The Fish Hatchery by Dam

No this is definitely not a trout or salmon it really is a turkey at the Fish Hatchery at Oakridge, Oregon.



The ruffled grouse, however, sat peacefully posing for her picture.


The silver pheasant is a beautiful bird but hard to photograph because in both trips here he's hidden near the back of his cage.

There is also a hiking trail at the hatchery so I walked it to get some photographs. This shot reminded Scrabble Queen of "Green Mansions. " The movie was a romantic drama set in a Venezuelan jungle and based on a novel by W.H. Hudson about Rima (Audrey Hepburn), a mythical "bird-woman" and her love for Abel (Anthony Perkins), a man running from political assassination.

They say if you stand still too long in Oregon moss will grow on you, this fallen tree trunk is an example.

Joe enjoyed the short hike on the Hatchery trail.

Joline is a good observer taking in the variety of plants in this natural setting.

Still she also took some pictures as Joe followed along the trail.

And yes, they do have fish at the fish hatchery. In the fish hatchery proper, we strolled along pools wriggling steelhead fingerlings and with spring there will be Chinook salmon.


On the way home we stopped at Dexter Lake to see a covered bridge. I took some pictures of the Dexter Dam while the others toured the bridge. Dexter Lake is a popular recreation area offering year-round fishing, seasonal water skiing, sailing, swimming, picnicking and hunting. The area is also managed for wildlife habitat such as waterfowl, blacktail deer, upland game birds, wintering elk, bald eagles, osprey and many other species. Dexter Dam was completed in 1954 and provides flood control and has one generator, which produces 15,000 kilowatts.

The next morning Joe and Joline loaded up "Rita" and headed south to Winchester Bay and got to see the Umpqua Lighthouse at night filling the pine trees in the background with red and white light. We will truly miss them both.

Scrabble Score - Scrabble Queen 327 ~ The Contender 350

Quote of the Day ~

"Bear in mind that the children of life are the children of joy; that the lower animals are only unhappy when made so by man; that man alone of all the creatures, has "found out many inventions", the chief of which appears to be the art of making himself miserable, and of seeing all Nature stained with that dark and hateful colour." W. H. Hudson (1841 - 1922) was an author, naturalist and ornithologist.

A perfect day with J & J

The morning started with breakfast, a walk and a planning session. Joe and Joline checked the map to get an idea of the day trip Scrabble Queen had planned. They look pretty terrific and very much like native Oregonian in their new tie dyed shirts (Joline has one on under the sweater)

We took the Musemobile, otherwise known as the Forest City Flash.

We stopped at the Westfir Covered Bridge and our family/friends checked out the map at the visitors kiosk.

The J's walked across the bridge's pedestrian walkway and posed for a picture and Scrabble Queen snapped a few pictures.


Joe even did a solo pose.


Then I rumbled through the bridge in the Musemobile as Scrabble Queen backed up cautiously snapping away.

I think my "creative" technique is rubbing off on her with this great John Ford through the door/window framing effect image of the railroad trestle up river.


We left Westfir and headed to Salt Creek falls ready to walk the trail to the bottom of the falls.

Before we went down we went up these stone stairs next to the falls.


Looking back and leaning over the retaining wall I got a look at some daisies growing on the rock face above the falls.

I also took one with the forest in the background.


Looking back the falls looked magnificent with the Salt Creek flowing over them.


A rather sad sight on the trail was this tree bleeding sap because of an infestation of beetles.

There was another tree next to it that had already died - sad.


The trail was a little steep but didn't stop either Joline or...

...Joe. They are both great hikers and wore me out walking back uphill.


Joline stopped at an observation point to look back at the falls.


I caught a picture of some great blue - berries (not blueberries) with red stems - very colorful.


This log looked a lot like the Loch Ness Monster.

I guess someone dropped a raspberry on the side of the trail because I never found the bush.

I got this broken tree again (I got the same tree last time up here) I like the contrast with the falls in the background.

When we arrived at the top again Joline took a long look at the falls and the scenery.

The view up here is breathtaking.

This is a repeat of one of my favorite images of a rhododendron near the falls. This time it's not blooming but still looking awesome.

On the way back we stopped at the Fish Hatchery near Oakridge, Oregon. That section of the blog will be up sometime in the next few days.

Scrabble Score Scrabble Queen 312 - the Contender 324

Quote of the Day -

"Eugene is located in western Oregon, approximately 278 billion miles from anything." - Dave Barry

Dave Barry is a humor columnist. For 25 years he was a syndicated columnist whose work appeared in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and abroad. In 1988 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Many people are still trying to figure out how this happened.

Joe & Joline - wonderful friends in more ways than one

Ken Kesey was reading on the square in Eugene and Joe & Jo decided to listen.


Ken Kesey lived in Oregon (off and on) and wrote some great things

One of my favorite Kesey stories was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

The square where this memorial resides is colorful and very special.

We dropped into the Saturday market and just had to get the J's a tie dye shirt.

Of course this is Eugene Oregon so I glanced at the Cro-Magnon Croquet set

The ladies chatted over lunch and in front of the Honey Buckets.

Meanwhile Wayne Morse presided over "Free Speech Square" in front of the courthouse across from the market.

Finally before we left the market we saw Willie Nelson (not really) walking down the street.


Next we visited Supperputter where Jo (his first cousin) went through some old family pictures.

I think this was the most animated and attentive I've seen Superputter since he made the hole-in-one on my birthday last year.

We all had a great lunch with J&J&E you can tell from the smiles.

Finally it was time to go and the cousins hugged goodbye for now.


We saw on the map a some waterfalls up the road from Cottage Grove and went to see them. Scrabble Queen was all excited about this place because we had not been there before.

After a perilous trek down a muddy, steep, slippery trail we arrived at the falls.

They were all of 20 inches high but they were nice and Joe mentioned they were not "Tall Fall snobs" (great poetic play on words) and enjoyed the the adventure.



Next we played the "Sideways" game Oregon style and hit the tasting bar at King Estates.

They were also having a garlic festival in the great Oregon weather.

The festival was just down the hill but still on the King Estate Property.

I thought this Iron Eagle was great.

Of course I had to get a flower this one is a fuchsia

Scrabble Score - I'm not sure of the score but The Contender beat Scrabble Queen by five points.

Quote of the Day

"There must be amidst all the confusions of the hour a tried and undisturbed remnant of persons who will not become purveyors of coercion and violence, who are ready to stand alone, if it is necessary, for the way of peace and love among men." ~Rufus Jones 1940