Anyway, Saturday. We awoke in our comfortably utilitarian digs in Kelso, at the southern end of Washington State, and tackled a utilitarian breakfast in the hotel lobby--a bowl of fruit and Raisin Bran and a toasted English muffin--next door to a charming family woth five (count'em!) kids, all seemingly under the age of ten. All with dreadful colds, but mostly cheery for all that. After breakfast, we packed up the car and, on Ellie's insistence (I wanted to get on the road as soon as possible) retraced our steps to the dike ...
... for a brisk walk before the anticipated day in the car, driving south on 5. In the park, we stumbled on a gathering of the Jack Russel clan, hundreds of them, all yapping wildly, and a number of them vying to be the fastest on the obstacle course.
It was quite a sight. Initially excited, George eventually became quite blase, surrounded by these rowdy canine cousins. Here he is...
... good George!
Once on the road, we made good time through Portland and on to Salem, where we tooled around the town a bit before parking outside an antiques mall--much to Ellie's delight--where we spent the next half hour perusing all the available junk in the known universe. Ellie found a small white ceramic dog, to add to her collection of small white ceramic things. We crossed the road to Starbucks, where we were thrilled to find a current copy of the New York Times to add to my collection of highly disposable newspapers. Bought a sandwich at the sandwich shop a few doors down from Starbucks, and sat on a bench outside to wolf it down.
Back in the car, we made it to the interstate with remarkable ease and headed on south for another hour to Eugene, where we took a side strip through the town and out the the very lovely campus of the University of Oregon...
... and managed, as is more our custom, to get hopelessly lost this time as we cast about for the 126 East to take us out along the MacKenzie River to our B & B. We did get ourselves straightened out eventually, and discovered the start of the lovely valley that awaited us.
Our B & B turned out to be located right beside the river; from our little room, we look out over its fast-moving waters, and hear the constant sound of its flow.
After a walk for us--and a run for George--around the property, we took off down the road for dinner at the Linn Rock Grill, where George suffered the indignity of having to wait in the car whilst we sat out on the deck behind the restaurant...
... and indulged in hamburgers with French fries and, for Ellie...
... a glass of beer.
W survived the night on a double bed--we are accustomed to the luxury of at least a queen, and felt a bit cramped in this small space--and spent a while on the laptop, catching up with the news (no television here, okay by me, but I do need my news fix in some manner or form!) Breakfast at nine in the small communal dining room. We chatted with a nice young couple from Portland, out for a weekend in the country, and ate blueberry pancakes with sausage and maple syrup. Oh, and peach crumble. An odd mix. Following the recommendation of our breakfast companions, we drove quite a ways further east on 126 and stopped, first, for a short hike to the Sahalie Falls, a magnificent water spectacular set deep in the forest. A thunderous sound, as tons of water tumble over the rocky shelf every second and drop down maybe sixty feet into the devil's punchbowl pool below.
We gazed from above, then walked some more and gazed from below. And of course took too many pictures. The digital camera is one of the greatest inventions of the digital age, in my opinion: remember the days when you had to worry about how much film you had used up? And take the film to the local Savon for development, then wait for a couple of days before you got your pictures back--and most of them were terrible? What a blessing, to be able to keep snapping away forever, and discard the flubs.
Onward and upward, then--quite literally (did anyone else notice how many times Joe Biden used the word "literally" in his speech yesterday? It worried me a bit...)--further up the mountain to one of the what must be three million Clear Lakes in the country. This one earned its name. Amazing clarity, amazing colors. You'll see more of them below. This was a first glimpse...
We first took a long walk through the woods that border the lake on all sides, along a beautiful hiking trail...
... that may have led all the way around the lake. We did n't get that far. We had already decided to spend some of our lake time actually on the lake, in one of the rentable row boats, and returned after an hour or so to the small shop and dining room to put down our money and pick up our life jackets. Then out across the smooth surface of the lake, myself plying the oars...
... whilst Ellie and George...
sat in the back and laughed at me. I was soon to get my turn, believe me. In the meantime, we broke out our lunch satchel in the middle of the lake, and drifted gently as we munched on left-over sandwiches. An idyllic spot. Here's the color of the water ...
... I promised to show you.
Anyway, there were Ellie and George enjoying the luxury of a free ride, whilst I labored.
But pride, we know, goeth before a fall. And sure enough, in a moment of delicious klutzery as we returned to land, Ellie got caught in the split between the boat and the dock, and slipped right in to the freezing water. I should have had the presence of mind, of course, to have brought out the camera to record her agonized efforts to haul herself back on the dock, but alas, ever the proper Englishman, I was too preoccupied with saving her life to get the pictures. I had to satisfy myself with the "after" picture, as she lay there panting, dripping lake water from every pore...
... and again, when we got back to the parking lot, toweling off beside the Prius. She'll be mad at me for posting these pictures of her Sunday afternoon adventure, but I thought you'd enjoy them as much as I did.
Have a great week. Back to The Buddha Diaries before you know it! We have another four days to get back to Los Angeles, and thence to Laguna Beach to check on progress at the cottage.
1 comment:
Even with the fall into the freezing waters, that does look like a lovely day of adventures. Oregon is so beautiful and green. Quite a lush place. I took my first college courses at the UofO in Eugene. I know the area well.
Hope the rest of the journey is as delightful, and of course drier for Ellie!
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