Seven weeks in Oregon Part 2

(Peaceful Peddling in Silence)

The next location we were in love with was Klamath Falls Lake. We stayed at the very rural Harrimans Resort. Very memorable here was having a canoe for half a day peddling all by our lonely selves on this beautiful lake, where we and birds were the only ones making noise. 

(White Pelicans we rarely see on the East coast)

(Our famous bald Eagle)

(More  and more pelicans)

(Some type of wading bird)

One of the discoveries there was the phenomena of drifting clumps of so-called elusive Mares Eggs, which only exist in waters that have freshwater springs with a very specific temperature range. The many clumps of these blue green algae are only found in a few places around the world, and not much is known about them.

(A clump Mare Eggs)

https://www.opb.org/video/2020/07/27/hunting-for-mares-eggs/

 Crossing the California border from here, we wanted to visit a Japanese internment camp, which was not open that day, but after reading about that time in our WWII American history, it is still impressive to just stare at its remains from the other side of the fence.

(Remnants of internment camp in desolate northwest)

(Fire and drought brings these types of cry for help)

And then onwards to the Lava Beds National Monument, and during our ride towards it, we saw a strange colored formation of clouds in the sky. After turning a corner in the road we saw far away back in Oregon the large plumes of a rekindled forest fire, as a few hours earlier the Antelope forest fire had jumped the line and found new “food” to lick. The pictures tell the story.

(Antelope fire clouds above and below)

(We entered this lava tunnel and surveyed the field from above and below)

We witnessed throughout our trip a lot of forest that was truly and fully burned and which now stood as a silent army of skeletons,  being the sentinels guarding bare hills awaiting new life some day. We passed base camps for the firefighters who return there after being on the frontlines for recovery time. The devastation of the “fires in the west”, which we only saw on tv before, became very real during our trip.

(What is leftover after the ravaging fires)

(Boiling tree saps slide down the trunk and gels into these “bulbs”)

(Base camp for fire fighters)

The next vivid memory that comes to mind are the Painted Hills, near the township of Mitchell, where two ladies own a number of very colorful houses appropriately called “Painted Hills”.

(Our Painted Hills cottage, as maligned by Sandee)

(Our colorful parking lot)

(Cute- did I already say colorful? - garden)

(Fresh from our garden)

Ours had an outhouse, which was the first thing Sandee noticed, when entering the premises. Something she loves to regale anytime we talk about our trip to friends and family and even to strangers. The house had very sensitive facilities, reason why the ladies provided an alternate option. The fruit filled garden was a delight to linger in during our late afternoon imbibing. And we definitely had our required daily fruit intake.

(Painted Hills)

(More Painted Hills above and below)

The local brewery/restaurant owner told us that our presence increased the population to 128, which improved his bottom line considerably.

As many of you readers know, we visited painted hills in the far west corners of China and we found out that the local painted hills here in Oregon were often visited by Chinese tourists.

(In comparison here 2 pictures from the Chinese painted mountains in de Zhangye area)

My next favorite visit was the town of Walla Walla, mentioned in the first Oregon blog as end station for some of the Oregon Trail frontier families. This town actually lies in the State of Washington, a booking error I made, as the intent was to stay in Oregon for the seven weeks we were here, but alas I found out about my error after the non refundable deposit on my booking there was made.

(Chef Colleen and her dishes in which we partook preparing)

(Tasted better than it looks)

It was however the most beautiful lodging of this trip and we enjoyed it even more because we had a local chef here cook us a salmon meal supposedly freshly caught from the Columbia River that day. We enjoyed “helping” Chef Colleen Farnham and the three of us enjoyed sharing a glass of wine during the preparation and of course also with her meal afterwards.

(Beautiful surroundings of Walla Walla)

From Walla Walla we took during the two following days a trip to the town of Pendleton, which is famous for their underground tunnels and the annual cattle roundup. We happened to be there while both events were keeping locals and tourists entertained. We did not witness the actual roundup which had taken place in the days leading up to the Saturday we visited, but the streets were filled with booths selling their Fair wares. 

(Our COVID rejecting group and guide)

(Intro talk about underground bar)

(The tunnels were seemingly endless )

(Another bar scene along our underground walk)

(A manufacturing site with sleeping arrangement for Chinese workers)

It should be noted that the group of 10-12 people we joined for our underground tour were not wearing masks, unlike the 2 of us and despite the signs on the door requiring masks. This very Trump oriented part of Oregon (we ate in diners proudly stating on their walls “God is my Savior, Trump is my President”) does not enforce CDC guidelines, evidenced by the fact that the ticket sales ladies and the guides were not wearing masks either. Defiance seems to be the rule in this part of the country. 

(Statue of Stella Darby, beloved brothel madam of Pendleton)

(Right above the tunnels Stella ran her brothel in one of the larger 

more luxurious downtown buildings)

(Stella’s receiving room, the Parlor where selections were made)

The Tunnel story is well told in this article:

https://www.kgw.com/article/money/business-travel/destinations/grants-getaways/grants-getaways-pendleton-underground/283-5169670a-e264-4a6c-aebd-647b66ec5c27

The next day we were supposed to take an old fashioned coal fired train trip, that was cancelled 2 days before boarding, as mechanical problems plagued the volunteers running the train. So we drove to the beautiful very old  charming “old west” and now tourist town of Joseph, sometimes called “Oregon’s Little Switzerland”. I tried without success to find part of a particularly difficult stretch of the original Oregon Trail along the Snake river here, but it turned out to be further away than I thought.

(Joseph has one MainStreet full of Statues, depicting its colorful past)

But we at least were able to take the Wallowa Lake Tramway up the mountain.

This gondola lift travels 8000 ft above sea level (it must be noted that one starts at 4000 ft when entering the four person gondola) and provides grand views of the surrounding Eagle Cap Wilderness and Wallowa Lake and in season would display at the summit alpine meadows in full bloom as if you were in a mini Switzerland. The lauded highest restaurant in Oregon “Alpine” did not impress, so we took the gondola back down to have lunch in town.

(Views from 8000ft/almost 2500m high)

(Our gondola to the top, with views from below)

There are many mountain tops in Oregon as well as Washington state, none is more famous than Mt Hood, because of its mountain side lodging: Timberline Lodge. Constructed in 1937 and visited by President Franklin Roosevelt not long afterwards, as this lodge was built as part of his WPA (works progress administration)  New Deal program. When receiving an extra large room, we realized that our extra large room would have been large in those days, but today the postage size room with a 3rd bed, making it uselessly extra large, would not have been a reason to stay there. A more comfortable Best Western at the foot of the mountain at Government Camp was the alternate option. 

(2 different views of Mt Hood)

(Timberline Lodge at 6000ft on the slope of this about 11,000ft mountain)

                                                                                                     (Our extra large room)

But being here at the storied Lodge with vistas from our room down the mountain was reason enough to stay here. We toured the area of forests and lakes, with town names such as Zigzag and Rhododendron, returning to a restaurant that requires reservations even by hotel guests with mediocre quality food, but enjoying the sights with a cocktail in hand was the better memory.

(Picture from Astoria of the Columbia River reaching the Pacific. The Lewis and Clark expedition camped out here)

(Astoria Column 126 ft/38m built in 1926 clad with Oregon’s history as murals,

sporting a viewing platform we did not climb up to)

(Sandee took numerous pictures of these state wide drive to Coffee

Shacks dotting the state in about every city, village or hamlet)

(Astoria does not want to fatigue their tourist, thus this trolley 

runs up and down the  board walk which is a 3 mile track)

(Pilot gets on board of a freighter ready to sail up the river)

(A beautiful hotel right on the mouth of the river, but  above our price range)

Traveling from here to the storied seaside town of Astoria, where we got our first expansive views of the ocean just like Meriwether Lewis and William Clark saw it after their arduous 8,000 mile journey, we really only found the breezy sea air and the well advertised column at the top of the hills, that allow the various rows of homes on the slopes grand views of the harbor and the faraway skyline, of interest. 

(Traveling down the coast we cannot rest our eyes, the coat is very very picturesque)

(Sampling of the views we were afforded)

(If ever traveling the west coast this should be on the program)

(The varieties of views is endless)

(And the sunsets magnificent)

After traveling down the sometimes stunning Oregon coast we turned into southern lower part of the state where the Rogue and Umpqua rivers were the early gateways for weary Oregon Trail travellers, that were convinced  by a man named Jesse Applegate, who lost his parents in the Columbia River a year earlier, and which story became the famous Applegate trail story by its first group led by Jesse Quinn Hornton and his wife Nancy, who lost most of their possessions navigating and at times creating an almost impossible trail along the Umpqua river. But that is a story that could have been read in part 1 of our 2 part blog already. 

(Turning inland we met a curious deer)

(And saw our first of many covered bridges that dot the south west of Oregon)

(And of course more raging streams down the Cascade Mountains)

(These pictures show what Jesse Applegate and Pioneers encountered)

(Another covered bridge)

(Another coffee shack)

(And another for Sandee’s collection of pictures)

(And again an encounter while traversing the Cascades)

We “camped” out at the comfortable Roseburg Inn facility and used our time here to drive along these rivers ravaged by fires, stopping at spots where impossible narrow fast rapids would have stopped the early caravan of Schooners dead in their tracks, where these early settlers to be had to scatter trying to find an alternate route to reach their promised land.

(Parrot House Restaurant in Roseburg, great memories)

(The surroundings of Roseburg are littered with remnants of the deadly fires)

(The Cascades have many waterfalls)

(Coming back from  the waterfall above we met this couple making pebble towers, they definitely were not Jewish. Do other cultures have these habits.)

This mountainous area is wild and wonderful, the sound of the rapids enchanting and when not ravaged by fire with trees of unbelievable heights towering over us. 

(A first view of the Crater Lake Rim)

It is in this area where the tour books direct you to Crater Lake a few hours eastwards, a volcano whose top was blown off eons ago and now a caldera filled with deep blue water almost 2,000 ft deep and with a 33 mile Rim Drive, with as many as 30 overlooks to stop at, managed and maintained by the National Park Service. This was another moment for us to flash our lifetime senior National Park passes, purchased during our early senior years for the measly sum of $10.

(Peering into the Crater filled with smoke)

(A short view of the lake as the smoke parted a bit)

(What is that down there?)

(Oh, one of the brochure lauded sights:the Pumice Castle)

Unfortunately the wildfires on the slopes, although extinguished, brought heavy smoke fog that had descended into the crater, making the views of the lake sketchy at best and what we saw was not very blue. Not having many views to look forward to we visited another phenomenon.

(The Pinnacles)

(These Pumice pipes were formed spewing ash and 

in doing so built itself higher and higher)

(These look more like Chimneys)

Driving a few miles down the mountain side across the aptly named pinnacles trail, we found a group of volcanic pumice spires in various shades of grey and brown or fumeroles, formed by steam and volcanic gasses of magma, that surfaced but not erupted, emitting sulfur and carbon dioxide gasses, gradually building their walls higher and higher. Some of them a 100 ft high. Returning on that trail back to the rim we encountered many other disappointed tourists, so many actually that we couldn’t be seated at the restaurant of the Crater Lake Lodge for lunch, requiring us to leave the mountain early in search of food in this sparsely populated part of Oregon. 

(Found by accident as we were touring the country side)

There are 2 more locations to rave about: Our stay in the city of Bend and the beautiful Eagle Rock Lodge on the rural western Cascades Mountains side in a locality called Vida.

 

The fact that I list them last and not earlier should tell the reader, that each and every place we stayed at, was equally enchanting and made us a bit sad that our trip was coming to an end. Only one location turned out to be a “dud”: the “Charming House” in Port Orford, which was less than charming and in an area we should have skipped. The house had also internet issues, requiring the leasing agent to drive an hour one way at night to visit us and resolve the issue.

(Classic front office of a motel)

(But every suite had these large bed and sitting rooms)

Wall Street Suites in the city of Bend was not only one of the best old fashioned motels we ever stayed at, located less than 5 minutes walk from the “old town” area with all the restaurants, and the ladies on duty there were a trove of information, directing us to places we should definitely see. This was a place we selected to stay at because of a scheduled hot air balloon ride, that because of thunderstorms and lightning was cancelled. But that mishap turned out to be bringing us to an area of unparalleled beauty. Again see the pictures.

(They told us to visit this nature wonder: Smith Rock State Park)

(If you look closer, you see people walking up and down the mountain walls, 

And on the below pictures climbers making their way up, side by side)

Chancing on a tightrope walk a thousand feet above us was just amazing luck.

(This was scary, amazing and we saw him fall a few times and climb back on the rope)

Our final days scheduled in Oregon were spent, whiling away at the premises of the Eagle Rock Lodge, with wonderful breakfasts, staring at the feeders constantly visited by beautiful Steller Jays and sneakily attacked by squirrels. Grilling a steak in the evening, lounging in lazy chairs at the meandering McKenzie river, and hardly leaving the premises, was a perfect ending to our weeks in Oregon.

(These Jays were observed thru the window of the breakfast room)

Here I have to digress. As I am required by my “only client” Sandee, for whom I serve as tour agent, to always have bookings of lodging before any trip is started, (there is a history of 2 disasters of not having bookings in my early career as her tour agent). I convinced her this time that there might be a location she would want to revisit before leaving Oregon. So there were 5 unscheduled nights after the Eagle Rock Lodge to be booked during our trip. We were tempted to return to Bend, but were lured by the University town of Eugene and a guest at the Eagle Rock Lodge convinced us to go there.

(Don’t ask me to do the tree and leaf exam after our tour, but we liked the campus with their magnificent trees)

(And we chanced in a volunteer talking to students about Christianity

 in a humorous way. He kept quite a few of them to hang out and pay attention)

A downtown AirB&B this late in the season was available so there we went. As Eugene did not get us enchanted, we used our days visiting wineries in the area around the city. And we found a Tree Walk on the University of Oregon grounds hosted by Kelly, a professor at the School of Landscape Architecture at the University, which was eye opening to us who that can hardly identify tree types, let alone seedlings, cones and leaves, which are part of the student exam.

Thus ending this saga here, we advise you to skip the city of Eugene and find another location to enjoy wine in that part of Oregon.

(One of the wineries we visited on a 6 winery tour day)

(This squirrel  hung around the winery terrace to  get nibbles

Till a waiter told us not to do that)

Our itinerary as promised: 

Arriving at the airport in Portland Oregon on August 17, 2021 and leaving from that same airport October 4, 2021 we resided at the following places on the dates listed:

8/17 Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland till 8/21

8/21 Columbia Gorge Hotel & Spa, Hood River till 8/24

8/24 Timberline Lodge, at the slopes of Mt Hood till 8/26

8/26 Astoria Rivershore Motel, Astoria till 8/28

8/28 Inn at Arch Rock, Depoe Bay till 9/1

9/1 Charming House, Port Orford till 9/3

9/3 Riverfront Inn, Roseburg till 9/6

9/6 Harriman’s Springs Resort, Klamath Falls till 9/9

9/9 Wall Street Suites, Bend till 9/12

9/12 Drovers Inn, Frenchglen till 9/14

9/14 Painted Hills Vacation Cottages & Retreat, Mitchell till 9/17

9/17 Wine Country Getaway, Walla Walla till 9/21

9/21 Imperial River Co, Maupin till 9/24

9/24 Eagle Rock Lodge, Vida till 9/27

9/27 Downtown Retreat, Eugene till 10/2

10/2 Marriott Downtown Waterfront till 10/4

(2 beautiful pictures I personally liked)