Jacqueline’s Jaunts

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

03-06-22 Oregon Coast Trip – Day Trip to Albany, Oregon

03-06-22 Sunday

Day trip to Albany, OR

Albany/Corvallis KOA Journey

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 3

Drive Time: 0

Miles: 0

Arrived: 0

ALBANY, OREGON

Beautiful weather today. We are spending two nights here and didn’t have to get up and worry about driving to our next destination. We got to relax a bit this morning. The KOA brochure we received when we checked in has an ad for a historic carousel and museum in Albany, so we decided to check it. Albany was only about a 15-minute drive from our campground. We had breakfast and headed out.

During our drive I noticed daffodils blooming in clumps off the sides of the road, in open fields and home gardens. What a beautiful surprise. In addition, rye grass fields everywhere. Surprisingly Oregon is the world’s largest producer of cool-season grass seed. The fields seemed to reach as far as the horizon. All the trees were covered with moss or lichen. It was a striking site.

We weaved through Albany following iMap’s directions to the carousel. We saw a Burger Queen and a Hasty Freeze, we thought the names were funny!!! We parked and walked across the street to the building. Upon entering the building, I was impressed by the door pulls. I have never seen anything like them. Solid brass carvings in the carousel motif, so beautiful. Inside the building I was immediately drawn to the carousel. The animals are carved and painted in such intricate detail it is hard to describe. Each animal is so whimsical. The gentleman that greeted us at the door explained all the animals are carved in real wood and painted by volunteers and the carousel is run by all volunteers. The process for an animal may take up to two years from start to finish before it’s mounted on the carousel. Individuals who donated the money for the animals had specific guidelines they had to adhere too.

Each animal has to have some sort of whimsey to them. What does that mean? An example is in the photos ABOVE. The horse’s main is hiding a frog on top and a mouse in the horse’s mane on the side. BELOW shows a zebra has a vine of ivy in his mouth and a monkey is holding onto the vine. The Seahorse has a tail like a mermaid, and you can see the carving of a small mermaid and colorful fish as part of the tail. The elephant has a mouse reading a book standing on his trunk. You will have to zoom in on the photos to see. Each animal is given a name by the person(s) who donated to have an animal made. When all is done, 50 hand carved animals will circle around the carousel. In addition, there will be special animals for Christmas and a few other holidays. Oh, I almost forgot to mention if you grab the brass ring you get a coupon for a free ride.

Inside are two food booths to purchase carnival type food, popcorn, ice cream and burgers. It was hard to walk past the popcorn. The building has two party rooms that were active today, even though it was a Sunday. We wondered into the museum area and stopped to read about the old building that was demolished many years ago where the carousel sits today. A glass case with artifacts found when it was torn down was interesting. A small alcove had photos of some of the animals along with a video capturing the building of the carousel. From here we entered the gift shop. I bought a hand carved, hand painted ornament that was designed after the frog on the carousel.

Off to the side was another room called the painting room. It’s an open room and you could see a few of the animals being painted, a fox named Foxy, a griffin, and a Chinese dragon. Foxy's detail is incredible as you can see by the photo above. He will be welcomed with a party on June 4th this year. He is the 41st animal.

I have to say I was so captivated by the artistry of each animal I stood and stared so I could imprint each into my brain. It’s nothing like I have ever seen before. Just breathtaking. This experience will stick with me for a while. If you ever have the chance to visit this, please do so. It really is unbelievable.

From the carousel we headed downtown to take a walk and see the buildings. Most of the buildings are in great shape and all filled with businesses. The two things we noticed the most, no litter or graffiti...amazing. We headed back to the jeep by way of walking along the riverfront. Great paths and views of the river.

We walked back to the jeep and headed to a brewery we saw when we drove in, Calapooia Brewing. Great little place. The inside was about the size of our kitchen and family room area of our house. Outside was a huge area called the atrium with tables and chairs, heaters, picnic tables and beer kegs planted with plants. I thought that was a great idea. We ordered food and Barry had an IPA and I had a cider. Drinks were tasty and food was hot and yummy.

After lunch we decided to drive through one of the historical districts. It took us a few minutes to find it on a map but once we did all was good. Most of the houses were refurbished on the outside and beautiful. The city has a tour once a year that would be fun. We headed back to our RV since it was late in the afternoon.

Barry built a fire and we sat and recapped our day and talked about all kinds of things. It was cold but the fire was nice. After about an hour I couldn’t stand the cold any longer and went inside. I put my fleece pjs on and sat on top of one of the heater vents to thaw out. The warm air felt so good. Well, that’s about it for today. Tomorrow is a travel day to the Oregon coast. Thanks again for reading....may your dreams be of a whimsical carousel.

Sunday, March 6, 2022

03-05-22 Oregon Coast Trip – Medford, Oregon to Albany, Oregon

MEDFORD, OREGON

We woke this morning to rain but not cold enough for it to snow. Had breakfast, if you can call Little Debbie’s breakfast, packed everything and we’re ready to go. We hit the button to pull the slide in and only half of the slide was moving. I hit the button to stop the slide. We both stood there with a terrified look on our faces. I pushed the button to see if it would slide out and again only one side moved…...!!*&$F#%?>*&<!!! Barry went outside to see if he could see anything. I heard him open one of the basement doors. A few seconds later I hear it shut and inside he came. By the look on his face, I knew we were in trouble. “We are so screwed (paraphrasing),” he said. The rod that pulls the slide in and out snapped! If we can’t get the slide to close, we are dead in the water. And it being Saturday, who was open. We talked about our options for a bit, had a shot of tequila, and I called the winery to inform them we are stuck. They were so understanding and said, “No problem”. We could stay as long as needed. Whew….that was a relief.

The first call Barry made was to Gander RV. We passed them right before arriving to EdenVale. They didn’t have any techs working since its Saturday, but he did give Barry a recommendation to call. He called but only received voice mail. We looked up a few other numbers and he called a mobile RV repair place. They answered and asked Barry to send a photo so he did. He was talking about maybe being able to weld it back together. Chance agreed to come out and take a look. He arrived about half hour later, took a look and decided that welding would not work. He did feel that he and Barry could push the left slide back in since the other side was working. We setup the Walkie-Talkie’s and I pushed the button to start the motor and they pushed the broken side in matching the speed of the other side. Successful! If any of you followed our trip in September, you will remember we had to have our alternator replaced in Nebraska after leaving a Harvest Host.....makes one wonder about staying at a Harvest Host. Unfortunately, we will have to leave our slide in for the rest of the trip. Kind of a bummer but we will make it work.

We are 3 hours late but back on the road again. Albany here we come. We stopped for gas at a Pilot Station outside of Medford. I ran into Subway and bought us 2 tuna wraps. I made Tuna to bring but we left it at home in the ‘fridge. Such a bummer! I’ve been craving tuna for days.

ALBANY, OREGON

It was a travel day. Our route from Medford to Albany was I5 all the way through the Klamath Mountain range. Beautiful country, cattle, horses, llamas, and countless sheep. Luckily no rain and the roads were great. We pulled into Albany/Corvallis KOA Journey around 6PM. Nice park, easy access off the main road, gravel roads in the park, a bit muddy but Barry got us all hooked up. We settled in and after a while Barry made a small platter of salami and cheese in addition to pouring each of us a glass of wine. We also took a walk around the whole park to get some exercise and count jeeps, only 3. Quite the day.

Saturday, March 5, 2022

03-04-22 Oregon Coast Trip – Corning California to Medford Oregon

03-04-22 Friday

Corning, CA to Medford, OR

Harvest Host

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 2

Drive Time: Almost 4 hours

Miles: 192.5

Arrived: 2:30 PM

Didn’t sleep that well. My knee was hurting again. Weird dreams last night. Woke up to a blustery day and couldn't wait to get on the road. Barry turned on the heater when he got up and I stayed in bed until the coach warmed up. Our heater works great, and it only takes about ten minutes until the coach was warm. Hot coffee for Barry, hot tea for me, a banana for each and a few Little Debbie’s mini chocolate donuts (one of our vices). After our breakfast appetizers we had a bowl of cereal. I did dishes while Barry got a few other things ready to go. We headed to the gas station, filled up and hit the road to Medford, Oregon.

Our drive took us on I5 up through the Mt. Shasta area. I have not been this way since I was a kid. Our family use to camp at Lake Shasta every Labor Day weekend with cousins, aunts, and uncles on my mom’s side but that’s another blog post. Lots of memories as we drove through the area. As we passed the lake it was daunting to see how low the water level is. The drought has affected the entire state and you don’t realize it until you drive by a lake as massive as Lake Shasta. Mt. Shasta was the only mountain capped with snow. The surrounding mountain ranges were only lightly dusted.

Mt. Shasta

Lake Shasta - Scary It's So Low

It seemed like we were never going to get to the top of the pass, but I have to say it was nothing like climbing the Rockies last September. It rained most of the way through the mountains. When we finely were at the top of the pass snow flurries began. The elevation sign stated 3,067 feet. Mt. Shasta itself is 14,179 feet. Before heading down the other side Barry decided to stop and check the RVi Brake on the Jeep. It’s our braking system for towing the Jeep. He was being cautious before heading down the other side of the mountains. Everything was fine and we were back on the road in a few minutes. Snow flurries continued but thank goodness they didn’t stick.

The country was beautiful and surreal with snow dusting the trees. I was able to take numerous photos of Mt. Shasta, and some are included below. The green hills and trees covered the mountains, and it was beautiful to see. Occasionally I would catch a glimpse of a purple bush in bloom scattered amongst the trees. Nice to see green again.

One of our favorite views!

The landscape between Mt. Shasta and the Oregon border is vast. It always amazes me how large our state is. Cattle and horses dotted the landscape throughout our drive. At one point we continued to climb again reaching around 4,000 feet. The decent to the other side didn’t seem as steep as before. We crossed the Oregon border at 1:35PM. We felt better once we were out of the mountains.

We arrived at our Harvest Host destination, EdenVale Winery, at 2:15pm. Aaron met us as we drove in and pointed us to the area to park in, a large flat field with numerous spots to park. He told us where the tasting room was and informed us a glass of mulled wine was waiting for us. We pulled into a spot, dropped the jacks, and leveled the coach. We changed our tennis shoes into warm boots and headed to the tasting room while the snow began to fall. The grounds are gorgeous with grape vines and pear trees all around.

The tasting room was small and cozy. The servers behind the bar were Erin and Taja. Taja is also the chef for events at the winery. The winery does weddings and party events. Perfect place for it. We each decided to taste the mixed flight. Their Chardonnay was not on the menu, but Erin poured me a taste and I loved it. I could taste the butter at the back of my throat. My other favorite was the Cab Franc. But then there are the ciders, Pear and CranPerry (not a typo). As we tasted we watched the snow fall outside. We ordered Taja’s Bacon and Brie Cheese platter and oh my was it tasty. The brie is topped with cooked maple bacon cut into chunks and baked in the oven. This is something we are going to try and duplicate at home. We finished our tasting with both the Chardonnay mulled wine and the red mulled wine. What a treat for a snowy day first day in southern Oregon.

On our way back to the RV we walked down to the barn because Aaron told us about the white owl who (no pun intended…well maybe) lives there. Sure enough at the other end he was perched way at the top of the eve. He looked rather large, and all fluffed up. The air was cold, crisp, and clean. It felt amazing to be in the mountains where everything is green.

Back in our RV we turned on the heater, opened a bottle Cab Franc we bought, and sat and relaxed for a bit, as if we did something strenuous. After dinner I tried to get ahead of my emails and Barry read. Magnificent day!

Friday, March 4, 2022

03-03-22 Oregon Coast Trip – Castro Valley California to Corning California

03-03-22 Thursday

Castro Valley, CA to Corning, CA

Harvest Host

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 1 (ours)

Drive Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes

Miles: 172.1

Arrived: 2:30 PM

CASTRO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

We woke this morning to a huge thunderclap from Mother Nature. Rattled the house. We laughed…of all the days to leave for our next long road trip, Mother Nature decides to just make it a little challenging. We have had clear weather for months. We finished packing a few things in the RV, taking care of plants, and yes, we are on the road again. This time for 21 days. I’m in my navigator seat and ready to roll.

We are heading to the north coast of Oregon, a few miles south of Lincoln City to an RV park on the beach called Sea and Sand RV Park. Amanda told us about the park months ago. We did some research and decided to book the trip. Ryan, Amanda and the kids will be joining us the end of next week for 3 days. Looking forward to seeing them. It’s been a while. We saw them last November when my brother Billy passed away. It was during covid so we couldn’t hug anyone. Really tough, especially with Addison and Tucker.

CORNING, CALIFORNIA

Our first stop is The Olive Pit in Corning, California. This is a Harvest Host site and not sure what to expect. We headed out and took 580 to 680 to 80 to 505. Neither of us have been on 505. Great road with lots of orchards on either side. The blooms were falling, and the orchard grounds looked like they had a dusting of snow. Same as when the blooms fall during February in the almond orchards in the San Joaquin Valley.

We made it to Corning around 2:30. Large parking lot in the back with long pull throughs. Just a normal parking lot, nothing exciting. Safeway across the street and gas stations on 3 corners. We parked, stretched a bit, and headed over to The Olive Pit to check it out.

I have never seen so many olives in one place. All kinds of olives, stuffed with almonds, garlic, blue cheese, jalapeños, peppers, coffee bean, and pimentos. Also, a great wine and beer selection, olive oil, balsamic, seasonings, grape leaf tea, locally made cutting boards that were beautiful. They had a little café but was take out only for now. In a little alcove was wine tasting. I’m sure we missed something. This seems to be a popular spot for Harvest Host guests and locals. Easy off the freeway. We picked up “just a few” items and headed back to our RV.

I made sandwiches and we opened a bottle of olives that were extremely garlicky and yummy. I don’t think I’ve ever had an olive that garlicky. We cleaned up the lunch dishes and walked over to Safeway. Barry wanted cookies and we forgot cornmeal for the pizzas next week. On the way back we checked out the Shell gas station on the corner. We wanted to make sure we could get in and out tomorrow morning, it seemed doable.

Once we returned to the RV, we opened the bag of Boston Baked Beans we bought at The Olive Pit. I remember these as one of my dad’s favorites. They were so fresh and crunchy. After a few handfuls I asked Barry to put them away, so I didn’t devour the whole bag! I think I was channeling my dad.

We settled into our spots, I on my computer to catch up on emails and Barry on the sofa reading a book. Tomorrow, we head over Shasta Mountain area and into Oregon to Edenvale Winery in Medford, Oregon. Thank you all for reading and good night.

Monday, February 28, 2022

02/21/22 Weekly Recap

JAUNTS

Tuesday, we went to Modesto to visit Uncle Richard and his fiancé Laura. He had grandpa’s wooden plates grandpa brought back from Germany when he fought in World War II. My mom gave them to Uncle Richard at some point and now he was moving in with Laura, he was passing them onto me. I've only had photos of these and now I have the actual plates. My heart is happy!! Laura fixed us a great lunch and her daughter Linda and son-in-law Walt joined us. They wanted to meet us before the wedding in April. We had a great time and look forward to getting to know them.

Spent Friday and Saturday at our friends Ken & Jan Reynolds. We worked Friday afternoon on our trip to The Mighty Five Parks in Utah next year. This includes Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and Zion National Park. We will be gone for over a month and it takes a bit of planning for a trip this long. We made great progress. For dinner Jan baked a lasagna with homemade noodles Aaron made. Dinner was yummy. The next day Aaron, Brook and their kids came over for pizza. Brook made the pizzas and Ken cooked the pizzas in their pizza oven in the backyard. Again, a yummy meal.

VOLUNTEER WORK

I spent numerous hours on CGS emails, putting together information on spreadsheets, and trying to get a plan together for myself since I’m in charge of booking speakers for CGS. I feel tremendous pressure right now with this new responsibility.

WEBINARS

I only attended the following, From Piles to Files: Organize Your Genealogy presented by Teresa Steinkamp McMillin.

CALLS

Met with Lisa on Monday. Asked her to give her farm talk and she agreed. I attended our Amigos call on Thursday, Linda and Stuart were not able to attend.

OTHER STUFF

I finely pulled the plug and purchased Photoshop Elements and decided to buy Photoshop Elements for Dummies. Now to learn to use it.

I used my new photo box to take the photos below and I’m happy with this purchase. These are the plates from my grandfather I referred to above.

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Week 8 – Theme "Courting" – 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Total Blank

I have drawn a total blank on this week's theme. Sadly, I don't know how my parents met, or my grandparents. There are a few older relatives I need to question regarding this. I have many questions I need to find out. I just don't seem to have the time to get it all down on paper. I just keep plugging away.