July 2018 Oregon

I drove to Portland, OR from Bremerton and stayed 3 nights there.  I did some exploring around Portland and then drove to Grants Pass, OR for a week.  From there, I visited Crater Lake National Park, Crescent City, CA, and played golf.  Portland is an interesting city with great public transportation.  I visited Powell’s Book Store, the largest new/used book store in the US.  It covers an entire city block and is quite amazing.

Pioneer Square - in the center of the city - lots of community events here

Washington Park – a beautiful large park in the city with a Redwood grove, an International rose garden, and a Japanese garden (I did not go to the Japanese garden).

Rose Garden in Washington Park

Columbia River Gorge - I drove to Cascade Locks - just east of Portland

Oregon Coast - on way (slightly out of the way!) to Grants Pass from Portland

Herd of Roosevelt Elk on drive south through Oregon - Elk viewing area

In southern Oregon (I was in Grants Pass) there were several wildfires in the region.  The air was very smoky and unhealthy the entire time I was there.  Unfortunately, the area around Crater Lake (about 80 miles northeast of Grants Pass) was also very smoky and hazy.  The views of Crater Lake were not good but I went anyway and took some pictures.  Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US (1,953 ft. at its deepest).  It is also some of the purest water in the world, since it is not fed and does not feed any rivers or streams.  Crater Lake is in one of the snowiest ares of the US (over 44 ft. of snow per year).  This snowfall and the melting of the snow over hundreds of years has filled the crater left by a volcono that blew off the top of a mountain over 7,000 years ago.  Native indians that survived the eruption at the time have passed on stories about it through their descendants. 

Discovery Point trail (along the rim of Crater Lake)

Grants Pass

Back to the fifties car show - stumbled on in downtown area while on a walk.

Bears (all over the downtown area)

I played golf at Stone Ridge golf course in Eagle Point, OR.  It was a decent course that is currently for sale so the owner has let it deteriorate.  The greens are still in good shape and I only paid $15 to walk 18 holes – not too bad.  I saw a mule deer and some wild turkeys on the course.  A good day.

Next, I am off to Carson City, NV.