2022 Oregon Day 7

Yesterday we celebrated Bev’s birthday and today, Day 7 of our trip, July 15, we began by celebrating mine. After checking out of our beautiful timeshare near Klamath Falls, we began our drive to Redding on our way home. But we took a detour to the Lava Beds National Monument in northeastern California. Before reaching the park entrance, we encountered the house of the Devil.

We had packed a lunch and enjoyed eating it at a picnic table in the shade near the Visitor Center. Next we climbed down the steps to the Mushpot lava cave nearby, where the natural air conditioning provided respite from the surface heat. Eruptions occurring 30,000 to 40,000 years ago formed more than 900 lava tube caves in the park. Lava tubes form when streams of hot, flowing lava start to cool. The center of the stream stays hot and continues to flow as the outside begins to cool and harden. The hot lava drains out, leaving a pipe-shaped cave. Here are several scenes from the Mushpot cave.

After walking another trail in the park, we headed toward Redding, which is a bit less than halfway home from Klamath Falls, savoring our seven-day driving trip to celebrate our birthdays — our most significant trip since the pandemic began well over two years ago. I hope you have enjoyed one or more of my blogs about this trip.

2022 Oregon Days 4 (cont’d), 5, and 6

Before posting about Days 5 and 6, I want to share 4 more pictures of Crater Lake from Day 4. The first shows a little bit of snow still around here and there.

On Day 5, July 13, we drove to Ashland and parked at the Hargadine Parking Structure downtown to engage in some sight seeing. The roof of the structure provided a nice view of Mount Ashland over the tops of downtown Ashland.

After strolling up and down the hilly streets, having lunch, and yes — stopping in a shop or two — we enjoyed spending some time in Lithia Park, a 100-acre City park adjacent to downtown with grassy lawns, gardens, ponds, waterfalls, wooded areas, and trails.

I have to mention dinner at Harvey’s Place on Main Street. We ordered an assortment of appetizers and salads as small plates topped off with Harvey’s four-layer carrot cake, made by the owner’s wife, Anny. The meal was superb, the carrot cake the best I have ever had, and the service by Bella (who was new) oustanding.

Why were we in Ashland? I thought you’d never ask. To see The Tempest at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We enjoyed a perfect evening at the outdoor Elizabethan stage. It was sunny, but most of the seating was in the shade by performance time. No jackets or blankets were needed — the temperature went from about 83 at the beginning, down to 74 by the end of the performance. Here are two pictures in the lobby before the doors opened, followed by two inside the theatre. The performance was excellent, as expected.

Day 6, July 14, began with a celebration of Bev’s birthday, followed by a return to the timeshare in Klamath Falls. But on the way, we took a detour to the Grizzly Peak Trailhead, which involved about 2 miles along an extremely bumpy, mostly gravel road. The name, Grizzly Peak, came from the fact that the last known grizzly bear in Southern Oregon spent about 50 years in the area before being shot in 1890 by a 17-year old. We enjoyed a portion of the trail, but did not go to the top — partly because we had not thought to pack a lunch.

2022 Oregon Day 4

July 12 was the day to drive to Crater Lake, an hour and a half north of our timeshare unit near Klamath Falls. The shortest way was primarily through areas without towns nor many services, so we took the first opportunity to get gas. My Camry Hybrid has a range of more than 500 miles, so we had not stopped for gas since leaving home! What a throwback in time! Here’s the gas pump I used — you know, the one where you have to take the pump handle and then turn the crank to start it — no button to push.

All gassed up, we got back on our way, driving along the aptly named, Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway. Our first stop was at Annie Falls. Here are some pictures at that location.

Then, on to Crater Lake. You may know that Crater Lake was formed from a massive volcanic eruption 7,700 years ago, which left a deep basin in the place where a mountain peak once stood. Over a few centuries, rain and snow filled the basin, forming a deep blue lake — the deepest lake in the U.S. I won’t use any more words. I hope you enjoy the next set of pictures.

We thought the encore the previous night was wonderful until we saw Day 4’s encore.

2022 Oregon Day 3

On Monday, July 11, we departed Redding and headed north on Interstate 5. We enjoyed the variety of scenery, especially when we started seeing glimpses of Mount Shasta with a little snow still at the peak.

After leaving I-5 and taking US 97 we came to a scenic turnoff where we got a full view of the volcanic peak. The signage reported the elevation at the peak — 12,330 feet. It last erupted about 9,400 years ago, 300 years after the first eruption.

We checked into our timeshare in the early afternoon, when we learned that our 4th floor suite has a wonderful view of the golf course on the grounds.

Near the grounds of the WorldMark Running Y was a trail called, “Skillet Handle Trail.” We end today’s recap with two pictures — one at the trailhead and one looking toward Klamath Lake.

And then, the encore from our balcony!!

2022 Oregon Day 2

As I write this at 2:30 pm on Sunday, it is already 103 degrees in Redding, headed toward 105. We took advantage of the “cool” morning to walk along the Sacramento River starting at the Sundial Bridge. The City has provided plenty of benches and picnic tables along the trails in a free area adjacent to the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, which has entrances at both ends of the Sundial Bridge.

Here are some of the scenes along our walk.

As it warmed up, the indoor museum at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park became quite attractive — in one way that was expected and a couple that were not. First of all, it was “Five and Dime Day,” which we learned meant that the adult fee was only $10 and the children/senior fee was only $5. Secondly, the special exhibit, “Pterosaurs, Ancient Rulers of the Skies,” was quite interesting. These flying vertebrates were cousins of the dinosaurs.

The outcome of using the touch screen to “paint” and otherwise adorn this pterosaur. Then, I clicked “fly”and it started flying. Ah, modern childhood was newly mine for a moment!

2022 Oregon

We just started a driving trip to Oregon, the most significant trip in 2.5 years. We left July 9 in the late morning after leisurely gathering stuff and loading up. Instead of trying to drive in one day, we stopped overnight in Redding, CA. Only thing is, it was 96 degrees upon arrival. It took awhile for these old bones to cool down after getting the luggage into the room!!

Then, off to see the Sundial Bridge along the Sacramento River,

And then it was dinner at View 202 — not far up (or down) the River.

Exploring Block Island, Rhode Island

The day after attending a family wedding, Bev, her sister Donna, Donna’s husband Cleve, and I went for a spin around the island in a Mini Cooper. Naturally, Cleve Cooper was the driver.

The town of Newshoreham on the island was settled in 1661 by 30+ purchasers, as Settlers Rock proclaimed on the 250th anniversary of the settlement.

The Mohegan Bluffs are located on the southern shore of BI, as locals refer to their island. These bluffs are so named from a battle in the 16th century in which the native Niantic forced the invading Mohegans over the cliffs to their death.

Here’s the view from the bottom of the stairway.

Alaska Adventure – Final Chapter: Aug 7-10, 2019

On Aug 7 we boarded a catamaran in Skagway and sailed south to Haines, about 45 minutes away. Our naturalist was young (well, everyone is young when you reach a certain age!) and an outstanding speaker. He talked for the entire time with information about the area, interjecting good humor and exuding genuine joy. My guess is that about 100 passengers were on the catamaran.

In Haines we boarded a bus and spent the next three hours driving and stopping to see wildlife, especially eagles, which were plentiful, and bears, which were not. The guides provided all of us with binoculars (a nice touch!!) and set up telescopes for us to see the eagles.

We also enjoyed the eagles’ beautiful habitats.

From the bus we saw a pair of bear cubs chasing a dog and his owner. Fortunately for the intended victims, the cubs did not succeed. Later, we stopped to watch a bear who was scavenging by the river under boulders.

On Aug 8 and 9 we cruised gorgeous areas in the Gulf of Alaska en route to our final port, Whittier, near Anchorage. Below we depict Marjerie Glacier in Glacier Bay, Yale Glacier in College Fjord, and a distant whale as seen from our balcony.

On the morning of our departure, Aug 10, we enjoyed the sunrise from our balcony.

And as we approached San Francisco, we recognized the Bay Bridge and Salesforce Tower.

It was a real treat to enjoy this cruise with my daughter and son-in-law, Yadi and Ahsha, and grandchildren, Xol and Rumi.

Thanks for reading about our Alaska Adventure!! Hope you enjoyed it.

Tuesday, August 6 — Juneau, Alaska

After docking in Juneau, we got up early for a full day of sight-seeing and adventure. The first stop was a salmon hatchery, where we learned that there is no farming of salmon in Alaska; wherever you find Alaska salmon, you can rely on the fact that it’s wild. Salmon born in this hatchery return from the wild ocean when ready to spawn but first climb these “stairs.”

In these tanks, the baby salmon look like minnows but there were well over 10,000 of them in each tank and about 70,000 overall.

After some growth the salmon are ready for release.

Our next stop was a place called, Glacier Gardens — a private area where an entrepreneur landscaped a large area to help control landslides. Today, visitors see the garden — some flowers are on top of an “upside down” tree.

We then took in the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, which once was very close to the glacier, but after years of retreating the glacier itself is only visible in the distance.

Having lunch at the Red Dog Saloon was quite an experience. The sounds of a local pianist filled the air and sawdust filled the floor. The Smith & Wesson revolver on the wall was alleged to be that of Wyatt Earp, who fled town hurriedly and had to leave it behind.

In the late afternoon we boarded a helicopter to head to the Mendenhall Glacier, where we walked with a guide.

We certainly slept well Tuesday night. Come back tomorrow if you’d like to see more of the week’s adventures.

Off to Alaska! First three days: Aug 3, 4, & 5, 2019

On Aug 3 Bev and I flew from San Francisco to Vancouver to board the Royal Princess — the starting point of our Alaska journey. We were greeted at the Vancouver airport terminal with an unusual exhibit featuring a canoe.

The taxi took us to the Canada Place Pier where we then entered the Princess lounge to check in. In spite of the apparent sparseness, it took us 1.5 hours to complete check in, U.S. Customs, and the ship’s security. Bad timing, but good photo op.

Finally, came the sail away from Vancouver.

Aug 4 was spent sailing but on Aug 5 we woke up in Ketchikan. Here is a view of three other cruise ships taken from the balcony in our stateroom. Ketchikan was not to be a sleepy little town that day!

We were fond of calling the Royal Princess our floating condominium for 3,000 new neighbors.

We met at the statue in Ketchikan for our first excursion, along with grandkids Xol (age 9) and Rumi (age 7) and their parents.

In the Rainforest Sanctuary and Raptor Center, we learned that bears feed on the roots of “skunk cabbage” shortly after coming out of hibernation. It helps to get the digestive system moving after months of being plugged up. We enjoyed a marvelous walk with our guide through the rainforest.

Many of the streets in Ketchikan are stairways maintained by the Town as the only way to get to some of the residences. Here’s one such street.

Our internet connection has not been the great on the cruise, so I will post over the next few days excerpts from our adventures in Juneau and Skagway. If you wish to get an email alerting you to additional posts, you are welcome to sign up on this page to do so.