Explorations in Oregon.
On February 27, I left San Diego on what turned out to be a 16,000 mile tour of western North America that lasted 7½ months. I began with a slow crawl north up the Pacific Coast, with my first stop in San Luis Obispo, and followed it to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. During the … Read more
Having spent Monday night at the Narrows RV Park near Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, I was ready to begin closing the gap to see my good friends in Payette Idaho. They served breakfast at the RV park, and I took advantage of their grub before saying goodbye to Malheur. There is a lonely Juniper tree … Read more
The clear blue skies I enjoyed in Burns Oregon on Saturday and Sunday degraded to a gloomy gray on Monday. Still, the gloom was not so deep as to dampen the enjoyment during my tour of the Visitor Center at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. I told myself after my last visit to Malheur that I … Read more
Someone kindly pointed out that the Scrub-Jay in this post is a California, not a Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay. I will make corrections to the gallery at my next opportunity. My decision to visit the Malheur area required a long drive from Joseph to Burns that took me six hours of drive-time. I think there were five … Read more
It was a long drive Thursday to reach the north face of the Wallowa Mountains from Richland Washington. It rained much of the night in Joseph Oregon, where I slept in the RV, and by morning the mercury fell to 27°F. The combination added up to an ice-scraping session before I could navigate. The cafe … Read more
Monday night I plotted a course north that included breakfast in Pacific City, perhaps the smallest of towns I’ve stopped at on this trip. The cafe, called the Village Coffee Shoppe, was so small and intimate; I felt I was in someone’s home, enjoying a meal with family. Yesterday and last night I worked on … Read more
I arrived Saturday in Newport, and spent most of the day catching up with my blogging tasks, but after spending the night north of town, I wanted to see what birding treasures I might find in the area. In keeping with my “south-jetty fetish”, I drove to the South Yaquina Bay Jetty on the southern … Read more
Friday night, after driving from Reedsport, I parked south of Waldport at a roadside pullout. I visited several places along the way, including the jetties at the Umpqua River Mouth. South jetties have become a favored destination for me here in Oregon. I’ve been finding interesting subjects while visiting these locations. Sometimes they feature seagoing … Read more
I spent Thursday night at the roadside on US-101, just south of the Umpqua River Lighthouse. I wasn’t out of fresh water, but I was getting low. My blackwater holding tank wasn’t full, but it had been about 10 days since I drained it. While parked last night, I learned the State Park I passed … Read more
The “Check Engine” light on the RV came on yesterday, so I needed to look into it. There is a Dodge dealer in Coos Bay, but I stopped at a nearby Autozone after breakfast to get them to read the code so I could decide about how to proceed. The result was “low battery voltage”. … Read more
