Jacqueline’s Jaunts

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

03-07-22 Oregon Coast Trip – Albany/Corvallis Oregon to Depoe Bay, Oregon

03-07-22 Monday

Albany/Corvallis Oregon to Depoe Bay, Oregon

Sea & Sand RV Park Good Sam

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 2

Drive Time: 2.5 hours

Miles: 78

Arrived: 2:00

ALBANY/CORVALLIS, OREGON

Today is a drive day. Scones and tea for breakfast. Heading to Depoe Bay on the Oregon coast. We did have to stop on the side of the road because the RVi brake decided to disconnect from the Jeep. We pulled over on the side of the road and Barry had to unhook it then connect again and we were on our way.

Our two-hour drive took us on Hwy 20 West to Hwy 101. The drive was beautiful and as mentioned before, everything was green. You can see bald spots on the mountain sides and as we drove closer the bald spots were areas logged. There were numerous logging trucks passing us.

The trees all had moss and lichen hanging on the branches, pretty. We still saw daffodil patches every now and then. Our planet is such a living, breathing, organism but who knows what climate change will do.

DEPOE BAY, OREGON

We missed the turn-around we were to take to the RV park so made a turn into a neighborhood and back onto the Hwy to the park. Easy check in, unhooked the jeep and I drove it down the hill to our spot #107. Barry followed in the RV and backed into our spot for the next four days. We are right in front of the ocean, the view I dreamed of. Weather was cloudy and cold.

We decided to go for a late lunch/early dinner. I found a place just south about 5 minutes, Siren’s Oceanfront. We each ordered a bowl of clam chowder; I ordered a small Caesar and Barry Bruschetta. Everything was delicious, especially the Bruschetta. The restaurant sits on a cliff, and we enjoyed a hummingbird flitting around but always back to the same spot.

Back to the RV for some R&R, watched MSNBC to catch up on the Ukraine situation. Great day.... good night all.

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!