Friday, April 06, 2007

Logs and Trees

Within 6 miles of the town of Cottage Grove there are 7 covered bridges. We saw four of them.

So..............you think you're havin' a BAD day!!!!!

The beaches are magnificent with miles of dunes (Lots of dune buggies though)

An Oregon lighthouse through the perpetual sea spray


If the logging truck is not the state symbol of Oregon, it should be. They’re everywhere!!! Nevertheless, there are still plenty of trees. We have been fortunate to have been following Spring northward for the past several weeks. Everywhere we travel shrubs and trees are in bloom, wildflowers cover the ground and, the countryside is enveloped in that superb “spring green” colour. The drive through northern California into Oregon was beautiful, with parts of California reminiscent of Switzerland……. rolling green mountains populated with herds of grazing cattle and sheep as well as a remote individual farm here and there. No corporate farming here.

Oregon is big and “all outdoors”. The rural countryside is a world apart from big cities. Mountains, trees and…….. a good workout if you’re driving a 34,000 pound block up and down and around the mountain highways. Going up is easy (slow maybe) …….. coming down is the trick. I sure am glad I took that air-brake course. The engine brake is getting a good workout as we happily pass the many truck runaway lanes that seem to be spaced every 5 or 6 miles. I can now easily distinguish between a 5% grade, a 6% grade or a 7% grade. An 8% grade earns a martini after the descent!!!!

Today we crossed over to the coast at Winchester Bay. We were told not to miss the Oregon Coast and, we were not misled. Rugged beauty, forty miles of sand dunes that stretch a mile back from the water, blazing Rhododendrons, sea lion caves, and sea-food, sea-food. A great pick for Easter weekend

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