Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Oregon Vacation

Not much sewing has been happening around here lately. In fact, none at all for over a week. Why? Because my husband and I were vacationing in Oregon. We live in Missouri so there was lots of new and different sights to see and things to do there.
Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach OR, 8/19/17

We spent a couple days at Cannon Beach and were there on eclipse day. The totality there was 98.4% and we got lucky, no fog where we were.
Tide Pool, Cannon Beach, 8/19/17

The Yachats area was one of our favorite parts of the trip. We played around on the rocks and poked in the tide pools at Cape Perpetua. 
Cape Perpetua, near Yachats, 8/22/17

Tide Pool with Starfish, Cape Perpetua, 8/22/17
There were no starfish at Cannon Beach; they've experienced a 95% die-off there.  It was a relief to see some starfish at Cape Perpetua to know that they're not all gone everywhere. 

Heceta Head Light House, 8/23/17
We visited Heceta Head light house but due to maintenance issues the tower is closed to visitors. Volunteers give a short talk about the history of the light house and the lifestyle of the keepers, and answer visitors' questions. It's still an operational light, now fully electrified and automated. 

Crater Lake, 8/24/17
Although seeing Crater Lake was supposed to be the highlight of our trip, smoke from the nearby wildfires prevented us from actually seeing the lake. The camera captured more in this photo than we could actually see. Everywhere we went in central Oregon there were firefighters, some from as far away as Flagstaff. 

McMenamins Old St. Francis School Hotel, Bend OR 8/24/17
In Bend we stayed at McMenamins Old St. Francis School Hotel, which has several secret rooms and hidden passages.  McMenamins properties are unique, very cool, and filled with offbeat artwork. This secret space has metal sculpture, metal and blown-glass ornaments, and decorative painting, including glow-in-the-dark. 

Near Bend is Newberry Volcanic National Monument, which has a lava tube cave you can walk in, almost a mile deep, and huge surface lava flows which include obsidian and pumice rocks.
Lava Tube Cave, 8/25/17

Obsidian Lava Flow at Newberry Volcanic National Monument, 8/25/17

Of course we had to stop in Sisters, but I was too interested in shopping at The Stitchin' Post to take pictures. More about that in another post. 

We wrapped up our trip with a stay at McMenamins Edgefield, near Portland, where we enjoyed the wine tasting and later a lovely dinner in the gardens. 
Winery, McMenamins Edgefield, 8/26/17

Now that I'm home I'm looking forward to getting back in the sewing room. But laundry and neglected household stuff has to come first. Meanwhile, I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts. 










5 comments:

  1. What a fun trip! Sorry about the smoke - but man those fires are so devastating - glad you got away for a fun trip

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  2. That sounds like a wonderful vacation, Jan! I'm glad you got a view of the eclipse and I hope settling in back at home goes smoothly.

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  3. What a fun trip! I used to live outside Portland and going to the coast was an hour drive and we went quite a bit. I haven't been for many years, having moved about 9 hours inland. Last time I was at Cannon Beach there were starfish galore. That is terrible about they dying out. So sad about Crater Lake, it's spectacular!

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  4. Wow!! You got some AMAZING photos!! Looks like you had a great time (and a MUCH better time than what I originally envisioned when I read that you were) vacationing in Oregon.

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  5. Oregon is such a fun and pretty place to visit. We've not been there since the SIT was in grade school. Sorry you didn't get to really see Crater Lake, it really is gorgeous. We checked out the lava caves in Bend too. Those are really neat, but a little freaky when all they give you is a lantern to light your way. Hope you had a blast.

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