Lake Shastina, California

Tuesday - July 24, 2012

Today we went to Castle Crag State Park. Long drive down one lane road, wrong gps directions long hike all for a long range view of the crags. We thought we were going to see a cave since the guide book had a picture of  a cave next to the Castle Crag description. The picture belonged on the next page of our book.

 

Seven Feathers RV Park, Day 2

Sunday – July 22, 2012

This is the first time we’ve taken the bikes for a ride. Bill packed them in the back of the car and we’ve gone from place to place and never taken them out. The park we’re in has lots of paved paths and rows and rows of RV spaces so we were able to ride with abandon, not having to worry about cars or rocks in the road. It was quite cool though so we were riding all bundled up.

While on our ride we discovered Seven Feathers RV resort has a self service RV/truck parking area with up to 30 AMP electricity, no water, no sewer. We’ve never seen this before. This place is huge and is so accommodating.

Seven Feathers RV Resort Canyonville Oregon

Saturday – July 21, 2012

We are at 7 Feathers Indian Casino Resort in Canyonville, Oregon which is about 2 ½ hours from Cheryl’s home. We’ll be here tonight and tomorrow night. I believe we’ve been to every Indian casino on the Oregon Coast. This is by far the best. We even treated ourselves to a dinner buffet. The RV resort is as good as any 5 star resorts we’ve been to. It’s clean, has concrete pads with grass on the side and sidewalks to walk Daisy on an even road.

Silverton, Oregon

Friday – July 20, 2012

While watching television last night I looked out the window and saw the most beautiful sight. The way the trees were silhouetted at dusk was just majestic.

What an unexpectedly relaxing day this is turning into. We had no plans so we started slowly. Bill slept in a little and I used that time to do a little emailing and some reading. By the time I was dressed and made up I was surprised to see it was noon. Bill took me to a restaurant recommended by the people here at the park and we had a delicious pizza. It’s cool and overcast which we love knowing that we’ll soon be in very hot weather. Bill is vacuuming as I write this blog and then we are going to watch Titanic. This evening the park is hosting an “everybody’s birthday”, which means we’re all invited for cake and ice cream at the lodge at 6:00 p.m. Every Saturday morning they host breakfast for all the guests and ask for a $2.00 donation. We will go to that before leaving.

We were surprised at how much we’ve enjoyed this park. It’s one of the Passbook America parks so it was half price again. It is very nice and roomy and we would definitely stay here again.

Silver Falls State Park

Thursday – July 19, 2012

This morning we took a drive to Silver Falls State Park. It was 9,000 acres of spectacular scenery. There are 10 waterfalls throughout the park. We were able to see three of them. One of the falls had a walking path underneath. We saw a family with children walking there. I’m sure the children were thrilled to have done that. I believe Jim, Colleen and the children walked under that fall last year. It was too steep a walk for me to have tried. There were some fairly flat paths that did allow us to walk a bit. We saw hikers and bikers and many, like us, eating a packed picnic lunch. It was a delightful outing.

On the way back to the motor home Bill saw a sign that referred to Norman Rockwell’s murals. He quickly turned the car around to investigate. We saw the murals. They were painted on the side of a building in downtown Silverton. During the darkest days of World War Two President Franklin D. Roosevelt coined the term “Four Freedoms” to encourage the men and women of our armed forces. In 1943 Norman Rockwell completed his famed paintings first published in the Saturday Evening Post magazine. A special “freedom” train carried the originals from Coast to Coast, thereby selling millions in war bonds. On the fifth anniversary of their creation a Silverton local artist, David McDonald, reproduced the famed paintings in mural format. Magnificent!

Silverton, Oregon - Oregon Garden

Wednesday – July 18, 2012

We left Portland today and on the way to Silver Spur RV Park in Silverton we stopped and bought the most delicious strawberries from a strawberry farm. We actually bought them as they were being picked. Yum!

On the way to our destination Bill saw the most beautiful field of poppies. He took a photo of it so we’ll remember how astonishing it was to just come upon it.

Tonight and for the next two or three nights we will be staying in an RV park located about 10 miles from Silver Falls State Park. We’re anxious to see this park and view the water falls. We’ve seen so much of Oregon these past several years but we have not seen this park yet.

Portland International Test Rose Garden

Tuesday – July 17, 2012

This morning we packed a lunch and set out with Daisy to see the Portland Rose Garden. It is absolutely beautiful and it was a perfect day for it because the weather was very mild. It’s hard to believe that this rose garden and Japanese garden and zoo and children’s museum are right in the heart of Portland. Daisy and I walked through the rose garden with Bill and then we waited for him in the car while he went through the Japanese garden. The photos he took there were gorgeous. There are over 10,000 roses consisting of over 500 varieties. Tomorrow we leave for Willamette where we will be spending two nights.

Tuesday – July 17, 2012

This is the second addition to Tuesday’s blog. Tonight we were without our favorite wine so we decided to blend tequila mixed with Pinot Grigio wine and “walla” we came up with a phenomenal blend that will satisfy our appetite for Malvasia Bianca until we reach Napa. The blend is so good that it may replace what we’ve been looking for since we left Napa. No one has it. No one has heard of it. So, we decided to be wine makers. We are fairly satisfied with what we’ve made.

Woodburn Company Stores and Portland

Monday – July 16, 2012

We went to the Woodburn Outlets in Woodburn, Oregon today. Wow! Oregon only has two outlet centers and they are both great. I had never been to the one in Woodburn before. It’s now my favorite. The petunias are wonderful. We left there about noon time and made our way to Portland where we will be staying for two nights. We had several things we wanted to do in our short stay in Portland so we set out to do one of them late in the afternoon. That was a mistake as we got into terrible traffic coming home and we were tired and hungry. We went to Powell’s new and used book store. It’s one of our favorite places to go in Portland.

Spirit Mountain, Spruce Goose

Sunday - July 15, 2012

It was great to get back on the road after seven days in the same place without WiFi or Sprint coverage. On the way out of Lincoln City we stopped at the glass factory and pickup our bowl and stopped at the Farmers Market to buy cinnamon rolls and bread. After about an hour on the road we stopped at Spirit Mountain Casino the best ever Indian Casino with everything imaginable including a shuttle from the casino to the very large paved and lined RV parking lot. Then on to see the very large Spruce Goose at Evergreen Museum and an IMAX film on the Alps. There was a water park at the museum that included slides from a 747 airplane mounted on top of a building.

Chinook Bend RV Resort, Lincoln City, Oregon Day 7

Saturday, July 14, 2012

This was our last day at Chinook Bend. It has been a slow, easy and restful seven days. Bill made an appointment for early this afternoon to get instruction in blowing glass. When we were in Norway we went to a huge factory that blew glass and Bill was fascination with the process. When we passed the shop near where we’re staying that offered lessons he was thrilled. He enjoyed the class immensely. Tomorrow on the way out of town we will pick up the bowl that he made. How nice it will be to have that little bowl sitting on a table and remembering this day.

Daisy has become what I call “campground gray” so I just finished giving her a bath. Hopefully we are done being on dirt although Daisy thoroughly enjoyed getting dirty.

We leave tomorrow morning. Bill has wanted to see the Spruce Goose. It is located a mere 55 miles from here. It was located in Long Beach, California for many years when we lived in Southern California however we never saw it when we lived so close.

Chinook Bend RV Resort, Lincoln City, Oregon Day 6

Friday – July 13, 2012

We didn’t do too much today although we did drive down to the beach to see if we could find an interesting piece of driftwood that would not be too heavy for Bill to carry back to the car. To our surprise, Bill found one. It was pretty difficult carrying it all the way back to the car but he managed and I know we will enjoy looking at it in our yard and remembering where it came from.

Chinook Bend RV Resort, Lincoln City, Oregon Day 5

Thursday - July 12, 2012

Unfortunately the berries were not ripe yet but we did find a sea food store that sold crab cocktail.