Oregon, June 2014: Eugene and Portland

Sunday the 22nd and Monday the 23rd.

Molly has a house in Eugene that her parents live in and maintain.  Well, maintain is too mild a description.  Her Mom  and Dad have created an oasis in the neighborhood.  Kathy has a phenomenal  raised bed garden while Dan is a master craftsman, having remodeled the house and built a garage.

New garage

After snacks, we traveled downtown and visited a couple brew pubs.  Eugene is a college town, home to the University of Oregon.  As noted on the Wikipedia page, "The city is noted for its natural beauty, recreational opportunities (especially bicycling, running/jogging, rafting, kayaking), focus on the arts, activist political leanings, and residents with "alternative" lifestyles."   We stopped at the Ninkasi Brewing Company for some craft beers and lunch.  The weather was warm and sunny, so we ate outside on the patio.

We ended the afternoon with a stop at Falling Sky Brewing, another of the neat craft brew pubs in Oregon.

Monday was our last day in Oregon.  We were scheduled for an 11:30 PM red eye flight out of Portland.  Cory and Molly had to work, so we had the morning to ourselves to pack.  We decided to check out a couple of things in Portland.  First was the Japanese Gardens.  This is a beautiful and serene park in the midst of a busy metropolitan area.

Located next to the Japanese Gardens in Portland are the International Rose Test Gardens.  We didn't have time to tour them, but they looked beautiful from an overlook.

Then we visited the Powell Bookstore.  This place is HUGE!!  They claim to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world.  We only spent a short time there and saw only a small part of the store, but the elections of books that we did see was amazing.

Before dropping the rental car off and catching the flight home, we stopped at the Deschutes Brewery for a light dinner and a brew.

So ends our week in Oregon.  We lucked out with perfect weather, and Cory and Molly were great hosts.  We can't wait to visit again.

Oregon, June 2014: A Trip to the Ocean

Saturday, June 21st.

Today we wanted to see the ocean.  As long as we are this far west, we might as well dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean.  Cory and Molly thought that Coos Bay to Cape Arago and on to Bandon would be a doable day trip, so off we went.

First stop was Coos Bay.  Coos Bay has a working harbor.  In fact, from about 1940 to 1970, Coos Bay was the largest lumber shipping harbor in the world.  There is an interpretive center and a boardwalk along the harbor.

Next, we drove to Cape Arago State Park,  From Cape Arago, there are great views of the ocean.  We happened upon some volunteers who had spotting scopes set up to show us Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, and elephant seals.  The outer point of the Cape has a stunning view of the ocean.

Look hard, and there are Stellar sea lions sunning on the sand.

View from Cape Arago Point.

From Cape Arago, we headed south to Bullards Beach State Park at Bandon.  Here the beach broadens into a wide and open sand beach.  We spend some time walking the beach, dipping out feet in the ocean, and searching for shells.  

One of our finds was a mysterious blue jellyfish type organism.  Come to find out, it is a Velella velella, as it is technically called.  More commonly it is referred to as "By the Wind Sailor" or "Sea Raft". This is a fascinating organism that has no means of propulsion, it can only move by the wind catching the tiny "sail like" structure.  It lives in colonies, and cannot exist as a single individual.  It is well worth clicking on the Velella velella link above and learning more about it.

"By the Wind Sailor" washed up on the beach.

We ended our day at the ocean consuming seafood dinners at the Wheelhouse Restaurant in Bandon.  It was a great day at the ocean.  Tomorrow we check out the college town of Eugene.  Monday we will spend some time in Portland prior to catching a red eye flight home that night.

Oregon, June 2014: Crater Lake and Wine Tasting

Thursday, June 19th and Friday the 20th.

We visited Crater Lake National Park last September, only to find it fogged it.  So we had to make a return trip to prove to Judy that there really is a lake there.  :-)

The view from Merriam Point last September 22nd.

We lucked out with a gorgeous day.  We entered the park through the North Entrance Road, which had only recently opened up from the winter snowfall.  There were places where there was still ten feet of snow pack on the ground.  I have seen Crater Lake in past years during the heat of summer, but this was a first for seeing the snow.  It was beautiful!

Wizard Island from Merriam Point

Llao Rock from Merriam Point.

Snow pack on Hillman Peak

Mt. Thielson  from Pumice Desert

The drive to and from Crater Lake is along Route 138, which follows the North Branch of the Umpqua River.  We stopped several times for short walks and to observe the views.

Fly fisherman on the North Umpqua River

We ended the day grilling fresh, wild caught Chinook salmon, topped with a maple soy glaze, stirred fried fresh vegetables, and couscous.

On Friday, we went wine tasting.  The Umpqua Valley Region has developed a very good assortment of wineries.  The climate and soils are conducive to grape production and the number of vineyards is growing yearly.  We visited three on this trip.  My favorite, Becker Vineyard, is truly a "Mom and Pop" business.  Charlie and Peggy work hard, produce excellent wine, and are proud of their product.  We even ordered a case.  Next stop was Melrose Vineyards.  This winery is larger and fancier.   They cater and hold hold events as well.  Cory and Molly bought a case of Pinot Noir.  Last stop was Spangler Vineyards.  They are located only a mile or two from Cory's house.  We bought a couple bottles of white to have with dinner tonight.

Like every day here so far, we ended with a fantastic dinner.  We cooked Cornell chicken, along with roasted veggies and mashed potatoes.  Diets start next week.  :-)

Tomorrow we head to the ocean.

Oregon, June 2014: Edgefield Inn

June 17th to 24th, 2014:

My son, Cory, and his girlfriend, Molly, live in Roseburg, Oregon.  That's not really next door to Gouverneur, so visiting Cory takes some planning.  Back in March we had picked out a date to visit and bought airline tickets, weather be damned.  As it turned out, we really lucked out.  Sunny and mid 70's every day we were there.

Judy and I had a 6:55 AM flight out of Syracuse Tuesday morning, so we opted to stay at the Airport Inn In Syracuse Monday night.  A wise call, not only because it made the traveling Tuesday morning bearable, but we also met some really interesting people sitting around the bar while having dinner.  They were contractors from Fort Drum working in the telecommunications area.  This one guy, retired military, was from Atlanta, grew up on a farm, was in FFA in High School and was President of his Chapter.  You never know who you are going to run into.

We had a four hour layover at Chicago O'Hare and finally arrived in Portland about 2:30 PM Oregon time, which is 5:30 NY time.  It was a long day of traveling, but we had some great views from the plane.

Flying around and peering into a thunderstorm.

Mt. Hood

We rented the car and had a short drive to the Edgefield Inn in nearby Troutdale to spend the evening.  Cory and Molly had encouraged us to visit the Edgefield, and boy, it was worth it!!  Originally built in 1911 as a County Poor Farm, the McMenamin Brothers have turned this 74 acre farm into a resort that includes onsite winery, brewery, distillery, golf, several pubs, and an organic vegetable garden.  It really is a fantastic place and we hope to return.

Entrance to the Maine Lodge.

Judy sitting on some kind of HUGE antique storage bench.

Whimsical arch made of pipe fittings.

Color in the gardens.

More color.

View from our room.

Raised asparagus bed in the garden.

Part of the organic vegetable gardens.

We spent a leisurely morning at the Inn, and left about noon.  After a three hour drive, we arrived at Cory's just about 3:00.  It was great catching up over BBQ London Broil, along with some Oregon wine and beer.

It was a great beginning to a fantastic trip.  Next up, Crater Lake National Park, wine tasting, and a trip to the ocean.