Touring Florence Parks–part 2

I ended yesterday’s blog at Subway, where we purchased sandwiches for our picnic lunch.  Just three miles south of Florence on Hwy. 101, is Honeyman State Park.  This is a campground and a day use area combined.   Last year we stayed in the campground and you can read about that here.

This day our goal was  a simple lunch, in a quietly beautiful place.  The picnic area is situated on Cleawox Lake.  There were no other picnickers that we could see and we had our choice of wonderful picnic sites overlooking the lake.




The weather was warmer than the above picture would indicate.  The sun felt warm on my back and we sat and ate our Subs and listened to the sounds of nature. 





The picnic sites here are almost like campsites.  It is NOT a big open area with bunches of picnic tables…it is individual sites with a table and a fire pit.  there are also areas for groups if you have the whole tribe along.

Poppy is not much for laying in the dirt so she spent about five minutes under the table then asked to sit in the car.  We left the door open and that made her very happy.  She’s such a princess!



Rusty was content to lay at my feet and enjoy being outside.  I was so glad he decided to join us as often times he will prefer to stay at home rather than ride in the car. 

After lunch we visited the very nice and clean “facilities” and then drove to the other side of the lake and the sand dune area.  The sun was shining in such as way as to make it impossible to get a good picture of the huge sand dune here.  In the summer this is a very popular place and kids run up and down the dune and ride sand boards (or pieces of cardboard) down the steep dune.  Over in the campground area there are miles of sand dunes for off road vehicles but here no vehicles are allowed.  The lake begins right at the bottom of the dune and sometimes kids run down the sand and right into the lake.



The lake has a nice fishing dock but I don’t think too many fish are caught when the area is busy.  Too much splashing about for the fish to bite.



There was no wind at all and the reflections on the water were absolutely glorious.

Heading back into Florence, we once again cross over the Siuslaw River on the city’s beautiful drawbridge.  When the red light comes on, you want to be sure and stop!!






There is also a wonderful casino in the area but that is a topic for another blog.

The sun began to set as we got closer to home and to our surprise, the moon appeared huge in the eastern sky.  I had to pull over and get a picture.



It’s a good thing we took advantage of this special day.  Today we are back to “normal” here in Eugene, OR.  Rain, temps in the 40s, and it looks like it is going to stay this way for awhile.

Russ alerted me to a new blog.  I had to start reading as they are headed to one of my favorite parts of the country – Bishop, California and then on to Lone Pine.  Here’s a link to Wanderlust, if you want to follow along.

Sunshine in Florence (Oregon, that is!)

Several commenters requested information on making photo collages.  I will write about that later in the week and see if I can be of any assistance but today I need to write about yesterday before it becomes tomorrow and I forget what I did!!  Senior moments and all that, you know!!


Monday was another one of those beautiful faux spring days here in Oregon.  We knew we had to take advantage of it because weather like this does not happen often in Oregon in February.  It seems we always have just a few wonderful days in February but if you blink you’ll miss them.  So we took advantage of the sunshine and took ourselves off to the coast. 


It was one of the nicest days we have ever had on the coast. It was 62 degrees, sunny and bright, and no wind. There were no bugs buzzing about and no snakes or alligators either (grin). This day was truly a gift and we tore into it and squeezed everything we could out of it.


Florence is a sleepy little town about 55 miles west of Eugene.  Well it used to be a sleepy little town until the California (and other) retirees discovered it about 15 years ago.  Now it is a bustling little town with more gated communities than I can name and lots going on.  It even has its own hospital now.  It’s still a lovely town and Old Town is quaint and a wonderful place to walk from shop to shop.  However, Old Town was not on the agenda for today – another time perhaps.


BTW, have you ever noticed how the ocean has regional names?  On the east coast, you go to the shore.  In California you go to the beach.  In Oregon it’s the coast.  I wonder why that is?  What do you call it in Washington or in BC?  But I digress…


Our goal for today was Harbor Vista County Park in Florence, Oregon.  Luckily, Eugene is also in Lane County so with our senior county parks pass, we didn’t have any entrance fee.  Without the pass, I believe the day use fee is $5. 





This park is both a day use picnic area and a camp ground.  I love the camping area.  With the huge salal hedges between the campsites, you couldn’t ask for more privacy.  The sites are all paved and fairly level and have water and electric.   There is a dump-station at the entrance to the park - free to campers.  Campsites are $25 except for the three ocean view sites and those are $27.50.





In the day use area, there is a large deck overlooking the ocean.  The park itself is on a bluff above the ocean and so is sheltered from the wind.  There is a trail down to the beach but it is steep and the beach gets pretty wet at high tide!!  I am content to just enjoy the view and drive to a more accessible beach if I feel the need to fill my shoes with sand.  It’s all good.


I couldn’t decide which pictures to use so here’s a little slideshow of the campground.



After our explorations here, we found a Subway Sandwich shop and purchased a ready made picnic.  Did I mention I LOVE $5 foot long specials??  We took our lunch to Honeyman State Park and had a wonderful picnic.  I ‘ll write about that tomorrow.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Oh What a Beautiful Day…

Yesterday morning was one of those idyllic winter days, made all the more special for the rarity of their occurrence here in Oregon.  We woke to bright sunshine and cerulean skies.  Only a few wisps of white drew contrast against the wide expanse of blue.

We decided to play tourist.  I read blogs about what folks do when they are traveling, and it is very similar to what we do.  We go look at stuff, we take hikes or we drive around, we enjoy all the wonders of nature, we go out to eat, and we take pictures.  Sound familiar?  So why, we asked ourselves, do we need to drive thousands of miles to participate in the activities we love so well?  Here we are, blessed to live in one of the more beautiful places on earth, and there is so much within a drive of an hour or two that we have never seen.  We’re stuck here for now, we may as well make the best of it!!

So the sun was out and so were we!  Just about 30 miles north of Eugene on I-5, is the small historic town of Brownsville, OR (not to be confused with that other Brownsville!).  Our destination here was the Linn County Historical Museum.  Uniquely housed in 6 old railroad cars, the museum houses artifacts mostly from the late 1800s to early 1900s.  The docent also bragged that they have the best example of an original Prairie Schooner wagon in the west.  These wagons were about half the size of the huge Conestoga wagons used in most western movies, and were used for travel over the Oregon Trail.  Even the wagon on display at the End of the Oregon Trail Museum has been cobbled together from two wagons.  Linn County Museum is  quite proud of their wagon and it was a beautiful specimen.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and since I don’t want to write that much, I’ll just let the photos do the talking.  Click to enlarge if you can’t read the text or to see detail.


  


Since Russ and I both have a banking background (in fact we met while working at the same bank), we found the banking display interesting.  Russ remembers working on adding machines very similar to the one shown here.  That is an old bank safe behind him.




Look closely at the check below.  See all the little holes punched in the check?  Read the holes backwards and it says “paid” and the date “ 3-7-27”.  When I first started in banking, we still hand cancelled our checks like this.  Every morning before the bank opened, all the checks that had cleared the accounts the pervious evening were “paid” by sticking them face down in a little machine that poked holes in them just like the check shown below.  Boy do I feel old!


Notice there are no numbers along the bottom edge of the check.  The large number “12” probably refers to the bank being in the 12th Federal Reserve District.  This is probably of no interest to someone who has never worked in a bank but I found it brought back some memories.



For a small museum, there was lots to see and these photos are only a small sample of what we enjoyed.

There is a great park in Brownsville, larger than you would expect in a small town.  The park also includes a camping area but it is closed in the winter so we didn’t get to visit that portion.  From the abundance of robins in the park, we were almost convinced spring is on the way.  February in Oregon has a way of teasing us with days of sunshine and mild temperatures.  Then March comes along with its frigid rain and blustery north winds, and we hunker down for another month of winter.



Thanks Russ for taking such great photo of the park.  That is the Calapooia River that runs through the park (Cal-a-POOH-yuh).

From there we continued our drive east, stopping for a photo op at the tiny town of Crawfordsville, OR.  This photo is for my sisters and brother – they know what it means!!  I still have nightmares…



Onward to Sweet Home where we picked up a Subway sandwich for $5.  Did you know all regular foot long Subway sandwiches are on sale for $5 in February?  Such a deal.  We always buy a foot long and share it.  Can’t beat lunch for $5 for two!!


We stopped at Foster Lake, just a couple of miles past Sweet home and ate our sandwiches in the car, overlooking the lake.  The is what we saw as we munched our lunch.



The parking area is up a ways from the lake and with the head-in parking, it looks like you are suspended over the water.  Beautiful.

I was bemused by the posted park rules.  TEN (yes, I counted them) columns of fine print, which were totally illegible from the path, enumerated the rules by which park users must abide!  I could not even get close to the rules board as it was off the path and on a steep slope of grass with nothing between the sign and a steep drop off to the lake.  Strange.



We tried to behave and not run afoul of the regulations.  Must have worked as we are still enjoying our freedom.  We took a ton of photos of the beautiful scenery and here are just a couple.  The moon was already hovering over the lake even though it was only mid-afternoon.





After that, it was time to return home.  We spent a wonderful day, saw some beautiful scenery, and all within an hour’s drive of home.  We’ve made a promise to ourselves to do this as often as the weather allows.  Just because we are not traveling right now, doesn’t mean we can’t play tourist!  People come from all over the country to see the beauty of Oregon and here we are, lucky enough to live here.  Hopefully the weather will be nice enough next week to enable us to take Therapy for a run to the coast.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Donna Was RIGHT ALL ALONG !!!!! (or why I got a new E-Reader)

As much as it pains me to admit it, the above statement is true. I give Donna all the credit for being the absolute smartest person in our household. The e-reader revolution was just starting when she chose the Amazon Kindle as her “e-reader of choice”.

I stayed with print books for some time after that, since she reads a lot more than I do. Eventually, I made the brilliant decision ( at the time ) to look at e-readers and see which one I liked the best. After looking at the Kindle, Sony Reader, Kobo, and the Nook, I chose the Barnes and Noble Nook.

The reading screen was e-ink and easy on my eyes, but I also liked the little color touch screen at the bottom where I could select things without using a keyboard. That was the fun way for me to go, and I was very happy with my Nook. One of the reasons I liked it was because I could read different file types on it, and the Kindle couldn’t read some of those same file types. Most of the books that I was reading on it came as direct wireless downloads from the Barnes & Noble website, which I thought was pretty cool at the time.

Then I was introduced (thanks Kate) to the e-reader management software called Calibre. Many of you use that already, but for those that don’t, it’s open source software, free to download and use, and allows you to search the web for books in virtually any file type and then convert those to work on just about any e-reader you happen to have. It really makes things easy, no matter what you’re reading with, so Kindles and Nooks were on even ground there.

With the introduction of the IPad, and then other tablets trying to catch up, 
e-readers became somewhat bashed about in the popular press. The so called “tablet wars” began in earnest, and things will never be the same again.

A good friend of ours is an avid Apple user, and loves all things Mac, so of course the IPad became her reader of choice. It was very impressive, and all the things you could do with it were also intriguing to me, since I’m your basic “gadget geek” and have had a computer of some type since about 1971.

Always enjoyed using them, still have most of them, all Windows based machines. Never really had any particular problems with any of them and have put a lot of software on them over the years. I’m not really a computer gamer, so most of the work I did was in the form of spreadsheets, and I loved Excel, after I got over having to change over from Lotus 123, which was what I learned to use after Visicalc. (Now you begin to understand just how OLD I really am, if you know what I’m talking about there.)  Back in the early days of personal computing, I started out with a Radio Shack TRS80 that didn’t even have a hard drive!

Anyway, you can tell I’m getting off point here, so back to the present. I loved the idea of having an IPad, and all of the cool things that could be done with it. I was pretty sure that was exactly what I was going to do, but I wanted to wait until Apple came out with the IPad3 later this year.

In the meantime, Donna wanted to get a Kindle Fire, and thought that would be something she could enjoy. She’s pretty darn good with computers and technology too, so I was anxious for her to try one and see how she liked it. Donna didn't really have much chance to play with it so she handed it over to me to play with and she never got it back!!

So, I started using it, and discovered that I really enjoyed it. (It’s Donna’s, though.) I soon discovered that using the Amazon Kindle Fire and using the Kindle Reader app on my PC, and with Donna using her Kindle for reading…I was able to do most of the things I wanted to do with the IPad.

The main limitation for me was reading books on the Kindle Fire. That was not comfortable on my eyes. I soon discovered the Kindle DX which is basically an overgrown Kindle, with a 9.7” screen (about 30% larger than the original Kindle screen). It’s very easy on my old eyes, and with the built in 3G and Wireless connectivity, we’re able to seamlessly update all of our reader content at once,
sync any book to the furthest place read, and then pick it up on any of the devices and begin reading right where we left off. Of course, that’s only something I discovered after having more than one Kindle device in the house.

Now, I’m happy using the Kindle Fire for checking my e-mail, blog reading, etc. while I sit in my recliner each morning … and, using the Kindle DX for book reading. Donna still enjoys reading on her Kindle and since she likes different books, that works great for both of us.

It’s not as expensive for us compared to what I was prepared to shell out. For me, an Apple IPad would have led me to a MacBook Pro laptop as well in the near future, since I wouldn’t be happy with a stand alone tablet, I don’t think.
This way I will stick with the Windows machines we already have and use, and enjoy the Amazon network for most of our books, videos, etc.

Streaming video is simple and can be viewed directly on our TV, laptops, or Kindle Fire. I’m happy with what we can do with what we have now, and I can enjoy “playing” with the new “gadgets”. That’s fun for me, but I’m sure it’s not something a lot of other people would feel the same way about.

I’ll still be reading regular books, but now when we travel, we can take a lot more books with us than we had before. We don’t need a wireless connection to read directly from the readers, which is fine. I’m still using my Nook, too, so I guess I’m a “gadget hog” and can’t pull away from the “trough”. All I can say is “oink, burp, excuse me, please”.

Note from Donna:  Along with our new toys, we received a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime.  I gotta tell you, I'm loving it!  Not only do we get free 2 day shipping on most items from Amazon (no minimum purchase required), we also get many free streaming videos, both on TV and on our Fire.  This service will cost us $79 annually after our free trial and I can see the value already.  I recommend it.

Michael’s, Costco, Joann’s and What Would You Do?

Okay, let’s start with Michaels first.  Walked in the door this morning and there right in the front, on sale at only $39.99 was this:



For less than $40 your children (or grandchildren) can put one cupcake at a time into this contraption, fill the little cups on top with sprinkles, and with a twist of the handle, send jimmies and sprinkles flying in all directions to decorate that cupcake.  Amazing!!  Doesn’t everyone need one?  Okay maybe not.

But then maybe not everyone needs a little tiny iron either but I found the one I wanted at Michael’s and I had a coupon for 40% off so I bought it.  Then I went to Joann’s to get some trim and found a tiny ironing board.  Actually it’s a sleeve board but it will work wonderfully with the little iron for ironing all those little doll dresses I am making!  Russ did cut a board out for me but by the time I could make a cover and get it fixed up to use, I figured I was money ahead to buy this one.  Oh, and I had another 40% off coupon at Joann’s so I was happy happy!!

Are you proud of me Sweet P??











Now isn’t that just perfect??




We also went to Costco and, for the first time since summer, we gave into temptation and ordered up a Costco ice cream bar.  We decided one was plenty to share and Russ offered to cut it in “HALF”.  Guess which half he offered me?



HA!!  Not on your life, Bucko!  I took over the dividing and a more equitable solution was found.  That ice cream bar was SOOO good, but SOO messy.  Good thing we had the plate.




Oh yum.  I think of Barbara (Me and My Dog) every time I get one of these as she was the one who got us started on them.  Hope to see you next summer Barbara.  I’ll spring for the ice cream bars!!


Now here’s a “What Would You Do” question for you.  Here’s what happened.  We were in Fred Meyer's doing some grocery shopping a few days ago.  I wasn’t paying too much attention to the checker until Russ had most of our items loaded onto the conveyor belt.  Then I started watching her, as I thought she was taking a long time to get through the order in front of us.  This checker had hair a little longer than shoulder length and every so often she would reach around, grab her hair, and draw it over one shoulder, running her hand along the length of her hair.  She would scan a few more items then run her hand over her face, scan an item or two more and rub her fingers under her nose.  Then she would give a big sniff. 

These actions were repeated during the entire check-out process.  When it was our turn, the checker did the same thing over and over.  I wanted to grab my fresh vegetables and tell her not to touch them.  I was just waiting for her to sneeze all over everything but luckily that never happened.

Perhaps I am just being too picky but it gave me the willies to allow her to handle my food and produce (even though it was in plastic bags) when she was playing with her hair, her face, and her nose.  YUK.  I thought about bringing it to the attention of the manager and then decided in the big scheme of things it wasn’t that big of a deal.  After all, germs are everywhere. 

Still I couldn’t help thinking of the Chinese market my grandson took us to in Portland last year.   Everything was SO clean and the checkers all wore plastic gloves.  There was no YUK factor there.

So what would you have done?  Is it okay to stay silent when an employee's actions are less than stellar, or should concerns be taken to the people in charge?  I really don’t know the answer and I didn’t want to be responsible for this woman getting reprimanded or fired.  In all likelihood, she needed the job and if she was sick, could not afford to stay home.  Or maybe I’m just too particular.  And yes, I am one of those people who uses the wet wipes on the shopping cart handles before I shop.  Haven’t had a cold in a long time!!  What would you do?

Grandpa Plays Hide and Seek

Bill Cosby was in town yesterday – yes, THAT Bill Cosby.  He is still alive and well and, according to our son, Josh, as funny as ever.  So while Josh and wife Arwen went to enjoy the show, their girls, Cailin and Emilie spent some time with us.

You remember Emmie as the one who always wants to win Grandpa’s marbles.  Yesterday something different was on the agenda.  Emmie brought walkie-talkies to the party.   While Cailin and I chatted in the kitchen and worked on dinner, Emmie talked Grandpa into a game of hide and seek.

She had it all figured out.  They each had a walkie-talkie and Emmie would talk to grandpa while she hid and then he had to find her.  I don’t know all the rules but they seemed to be having a grand time.

After dinner we were playing Table Topics.  Table Topics is simply a bunch of cards printed with questions which the participants answer.  It’s a way to facilitate conversation.  All the kids love it.  It’s a great way to establish an open line of communication with the kids while they are still young enough to enjoy it.  Then when they become teenagers, perhaps they will still talk to us!!

Anyway, it was Grandpa’s turn to answer a Table Topics question, but he had made a detour into the other room and was not available.  I told Emmie, “Don’t wait for Grandpa.  He may be gone awhile.”  She must have thought I was casting aspersions on Grandpa’s character as a willing participant in our game and she gently leapt to his defense.

“Grandpa played hide and seek with me today,” she said.  “He could have just sat in his chair but he got up and played with me.”

Wow! Sometimes we think they don’t notice or that our involvement doesn’t matter.  But the fact that Grandpa got up and actually played a game of hide and seek, will be a memory that will last this child for a long, long time.  It’s not the fancy gifts or the new toy that will be the sweetest memory.  It is the investment of time and attention that will return the greatest dividends.

Sorry, forgot to take any pictures yesterday but we had a great visit.

We Have Sunsets in Oregon Too!!

Okay, I admit it…I have sunset envy!!  There aren’t too many times during the gray dreary days of winter in the Pacific Northwest when the clouds part long enough to give us a colorful sky.  I have been viewing all the beautiful sunset pictures from Mellow Mike, Rick and Paulette, Al and Kelly, The Caves, and so many others too numerous to list.  They are from California, Texas, Florida, Arizona…seems like everywhere you look there are glorious, colorful sunsets.



However, today was dry and only partly cloudy so we headed out to the lake about 4:30 to see if we could find fire in the sky.  And find it we did.  It went from soft pink to blazing orange.  I would have loved to have a few more ripples in the clouds but you take what you can get.

There was lots of water in the lake from the recent heavy rains and the marina is being dismantled and the docks replaced or repaired.  Firewood, anyone? 



The walkways were all still in place, but the one that had been stripped was looking rather bleak.  BUT, we were starting to get some color!!

There are normally boat slips all along this pier.

The lake had only a gentle ripple on it and the reflections on the water doubled the color from the sky.  Just a few days ago this area was totally dry but water was let into the lake to prevent flooding upstream.







The geese were no doubt headed for their nighttime resting grounds as they passed almost directly overhead.  See the little sliver of moon up there?



Finally the sky filled with fire as the sun sought its own resting place for the night.



And so there you have it…the sun does show up once in a while in Oregon in the winter and sometimes it even puts on a nice show!  Now if it could just be as warm as it is in California or Arizona...