Portland, Oregon

Today I arrived in Portland in the rain, what a surprise.  But that's not really fair because by 1:00  the sun had come out and it was a glorious day.  It was so nice I decided to spend it outside.  I found a place called the Crystal Spring Gardens.  They specialized in azaleas and rhododendron, but they have ponds with wonderful ducks and grebes, redwing blackbirds and Western jays.  I walked the paths for several hours.  It felt so good to be out of the car and into the sunlight.  They had wonderful color variation in their rhododendrons, there were even yellows, which I had never seen before.  Portland is so wet that moss grows on everything that doesn't move.

After that I went searching and found a Grotto dedicated to the Sorrowful Mother.  The Grotto is rather shallow but is very interesting to look at.  They have an elevator that takes you to the top of the hill where'll the chapels, gardens and sculpture is located.  They have done a lovely job landscaping the area.  A lot of the sculpture are copies of famous works of art.  They have a labyrinth which I walked, always a good time to reflect on your life.  They even have a monastery on the premises.  The plant material absorbs all the sound so even though there were many people around I couldn't hear a thing.  It was pleasant to walk in the silence and just hear the song of the birds.

Tomorrow I will see what downtown Portland looks like though I did drive around today.  It looks quite nice.  Lots of people walking the streets and public transportation, buses and light rail.

Fish

Today was a fishy day.  I drove to Newport, Oregon to do a Marine Discovery tour.  SInce I got there early I went to the aquarium.  It was a small but pleasant place.  The seal and sea lion display was very nice.  They had some very nice displays and a lovely touch pool.  I could only kill so much time in the aquarium.  So I went to lunch and ate as slowly as I could.  Then I went to the hotel to see if they  had a room ready for me.  I was lucky and they could accommodate me.  I immediately took a nap.

I had to be at the Marine Discovery Tour office an hour before the time of cast off.  So I arrived at a little after 5:00 only to discover that I had left my money and credit cards at the hotel.  Luckily I have a stash of cash in the car for emergencies.  Of course I had no driver's license.  The tour was a terrible disappointment.  We saw almost no sea life.  It was too rough to go out into the ocean so no whales or dolphins.  We did see one sea otter, who seemed to have wandered far afield.  There were seals hauled out on some rocks and that was it.  We were shown an oyster farm which was interesting.  But mostly we were shown boats and told about fishing.  The people were very nice and very knowledgeable.  We threw out two crab pots and pulled them in on our way back in.  It was fun to see what types of crabs we caught, they were thrown back after being examined.

Medford,OR

I'll bet no one knows what Medford, Oregon is famous for - Harry & David's and the Fruit of the Month gift. They do a lot more than that but that is one of their most remembered gifts.  They are the largest employer in Medford.   Every step that can be done by hand is done by hand.  It is amazing to see the factories.  They have extra space all laid out for rush periods like Christmas.  They have thousands of acres of fruit trees so they can grow their own fruit during the season.  The rest of the year they use fruit from specific growers who have been supplying them for over 16 years.

I wound up in Medford because it was a midpoint between other destinations and it had Harry & David's. I have to find places with something of interest to stop at otherwise I'll just drive though a state without getting a feel for it.  So far I've found the people of Oregon very kind and warm, there weather on the other hand stinks.  After a nice day or two I've had nothing but on again off again rain and it looks like it will continue this way for a while.

I didn't blog last night because they were having trouble with their internet at the hotel otherwise the place was incredible to me.  I had a real suite, a separate bedroom.  You could get lonely in the room.  The sitting room had a couch and two arm chairs and a flat screen TV and the bedroom had a flat screen TV.  I did feel like it was wasteful to give all that space to just one person but I still enjoyed it.

Two for One Treat

I got in so late last night there just wasn't time to blog.  So I am going to put two days together.  Don't worry I didn't fall off a mountain though I must say I have had my fill of mountains and pine trees.

I went to a UU Fellowship yesterday morning and I got all choked up.  It was the first time I have been homesick since I left.  II miss all of you and I got the blues.  They were lovely people with a very nice building.  They had just gotten their first settled minister a year ago and now he is leaving for family reasons.  They are going to go through the process all over again.  The service was their RE Children's Bridging Ceremony.  It was so interesting.  Each class was recognized and presented what they had learned during this school year.  The class teacher, they have only one for the whole year, explained the programs for each of the grades.  At the end those children who were moving up to the next class walked over a wooden step to signify their moving onward.  The congregation was much more tolerant of the children then our congregation ever is.  Anyway it was good to be among UUs.

In the afternoon I went to the Redwood National Park thinking that these redwoods were different from the ones at Muir Woods.  I was disappointed to learn that they all are coastal redwood and the really huge ones are in the South at Sequoia National Park at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  I'm not going back to Southern California, so I guess I missed that chance.  These redwoods seem to be older and larger than the ones in Muir Wood so I did enjoy walking around in the woods.  Before I left near the Visitors Center there is a meadow and right in the middle were about 6 elk just lying around.  It was too to take a picture but I got a great look with my binoculars.

On my way out of the Park the eclipse started.  I had purchased a little pair of viewing glasses.  I could see the moon move over the sun and then the full halo.  It had been iffy whether people would be able to see it.  It was really cloudy in the morning.  During the eclipse it didn't get really dark but got to a deep dusk.  It was very exciting.  I never saw a full eclipse before and this was a very unusual one.

I decided to go see Crater Lake today so I had to get to the other side of the mountains.  I made a reservation in Klamath Falls, little knowing that it would take until 9:30 to get there.  I collapsed when I finally got in.  It was a shame because I am now a Diamond Elite member of Choice hotels, I get free upgrades.  I had a jet tub but all I wanted to do was sleep after the strain of driving.

When I got up and looked up Crater Lake in the AAA book it said that every part of the park opened in the middle of July.  There it was again my lack of planning.  I was all ready to give up and called some place to make reservation and the woman suggested that I call because it had been a mild winter and arts might be open. Sure enough my vacation karma kicked in again.  The southern entrance, Rim Village and view were open.  It was fantastic.  They have huge banks of snow along the sides of the road so you get the idea of how much they have had through the winter.  The higher I went up the volcanos side the colder it got.  Eventually it got down to 48 degrees with a wicked wind.  Crater Lake was formed after the magma was released and the volcano crust collapsed.  It is the deepest lake in America at 19,000 feet deep.  It is frozen solid surrounded by snow.  On my way out I saw 3 deer in two different events.  It was fun and scary.  One ran right across the road in front of my car.

I have crossed the mountains again because there are more interesting things on the Pacific side of the Cascades.

Sausalito, a little town on the water

I drove through San Fransisco this morning on my way to Sausalito.  I was on a whole street of painted ladies.  They were beautifully restored and done in luscious colors.  Then I drove across the Golden Gate Bridge.

I went to Sausalito, which was a disappointment.  It had less charm then Monterey or Carmel.  It really wasn't bad.  It had a charming historic downtown, as do all the seaside towns in Northern California.  They have an enormous marina with what looks like hundreds of boats, all very large, even a smattering of house boats.  Here it was a Saturday and only a few boats seemed to be in use.  Most of the boats are of obscene size and they don't get any use, what a waste.  Sausalito is a thin strip of land backed by hills.  There are lovely homes built on the hills that of course have marvelous views of the ocean.

I stopped at a nice cafe for lunch.  There is common seating and I was joined by a nice man and his 5 year old daughter.  He and his partner had lived their adult lives in New York City until he was offered a job in Sausalito.  We had a lovely talk about New York and travel and the usual nonsense but it made for a lovely time.  All in all I had a very enjoyable time in Sausalito.

My next visit was to Muir Woods.  I had been there before but I forgot how awe inspiring the massive trees can be.  But it isn't only the trees, it's the whole atmosphere.  There are an abundance of ferns and plants that cover the floor of the woods.  Occasionally you can come upon a flower but they are few and far between.  This is really a very primitive forest.  Thick layers of moss has grown on some of the dead fallen branches or stumps, it is really very beautiful when it fully encases the wood.  I found myself almost tiptoeing through the woods, it asks you to show respect and reverence.  All the plant material absorbs sound except for 5 screaming children.  I was really lucky to find a parking space in the parking lot because when I was leaving people were parked for almost 2 miles along the side of the road.

Monterey and Carmel

I made it to Monterey at a reasonable hour and toured around for a couple of hours.  It is a charming city center, the rest is a regular city.  The tourist area is a riot of flowers and trees, cute boutiques, galleries and cafes.  It is hard to tell the tourists from the natives, everyone seems to be strolling along looking in windows or sitting in cafes.  Also there are tremendous numbers of dogs.  If you aren't pushing a baby, you are walking a dog or both.  It is very interesting.  I didn't see one dog have a problem with another dog.  All the stores looked very expensive though elegant.  Most of the stores were unique as opposed to chain stores.  Fisherman's Wharf seems very touristy and wasn't very impressive.  It had a carnival atmosphere.

The next thing I did was take the 17 mile drive.  You don't really drive the whole 17 miles, because everyone gets off at Carmel.  The part you do drive is gorgeous.  It runs along the coast, which is just magnificent.  The water is almost turquoise and aqua and crashes dramatically against the rocks.  At one of the viewing points there were several very large rock formations, the largest of which was called Bird Rock.  On the rock were cormorants and pelicans and on the other smaller rock were sea lions.  Luckily I had my binoculars with me so I could see everything.  Further on was the Lone Cypress.  This poor tree sits out on a peninsular all by itself, though there is another not that far away.  It is very famous and one of the things that you look for on the 17 mile drive.  Oh, the drive costs money to take.  It must be so annoying for the residents of the magnificent homes along the drive.

I got out at Carmel to tour the town.  Carmel is smaller than Monterey and has a lot less to see.  There really is only one street to see.  It certainly didn't take long.  Since I am not a shopper these towns like Monterey and Carmel don't hold a lot of interest for me.

I'm going to be going to Big Sur tomorrow, I think.  I know that I am going to skip San Francisco.  I have been there a number of times and I didn't like it the last time I was there.  It's like New Orleans, I really don't understand what everybody sees in the city.  I guess I'm not really a city girl.

Tufa rhymes with Loofah

Well the worst has finally occurred - I got a speeding ticket.  Never in my 48 years of driving have I had a moving violation of any sort until this vacation.  I was so careful in every little town I went through up until today.  I had pulled into a gas station and was horrified that the gas was $4.99 a gallon and didn't pay attention to the speed limit when I pulled out.  Sure enough I got nailed.  And it was at the end of the day as I was finally leaving the woods.

Anyway I changed my plans for the day.  I have always wanted to see the Tufa at Mono Lake since I read a mystery series  in which the detectives boyfriend owns a ranch near the lake.  It sounded so fascinating that I figured I would see it while I was in the area.  I programmed my Garmin and lo and behold I got to Glacier Point.  As I was driving along I saw the sign, which I obviously missed yesterday, to Glacier Point.  Well the Garmin went nuts but I went anyway.  I thought that I would see a Glacier but what was actually there was the result of two glaciers moving rocks and land together until they crashed into each other.  It was a very dramatic area.  A graceful double waterfall is at one end of the valley, a huge rock rises above the valley and is called Half Dome and at the other end is where the mountains came together.  It's all something to see.  After that I calmed the Garmin down and let it get back on track to Mono Lake.

Of course I got to the Visitors Center to discover that I had to drive another 20 minutes to get to the interesting parts.  Meanwhile I have been driving up and over the Sierra Nevada mountains for hours, there was still snow under the trees, that's how high I was.  You didn't even get a view because of all the trees.  It was very closed in and quite dark at times.  As a line of cars was driving along everyone suddenly slowed down and we had to switch lanes.  Standing in our lane was a coyote just watching us go by.  He would turn his head as each car went by as though he were counting cars.  It was very funny.

I finally got to the Lake.  It was worth the trouble.  The Tufa is calcium carbonate made up of calcium from some of the spring water and alkali from other water that comes into the lake.  the two create the conditions for the Tufa.  As the level of the lake has gone down the lake has become more saline and now only one species of brine shrimp can survive there and one alkali fly.  Many birds and ducks are dependent on these two.  Also as the lake level receded Tufa were stranded on what became dry land and now are almost hidden by grasses and other plants.  Tufas grow like volcanos, water is pushed up through the center and material is deposited on the outside, so they grow from the lake floor.

I couldn't stand trees anymore so I made a reservation at a Comfort Inn in Sacramento.  I really will head to the coast tomorrow.