Champoeg State Heritage Area and Aurora, Oregon

Our drive from Crater Lake to the Champoeg State Heritage Area was one of the longer ones we have done in the last few months: almost 300 miles! 

If you follow this blog, you know I am a fan of Jane Kirkpatick. My primary reason for stopping at Champoeg was to go over and visit the small town of Aurora, and see what is left of the Old Colony that was featured in one of her trilogies.

I was not disappointed.

It was fun for me to see many of the items mentioned in her fictionalized experiences of Emma Wagner Giesy.

For example this is a "tower of bells" that was from Germany and was carried in front of important processions, such as marriages and funerals.

Making quilts was a very important part of a pioneer woman's social life. Often women would get together to work on a quilt. For my modern quilting friends, all of this was done by hand! No long-arm machines existed. 

The Aurora Colony was a religious commune in which individual households were maintained, but work and wealth were shared. This was the interior of the "Wash House." An early version of the laundromat? 

Porta Potty of the past! But this one was a two-seater. I wonder about that, did more than one person use it at a time? Was this the equivalent of a two bathroom house?
















The  campground at Champoeg is about ten miles from Aurora and has its own history. It was the site of a town that had been established on the high banks of the Willamette River, somewhat earlier than the Aurora Colony. Unfortunately it flooded out and was destroyed, not once but twice before it was abandoned.

We explored the Visitors Center. The fur trade was one of the reasons for the early settlement. 

Behind the VC was a "Pioneer Kitchen Garden"

I have heard of Amaranth, but have never seen it growing before, and didn't know it was cultivated by Oregon pioneers. The seed from this plant can be ground into a gluten free flour and used much like wheat flour. I had read that wheat did not grow very well because of the wet climate.

There was also a nice Concord Grape arbor. 

The grapes were still green, but quite full and pretty. The garden also contained squash, corn, potatoes and herbs.

The area around the park was very agricultural. Many smaller farms, growing a wide variety of crops. Many fields of hops were interesting to see, as were the fields of small cone-shaped evergreens being grown for the landscaping market.

In the campground, just across from our space, there were lots of wild blackberry bushes.

I couldn't resist and went berry picking several times during our stay.

I really like them on my morning oatmeal. I ate some and froze 10 serving-sized portions.

After a conversation with our daughter, Craig decided to pick some to make a frozen sorbet.

After blending them and straining them through a sieve, he simmered the berry juice with sugar, water, and lemon juice. We don't have an ice-cream maker as called for by his recpie, so we just froze it (which took three days!).

With all of that activity, we had no had time to walk down and see the Willamette River itself. There was a trail to it right next to our campsite, so we went for a short after dinner walk.

I was surprised there were no mosquitos. By the time we got back to the Alfa, it had become a moonlit stroll.  Quite nice!

We were only there for two nights, and our next destination was 157 miles away. 

Mount Rainer National Park.  Check back.

Catching Up: Grants Pass to Crater Lake

Although we took a couple of short morning walks, it was just too hot to do much in our last few days in the Grants Pass area, other than visiting Sue Malone for a very nice supper on Tuesday evening. We were delighted to see their new house and meet the infamous Mattie dog. 


Back in January when I was making reservations, I was able to get two nights at Mazama Campground in Crater Lake National Park. After our time at the Rogue Valley State Park, we had a few extra days.  I filled them with a stop at a commercial RV park, called Crater Lake RV in Prospect, OR. 

The weather was hot, but not too hot. There was some smoke in the air, but we did take a few short walks. In fact we took one walk twice in the same day!

Near our campground were two nice waterfall views accessible by a half-mile walk down a pretty forest trail. When we went the first time it was morning, and the north-facing falls were in the shade. So we went back for a second walk in the late afternoon, and were pleased to see the water falling in the sunlight.

In fact there was even a rainbow in the spray. It's not often we can go back for better light, but we are pleased we did this time.

On Saturday we drove all of 28 miles to Crater Lake National Park. 

We quickly settled in our dry-camp spot, and headed up to the lake rim for lunch at the lodge and our first 2018 view of the lake.  Although there was a threat of haze from a nearby fire, the lake seemed almost as blue as we remembered.

Above is a very zoomed-in image of a couple of the very small spots of snow that remained in spite of the hot weather. 

We stayed in the lodge area for a few hours, and planned to drive around the lake the next day. 

That was a mistake because the smoke and haze increased overnight, but it gave us a different view. Instead of being the usual unbelievable blue, the lake color was a softer pastel and much more reflective of the sides and overhead clouds. 

This view of the "Phantom Ship" had a magical quality.

As we drove around the lake, there were many pullout view points and we were able to see some of the interesting rock formations on the sides of the caldera. The one above is called "Pumice Castle".

We also took a drive down a seven-mile side road to the Pinnacles formations. These are huge rock formations that were once lava tubes that cooled inside the volcano. Over time, the encasing rocks have eroded away, leaving the harder tubes exposed. I thought they looked like giant termite mounds.

We returned to the Alfa, parked in our Mazama Campground spot, late in the afternoon to get cleaned up for our dinner reservation back up at the Lodge Dining Room. Eating dinners at the National Park Lodges has become one of our little traditions. This time, although Craig had not been "wowed" by our lunch Saturday, we were both very pleased by our ribeye steak dinners. They were beautifully prepared and very tasty.

We had requested, and were seated at, a table by a window overlooking the lake. As our meal progressed, we noted that the smoke haze was increasing. By the time we were finished the surface and far sides of the lake were completely obscured by the smoke.

The image below was taken before dinner:

This fire was just within the north edge of the park. Monday we choose our route to stay away from it.

Our next stop is at the Champoeg Historic Site east of Aurora. 

Onward!

Valley of the Rogue State Park,Oregon

Knowing the daytime temperatures were going to be very hot, we decided to get up early (unusual for us) and take a walk along the Rogue River, which borders our campground.

It was in the 60s F when the sun began climbing the sky. We really should do this more often, it was very peaceful.

The local walking trail was not very long, but we did get a nice view of the river and there were no mosquitos.
By 1 PM the temperature was over 100°, so we took a nap in the air-conditioned coach. 

Later that day we went on the Hellgate jetboat dinner excursion. 

As we boarded, the boat pilot gave me a towel to use to protect my camera. There was quite a lot of splashing and water spray when we were moving fast, so the only pictures I could take was while we were stopped or cruising slowly.

This, of course, was one of the other boats. 

The ride was a good mix of exciting speed, spinning, and crossing the wakes of other boats to give us drenching splashes, which were welcome in 100 degrees.  These alternated with stops and slowdowns, when the pilot pointed out wildlife or told us about the land and properties we passed.

On the outbound trip, we saw deer, Canadian geese, eagles and osprey. I did not include any of their pictures, because they just weren't good enough. 



Sometimes it is hard to combine an activity with photography. This was a perfect activity for such a hot day, and I quickly settled into just enjoying the ride and feeling the wind in my face! 

The turnaround spot for our cruise was in Hellgate Canyon. Earlier in the year, when the water level is higher, the jetboats can go beyond this area through some really great whitewater. 

But if we had done that, the rocks would have ripped out the bottom of our boat, and our pilot, Mike, would be out of a job! I guess it's good to have something to come back for in the future!

I sometimes wonder why people, myself included, like to look at rocks. I often think of the tremendous energy and forces that were at work when they were being formed, and of the ongoing changes they go through from erosion of wind and water.

Our boat held about 40 people, but there were at least five boats on the same trip, and we all stopped for the same included dinner at this delightful chalet above the Rogue River. 

The walk up to the chalet was aerobic; non-hikers could ride a wagon up.  Near the chalet I said "why didn't we take a wagon?".

We were served family style: salad, ribs, chicken, potatoes, corn bread, muffins, and dessert. At the tables were large pitchers of beer, water, ice tea, lemonade, and carafes of white wine. When a platter of ribs or a pitcher was empty, another was promptly brought out, until everyone was full and satisfied!

I have never been known to be shy when among strangers on a trip like this. So, as usual I treated our end of the table as old friends. By the end of the meal we had exchanged stories and good vibes. I really like to learn more about the people I see in our travels, and hope we enrich their lives just a little as well.

I was so full after that wonderful dinner, I was glad the trail back down to the river was all downhill! 

As we waited for our turn to head back down the river, we noticed this heron fishing on the other side of the river, quite undisturbed by a couple hundred tourists on the dock not far away.

All in all, it was a very nice boat ride and dinner, and we are very glad Sue Malone suggested we look into going on it, when we were making plans for coming to the Grants Pass area. 

We raced one of the other boats back to the docking area. 

By my count we have taken at least ten boat trips since we bought our RV. Each has been special in some way. I wonder where the next one will be.

Bullard Beach State Park, Oregon

We spent July 5th - 12th at our last Oregon coast state park, Bullard Beach, 23 miles south of Coos Bay. This was our last week of cool weather for a while, because our next stops will be in inland Oregon and Washington.

When I was planning this trip, I remembered our 2012 Crater Lake adventure. It was over the 4th of July weekend, and we were surprised by the fact that some of the hiking trails and the road around the lake were closed because of snow! That sure isn't the case this year, and I am only hoping we are not smoked out by wildfires or overheated temperatures.

But before thinking about next week, I have to write about where we spent this one.

Bullard Beach has completely different types of foliage from the other Oregon Coastal parks we have been in. The trees are more open and the grass is all dried.  Throughout the 4th of July week there were many tenting families in the park as well as bigger RV and trailer campers. I have enjoyed watching the kids run, play and bike around us. It is good to see families camping together. As I type this, I am watching a couple of preteen boys playing with a croquet set. It brings back some of my childhood memories.

On our first day here we backtracked a few miles to Seven Devils state recreation site.

Craig walks on water.

This beach is mentioned as a starting point for long beach walks. It runs for miles north and south.

In the picture above you can just  barely see a few rocks poking out of the water in the distance.

As we walked closer we could see that the rocks were quite interesting.

They made me wonder how they were formed. I'm not a geologist, but I have been reading articles on the web and understand there are a number of different scenarios.

  These looked like bowling balls entombed in the sandstone.

Although the beach went on for miles beyond the rocks we explored, at this point we turned back. We only walked about two miles that day.

We like to park the Alfa in one place and drive to attractions some miles away. One afternoon we drove about 30 miles south to visit the Cape Blanco lighthouse. 

As we approached, we noticed the sky became quite overcast. I thought it was smoke, but the volunteer guide said it was the normal marine cloud layer. The winds were very strong as well, and were the strongest "non storm" winds I have ever felt. 


We were told the strongest wind ever recorded there was 170 mph.

It was not a sunny day on the beach below.

Craig went up inside the top of the lighthouse to take the image to the right.  When he saw it on our computer, he said that the image inside the Fresnel lens looks like the Cape Blanco lighthouse itself.  There are several antennae to the left of the lighthouse that look like the wires to the left of the light.












On another day, we took off from the Bullard Beach Campground and walked a sandy path to the beach.

Parts of it were through tight wild vegetation.

There were sections of boardwalk,

and a stretch of grassy dunes.

Ho - Hum!  Another stretch of beautiful beach. But we're not bored. 

The hike was a bit difficult because a lot of the path was deep soft sand. The toes of my shoes kept filling up, so on the last stretch I took them off. Better, but the sand was hot, giving new meaning to a "hot foot". I was very glad to reach the hard cool sand along the water's edge. 



We spent one of our last days on the Oregon Coast driving the beach loop in Bandon, and stopped to see the Coquille River lighthouse and a few of the ocean overlooks.

It was so beautiful, and the weather was absolutely perfect!

From the overlook we watched a group of trail riders from the Bandon Beach Stables. Most of them were pretty young, but the wrangler seemed to have everything under control.

There were more people down on these beaches than we saw on others that we have walked.

I didn't feel like going down to the beach, and was quite content sitting and enjoying the fresh cool air above it.

So, for now, it is goodbye to the Oregon Coast, but I know we will be back!

Finding the Silver Linings:

Sunset Beach State Park (near Coos Bay, Oregon) had a few shortcomings, but our stay there had at least one “Silver Lining” moment. Because there was no satellite reception and no Verizon connection (thus no Internet for us), we drove out at 6:30 AM to a place where we can receive Verizon well enough that Craig could watch the World Cup games on his laptop. 

The silver lining? On the recommendation of the park ranger, we went to a little, out of the way place called “Crabby Cakes Bakery” in Charleston for morning coffee and sweets. 

This was a very rare thing for us. We go out for breakfast when our rig is in the shop, or seek a good bagel shop when the mood strikes us, but doughnuts are far and few between. 

This place had the BEST Chocolate Éclairs I have ever eaten. Just bursting with fresh custard filling which is added before serving.

 They also had a nice selection of sticky cinnamon buns and other sweets.

Without the need to get the Internet, and without the ranger, we would have never gone there.

We were very proud of how well we did on getting the Alfa parked in our spot at Sunset Beach State Park. The back-in site was long enough at 40’, and fairly level, but the entry road was narrow and the site was almost perpendicular to it. (They are usually at an angle which makes staying on the pavement when backing in easier.)  This was not the only challenge.  The ground directly opposite our site slanted away from the road and was near a small swampy stream. I had to pull onto it and turn the front wheels to get into our spot.  I drove the Alfa as Craig carefully talked me in using our walkie-talkies. A bit nerve-wracking but we did not get stuck!  

When all was said and done, Craig said that if this had been our first year we would have just left and tried to find another park! I later read the reviews of this park and read that at least one other RVer did just that. 

The "Silver Lining?" As tight as the parking was, the park is beautiful. My impression of Oregon Coast greenery is that it is very competitive. A half dozen different plants vie for the same spot, growing on top of each other, contending for its place in the sun.

I find all this green space quite soothing. It is exactly what I wanted when we were first discussing full-time RVing. I really appreciate the contrast between the cool damp Oregon coast and the dry high desert of Jojoba Hills in Southern California. Each makes me value the other all the more.

This week I finished another Jane Kirkpatrick book, A Gathering of Finches, which is the story of Louis and Cassie Simpson. He built a mansion and garden at Shore Acres as a gift to her. The location is just down the road from Sunset Bay.

I enjoying the way Kirkpatrick ties fiction to doccumented accounts of real people and the places they lived in the Northwest.  Her books tell the stories of the late 1800s and early 1900s through the eyes of women who lived then. 

Can you imagine having these views just steps away from your home?

Craig is standing right in front of where the mansion was. (It burned down many years ago.)

Oregon State Parks own the land now, and the gardens are being restored. 

The digging of this pond was in the book.  Cassie, the wife,  loved to sit and contemplate the bronze heron statues in the Japanese pond.

The water lilies and calla lilies were my favorite flowers in the garden.

We took a nice walk on the beach Sunday evening:

Sunset Beach is unique in that it has a narrow opening to the ocean, which makes the waves come onto the beach in circular patterns. It seems that many beaches have special features. I'm glad I have this blog to help me keep my memories straight.

Monday was a big day! 
We went to Walmart for hair cuts!

Life goes on.

Some of the images in this post were from unrestricted online sources.