Here and there in OR

Our first visit to Keizer was 7/10 – 7/16, here for My Mom’s 90th birthday on the 11th. Got some purple potatoes from my sister Pam and Dick fried them up. They are purple all the way through and they were the best tasting potatoes I have ever eaten.

The day dawned bright and sunny for my mom’s birthday Linda & I went shopping in the AM while Dick & Larry chaperoned a group of Peewee golfers. Larry with the 3 boys they kept score for.

We all met for dinner at Linda & Larry’s for Mom’s birthday there were 20 of us. I don’t know what happened to my photographer but this is the only picture we got of the birthday party. Jenn, Chayla, Jaxon, and Mak.

On our walks in the mornings I like to walk by this house just to see if anything new has been added.

It is a very unique place and I think they had added a least one dragonfly.

 

Dick went to the Salem Cue Ball Room to have a couple of tips replaced on his cue sticks. He was really impressed with the owner and the place.

Our First Kayak Trip 8/3/2012

We heard about this last year while we were at Whaler’s Rest in South Beach (a few miles south of Newport, OR). The tour is led by volunteers from South Beach State Park. It is very popular and we were advised to make our reservations a few months in advance. We met at South Beach State Park and car pooled to Beaver Creek across Hwy 101 from Ona Beach State Park.

We helped unload the kayaks from the trailer.

We got instructions on how to get in and out of the kayak and how to use the paddle.

We are now ready to launch the boats and paddle away.

OK my life jacket is on and I am ready to go.

We are on the water and we didn’t get our feet wet.

Along the way our leaders made a few stops to tell us about the area. There is a family of Beavers that live along this creek. There was evidence of this along the way where the beavers had been enjoying a meal. Because this is more of an estuary the beavers make their home near the bank with access to water through the reeds instead of building a dam. 

 

The beavers home (dam) was right behind our leader. You can see the branches and twigs right in the middle of the picture. 

Well, ok so it is hard to make it out but it is there. Seems we have a few drops of water on the lens.

We paddled up to the bridge and turned around for our trip back to the boat ramp (about 4 miles total).

The wind came up on the way back so if you stayed to lee side of the turns it was easier paddling.

We had a great trip and would do it again.

Newport 7/2012

We are at Whaler’s Rest TT in South Beach OR. We found a good spot to park we even have cell phone service although internet is spotty and slow.

The site was fairly level and room for the slides and awnings.

Just getting set up.

Got the bird feeders hung and Dick set up a water drip for them. We had the Chickadees come in and a small squirrel that enjoyed the feeder and the water.

We walked to the beach most everyday during low tide.We came across these strange looking things in the sand and rocks. Later we found out what they were.

It is a sand flea (yes, look it up). I always thought sand fleas were the tiny things that jump ahead of you when you walk through the wet sand.

On another walk we found these bushes covered with berries. The manager of the park knew what they were and that you could eat them.

They are called Black Twinberry. Here you can see why, they grow 2 berries close together.

They are also called Bearberry Honeysuckle because bears like them. Honeysuckle would lead you to believe that they are sweet but they are not. We did go out the next day and pick a bunch to take to Dick’s mom so she can make some jelly.

On another day we drove to Agate Beach to see if we could see what progress they were making in getting the Japanese dock (part of the tsunami debris) off the beach. We could not see much from the road.

News truck from KGW was parked at the wayside.

Next we have reservations for our first ever kayak trip.

Port Orford Day Trip 7/7/2012

Our next day trip with Mae, Helen & Terry was to Port Orford. This time Mae & I rode with Helen and Terry rode with Dick. I had found some information about the area and we had a couple of stops to make on the way. Our first stop was the historic Hughes house & ranch. Patrick and Jane Hughes arrived here in the early 1860’s. They had 9 children born between 1860 and 1876.

The drive to the house went past the location of the dairy barn and creamery; to the right of this road next to the Sixes River.

We went on the tour of the inside and learned about the Hughes. family that lived here.  After 30 years of hard work they had this large modern house built.

That is their pictures on the mantle.

A very ornate organ made in Portland OR.

What became of the 9 children you ask well let me tell you. Edward, Thomas and Francis lived their entire lives on the ranch. James was a lifelong keeper at the nearby Cape Blanco Lighthouse and John became the second native-born Oregonian to be ordained a Roman Catholic Priest. The 2 girls married local men and left the ranch. 2 boys died during childhood.

Next stop was the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

This is the oldest standing lighthouse on the Oregon coast.  They have tours of the lighthouse but none of us were inclined to climb to the top.

I enjoy going to marinas, walking the docks, and looking at boats. So when we got to the Port Orford Marina we were in for a surprise. This port has no sheltered bay and therefore no floating docks. All boats are launched by crane directly into the ocean.

When you drive down to the marina you find that it is a large parking lot with the fishing fleet on trailers and this day there were a number of empty trailers. This parking lot/dock is very high off the water.

Here is a commercial fishing boat coming in to the dock. They get her tied up and unload the catch of the day.

 

They secure the lines to her.

And start to hoist her out of the water.

Once she is clear of the pier she is swung over and set gently on the trailer.

If they are late getting in or the weather turns bad and the seas become rough these fishermen have to spend the night out on the water.

Lunch was next on the agenda and with all this fresh air we were all starved. I had found a restaurant online with good reviews so we headed there. 

The Crazy Norwegian Café was as good as they said. We had a great seafood lunch.

Dick ordered desert which he shared with all of us. A fitting end to a wonderful day.

Picnic on the Umpqua River

One of the day trips I wanted to make was up Highway 138 to commune with nature and find some of the waterfalls I had read about. We packed a lunch, picked up Mae, drove to Winston where Helen & Terry live and followed them up Hwy 138 to our first stop; Deadline Falls. May through October you can find sea-run salmon and steelhead jumping this falls on their journey from the ocean to their spawning grounds. The trail to the falls is a beautiful easy trail

Lots of moss on the trees.

We made it to the falls and I was the first one to spot a salmon jumping up the falls.

This was the spot but alas Dick couldn’t get a picture of the salmon jumping out of the water. All 5 of us did get to see the salmon.

I can’t remember what made us so happy that we all got to see a salmon or that it was finally lunch time.

After we all ate too much we headed back to the cars and headed to the next falls we wanted to find.

Susan Creek Falls is 28 miles from Roseburg, the trail is .8 miles up Susan Creek to the falls. It is a scenic 50 foot waterfall that plunges over moss-lined rock cliffs.

The pond at the bottom is a good place to cool off your feet on a hot day.

It was not a hot day but a great place just to take it all in and rest for the trek down to the car.

On the way home we stopped at the Colliding Rivers viewpoint. a rare geologic phenomenon occurs at this site where the North Umpqua River and the Little river collide head-on.

Little River is coming in from the right hand side of the picture and the N Umpqua is on the left and makes a turn which causes the 2 rivers to collide.