AFTER TIME IN KLAMATH FALLS, WE MOVED JUST A LITTLE NORTH TO COLLIER MEMORIAL STATE PARK… A VERY WOODSY NATURE LOVERS RV DESTINATION. WE WERE CLOSER NOW TO CRATER LAKE- BUT WISELY HAD ALREADY VISITED THAT EARLIER IN WEEK DUE TO ‘WEATHER FORECAST CONCERNS’. AS IT PLAYED OUT, THAT DECISION WAS WELL WARRANTED! WHILE AT THIS STATE PARK, A STORM KICKED UP AND BLEW NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE TREES DOWN NEAR US IN THE CAMPGROUND. WE WERE LUCKY! WE WERE WITHOUT ELECTRIC FOR 2 DAYS! POLLEN WAS COMING DOWN THICK FROM THE MALE PINE CONES- AND WE COULD SEE THAT ON OUR DASHBOARD! WHILE THERE WE DID A FEW WALKS ALONG THE RIVER… SAW MERGANSER (DUCKS WITH REVERSE EAGLE COLORATION- BLACK HEAD AND WHITE BODY) AND MANY GROUND SQUIRRELS AS WELL AS A BEAVER. THIS VICINITY HAD MANY EVIDENT SCARS FROM THE RELATIVELY RECENT FOREST FIRES OF 2020. INTERESTINGLY, THE NEARBY LOGGING MUSEUM HAD ONLY ONE LOSS OF ONE OLD BUILDING IN THOSE FIRES.
WHILE STAYING IN THE EUGENE OREGON AREA, WE VENTURED UP TO VISIT THE ADELMAN PEONY FARM… MY GOODNESS- IT WAS ACRES AND ACRES OF SPECTACULAR COLORS AND SMELLS! IRONICALLY, IN THE MIDDLE OF THESE AROMATIC FIELDS IS A PORTA POTTY, ONE THAT IS SURROUNDED BY AMPLE ROOM FRESHENERS!!
ALSO WHILE IN EUGENE, WE VENTURED TO THE WEST OF SALEM TO HIKE THE ‘WATERFALLS LOOP’ OUT OF THE ICE CAP CREEK CAMPGROUND. THIS WAS A SCENIC 3 MILE HIKE ALONGSIDE A RIVER AND A FEW IMPRESSIVE FALLS. AT A FEW ANGLES YOU COULD WITNESS ‘CONSTANT RAINBOWS’ (AS LONG AS THE SUN WAS OUT!)
PORTLAND SURPRISINGLY DID FEEL A LOT LIKE THE NYC AREA TRAFFIC COMBINED WITH UPSTATE NY. DOWNTOWN WE WERE IMPRESSED WITH THE PIONEER SQUARE AREA WITH SPIFFY CLEAN MASS TRANSIT TRAMS… AND THEY HAD THESE ODD CONSTANTLY RUNNING DRINKING WATER FOUNTAINS- FOR FOUR!
SPRINGTIME MEANS MORE TIME FOR FLOWERS! WE VISITED THE NEAT PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDENS AND ALSO THE PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL ROSE TEST GARDEN (OVER 8000 ROSES OF ALL VARIETIES!)
MANY INTERESTING PLACES TO EAT DOWNTOWN… ONE OF WHICH WAS ‘HAWTHORN ASYLUM’ WHICH WAS A COLLECTION OF FOOD TRUCKS… WHEN YOU ENTER YOU ARE GREETED WITH THE FRONT NOSE OF A PLANE (‘JET FUEL’ COFFEE SHOP!) IN ADDITION THERE WAS A COOL CENTER FOR RECYCLING…
WHILE IN PORTLAND WE TOOK OUT A BOAT TO EXPLORE, AND WERE IN AWE OF THE HUGE SNOW CAPPED MOUNT HOOD (A DORMANT VOLCANO THE SIZE OF MOUNT FUJI) LOOMING IN THE DISTANCE IN FRONT OF US ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER.
DID A FEW MORE LITTLE HIKES IN THE PORTLAND AREA… THE LATOURELL FALLS WAS ONE, AND THE OTHER WAS GOING INTO THE ‘FOREST PARK’ TO SEE THE WITCHES CASTLE. FOREST PARK WAS THE SETTING FOR THE TRUE STORY MOVIE “LEAVE NO TRACE” ABOUT A FATHER AND HIS DAUGHTER WHO ACTUALLY LIVED/CAMPED/HID IN THIS FOREST FOR FOUR YEARS!
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