Tuesday, May 31, 2011
We left Lincoln City this morning to head south. There is so much interesting coastline here. Every corner seems to have a different forest, beach, light house, or set of cliffs to take away your breath.
We reached Heceta Beach RV Park. This feels more like a campground than a RV resort - big spots in the trees away from the city, that are gravelled not paved. We both like it here as it is really quiet , away from the traffic and dark at night. In fact I think there are only about half a dozen spots occupied because of the time of the year. We are lucky that we are ahead of the summer holiday rush and most people seem to have gone back home as the long week-end traffic is over, too.
After setting up our trailer, we took Jake down to the Heceta Beach to run. He just loves to run around in the sand and chase after sticks that we toss for him. It is so nice as the sun is out and it is warm.
We decide to take the truck and back track up the highway as we missed a couple great pull out view spots that were just to hard to access pulling the trailer.
Just south of the Heceta Head Lighthouse there is a pullout where you can look back and get great pictures of the lighthouse and the coast line. The lighthouse is as quaint and beautiful as it is powerful. They say that the light is visible some 21 miles out at sea. It sits on a jagged and rugged cliff line. There is also a Queen Ann style Keeper's House to the right of the lighthouse.
Today there was a big group of Sea Lions sunning themselves on the rocks below.
There are several blow spouts located here, too.
Then right out side of Florence, there is another pullout spot that has a great view of the beginning of the sand dunes. We stopped and took a bunch of pictures here.
We then headed back into walk around the Old Town part of Florence. This beautiful, historically designated district is located on the waterfront beside the Siuslaw River Bridge.
The magnificent span of beautiful architecture, the "Siuslaw River Bridge" crosses the Siuslaw River on the south side of Florence. It was built in the 1930's and is a McCullough built bridge.
There are a variety of shops, art galleries, restaurants and a marina here. We found the "Backstreet Gallery" down by the port which contains work by 25 local artists. Interesting work!
Tonight we boiled up another batch of sweet corn on the cob for supper. We are both enjoying this as it is very fresh and tasty.
Wed. June 1, 2011
Still in Florence.
Geo rode his bike down to the beach this morning. Jake and I drove down and then we all went for a long walk on the beach.
Today we explored the sand dunes in the Oregon Dunes National Park just south of Florence. Winds have carved out the sand to form dunes of up to 500 feet above sea level. The dunes cover a 40 mile stretch of coast making it the largest coastal dune area in North America. Off-roading is allowed in designated areas for ATVs and dune buggies.
FLORENCE TO REEDSPORT, then to UMPQUA RIVER VALLEY TO EUGENE 80 Miles
Thursday, June 2, 2011
We have decided to go further south today to Reedsport, before we turn and head back to the east.
We just drove thru Reedsport and turned east on Hwy #38 -"The Umpqua River Scenic Byway".
The Umpqua Valley contains the drainage basin of the Umpqua River, and it is warmer and drier than the Willamette Valley to the north.
There are several elk herds making their home along this river. The Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area - a 1,040 acre sanctuary for 120 Roosevelt Elk, has lush green pastures and lots of viewing spots.
The Umpqua River has wide expanses of slow meandering water close to the coast and then more rugged, cascading water inland. There were a lot of boats out on and along this river as it is noted for its salmon and steelhead fishing. Geo described the drive thru this river valley as being very pastoral.
We are staying in the Shamrock Village RV Park in Eugene. The location is close to down town Eugene. The park consists of part mobile trailers, part river front sites and then a paved lot for bigger rv's. We are in the paved lot - which doesn't really have much appeal, although it does have some big trees. I find it difficult to go to sleep as there is a lot of traffic noise and the train runs right next to us. After finally falling asleep the train blows its loud whistle and wakes me at 2:30 am.
EUGENE and the WILLAMETTE VALLEY
Friday, June 3, 2011
Eugene is nestled in the Willamette Valley between the Cascade Mountains and the Oregon Coast Range.
More than 50 wineries are located in the southern portion of the Willamette Valley. These range from small boutique wineries to large corporations. There are 180 wineries and tasting rooms in the Willamette Valley.
Today, we toured out west of Eugene and then north of Hwy 126 to see the country and vineyards up around the Monroe area. Here, farms also grow everything from fruit to Christmas trees. The land is lush, very green and fertile. We both found pleasure in driving thru the peaceful, rolling hillsides. The back roads are very well signed and maintained, making it easy to find the many wineries.
We decided to stop and tour the Pfeiffer Winery on Jaeg Road. The Pfeiffer Winery is a solar-powered boutique winery with a candlelit grotto for wine tasting. We met the owner Robin, who was very kind and informative. We had an interesting conversation with him about wine, port, solar power and everything else under the sun. After tasting several different wines, we decided to buy a bottle of Forte (port) which I liked. The Pfeiffer's also have a very beautiful yard with waterfalls and cascading ponds, and a Tuscan style house surrounded by hillsides of vines.
The temperature finally reached 23 and was sunny today.
EUGENE TO BEND, OR 130 Miles
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Leaving Eugene headed towards the east this morning, we travelled thru the McKenzie River valley. Winding back and forth we follow the river. There are several covered bridges in this part of the country. The Mckenze River is known for its fishing and whitewater rafting, and also for its beauty.
SANTIAM PASS, OR
The #242 is closed over the McKenzie pass to vehicles over 35 ft and it is advised not to take trailers over this pass. Today this pass is closed because of the snow still up there, so we will go over the 4,817 ft Santiam Pass (named after the Santiam Indians). There is still a small amount of snow under the trees at the top of this pass, too.
There are several views of snow capped mountains along the way.
On the west side of the Cascades there are lush Douglas fir and red cedar forests.
Near the top of the pass we go by a lava field.
At the top of the pass the forest has been devastated by a forest fire. There are tens of thousands of dead silvery grey and black tree snags. There is an eerie beautiful look about this burned out section - like something from a movie. The Booth Lake fire and the Bear Butte wild fires burned and then merged into one fire known as the "B and B Complex fire". This fire burned from August 19 to September 21, 2003, burning 90,769 acres before it was contained. The most probable cause of the fire was lightening. Reports say "43% of this area was burned at high to moderate intensity levels covering 62 sq miles". Seven years later, we still see the enormous extent of this fire. Most of the burned area looks as if it has had little to no regeneration, either natural or reforestation.
Coming down the east slope, it is hotter again and starts to get much drier looking. The trees change to be lodge pole / ponderosa pines on this side of the mountain range.
THREE SISTERS, OR
The Three Sisters peaks near Bend are called - "Faith, Hope and Charity".
On the home stretch coming down into the small town of Sisters, Mt Jefferson was looming in the background and the cone of Black Butte was on the left side of us. Sisters is a western themed town with replica 1880's western facades on the galleries, shops and restaurants.
Coming into Bend the ponderosa pine forest transitions into the "Great High Desert Plateau" characterized by sage brush, junipers, bitter-brush and arid land. Bend is settled along the Deschutes River in central Oregon. The population of Bend 76,639 according to the 2010 US Census. It's metro population was estimated at 170,705 as of July 1, 2009. The elevation of Bend is 3,623 ft.
We drove around the Old Mill District tonight - a new area filled with clothing boutiques, art galleries and restaurants.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Lava Lands, Bend, Oregon
This exceptional scenic and recreational area covers 50,000 acres. We decided to get the bird's eye view of it to start with from the top of Lava Butte.
Lava Butte, Bend, Oregon
Today we toured south of Bend on Hwy 97. Lava Butte an extinct lava cone is very interesting. We drove up a winding road l.75 miles to the top of Lava Butte. Here we really enjoyed the 360 degrees of views. We walked the 1/4 mile Rim Trail, a loop around the rim, which has panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and volcano flow.
NEWBERRY VOLCANO
Newberry Volcano is a shield shaped volcanic complex covering over 1,200 square miles. Newberry caldera is a 17 square mile basin within the Newberry Volcano that formed around 75,000 years ago during an explosive eruption that caused the summit of the volcano to collapse in on itself.
NEWBERRY CALDERA, PAULINA LAKE and EAST LAKE
We then drove 12.5 miles south and 12.5 miles east, to see the Newberry Caldera. Paulina Lake (249 ft deep) and East Lake (185 ft deep) sit at the top inside on the floor of the caldera. We were told that the main road was snow plowed going up the mountain, but that most side roads were still closed because of the late snow melt. The road was plowed and there definitely was snow up high and all side roads were closed.
We got right up into East Lake where we found the road was terminated by a huge snow bank and a snow plow. Funny thing was there were fishing boats parked out on the side of the highway beside the snow plow. Men must fish.
Plus there were a lot of ski-doos going to the back country. Paulina Peak is the highest point on the rim of Newberry Volcano at 7,985 feet. Trucks hauling ski-doos were headed and coming back from the high area on the mountain.
Big Obsidian Flow is Oregon's youngest lava flow at 1,300 years old. Over 170 million cubic yards of obsidian and pumice erupted from a vent within the caldera.
Monday, June 6, 2011
BEND, OR to YAKIMA, WA 218 Miles
The traffic was heavy leaving Bend this morning. It finally slowed down north of Redmond. It was an interesting drive with a lot of different country to see. First, we went thru what seemed to be smaller horse and cattle places located on drier sage brush land. Then we got to some really green irrigated hay fields. Then back to dry sage brush.
Then to dry sage brush land with lots of hills. We passed thru a couple ghost towns which would have been interesting to stop at, but we were past them before we realized what they where. One was "Shaniko", which is now a "living ghost town", out in the middle of no-where. Shaniko was the wool shipping centre of the world in the 1880's. Today, a quick glimpse from the road reveals old western buildings with antiques laying all over. Shaniko would make the perfect set for a western movie.
Then about halfway we came back down into the Columbia Valley River at Biggs. It seems to take for ever coming down the big hills and then you cross the river and pull for miles to come back up and cross them again. Here there is really dry sagebrush on hilly land.
Once we reached the Yakima Valley, the land changed again. The Yakima valley produces many fruit and vegetable crops, including apple, pear, peach, cherries, melons, corn, potatoes and peppers. You could definitely feel the temperature difference as it jumped to 30 in this sun soaked valley. The wind is really blowing thru the valley.
There are more than seventy wineries climbing up the bottoms of the big hills, covering more than 12,000 acres. These wineries make over 39 different types of wine. 75% of all hops grown in the USA are grown here, too.
We are staying at the Trailer Inns of Yakima. An OK place for a quick overnight sleep. We didn't use the pool as it looked a little murky, but our spot was good. We didn't take time to explore around Yakima.
YAKIMA, WA to OSOYOOS, B.C. 242 Miles
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Again the drive north was interesting. The land seems to change every time you go over a hill and there are plenty big hills and mountain pass to go thru. It is really windy this morning.
The Blewett Pass south of Wenatchee is 4,102 feet, but it seems that it takes forever coming down it. The vegetation changes here to pine trees.
The drive north from Wenatchee is along the Columbia River. Then north of Brewster you drive along the Okanogan River. All the rivers that we have seen are swollen and flooding over the banks as this has been an unusually cold and wet spring. Around Omak it started to really pour rain and there were places along here that had just seen hail. The Okanogan Valley has plenty of fruit trees and vineyards in the bottom and aways up the hills, but the top of the big hills are bare and dry looking.
We went thru the USA/Canada border at Oroville, US. Neither of us knew that the border was so close to Osoyoos. We are staying in the NK'Mip RV Resort for the next couple nights, located in the Canadian Sonora Desert alongside Lake Osoyoos. The campground is really nice and our spot is quiet, big and has nice trees around it. We both like this campground.
Wed., June 8, 2011
Today we drove up to the NK'Mip Desert Culture Centre. A building with colorful rammed-earth walls sits on the desert slope of the mountain amongst the sage brush. The building has a Frank Loyd Wright style to it.
We also walked around the yard at the NK'Mip Spirit Ridge vineyard and winery, the condo/resort complex, and then we had coffee at the their coffee shop. We both like this development up on the hillside.
The Okanogan Valley is covered with expansive green vineyards and fruit orchards. The valley is very fertile and lush looking.
OSOYOOS TO REVELSTOKE, B.C.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Today's drive was mostly thru the communities that are dotted along the shorelines of Lake Okanagan; Osoyoos, Penticton, Summerland, Peachland, Kelowna and Vernon. The southern part of the lake has really high water levels from rain and spring melt. The waters closer to Revelstoke have cleared up and are a pretty blue again. There are a huge variety of fruit stands and market gardens along the way.
The next couple of night we are staying at the KOA campground just outside of Revelstoke. The sites are down in a valley with big trees and there are plenty of birds singing. We aren't really bothered by the low level of noise from the highway and do not hear the train at all during the night. Our site is level, but kind of dusty. The resort seems late at getting ready for the season, but they are busy putting in and leveling new gravel, pressure washing the pavement and still cleaning up from the winter. The pool still looks to be needing a lot of work before it will be ready to be filled. The cable TV is non-existing at present.
Friday, June 10, 2011
After a lazy morning we drove back into Revelstoke and walked around the downtown. We checked out the art gallery and went out for lunch at the Italian restaurant.
Then I spent a good hour combing out Jake's hair as it seemed to be getting matted from to many days at the beach.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Revelstoke to Bragg Creek
Today was a cloudy, rainy day. There was lots of interesting mountain views for picture taking along the way.
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