Around Klamath Falls, OR and Heading East

Whilst we were in Oregon Becky 'happened' to find a quilting group just down the road from where we were staying (in the small town of Rocky Point). They were a very interesting group - especially the owner of the shop!!! Delightful character. This is the quilt pattern Becky chose. Point of interest - the quilt is now on our bed.




One of my cousins in Benton, AR has trained sheep dogs for years plus sheep dog trials are regular tv fair in England. Therefore when we discovered the Northwest US Sheep Dog trials were being held about 30 miles away, we just had to attend. Here are a couple of shots.











For most of the year the area is a bird watchers paradise. However, come the fall bird watchers take a back seat to bird shooters!!! The last week we were there was the 'youngsters' weekend to duck hunt. Here you see one of the boats coming back after the hunt. The dogs are in their usual position ready to jump.













We don't book a place to stop when we are in 'travel' mode so Becky has to use all her skills to get us a decent place to tie up. Not all her choices are as good as this one - back off the road with nice views and very clean. I liked their sign so much it earned a shot.






Becky insisted this shot be included. It is not obvious what it depicts but if you look at the skyline on the right of the hill on the left, that is the road. Looking up at the road from the bottom of the hill (long straight stretch of road) it looks rather intimidating. Actually, other than being a 'long way down' the road wasn't too bad if you didn't get too close to the edge (who me?).







As you leave Nevada headed East on I-80 you have a l-o-n-g straight road ahead of you. Don't remember exactly how long it was but seems like I noted at the time that it was over 20 miles of perfectly straight and almost perfectly flat road!!!






On the way back to Missouri we stopped at my sister's house in Oklahoma. I made contact with an old friend from high school who now lives in Hope, AR and we made arrangements to meet for lunch half way between us. It was great seeing and talking to Barrie!!!

More Missey in Oregon

One last photo of Crater Lake before going on to other things. This was one of my favorites of the lake itself. Clouds were very good.

In addition to our day trip to Crater Lake we rented a house on the coast for a week so Missey could enjoy its beauty (oh yes, Becky and I got to share that with her!).


Missey likes those 'up close' photos so she took this one as we drove toward the coast.

Just to show her I could take those 'up close' shots also, I took this one. Fortunately I have better subjects for my photos so I can't take all the credit for this being such a better one than hers!





When we arrived at Coos Bay, where we were staying, this is the view out the back. Some of you will recognize this view from my Facebook entries. The lighthouse belongs to an Indian tribe from the area and is not accessible at present.



Walking out to the edge of the cliff in the back yard I took this shot of the house we had rented.



And this is what it looked like from the house looking out. Don't those chairs just beg to be used?





To remind us that we were on the Oregon coast, we had a day of fog. Really not a serious fog but enough to obscure the view. Made for some different photos though.






Down the beach we found plenty to look at. In the fog they looked surreal. The noise they made added to the whole scene but I did not do any video so you can't share in the racket.









This fellow seemed to be saying he was king of the hill.





The fog cleared and this was the result. Has to be the most beautiful coast we have encountered!




Missey took this one of the German restaurant. Not sure if you can read the sign unless you blow it up a bit.

Missey in Oregon

Continuing our stay 'out west', I have had requests to include more family photos - blame those making those requests if you prefer all landscape, critters, etc.


First Becky and I on the shore of Crater Lake.

Missey joins us for a family shot.

Sand Dune State Park on the coast of Oregon.




Sunset from our vacation house in Coos Bay. Lighthouse belongs to Native Americans.




Another view of the Sand Dunes.





Missey took these photos during my walk one foggy morning.







Missey fell in love with this little critter and bribed him with food to capture these shots.









Family photos continue as we journey around the lake.

And finally another shot of the beautiful Oregon coastline to close this entry with. (NEVER end a sentence with a preposition.)

Crystal Creek and Bend Oregon

For anyone who happened to 'look in' on the blog while I was fighting the new software, I apologize. I have been doing this for over 3 years now and it seems that Google loves to change the way you update the blog. Very frustrating.


This is just one of the sunsets we enjoyed over the water. The mountains blocked sunrises but the sunsets made up for it (besides, who wants to get up for summer sunrises!!).

The name of the bay just down from the resort was called Pelican Bay. Any idea how it came by that name?



The entrance to the resort. One of the cabins is in the background.




OK now, everyone stay in line and no one swim ahead!!



Having lived in the Mojave desert for a number of years I have a pretty good idea of what a desert is like. However, my image of a green Oregon and the Pacific Ocean never conjured up a vision of a desert!! A couple of years ago Becky and I wintered in the California 'High Desert' and then we drove up to Bend, Oregon and what do we find but the Oregon 'High Desert'. Oh the joy of traveling!




Another educational experience was the west coast Indian way of life. Here they have used reeds to cover there houses instead of the more common hide covering we know in the east and midwest.




Of all the things we might learn from our animal friends, I like this one the best!!!





I took this one at the museum for son Dave to use in his 3rd grade class showing how the early settlers converted 'horse power' into rotary power. The horse goes around in circles and the shaft turns to drive various machinery.



I don't know about the rest of you but I ALWAYS confuse these two so when I saw this sign I just had to capture it for later referral. Hope it helps you too.



Ever since Becky took up quilting we have made quite a few stops on our travels that involved quilting. This was our stop in Bend and they had such a neat sign I felt obligated to take a photo. Becky would have been in the photo but she was too busy shopping inside!!!!




A few months before visiting Bend we celebrated the birth of our beautiful new little girl. How could I pass up this sign advertising her name!!!




Having read quite a bit of history of the reed boats made by our early ancestors across the ocean (in which they CROSSED the ocean) I was quite intriqued by these boats constructed by the Indians in Oregon. Did the design cross with early man or was it 're-discovered' here?

More Oregon

Long time since my last posting so I will try to catch up and keep the photos in date sequence. These photos are more about our time in Oregon. The first two were taken over on the coast as we did a sightseeing tour. This old boat had been sunk for a long time and was a great photo op. Not sure I captured the essence of it but you do what you can.

The Oregon coast is absolutely too photogenic! Everywhere you look there is a photo begging to be taken. Here are a few that made the cut.

The trout fishing at the resort was to die for (yes, size does matter!) and we came away with a couple of good fish stories and one 'bragging rights' fish for Dave - just under 9 pounds!
The other two fish have great stories to go with them.

This young man was a German immigrant who was there with his wife. They were both graduates of the University of Arizona where they met and were working in silicon valley. They were getting tired of the 'rat race' and thinking moving to Austin and had decided to take a short vacation in Oregon to try the 'quiet' lifestyle. He had never caught a fish and asked me to help him out. I met him after work at the fishing dock and showed him the basics and the two of us started to fish. I hooked a trout and gave him the rod to bring the fish in - I then realized neither of us had brought a landing net and told him to just play the fish while I ran up to our trailer to get a net. Came back within a minute to see him holding up the rod on the dock with a broken line!!! He had tried to rush the trout who showed the young man what he could do. I re-rigged my rod and we resumed fishing. I again hooked a trout and handed him the rod to land the fish. This time I stayed and 'coached' him through the fighting and landing of a large trout on 4 pound test line. Here is the result. Oh yes, I also took him to the cleaning station and 'coached' him through the cleaning of a trout!! His wife caught the second fish on video and they both told us it had 'made' their trip. They were a wonderful young couple.

This young man with a fish came with his uncle (and the uncle's family). He had also never caught a fish and REALLY wanted to fish. The uncle wasn't that excited about the prospect and resisted buying a license for his nephew. Becky somewhat shamed him into it and you see the result!! Needless to say this boy was TOO excited. The fish was over five pounds so he got to put his name on the 'big fish' board. I also took this photo and posted it in the office with his info.

And finally this is a photo of a very good friend from our English days - Chuck McKereghan. He and his wife retired to Oregon and Becky and I ran down that way to visit. It was wonderful seeing him again and walking around his house was like a visit back to Yorkshire. Happy retirement Chuck!