Walking the Hendricks and taking in the 5th

Hendricks Park is located just southeast of downtown Eugene and directly south of the University of Oregon and within Hendricks Park is the Rhododendron Garden. The garden is an easy walk and one of the most easily seen display of flowers and trees around.

The pathways are designed so you may either take a longish hilly walk or a rather short and flat stroll. Sharyn and Doreen are really enjoying the view.


There are many bright colors in the garden and this day mostly white rodies were blooming but a preview of next few weeks shows other colors.


I loved the mixture of pink and apricot in these blooms.


It's hard to show the size of some of the Rhododendrons but this may give you some idea.


I know Doreen doesn't like having her picture taken but she did stop and let me take this great picture today.


I used my macro lens for a few shots.


For other shots it wasn't necessary.

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For some I had to take a few steps back to get as much as possible in the picture.


Some I almost had to leave the garden.


It was a fun time.


The volunteers are the real heros in creating this place of beauty....


...and color...........


...and wonderful whimsy........

.... and majestic views.


Small wonders never cease if you just look around...


... and envision a garden where life can be renewed


Oh Doreen and I differed on whether the fast moving bird was a black bird or a Steller Jay --- and I see a lot of blue on the wings.


Next we went to the Fifth Street Market for lunch...


...and speaking of Hendricks Park it was where Steve Prefontaine (know as "Pre") used to run for his training and practice. Pre is a hero in Oregon and very much in Eugene as you can see by the picture on this wall at 5th Street Market.


I like that the stores "Make Your Bed" and "French Quarter" were next to each other.


They were just below the Cotton Mill.....


The market even looked a bit like the French Quarter in this view. All in all it was a very food day.



Quote of the Day

"New Orleans is a siren of a city. A place of fables and illusion. A place Lorraine had to escape from and Bobby and I had to escape to. Away from Alabama, away from lives that no longer belong to us. " ~ from "A Love Song for Bobby Long" Ronald Everett Capps (novel) Shainee Gabel (screenplay)

Fly Fishing, Starfish and The Garden

Yesterday we went to Reedsport, Winchester, Sunset Bay, Shore Acres Botanical Gardens and finally The Plank House Restaurant of the Mill Casino in Coos Bay/North Bend.

Just out of Reedsport is the Roosevelt Elk Preserve where we caught the young lady lazing under a tree.


Jim and I played dueling cameras most of the day.


Well we played dueling cameras until water appeared at which point Jim played "A River Runs Through It" for real. It is quite a view to see a fly fisherman who can work magic with a stick and a long (50-60 feet) fly fishing line.


It's also a thing of beauty.


The amazing thing is the distance each cast in a decent wind. Just look at the line fly.


Along the shore of Lake Marie where Jim fished was this delicate Oregon Dogwood flower.


There were also these two delicate flowers on the shore.


We left Lake Marie near Winchester Bay for Sunset bay and a really low tide where I found this starfish waiting for the water.


Low tide exposed these ancient roots of a long gone tree. The roots were easily 20 feet from one end to the other and there were about 10 of these old trees languishing much of the time below the bay.


Just up the road was Shore Acres Botanical Gardens with this beautiful Japanese Garden. Remember to see a larger version of the pictures just click anywhere on the picture.


I especially liked the reflection of the Herons on the pond.


The entrance to the Gardens is always a wonderful way to enter this botanical paradise.


The shoreline next to the gardens is spectacular.


My two "creative" pictures of the day was a close up of the surface of a fountain at the gardens and.....


... an old mill pier at the Mill Casino in the Coos Bay/North Bend area. We ate dinner at the casino before a late drive home and it was great. To top off the day on our way out Doreen won $0.71 on her way out of the casino.


No scrabble - way too busy.

Quote of the Day ~

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~ Ben Franklin, Statesman, Publisher, Inventor and I am sure much more.

Great company, wine cheese and bread

It was a typical spring day in Oregon. It was raining hard, overcast, high winds and near freezing. I hope the opening lines scared away all the NOregonians (yes a Noregonian is anyone not living in Oregon) because it was a drop dead great day today in the 70's and not a cloud in the sky.

I do want to thank Andrew for planning the day and where we went it was a very special day. Thank you son.

While Andrew and his friend Brook(e) shot some pictures I did the same as we all looked up the hill to the King Estates Winery including Doreen after donning her shades.


So this is what we saw.


The vineyards reminded me of the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" and the beautiful scenes of the Tuscany landscape. The vineyards we very impressive and great to just see the grapevines growing.


I can't imagine how it would feel having this for a view every day.


We went to the wine tasting room for a sit-down snack of cheese, meats and bread with some olives and olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar for dipping and the purpose was to taste the wines. I'm not much of a wine drinker but the ones I tasted were ok especially the sweet desert wine. The area was very simply laid out with rich leather and dark wood.


Then we took the tour. I couldn't believe the size of the containers used to process the grapes.


Or the ornate cask room,


With small.......


And very large casks neatly placed around the room.


I liked processing vat #111 it looked a bit like a Titan Missile


Finally we were out the door.


Here is a view of one of the buildings on the estate.


Then there was this dog biting an old guy also leaving the winery. Not really it was his dog and the lady is his wife.


Then we went back to Eugene for a late lunch - early dinner at a restaurant on the north bank of the Willamette River near downtown Eugene.


My only picture in the restraunt was of the ceiling fan but the food was good.


In the parking lot there was a car with a couple of great stickers on it. This one and ....


....this one.


Next we went to Skinner Butte which overlooks the city for a fantastic views of Eugene and the surrounding area like this one of the city center.


and this one of the University of Oregon's, Autzen Stadium.


But my favorite view was the one of Jim and Doreen (pictured earlier) we couldn't ask for better friends. We DO miss you Michelle wish you were here. I know it's difficult to see all of our extended family and I do miss the time seeing Bryan and his sweet family and I wish we could have spent more time getting to know Jason and his family now that he isn't the little boy I showed how to kill snails with salt. We do think of you all.


No Scrabble

Quote of the Day ~

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money. ~Cree Indian Proverb