Gazette - 2004 - Oregon vacation

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Southern Oregon

Quicktime panorama of photo above - 3.4 MB

Champagne Cellars

Hereford

jim on old rake

the cow approaches

Jean - riding on the mule.

the sheep

Sydney & Morgan

Birds in Bandon

Redwood

Cycling Crater Rim

Knitting in lodge

Crater Lake Ranger

We left Portland for points south. Our starting point was Roseburg, which was my previous southernmost point of exploration. Our first stop was Henry Winery in Umpqua - though we did eat lunch in the parking lot of the Market of Choice in Cottage Grove. That store was an interesting contrast to the Market of Choice in Portland; just to see how a small town buys differently. I asked if they had any Prosciutto - they had tried, but couldn't sell it. They did have 5 pieces of Sushi - apparently someone is daring in town.

We sampled another winery before sliding into Glide, Oregon late in the evening where we visited Stan & Linda Young. Theirs is a 450 acre ranch, a miniature world. I had visited some years ago and enjoyed the horses and cattle that I had grown up with in some sense. A stream runs the middle of the long valley, grass fields and forests mix on the valley sides. I hoped to share a little of this country magic with the girls. Unlike my father, I have not moved to the country.

While there is magic in the country, there is work - a significant amount of it. My daughters won't be able to sample that part this weekend. However, more than just showing them the beauty of a ranch, Linda and Stan shared some of the life of a ranch. We rounded up the cattle and moved them to another field. We found the wild apple and pear trees and shook them down to feed to the cattle. One cow would come and take the fruit out of hand with a very soft tongue. I tried to imagine how large these cows will look in my daughters memories some years from now. How big is an animal that stands taller than you, when you weigh about 60 pounds?

If that wasn't enough, Linda offered the girls a horseback riding lesson. They led the horse, then mounted the western saddle and were led around. Shortly they were learning to nudge the horse with their heels, click their tongue, loosen the reins and getting the horse to walk. Eventually the horse would turn in the direction they tried to get him to go. Some initial attempts to start the horse going were so timid, the horse would remain stock still. The horse, Russel, was very good at returning to the center of the ring - apparently suspecting an end in sight, but with significant effort, the girls could keep him moving.

That seemed like a full day to me, but there was still a visit into Glide, for coffee, to the only espresso stand. I personally couldn't believe there was one. It was one of the nearly ubiquitous types in Oregon. The trailer in the middle of an empty lot. Now Glide does have several hundred inhabitants and only one espresso trailer. As I turned in to the lot, it actually had lanes #1 and #2. I could hardly believe they were ever that busy!

A young, high school aged brunette, listening to country music welcomed us and inquired as to how we were doing, then what she could get for us today. I ordered a double espresso.

She asked me, "What?"

I repeated, "a double espresso."

"Well, what do you want in it?" she queried.

"Nothing." I replied.

"You can drink just that?" she wondered incredulously.

This did seem like an espresso stand, but it has occurred to me before, that most people have a Starbucks point of view to coffee, that is Grandè, Grandè-er, and Grandè-est. At 24 ounces, the milk and flavor additives might conceivably conceal the actual addition of coffee. The value lies in the size, not in the flavor.

"A lot of people do." I allowed, though apparently a lot of people don't.

"Wow." She asked an unseen person back in the trailer how to make a double espresso.

She was delightful to meet and the coffee was quite good. Now that seemed enough adventure for the day, but we returned to Seven Springs Ranch and it was time for Sheep herding with border collies. Jean was the resident border collie. A delightfully bright dog. The neighbors Alyssa and Deb were training their dogs for competition and brought over perhaps a dozen lambs and several collies. With whistles we watched such incredible talent as the dogs moved the sheep around obstacles, across pastures and through streams.

Wow, so much to see and do on the ranch. Then, the girls got another chance to ride the horses, now by themselves! Morgan started with small wanderings and passed back and forth in front of us. Eventually she went over to the field of cattle and together we wandered around the fields. Sydney gave it a solo try as well. The excitement came when she crossed a stream and Russel thought he was heading for the barn. Sydney learned to canter.

Out of our reach, all we could do was shout to pull on the reins, which she accomplished seconds (seemed like terrifying hours to her) later. We were rather proud that she could accomplish this. With some encouragement she stayed on the horse a while longer.

Back at our accommodations on the ranch that night, the girls remarked on how bright the stars were. There is a lot of magic in the country.

We moved on after Seven Springs, meeting Alyssa in the cafe in Roseburg the next day, reminding us of the smallness of each town. I found the road less traveled on the Coos Bay Wagon Road, which went from smooth blacktop to twisting, oily blacktop, switchbacking up mountain roads with log trucks roaring down, more than occasionally crossing the middle of the road and after penetrating the deeper forest, turning to gravel. In and out of the shade, the women in the van now were becoming concerned about whether we would ever arrive at the coast, 60 miles away.

We did arrive, after some detours, in Bandon. A sandy beach with rocks and tide pools, we dressed warmly and wandered the seriously underpopulated beach, finding sand-dollars, anemones, starfish and other fun things lying around.

We wound down the coast, visiting a lighthouse at Cape Bianco and bookstores in each town. Evening found us in fog in Crescent City, California heading up into Redwood National park. We took the gravel road, they are really big - the trees. Sleeping beside them, they seemed normal after awhile. But they are really big.

We turned northeastward and at Cave Junction decided to visit Oregon Caves National Monument - a wonderful detour. Schools are mostly back in session this last week of August, so we find ourselves relatively alone at these national parks. The environmental consciousness at the national parks has advanced from in years past. They are very particular about preserving the caves intact.

Heading north again, we stop to watch helicopters douse a forest fire beside the road (we watch from upwind).

"It's the Climate" arches over main street Grants Pass. We dally briefly before finishing the day watching dancers in the street in Ashland for our dose of the arts.

No longer knowing the day of the week we cross another mountain range to Klamath Falls - wander main street on foot and then skirt Klamath Lake again by car to settle down for a cool (29 degrees) night in Crater Lake National Park at Mazama campground. At the evening campfire ranger talk we learn it should properly be called Caldera Lake among other tidbits. Sydney and Morgan take some brief classes at each national park to become junior rangers and earn badges.

I cycle up to the rim, my first time back on a bike in seven weeks since fracturing my left clavicle. It is damn cold. I can think of no other words. Despite three layers, I am still underdressed and believe my fingers and toes will fall off before the rim. Breaching the rim, I can see the lake out of the corner of my eyes, but my gaze locks on the lodge as my destination. I rotate standing in front of and nearly in a large fireplace for the next twenty minutes. Finally, I can appreciate the beauty outside. We attend two nature talks, but I find myself reading and dallying in the lodge even longer than the guests. The girls, now awake join me and sit knitting in front of the grand fireplace.

The next three days are spent in Sun River, Oregon with friends just hanging out - cycling, hot tubbing, swimming, shopping, playing.