 Some friends and I had fun on a 6K Volkswalk that took us through the Olympics Track Trials Fan Village at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field.  We got to see some of the meet on the big screen and enjoy the excitement — no cost, and great fun and exercise.  Eugene did a very good job on the Trials. I thought it would make it more fun to watch the Bejing Olympics, but sadly nobody we saw did very well there.   

    Oregon has a bunch of excellent wineries, several in Lane County.  The picture below right is at King Estates, probably the best-known one.  King estates06

    The wine is good and the scenery is terrific.

    One day we drove to McMinnville with friends to see the Spruce Goose Museum (below). It's an interesting museum and kind of amazing story the way this iconic plane ended up in this tiny town.  That is one big plane!  There are a bunch of other air-related exhibits, the miniatures of the plane's interior and exterior that were used in shooting the film "The Aviator" and an I-Max Theater. 

    Sg021 

    Our feet start to get itchy when Oregon's rainy season approaches.  But since we never have quite enough time to see all we want to of our family and friends, it is always hard to leave Oregon.  I guess we have split personalities.  When we're in Oregon, the part of us that enjoys routine and familiarity kicks in and it becomes difficult to leave.  We always seem to put off our departure day several times before we finally hit the road.  Thus, it was mid-October before our summer in Lane County ended. 

    We enjoyed every minute of it.  Thank you everybody for the wonderful times.  We love y'all!

  • LANE COUNTY, OREGON

    There's an article in the Oregon Life section of this week's Sunday paper (http://www.registerguard.com<nbsp;called  ) called "One-Tank Wonders."  It talks about some of the many interesting places you can get to from the Eugene area on a single tank of gas. 

    We loved that aspect of living in Lane County when we were raising our children here in Springfield.  Back then, it was time constraints rather than the high price of gas that made it so wonderful to be able to do and see so much in such a short time. 

    Oyster place 62 It's an easy sixty miles from Eugene-Springfield to Florence on the beautiful Oregon Coast and about the same distance the other direction to the mountains, where there are lots and lots of wonderful campgrounds on both the Willamette and McKenzie Rivers.  We've always loved the outdoors and camping, so it was a great place to live for 30+ years! 

    (Winchester Bay on the Coast has the best crab and oysters anywhere!)

    There are also a lot of outdoor recreation opportunities without ever even leaving the metro area.  Lane County is well-known for its excellent bike and walking paths, many along the two rivers.    These pictures are of a few of them.  Left to right (click to enlarge):  Alton Baker Bike path between Springfield and Eugene; Rose Garden on the bike path across from Valley River Center (the area's largest shopping mall); the Willamette path at Buford Park, south of Eugene; plein-air painters on the South Shore Bike path.      

    Alton baker bike path 25 Rose garden so path VRC 156 Willamette buford park 2 100_0020 Rose garden147

    We are always surprised when we meet RV people who have never been to Oregon and we always tell them to come and visit.  It's best to be here in the summer, when it doesn't rain —  just leave an RV Space for us, please!

  • BLOGGING ANNIVERSARY, JUNE 2008

    Hwy 20We were pulling our house across Oregon the other day and got to reminiscing about where we were exactly a year ago.   (There's quite a long stretch of straight highway through the desert between Burns and Bend.  So boring that we were very happy to have something fun to talk about.)  

    (Lonesome Highway 20)

    One year ago this month, we were in the middle of our three-month stay in Sydenham, London.  And besides all the lovely memories of our time over there, I was reminded that we have now celebrated our first anniversary as bloggers.     We started while we were in London.   Our Colorado kids set it up for us, because I mentioned in an e-mail that it was hard to remember who I had told what to!  So with their help and a lot of e-mails back and forth across the pond, we became bloggers.  Most people probably would have learned how before leaving on a three-month trip to another country, but this was just one more instance of us not doing things in the normal way.

    When we got back home (to the USA), Geoff convinced us that it would be fun to continue to blog so that we could share our RV travels.   He was right — it is fun.

     I started posting to this blog "Full-Time Life" while we were staying in Eugene late last summer.   Now, we're back in the Northwest again after about eight months of exploring other places.      

    On our trip from Eastern Oregon the other day, lonesome Highway 20 took us through Bend.  Our jaws just dropped because this city has grown so much.  Then we drove through the cute little town of Sisters.  We haven't been through either of these in years.  Sisters was definitely recognizable, but we could hardly believe the change in Bend. 

    Pretty soon after Sisters, we were driving along the beautiful McKenzie River.  That's it in the picture below, near Sahalie Falls.  

    Mckenzie river sahalie 134 We used to live near the lower portion of the McKenzie (when we had our stick-house in Springfield), so as soon as  we saw the River, it really felt like old times.

    One thing I am looking forward to doing  while we're in the Northwest is writing some posts about this beautiful area.  We lived here for such a long time that we've tended to take it for granted.  And so we began the blog by posting about different parts of the country because we thought those pictures would be more fun for our family and friends in the Northwest. 

    As we travel, we find many other places of interest around the country but we have also come to appreciate once again how beautiful and interesting the Northwest is.  We loved it when we lived here and we love visiting now.

    We still have itchy feet and we still want to see what else is out there.  But for this moment of our full-time life, we are very happy to be here in beautiful Oregon and even more happy to be spending some time with family and old friends.