Holly, Jolly Christmas and a Happy New Year 2015

We wish you a holiday season that is full of life's simple pleasures and the joys of friends and family times.

May you open your arms wide to the gift of each new day,

follow the road to your dreams,

stand tall in the storms and bend gracefully,

let your 'little light shine',

and turn obstacles  (branches broken in the wind) into opportunities (a swag covering the kiwi vine at our door step).

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Willamette Mission State Park, Gervais, Oregon!

The River is Risin' Again!!!!

The peace at our 'almost Christmas' park has been a little jangled by the river rising rapidly today.

 The Park Office and shop where we are located is about a half mile from the entrance and the main part of the park borders the river about 1 and 1/2 miles away.  The entire area is called Mission Bottoms and floods every winter and spring.  The office is in the trees beyond the cars.  (Click on the picture and you can see our trailer beyond the flagpole.)

This field is down the hill from the office and parking area pictured above.  The Willamette River is just beyond the distant tree line.  In an extreme flood in 1996 the entire field was a lake.  Even then the Office and Shop stayed dry.  The road through the park winds along the field toward the river.

The low area at the sign and depth post will become a creek as the River floods back into it when it reaches the 24-26 foot level.  There's another dip at the end of the field which floods at 12 feet.  Prior to the 1861 Flood it was the original River channel.  We checked it at about 2pm and took this photo.

At the low point in the road the water pushes through with quite a current as it rushes past the boat ramp farther down the lake.  This 'old channel' is called Mission Lake.  The Methodist mission to the local Kalapooya tribe was built along what is now the Lake, but was the river in 1834.   Because of the constant flooding the 1834 mission families moved in 1841 to establish the town of Salem, about 10 miles south of the Park.  The edge of the Lake is normally out there at the boat launch deck.

The Lake cuts through the lower part of the park and rejoins the river at the Bike Trail Bridge.  The Bridge gets swamped by the merger of the Lake and the River frequently.   Terry helped remove the bridge rails about a month ago.   Tonight as the river continues to rise the bridge will be covered.

It has been amazing to watch all these changes today as Terry has monitored the river levels on the computer.  The river will continue to rise as the Cascade Mountains get more rain tonight.  These picnic tables might not be visible by morning.  It's a little wet for a picnic anyway!!!

More Medford and Ashland, OR

Susie was the best personal tour guide you can imagine!  She took me on a drive through the farm country where she grew up and showed me her favorite wander spot through the woods and hills.  We visited Harry and David's, a Medford fruit and gourmet food shipper since 1934.   (Remember those Christmas catalogs.)  Mike's mother helped publish the catalogs for many years.  We sampled a local chocolate makers offerings next to the Rogue Creamery and spent even more of the morning sampling cheese.  As I gazed at all the wonderful cheeses and their descriptions one marked 'Grayson' caught my eye.  Sure enough it was from Meadow Creek Dairy in Galax, VA.  (About 3 miles from the cabin).  After a long chat about the Galax area, the cheese buyer said he had discovered their cheese 10 years ago in NY and had ordered it ever since because of it's rich taste and golden color.  Handmade cheese is indeed a small world!

In the beautiful hills just south of Medford, the town of Ashland is like a tiny San Francisco.   It's major claim to fame is the Shakespeare Theater that has been there since 1935.  The outdoor Elizabethian theater sits on one of many little hills that the town covers.  Below it is the fantastic Lithia Park designed by the same architect who designed Golden Gate Park.

The roof of the theater is just above the trees.  The Park winds along the creek for a few miles and was decked out for us in fantastic colors.  Every curve along the walks gave a perfect view!

After a walk in the park, a gallery visit and some shopping we had supper at a Brew Pub before our theater show.  Our theater was in a restored church, the newest of 4 theaters in town.  It serves dinner before the show or dessert at intermission.  Our play was 'Dancing Backward in High Heels', the early life of Ginger Rogers.  The music and dance was wonderful and the dessert delicious!  What a fine afternoon and evening in a very unique town!!

Of note, Ginger Rogers retired on a ranch just north of Medford.  She said about her many movies with Fred Astaire,  " I did everything he did just dancing backward in high heels!"  Go, girl!!

A Visit with Susie and Mike in Medford, OR

Susie and Mike have been our hosting friends since we attended training together in April of 2013.  We have worked and visited together in the Florence area for 2 years.  Susie and I share a love of historical novels and she invited me down to see some Oregon history in her home area.  I had no idea what  perfectly preserved towns and buildings we would see.

Our first stop was the Butte Creek Mill, the oldest continually operating mill west of the Mississippi River, in Eagle Point.  All of the milling equipment can be viewed on 2 different levels.  Most amazing to me were the huge hand hewn and pegged timbers and the sound of the creek rushing in the lower level to power the mill.

The entrance foyer is  pictured here with all the mill goods of an earlier time--an amazing display!
There is a wonderful mill store too that sells all their flours, grains and cereals and many other specialty foods and kitchen tools.  I got their no sugar -no salt pancake and waffle mix and it makes the best pancakes I have ever made.

Just down the road from the mill is a restored covered bridge the town moved to the Creek for a walkway.  Picture pretty- isn't it!

On the edge of town an original pioneer family home is still standing.  A community group gives it lots of TLC as you can see.  It looks move-in ready!!!  and yes the sun does shine in Nov. in Oregon.

Susie shared a trilogy of books by Jane Kirkpatrick (All Together in One Place) with me.  Some of the story took place in Jacksonville, OR.  Visiting the town is like stepping back in time.  Even the advertising signs of the past still remain on the brick walls of the buildings and none of them were altered.

Susie and Mike frequented the Jacksonville Tavern in their double date years so you know that's an old place!!  Both sides of the street have these amazing brick buildings.  I loved this town!!  The Jacksonville Inn gets top ratings for their gourmet food and lodging.  At the edge of town the Britt Outdoor Theater has musical productions all summer, all kinds of music.  Sounds like fun to me!!!

Look at Jacksonville Presbyterian Church!!  How unique is that!  I would love to see the interior some day.

The more we wandered around the more Susie thought of other places to visit in the area.  We just didn't have enough time!  I'll do another blog on our trip to Ashland about 10 miles south

Here's wishing you all a lovely Thanksgiving and harvest celebrations.

 

A Willamette Mission Style Campfire

The month of August at Washburne Campground included the delightful routine of a nightly campfire at Ken and Karen's spacious site # 7.  We all brought snacks to share and a drink of choice.  Terry usually had the fire set by 5 pm and we'd meet as soon as the Lighthouse late shift returned to the Campground.  Between the stories and laughter that we shared Terry kept the fire at a steady crackle.  He earned the fire tender award from all of us.  We knew there would be no 'happy hour campfires' at Willamette, but never guessed that Terry's skills would not be wasted!

In my last blog I told of learning to use the dump truck at the Burn Pile in the field beyond the office.  We didn't know then what a long history that Burn Pile had.  It had been receiving limbs, logs, sign posts, cement, metal and huge log posts for at least 6 years and was covered with a Blackberry Jungle.  The Rangers at Willamette must have seen Terry, the Fire Master, coming because they asked him to torch the "Burn Pile".  What a great job for Terry- no little campfire here!

Of course, it had to be tended.  The only thing that could approach the task and destroy the Jungle was a little John Deere and driver!

Once the Fire was going the huge mass had to be corralled into a strong burn and that took lots of work.

When lunchtime rolled around I realized I would have to feed the hungry Fire Master and check to see if I could help.  By this time the metal and cement chunks were obvious so I did help get those into separate piles and away from the tractor's path.

Terry had a very full and busy day eliminating the Burn Pile.  He was happy to help and the staff at Willamette Mission were delighted to see it burned at last!  Terry's many work skills are so well used
here and he had all that practice every night in the month of August.

Once my helping was done I got a chance to enjoy the view as the promised evening rain storm approached.

New Friends--The Cushman and the One Ton Dumper

From Willamette Mission State Park, near Keiser, OR

We arrived at Willamette Mission on October 1 excited about  our return and seeing the leaves change during the time we are here.  Last year when we arrived in Nov. most of the leaves were gone and the fall rains had started.  The rains just started today.  It had been bright and sunny and very warm for outdoor work.  The change is nice.

Last year it took me about 2 months to find a good fit with my abilities.  This year I could jump right in.  I didn't know my Kubota ATV would be used by other hosts at the Horse Camp this month so I had a little adjustment when Terry got the Cushman ready for me to use on my clean up duties.  It hadn't been used in so long that the battery required an hour long charge, but he left it parked at the door.  I did jump right in, slammed the door and the window crank fell off and hit the floor along with some window trim.  Oh well, I could fix that.  I just needed to get going a Litter Alarm had been reported on the Gravel Bar in the Willamette River and I was sent out to find it.  I turned the key to start the engine and nothing happened, again still nothing.  I started checking to see what was wrong when I saw the clutch pedal-- Oh!  how do you use that?  I remembered enough to chug and sputter my way out the drive to the River, about 1 1/2 miles from the shop.

Since no one knew which Gravel Bar or where on the Gravel Bar it was I had several checks to make.  At the first I got out to check the trail and walked through high damp grass to get there.  When I got back in to turn around I had to stop and turn onto the Bike Path. I put my foot on the brake which promptly slid off and hit the accelerator which caused the Cushman to gasp and choke and stop dead on the trail.  By this time I was laughing out loud.  Thank goodness, no one was around to see that!!!  The pedals do show a little wear!

My third checkpoint was on a long ( about 1/4 mile) gravel bar that I never knew was there.  It was a lovely spot with the morning mist still rising over the River and the birds calling, but a little too isolated for my comfort.  I trudged on the length of it and did fill a large bag with an assortment of clothes, shoes, cans bottles, TP, rope, boat parts and even a braided carpet.  It was a little spooky when I stumbled on a lean to covering a dugout in the sand and when I heard twigs breaking as someone or something wandered the forest above me I left in a hurry.  The dumpster was not too far away.

As I loaded the trash in the dumpster these beautiful trees were a delight to see!  The dark firs behind them just seem to highlight their color.  Fall is lovely here as the staff told us last year and it is just beginning.  Last weekend the Park hosted 2 state level 5K runs and we helped with the preparations.

Terry drove the tractor down to Mission Lake and I got to drive the One Ton Dumper--a big step up from the Cushman.  We cleaned brush and stumps out of an area that floods each year and needed clearing.  Terry and I worked together on getting the debris dumped on the Burn Pile near the Shop.  On the last trip I loaded the One Ton as high as I could reach and drove it back to the Burn Pile and dumped it all by myself!!!  That one was not on the 'bucket list', but an accomplishment for me.

You can just see our trailer next to the office building in the background.  The Hop Shed, one of 2 sheds in the Shop Area, is just behind the vehicles.

Stay tuned for more work stories from Willamette.

Lighthouse -Night Views

Thanks to our campfire buddy, Karen, we enjoyed an evening out to view Heceta Head Light at night.
We never made it up there last year, but Karen's plan to make it a party and 'toast to the tower' got 8 of us on the move.  We hiked up after sunset and stayed until dark.

I had often thought of seeing all 8 beams from below the tower, but never about the brilliance of the lens.  Every prism above the beam was a brilliant starburst of light that intensified as it grew darker.
The beams themselves were so far above our heads, about 100 feet, that they couldn't be seen on the ocean at all only on the headlands around us.

We never could really see all 8 beams as I thought, just 5-7 at a time.  More became visible over the ocean as it got darker.  The stars put on a show for us too, first the Big Dipper was hanging right above the tower and then the Milky Way became brilliant overhead.  What an awesome experience!!!

My little camera did it's best here.  You can see the beams moving across the hillside as the lens revolves.  It was such fun to all raise our glasses to Lady Heceta who brought us all together from Texas, Kansas, Illinois and North Carolina to host and toast her legacy.

Days off in Yachats (YAH-hots), OR

Yachats is about 11 miles north of our campground and it is located around a cove where the Yachats River enters the ocean.  The hills above edge the river as you enter the town.  The Yachats Mercantile is a 'never fail' hardware disguised as a gift shop.  It is packed with hardware tucked in hallways in back of the sales counter.  They always have what we need!

Just across the street is the best seafood restaurant and market around, The Luna Seafood Market.  Most weekends we have lunch or supper there.  The restaurant is owned by the boat captain of the Luna and new Liberty, commercial fishing boat, he catches the Dungeness Crabs and Salmon served to the customers.  It is often same day fresh.  When Nate and Anna and family and Jennie came to visit we grilled a 3 lb. salmon fillet just caught that morning.  It was amazingly sweet!  Anna fixed a fantastic clam and shrimp fetticini.  What a feast!

Homes with an ocean view are scattered up the hillsides above the local coffee shop, the Green Salmon.

We spend at least one afternoon a week at the all volunteer library with free internet available 24/7 from the parking area or garden.  The back corner room has a big six person table with comfortable office chairs and plug ins.  Many afternoons we are the only folks there.

On Sundays I attend church just up the street from the library and walk over to the Farmer's Market for  a week's worth of fresh veggies and berries.

Yachats has been a very busy resort town this summer, but the friendly village feeling we get from all the folks we meet has made us happy to spend part of our days off here.  I didn't even mention the thrill of watching the waves crashing on the rock bound coast that surrounds the town.  We feel very fortunate to be on this area of the coast.  

Last of the July Rambles

In 2006 we visited some beautiful campgrounds near Mt. Hood and finally actually stayed in one for a few nights.  It was nestled under huge trees with giant ferns and the bubbling of the creek just behind us.  Really nice for sleeping!

Terry wanted a higher spot for his noon Radio Net so we drove up to Timberline Lodge.  What a surprise that it was mobbed with snowboarders and skiers! Back in November of 2006 we had hiked on the Pacific Crest Trail through this stream bed that now was still packed with snow and crowded with skiers.  I had heard about skiing in July on Mt. Hood, but never imagined we would see the ski frenzy in action!

I wandered around in the Lodge some, walked up to the Pacific Crest Trail and sketched Mt. Hood while Terry was on the radio.  As you can see the views are beautiful!

Now see if you can find Terry's truck with antenna- in the back of the swamped parking lot.

We have returned to work at the Lighthouse and the Campground for August and September.  It was sad to say good-bye to our July friends, but fun to welcome new hosts, some that we already knew,  as
 August arrived.

Rogue River Gorge, Union Creek, OR

Since we started working in Oregon I had heard lots of talk about the raging Rogue River.  Most folks bowed slightly when it was mentioned.  Now we know why.  When the volcano (Mt. Mazama) exploded that created Crater Lake it made miles and miles of lava tubes.  As they have collapsed over time, gorges were created.  The Rogue River tears through a very narrow one about 15 miles from the NP.  Our friends, Susie and Mike from Medford, helped route us to the Gorge, one of their favorite places in the state.

The Gorge Trail starts beside the river as it exits the Gorge.  You walk up to the start of the Gorge climbing slightly all the way.  There are several overlooks and even some steps down the cliff for a closer look.  Here is the lower end.

The ferns, shrubs and drooping vines along the cliffs were so lush and set like a hanging garden.  You can see the surge coming down the gorge.

At this point the waters are beginning to cascade as the walls narrow.  We hurried along to see the falls at the top.  As we walked the sound of the water was multiplied by about 10.  The surge of power that came from the river pushed into the narrow tube just overwhelmed me.  Tears sprang to my eyes and I couldn't quit crying for about 5 mins.  I never have had such a surprising reaction.  The power and beauty grabbed me and would not let go!!!

The falls is not that steep, just so full of energy!   Truly amazing!!

Here's the Rogue River as it meanders toward the Gorge.  Pretty tame looking.  In fact, we had just driven along it and didn't know it was there.

The Rogue River Gorge is now very close to the top of My Most Fantastic Places list.  We were so lucky that Susie and Mike knew we couldn't miss it when we were so close by.  True friends!!