What a Day…

…a Glorious, Marvelous, Wonderful day (Saturday).  That’s the gushing sound of an Oregonian who has been wrapped in a cold, wet, penetrating, blinding fog for days, and who has been blessed with two three(!) back to back days of bright sunlight and mild temperatures. 

The last two days have been an unexpected gift.  We usually get a few warm, dry days in February but not so much in January.  We had to take advantage of these last two days to get out and soak up some sun.  We spent both days in a little town about an hour south of Eugene called Sutherlin.  It’s easy to miss as it is about 10 miles north of the larger city of Roseburg, a major population area for this part of Oregon.  Most folks breeze right on past Sutherlin.

Sutherlin boasts a population of just over 7000.  We originally went down there to visit  the Escapees park, Timber Valley.   It’s a nice place but I forgot to take any pictures.  If you are an Escapee, I think you would like staying here.

We drove around town and then to the Cooper Creek Reservoir.  It is less than two miles from downtown Sutherlin on a paved, but somewhat curvy and narrow road.  It has a boat ramp, a fishing dock, restrooms and good parking.  It also had something I didn’t expect to see…



Not sure what this is float plane is used for but it appears ready to go at a moments notice. 

There are several “arms” to this reservoir, which is used for flood control.  We were on the end where the dam is located.  We had a hard time orienting ourselves as to where we were until I noticed that North was down rather than up like it is on most maps.  Okay, now it makes sense!!


It’s small by most standards but interesting all the same.  This is the intake area.



This is the spillway.  Nothing going over on this day but it was still a long way down.


The lake is beautiful and was especially so on this warm, sunny day.  The water was clear and calm and there were several boaters and a couple of people fishing off the dock.




Isn’t this just gorgeous?

The lake is kinda nice too!!!

Russ tried to make friends with a local resident, but was rebuffed when he didn’t offer anything to eat.


Today (Sunday) makes three days in a row of beautiful sunshine and mild temperatures.  Alas, that is slated to end tonight and the clouds are set to roll in tomorrow.  But that’s okay because sunshine in January is a gift and we made the most of it.