Salt Creek II

Watusi Woman is in town and it's good to see her smiling here with Superputter in front of our home.


We took a drive to salt Creek Falls - it was the subject of an earlier blog and a
favorite place to take guests who come to visit.


The falls are working overtime in the spring with all the runoff from the Cascade Range just East of here.



Last year I has a picture of a Rhododendron on the cliff above the falls this year its a new one I'll have to look up. They are very red small flowers and beautiful with the falls as a backdrop.


There again was a bright rainbow in the mist of the falls.


Salt creek below the falls verdant and beautiful.


Again the flowers and the falls.


Wild strawberry growing in the split of a stump.


Golden tree trunk just perfect - this is near the base of the falls


Taken from the trail that winds down to the bottom of the falls.


Another shot from the trail showing a fallen pine held suspended by the trunks of two other trees.


Another of my "world famous" railing shots.


The full length of the falls from halfway up the trail.


This is the Rhododendron I shot last year not quite blooming yet.



On the way back I had to stop for this coffee drive-through in Oakridge (Oregon not Tennessee) for The La Damme Soxx Esq.


Dexter Lake Dam looked huge as we passed it on the way home.


Finally I stopped for a picture of the Lowell Covered Bridge no longer used and sitting on Dexter Lake.

No Scrabble

Quote of the Day ~

"Fate loves the fearless." ~James Russell Lowell

James Russell Lowell graduated from Harvard University in 1838, after an undistinguished academic career. During his college course he wrote a number of trivial pieces for a college magazine, and shortly after graduating printed for private circulation the poem his class had asked him to write for their graduation festivities. He was a member of the Porcellian Club.

I looked up the Porcellian Club. This is what I found on Wikipedia:
The club's motto, Dum vivimus vivamus (while we live, let's live) is literally Epicurean. The club emblem is the pig, and some members sport golden pigs on watch-chains or neckties bearing pig's-head emblems.

The Porcellian is the iconic club, often bracketed with Yale's Skull and Bones. A history of Harvard calls the Porcellian "the most final [club] of them all,".

Also, an urban legends website mentions a belief that "if members of the Porcellian do not earn their first million before they turn 40, the club will give it to them."

Westfir again

We decided to get away for a couple of days and returned to one of our favorite spots, Caseys' Riverside RV Park in Westfir, Oregon.

Our site is perfect with a great unobstructed view of the Middle fork of the Willamette river and nestled between some great forest peaks.


The site is wooded but not overly so affording some great views of the woods all around.


They have set the park up with some nice things like this swing at the edge of the river that are perfect for a nice conversation or to just enjoy the sounds of the river.


This is the view from near the swing and I'm not sure you can tell but the river was moving very fast.


Along the banks you can see some interesting things like this blue ball...


...or an occasional fisherman ...


..or two...


...or five - mmm maybe the Steelhead are running.


There was a beautiful Lilac tree next to our RV so I took a closeup.

It's been a great restful weekend so far but a little rainy with a new front blowing so we didn't get out much. Our only disappointment was forgetting the corkscrew for our white wine (to make Chicken Piccata) so we had potted meat on toast (not a very good substitute).

Scrabble Score ~ Scrabble Queen 298 - The Contender 327

Quote of the Day -

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower 34th President of the United States and the last general to serve as president.

Art Education Day

Today was the Garden Party at Reed & Cross here in Eugene.


It was the 20th annual Garden and I felt honored to show my pictures at the event.


A very kind lady named Pam had invited me to bring my photographs to the event. When I arrived Jean (Sp) helped me set up. Being the novice that I am she was a wonderful help in making the display as attractive as possible.


I had one small rack to display the cards and she brought over a few baskets and helped me arrange the photos.



Since I didn't need to stay I called home and was reminded to go by Costco and pick up some home supplies. On the way I took a back road that runs next to the Eugene Country club. Next to the course I saw this Tulip of unusual color. It was not quite red or pink or purple but something in between.



The golf course as the Country Club was green and plush. I saw a report not long ago that says it's one of the very best golf courses in the State and highly rated nation-wide.


It is just a wonderfully beautiful sight.


One of my requests by Scrabble Queen was to go to a Rhododendron Show and look for one like the ones we saw at Seven Feathers on the trip to see The Artist Son in California. Well they didn't have quite the color but did have some beautiful examples of Rhody's


After getting back home Scrabble Queen and I went back to pick up the Cards and Pictures and I had my picture taken with the display. While there amongst all the beautiful floral and national Park images I'd taken I talked to another nice lady that worked in the store. She told me people liked the pictures and I'd even sold a few. I offered to give her one of the cards as a thank you for the nice compliment. She looked through all the pictures and of all the ones, she picked ...


The shot of the backdoor at Nifty Cleaners in Pittsfield, MA. I like it but I didn't think anyone else would - go figure.

Scrabble Score ~ Scrabble Queen 288 - The Contender 308 (Close game but the Queen had a really bad draw of tiles. I was lucky tonight)

Quote of the Day ~

Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. ~ Georgia O'Keefe Born 1887 Died 1993 after 106 years gracing this world.

Georgia O'Keeffe was an American original, living as she chose, painting what she wanted. It is said that her art is uniquely American, shining with a bright modernism and energy. The lyrical flowers, the New Mexico-inspired vistas of light and shape, the hard-edged, energetic urban landscapes all somehow could only have been painted by an American woman. O'Keeffe painted all her days, committed as always to what she loved: "Art is a wicked thing. It is what we are."

She has been a major inspiration in the composition of my photographs.

Highway 97 to Home

We arrived in Red Bluff, California after visiting Peter and a half day drive. All RV parks have speed limits very low for many reasons. One is the children that may be present and the second at the pets that may be on a walk but the very most important reason is all us old people (some really, really old) driving home sized vehicles on wheels. So the Red Bluff RV Park posted this sign.



The next morning we drove north but left Interstate 5 just north of Weed California and headed Northeast on Highway 97 toward Klamath Falls, Oregon. One nice thing about this rout is it's only 10 miles farther than taking I5 but also it provides a great view south to Mt. Shasta.

Scrabble Queen took this out of the Musemobile at 55 mph, it's the picture I always wanted to take of Shasta but never had the chance.


Just after getting on 97 we came across the "Living Memorial Sculpture Garden & Labyrinth." What a mouthful but it was a nice surprise.

The Living Memorial Sculpture Garden, created by Vietnam veteran and sculpture artist, Dennis Smith, was dedicated as a war memorial, but the metal sculptures evoke a powerful sense of striving for peace. Somber, haunting and spiritual, the site has a surreal beauty. Fifty-eight thousand pines, a living memorial to the 58,000 American dead in Vietnam, also grace the site. Although it is dedicated to veterans of all conflicts, the site has been developed as a "park for everyone".

This sculpture is called the "Peaceful Warrior" and stands at the entrance of the road into the Memorial Garden.


Inside they have constructed a memorial wall much like the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.


At the top of the memorial are metal sculptures of helicopters and their crews. Yes, that is Mt. Shasta in the background.


The sculptures were fascinating and there was more there that we didn't have time to go see but I'm sure next trip we will spend more time there.



Grass Lake in California is a great picture spot and I have more pictures not in the blog. I got this picture of some of the photographers and birdwatchers on a field trip to the lake.

This must me a shallow lake because grass can be seen from one end to the other.


To give you perspective on Grass Lake this is a picture I found on the web taken by David Johnson, September 2003


... And this is mine taken April 29, 2007. The blue is water *lol* and the white, believe it or not is the tops of the grass. We were there at the perfect time and it's impossible to give you any idea of how beautiful this spot is this time of year.


Just before entering Oregon we passed through the town of Dorris, CA where highways 97 zigged then zagged several times. On one of the zigs we passed this little coffee drive through with a great name. Ms. Red Sox this is for you and will make a great addition to my collection of "Espressonist Art." Knowing also the Mattman is a Moody Blues fan - Matt this Brews for you 020202.



No Jim those aren't real trout just part of the sculpture at the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino on highway 97. The Casino is part of the commerce of the Klamath Tribes/

The Klamath Tribes are serious about achieving economic self- sufficiency which means controlling our own destinies. With characteristic energy, determination and vision, and a commitment to the larger community, the Tribes have created a modern corporate identity and an efficient Tribal organization. At present, with current enrolled membership around 3,500, the Klamath Tribes contribute about $25 million per annum to Klamath County's economy in the form of payroll, direct expenses and goods and services. The Klamath Tribes Mission Statement gives clear direction to tribal government and its organization:

"The mission of the Klamath Tribes is to protect, preserve, and enhance the spiritual, cultural,and physical values and resources of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Peoples, by maintaining the customs and heritage of our ancestors. To establish a comprehensive unity by fostering the enhancement of spiritual and cultural values through a government whose function is to protect the human and cultural resources,treaty rights, and to provide for the development and delivery of social and economic opportunities for our People through effective leadership."

No Scrabble

Quote of the Day ~

"I am but one man. I am the voice of my people. Whatever their hearts are, that I talk. I want no more war. I want to be a man."~ Kintpuash (Captain Jack) of the Modocs

Captain Jack (Kintpuash) was played in the 1954 movie "Drum Beat" by Charles Bronson in one of his early roles. "Drum Beat" starred Alan Ladd which was filmed 1 year and 5 movies after his great performance in "Shane" one of the movies that made me love the West.