Beautiful day, Beautiful hike! We traversed the Heceta Headlands and down the Hobbit Trail to the beach. We are getting our legs back in shape! Just under 6 miles today. We wanted to give a shout out to our friend Bundy who is on the mend from a pretty nasty fall down a winter Hobbit Hole; all the best and get well soon!
Looking south down the coast. We love hikingthe headlands above the ocean. We could hear Sea Lions, but never caught sight of them. At the top of the trail looking north.Our first view of Hobbit Beach.No fun on this beach…I guess on the weekends and during the summer this area is overflowing with people. The trail to Hobbit Beach.Ahhhhhh, young love?
Tidbit: All of the little trails along the coast are part of the Oregon Coastal Trail, a long-distance hiking trail that goes from the mouth of the Columbia River to the California border, similar to the Long Trail or Appalachian Trail back home.
What do you do for a fun day on the last birthday before the big 60? Since we are in the middle of the trip of a lifetime, that doesn’t count as new. We have ziplined, and both grew up skiing. We already rock climb, mountain bike, and ride motorcycles. Darrin has learned to fly and flown solo, and we went up in a hot air balloon many years ago when we were courting. Skydiving is out till at least 60! Enter the Oregon Dunes and a Sandrail tour! Of course, he doesn’t go for the humdrum tour, he chooses the fast dune buggy 1 hour tour in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Being the wonderful wife that I am, I said “Sure, why not!”.
And once again, SILLY ME!!!! We bounced, we zigged and zagged, we dropped and went straight up, we had to have been going over 60 mph. I found sand inside places there shouldn’t ever be sand. But, I can proudly say, I didn’t thrown up or jump out and run screaming away! I kept my composure and my lunch. I must admit, the dunes were breathtaking and magnificent even at this time of year when they are at their lowest. Mother Nature is an amazing artist. But…I get to pick the next adventure, something that doesn’t require I leave parts of my bone structure behind while mimicing a ragdoll!
The staging area. Cue the theme to Jaws or any well known horror movie.Our first hint should have been the googles and the 3 point racing harnesses. Isn’t my birthday boy cute? Halfway through. Can you tell I am ready to chunder?Oye! The things we do for love. Payback baby!
Tidbit: Sorry, no action shots. We were hanging on for dear life, and the sand blowing in our faces would have ruined the camera. I’m gonna need some ice cream!
A visit to the Eugene, Oregon Pioneer Cemetery takes one back to an era of individuals who had more moxie than most of us could ever imagine. These people left everything known to them, their homes, families and friends, to travel across prairies and over mountains, and through Native American and Mormon territories to find a new home. They braved the cold and heat, the wild animals and rushing rivers to create a new life in an unknown place. They didn’t have cell phones or Instagram or even good old snail mail. Most of the time these individuals are forgotten in the dusty corners of history, replaced by movie stars or the latest singing idol. But, today, these individuals stole the show for me. I am humbled by their fortitude and courage.
The cemetery was on a wooded hill. Over time, neglect let Mother Nature slowly reclaim what man had lovingly created. Now a group of local people are slowly restoring the graves and putting up information placards on the town’s founding citizens. What a great way to preserve the past. Eugene Skinner and his wife Mary were the first known white settlers in the Eugene area. They were from upstate New York and Eugene City, yup you guessed it, is named after him. The original gravestones are laying down in the background, too damaged by time to stand. The stump grave (to signify a life cut short) of a Woodsmen of the World, a fraternal order. And the back. These types of gravestones were quite expensive and eventually phased out.A Vermonter turned Oregonian. I bet his trip to Oregon was a lot more arduous than ours.The sadest gravestones of all are the children. The infant mortality rate was very high. This little gravestone was all alone. Most likely there were other graves around that have disappeared over time.
Tidbit: Visiting a town’s graveyard can be a treasure trove of information about a town’s past. I should wander through those in my own town back home.
So, the other day we decided to go for a drive and explore a new area south of Grants Pass. We headed down Route 99 following the Rogue River through an older section of motels and small fishing cabins, an area that spoke of a former time and lifestyle. Today, the motels and cabins are being replaced by RV parks, they are everywhere, I mean everywhere, and amazingly most of them look full. The temperate climate makes it a great place to overwinter, I guess. But, I wander. We are driving and admiring the landscape and architecture when Darrin sees a sign that says Table Rock and says, “Isn’t that where Nancy went hiking? Lets go check it out!” (Nancy being our Grants Pass Airbnb hostest with the mostest.) So I said, “Sure, lets go give it a gander.” Silly me, several hours later we had hiked 5.5 miles round trip to the top of Lower Table Rock. Normally, that would have been a normal hike for us, but a winter in the flatlands of Florida did nothing for my hiking muscles. Never the less, we hiked, it was beautiful and we have a blog to show for it!
Lower Table Rock elevation ahout 2,000ft.Once you reach the top of Lower Table Rock it is approximately 1 mile across to the lookout over the Rogue River (at one time it was an airstrip!) You can read about the airstrip here, and some other fun facts.And all that science stuff on how it was formed is here.The view of the valley and the Rogue River.And a look the other way down the river. Notice the lava like rocks (Did you read the science stuff above?)Reminded us of a mini Devil’s Tower. This is from halfway up the trail.Upper Table Rock from the top of Lower Table Rock. The easier 1 mile round trip trail is over there, I found out after.
Tidbit: The Lower Table Rock is taller and north of Upper Table Rock which makes absolutely no sense until you learn one is up river and one is down (lower on) the river, the Rogue River, that is. The all important river that brought life sustaining salmon to the native Takelma tribe.
In New England we say ‘If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute and it will change’. We can have days where the temperature can swing as much as 40 or even 50 degrees. Oregon doesn’t have that extreme a swing in temperature during a single day, but they do have little changes in temperature that can change the constant precipitation from one form to another.
The last 2 days, the temperature here in the valley has been just warm enough for the precipitation to be in the form of rain, lots of rain. (Make sure you turn the sound up so you can hear Darrin on this little video.)
Here is the sign Darrin mentioned. If you couldn’t tell from the video, the entire field was flooded, and the road.
Now today, the temperature dropped just a few degrees and…
Snow day! A good day to watch old movies.
Tidbit: The weather in Oregon swings wildly from season to season. The winters are cool and wet, and the summers are quite hot and dry (a perfect combo for their recent wildfires).
Today was a rainy day here in Grants Pass, Oregon, I know very surprising this time of year.
So, we set to organizing our gear to go back in the Wee Rover.
We sorted through this… organized that…and charged these doohickeys
And we went for a bimble to put more miles on the motor for the next oil change.
The GPS led us up into this beautiful loop right to…yup, you guessed another dead end (zoom into the yellow sign). The map showed it looping around to another road.
So, all in all a very quiet, rainy day here in Grants Pass, Oregon. I think it is time to watch a little MASH and make some ravioli.
Tidbit: Grants Pass, orginally Grant’s Pass, was named after General Ulysses S. Grant and his 1863 victory at Vicksburg. A small stagecoach stop back then, the apostrophe was later dropped as the small town became a bustling railroad community.
Today, we spent some time driving around the Grants Pass/Merlin area in the Wee Rover trying to reach the 200 mile mark for our first oil change tomorrow. Since we had to be out and about in the rain, it rains a lot here just in case you didn’t know, except during the summer when it is hot and dry has forest fires, we decided to get wet and do a bit of sight seeing and reconnoitering for future camping places, just in case we end up back here sometime.
Our first stop was Griffin Park, a county park here in Grants Pass, OR. Oregon does a great job providing nice, affordable camping and day parks. Griffin Park is right on the Rogue River and seemed like a great place to camp, sometime when it isn’t raining and 40 degrees!
Our next venture was Indian Mary, another county campground. Again, it is right on the Rogue River and looks like a great place to camp. Bonus, it is just west of Hellgate Canyon, a beautiful gorge and playground for rafting, salmon fishing and jet boating.
Tidbit: Hellgate Canyon is where such movies as Rooster Cogburn, starring John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn, and The River Wild, starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon, were filmed. A bit of stardom for you movie buffs! Corn dodgers anyone?
You know the greeting you get when you pick up your dog that had to spend a few days at the vet. Tail wagging! Peeing a little! Wiggling all over! Where have you been? I knew you wouldn’t leave me, but you were gone soooo long!
We are reunited with our little companion, the Wee Rover!!!!!!!
My boy and the Wee rover are both happy, again.
Tidbit: It is the same greeting we get every time we visit our good friend Sheba next door (she’s a dog, just in case you thought we had a human friend who peed everytime we saw them😁
The Duke, David Niven, Doris Day, Lauren Bacall and Bogart! We feel like we are walking with the legends from Hollywood’s golden age. The Rookery, our home for the next few days, as it turns out, was built by actress Ida Lupino as a getaway from the paparazzi of the era. It’s located outside Grants Pass, Oregon at the end of a long drive next to the Rogue River. It is part of a small number of cottages that were retained and restored. Ours is a nice little 2 room cabin with a fireplace, small kitchenette and a hot shower. The perfect place to layover during the Wee Rover’s heart transplant! Here’s lookin’ at you!
The time has come to say goodbye to the Oregon coast. We have had an amazing time walking on the beach, sitting by the fire and spending time with new friends. Ron and Karen, hosts extraordinaire, became good friends and made our extended stay even more special. Now the hard part of traveling…saying good-bye (or toodles as Karen would say).
Thanks for everything!
We will see you when we see you.
Budha thinks he is a lap dog and Ron’s lap is his favorite spot.
Karen and I hanging out by the fire.
Out final good-bye barbeque. John, Sunny, Budha, Darrin, Karen and Ron. New friends all.
