Sunday, October 13, 2013

Tsunami Gallery between Florence and Reedsport

 Siuslaw River during an Autumn Salmon Run

 Tahkenitch Lake house
 Tahkenitch Lake From the Boat Ramp

 Lily Pads on Tahkenitch Lake

 Still a few Rhododendron Blooms at Tahkenitch Lake

 The Tsunami Gallery in Gardner, Oregon ...
 ... is a really must-see Gallery (and hopefully buy) notice the figure at the top of the gallery ...


 ... well here she is the creation of Mack Holman the gallery owner and ...

 ...bronze sculptor ...

 ... and a genuine Oregon artist.

 Mack said there are over 60 artists represented in the gallery ....

 ... and every piece I saw there was great from this Native American bust ...

 ... this Brook Trout...


 ... to this great Sea Otter with her pup.


 The gallery is bright and spacious  and the works are diverse...

 ... uplifting the spirits...

 ...reminding me of just how creative we humans are...

 ... and how much a passion for art can set me free.

 Closer to Reedsport we stopped near the Smith River from some pictures and found a Cormorant on a piece of wood...

 ... a wooden Railroad bridge...

 ... a man and his dog zipping along, scaring the Cormorant away...

 ... and a few geese honking along over the river.

 We drove over to Winchester Bay and back through Reedsport to the Dean Creek Elk Preserve and I caught a huge bull hanging out with his harem. Male elk have large antlers which are shed each year and this must be the right season.

Dean Creek Preserve lies next to the Umpqua River (our third river today) displaying New England Fall colors. It was a very good day reminding us of Columbus Day a big East Coast Holiday.


Quote of the Day ~ "I'm also interested in creating a lasting legacy for collectors because bronze will last for thousands of years so I'm not really selling the art to this particular collector but it is being passed on." ~ Richard MacDonald

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Highway 242 Sahalie Falls and Metolius River Area

 All of these images are from a one day drive and illustrates why I love Oregon. Part of the drive was to the Metolius River area on the western side of Sisters, Oregon. It is a beautiful forested area ...

... with one of the main features being fishing...

 ... in the Metolius River.

 It is a very colorful time of year ...

 ... with a beautiful clear river...

 ... a great fly fishing and otherwise general store at Camp Sherman...

 ... and a great bridge for taking pictures...

 ... from either ...
 ... side.

 The main reason for the trip was to drive The McKenzie Highway Oregon Route 242...

 The McKenzie Highway was added to the National Register of Historic Places in February, 2011

 It is a spectacular drive on a very narrow road that is only open a few months every year.

 You never know what the scenery will be from rock spires in a dense evergreen forest...

 ... to leaves of gold...

 ...and sometimes bright red, gold , yellow and green...

 ... or lava with a forest of both live trees and many long dead snags ...

... that hang around like witches...


 ... or point to the peaks of the Three Sisters.

 
Farther along we arrived at the Dee Wright Observatory...

 ... a tower built on a hill of lava and made from the lava rock.

 
 From the observatory you can see many of the mountains like Mount Jefferson part of the Cascade range rising from the lava field...

 ... or Mount Washington.
 Others seen from the observatory are Belknap, Black Butte, Three Fingers Jack and the Three Sisters and even the top of Mount Hood.

 You might even see a pretty yellow bird in this desolate looking area.

 The rock formations are unique and fascinating ...

 ... as are some of the folks we ran into on the drive like these two women cyclists who we met at three different spots on the drive and who are an inspiration to short ride people like Sharyn and I.

 We also stopped at Sahalie Falls a wonderful park on highway 126 where I for a picture of the falls ...

 ...and followed a trail west to get some pictures of the whitewater below the falls...

 ... and I do mean White Water..
 
... but oh so beautiful

There were also some nice looking (not eating) mushrooms.


 
 Now I can't talk because a couple of my pictures were taken from a precarious ledge but us tourists need to be careful and stay on the trail rather than the edge of a 50 foot drop at the top of the falls.

Quote of the Day ~ "nothing is a lost art, unless its a sunken statue...in a river of lava."





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