Oregon

July 24, Joanne and I hopped a plane to Portland, Oregon. Well, hopped not! This time I pushed her through the airports in a wheelchair; she had fractured her knee cap tripping over a curb while I was in Florida discovering lightning had struck Eagle's Wings.

The damaged knee nixed her plans for hiking, camping, biking and white water rafting. Nerverthless, off to Oregon we went with plans to stay at her sister's cabin in the Coast Mountains outside of Willamina and beat the Gulf Coast heat. But we brought the heat with us as Willamina baked at 108 F during our first week.

After a week of driving scenic roads, white water rafting and biking for Richard and a stay at Crater Lake, we returned to the cabin to meet Joanne's mom, Marie, who flew in from Tampa. Actually, she flew to Portland. I forgot to take my camera on our rode trip so no photos but you can check out the links below.

With Marie we visited the state capital and the Oregon Coast Aquarium. When Kevin, Joanne's brother arrived, Marie, Joanne and Kevin headed for the nearby casino. As I am decidely not a casino fan, so I elected to hang out at the cabin.

At the end of our stay, Joanne's sister Mary and her husband, Alan arrived. We all attended a luncheon honoring Marie, who was sort of a pioneer in the Woman's Movement having been the first female manager in the Lipton Tea Company.

Willamina, Timbertown USA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamina,_Oregon

Coast Mountains - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Coast_Range

Aufderheide Scenic Byway: http://www.roadsnw.com/rnw/67

Belnap Hot Springs - We spent two hot nights here w/o A/C

http://belknaphotsprings.com/

White Water Rafting on the McKenzie River - I had a great time while Joanne availed herself of the hot springs. http://www.highcountryexpeditions.com/

Paulina Plunge: I did this while Joanne was restricted to the Sunriver Resort http://www.paulinaplunge.com/

Sunriver: http://www.sunriver-resort.com/sunriver-resort-photo-gallery.php

Crater Lake: We spent a night at the lodge and Richard took the boat tour off limits to Joanne due to a one mile walk down to the boat dock from the crater's rim . http://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm

Oregon Capitol: http://www.leg.state.or.us/capinfo/

Oregon Coast Aquarium: Joanne and I took Joanne's mother, Marie over to the coast for a visit one afternoon. http://www.aquarium.org/

Depoe Bay: We stopped for a late lunch at the Tide Raves restaurant in Depoe Bay. We watched the resident whale blow while we chowed down on good seafood.
http://www.gonorthwest.com/Oregon/coast/Depoe_Bay/Depoe_Bay.htm

Lake Hebo: Joanne's brother and I hiked part of the Pioneer Trail that starts at Lake Hebo. Mount Hebo lies on the west side of the Coast Range. Light rain sporadically falling from an overcast sky at the cabin on the east side of the range left little hope of any long views, but we drove the pretty back roads to the coast anyway. We came back wet but happy!http://www.oregonlive.com/oregoncoast/oregonian/related.ssf?/outdoors/hiking/hike38_990827.html