Earth Day Weekend!

Saturday afternoon, Judd and I went on a mini-wine tour 20 min up the road to the Applegate Valley. We started at Cowhorn, one we missed when we camped last summer. It came highly recommended by 2 people I know. It is all fully organic-biodynamic everything and the construction has some virtuous carbon footprint and the wine is 4 times more expensive than anywhere we've been. Most flights are $5--we've balked at a couple that are $10.  I bet Judd this one was going to be $12.  When we got to the bill, it was $15..... EACH,  for only 4 tastes!  (although generously proportioned.) We proceeded 5 minutes down the hill to Longsword Vineyard:  $5 flights, friendlier, sat outside with the two local dogs, chicken noises in the background and watched the paragliders land.  A much better experience. 

On our way to a Sunday hike today, taking a short cut, we came across a road to WoodRat Mountain. It is a  3mile narrow, gravel road up a ridge where it turns out the paraglider pilots launch. In every direction there are still snow capped mountains and below is the lush, vibrant valley with a patchwork quilt of vineyards and cow pastures.  We were able to spot the very vineyard where we were yesterday, quite a steep incline to sail down in only a parachute.






Sterling Mine Ditch Trail is just 22 minutes from us. Someone told us about it our first month here and we hadn't been there yet.  The ditch is a 26.5 mile long man-made ditch, 4 feet deep and 4 feet wide that runs along the ridge of Anderson Butte. In 1877, it was dug by up to 400 workers, mostly Chinese back in the day, to carry water from the Little Applegate River to the Sterling Creek mine for hydraulic mining when simply panning for gold was too inefficient.  Blasting hundreds of yards of rock and soil a day which slid down into the river certainly changed the landscape and animal habitats not to mention the destruction of traditional homelands to the Dakubetede indigenous people. Judd the engineer just kept saying, "this is amazing," marveling at the engineering feat and the amount of physical labor it must have taken to move that much dirt. "And when did they decide to stop digging for gold here and start there?" "What is the declination of the ditch  that allowed the water to continue to flow but end up with enough force at the end to run a hydraulic mine?"   I DON"T KNOW JUDD--I DON'T DO MATH IN MY HEAD.  


https://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/brochures/SMDT_Map.pdf

The day was perfect for hiking:  sunny, not too cold or too hot. The well kept trail was bordered with buttercups and little purple flowers. We finally saw a Gentner's fritillary, tiny red flower named right in Jacksonville (see their blog below.)  Bugs were buzzing but not biting.  We'd brought a lunch to eat at the top of Bear Creek before descending to our car. We did have to pass a vineyard on our 20 min drive  home and had never visited Valley View.  Their vines were chunkier and thicker than we'd seen and it turns out it is because of their age.  Very tasty and economical wines. If you purchase a few bottles, the flight-tasting cost is waived.  We're smart shoppers. 










http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/shared/Documents/Publications/PlantConservation/FritillariaGentneriProfile.pdf
"Did you know? This unusual fritillary was first noticed in a flower arrangement by Jacksonville resident Katherine Gentner in the early 1940’s. Katherine’s father, an entomologist at the Southern Oregon Experiment Station, recognized the uniqueness of this beautiful wildflower, and sent a specimen to his friend and associate, Oregon State University botanist Helen Gilkey. Dr. Gilkey subsequently published the description of this new species in the scientific journal Madroño, naming the plant after the Gentner family. Jacksonville’s continuing fondness for Gentner’s fritillary is exemplified by the city’s annual Fritillary Festival, held in late March and early April. "

located Judd's phone

 FOREShadowing: Judd and I left at the same time Thursday morning, me for Roseburg, Judd for Washington.  

                                  FACTOID:                                                                                                  WW: 18"rain/10"snow                                             Jacksonville: 25" rain/5" snow

China: 46"rain/ 78" snow

Roseburg, OR: 37"rain/ 1" snow

                                                        

 It's Celebrate Lab Week so I'm plating some cookies like agar.  (Ryley will understand it. He's in the Lab Technician program at UMO.)  I put some earth and sea life on the others for Kelcy who is applying to Maine Maritime Academy. Will throw in some cowboy cookies and some of the local famous Taylor's beef jerky. I busied my night alone watching Jimmy-Fallon-Trevor-Noah-catch-up by making a "college care package for the boys" who are actually men and, although studying, are not totally at college. They happen to be mostly rooming together at the China homestead (or as Judd and I like to think of it, they are "caretakers of the estate.")

Whale "watching" vs. Whale "seeing"

Here's what we saw the day we went whale watching:

Big rhododendrons at Shore Acres Botanical Gardens

tulips and azaleas 

Looks like a horsetail but I swear someone spray painted them

monkey puzzle tree

Tony's Crab Shack had one Maine lobster in the tank

Gorse bush ALL OVER THE PLACE

Art made from sea trash

Face Rock on a rainy Sunday morning

A cavalcade of pics (do people still say 'cavalcade'?)

 

I had heard from a colleague at work that it was the last weekend to see the spring whale migrations north from Baja to the Bering Straits. In the spring the grey whales swim closer to shore and can be seen from land.  We spontaneously decided to head to the coast for the weekend.  We had not yet been to Oregon's southern most beaches because last summer the forest between here and there was one of the worst wildfires (the Chetco fires) in the state, burning for weeks. The shortest (only?) route takes you into California (back to the State Park with the Redwoods) and then north along the Oregon coast to Brookings.  We had big deja vu arriving in the Redwoods about dark. This time we weren't lost.

We heard whales would be easier to spot in the morning light with the sun at our backs.  We went out about 8:00, armed with a friend's binoculars and a thermos cup of coffee. It was clear and sunny until we started heading north. We had to take a time out as I was getting hangry so we doubled back a bit to a recommended pancake house.  But in the same parking lot we saw a sign at Asana Grill for $6 breakfast specials:  two eggs, two bacon, two pancakes.  The pancakes were the size of your head.  We saved some for elevensies. The "clinic" next door sported a green cross rather than a red cross. THAT's why it was named "high" tide. (dumb me thought it was due to the proximity to the ocean.)

Not sighting any spouts or whale tails, we headed further north.  In Port Orford's visitor center the docents laughed about a story of new whale watchers who returned, in a torrential rain, stating they had sighted 37 whales. They were very happy out-of-towners and no one corrected them that the white splashes they had seen were surely white caps from the weather.  Everyone remained happy.  The dudes did give us a hot tip about Shore Acres State Park up by Coos Bay. We decided we could stay in Bandon over night so continued north for the promise of whales. We kept turning out at every scenic point and kept being impressed with the variety of the coast geology, miles of sandy beaches or elevations of crags and rocks the size of a house. Yellow everywhere and it turned out to be gorse bush but must be a different variety than we'd seen in Scotland. 

anenomes in the tide pools

How to turn National Beer Day into Beer Week

We had SO many leftovers last weekend that we postponed the beer-can-in-the-chicken butt recipe until mid week.  Here's the proud chef extricating the can from the cavity. The chicken was moist and tender and did not reek of stale beer.  It was very tasty.  This weekend we went to the coast for whale watching and Judd got a hot tip from the inn keeper that the brew master at Bandon Brewery was "cracking a new keg open" that evening.  That's where we started and Judd said the One Eyed Jack was a great IPA.  Unfortunately, it's not sold in any stores (and Bandon is a 3 hour drive from our house.)  This prompted Judd to spontaneously take home a growler.

It's Pear Blossom Week in Medford and I drive by an orchard every day on my way home.  The scraggly weird trees have been barren all winter and it seemed almost overnight that they popped with blooms. Table Rock is in the distance.

More about whale watching soon.

What did YOU do for National Beer Day?

April 7 - National Beer Day

Oberon's (picture is theirs not mine)

We heard it was going to be rainy-snowing in the mountains and decided NOT to drive to Weed and Mt. Shasta and Klamath Falls.  Instead, we decided to cook for each other. In searching the internet for what themed foods we could focus on, I discovered that every April 7th is National Beer Day!  We picked it for our culinary creativity rather than the April 7th International Beaver Day. (That website is more about conservation than dining.) www.beaversww.org/about-us/international-beaver-day/ We started dredging up recipes which included beer. We also researched good brew pubs. When I write the day's activities with right margin below, it almost looks like a poem.

2Hawks vineyard

Boom Town billiards

J'Ville Tavern - site of husband day care

morning walk in the rain

ducked into corner shop "45" for coffee

library -pick up The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

to Goodwill,  search  for crock pot and spring dresses

hot soak at Wellspring natural alkaline baths; popcorn clouds overhead

Caldera in Ashland, 24 brews on tap - TOO crowded and only one waitress; we left

Oberon - real juniper berries/grapefruit and rosemary cocktail for me; new IPA for Judd

had to explain to waitress that Oberon was King of the Fairies in Midsummer Night's Dream

a second visit to 2Hawks - winery with 2 brews on tap (sometimes 4) - play Heads' UP

home on the deckfor happy hour (beer and wine) Judd's homemade pico de mango gallo 

 brown the brats and soak them in beer and sauerkraut-leave to simmer x 4 hours

walk down town, bypass South Stage Winery  already crowded and music-y

Boom Town Bar for beer and a game of pool while the band sets up

J'ville Tavern for beer, Judd makes friends with 3 young budmasters

I give the barmaid $5 and ask for 4 dollar bills and 4 quarters

J'Ville collects dollars thrown (and stuck) to the ceiling 

Judd and 3 friends have success

Not one bar or restaurant today was giving out free beer, nor knew of their special day.

Come on Oregon, we can do better!

Judd and his bud friends shooting dollars to the ceilingCome on Oregon, 

We survived the Oregon VORTEX

The duck and turkeys woke us up but we slept in late until 7am anyway. We breakfasted on amazing pastries from the local cafe. Departing Elkton in slight drizzle, we arrived at Abacela for their opening. It's  a winery situated on a fault line so that it had different geology on different hills on which to grow a variety of grapes.  We were the only ones at the tasting room and got a private tasting and plenty of snacks which I'm sure were set out for the after church crowds. They had a mileage post of how many miles to France or Portugal or Spain where original grapes were grown. 

It was a short hour drive to the OReGon VoRTeX, just a half hour from our house in Jacksonville. It is advertised as a paranormal phenomena.  We were amazed for over an hour.  Really! balls appeared to roll uphill. People (including Judd and myself) appeared to shrink just by trading places.  Check the youtubes....we weren't allowed to take videos and the still photos don't do it justice. 

The House of Mystery has been mentioned on X-Files in the episode "Rush" and on Supernatural in the episode "Mystery Spot."

In the gift shop, the tour guide showed us pictures of other anomalies: photos where strange lights and colors appeared in people's photos. When asked, whom in the crowd knew the speed of light, only two respondents shouted out "186,000 miles per second."  Me, and one other science geek.  We earned ourselves  Smarties. I shared mine with Judd but was self-conscious that the little kid on her dad's shoulders saw me eating candy that she wasn't.  We did not feel the need to purchase souvenirs, but considered ourselves lucky to escape without shrinking. We were home on our Jacksonville porch in the sun for dinner.

You won't believe it.  Just come and see for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPHR2FAiVos

http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2012/06/fact_or_faked_paranormal_files.html

Touring the Umpqua Valley

FRI
Judd dropped me at work so we could leave right from White City. He picked me up at the VA with the car packed for any eventuality of the weekend: wineries, hot springs, mountains, coast.  We ate home made chicken (and green bean) tamales, á la Judd, in the car as someone missed the rest stop and was getting hangry. (I was. I'm so glad that's now a real word in the dictionary.)We arrived in Elkton in the still-daylight about 7pm. (We had done the windy road drive (rhymes with wine-  not win) in the fall (in the dark) and did not realize the windy road parallels the Umpqua River: beautiful vistas and rolling green hills dotted with sheep and cows.
We found the River Inn  (a B &B) across the street from the Umpqua River on  a websearch of places to stay in Elkton. The website was wildly colorful and font-filled but not obvious how to make a reservation.  Judd ended up calling Margaret who was very accommodating and helpful. She wasn't going to be around so she just told us the key code for the door. We got in without a hitch--thank goodness for headlamps. It's hard to key in your code in the dark.  A BIG DUCK greets you outside and a very loud whine-meow greets you indoors (I never actually saw the cat.) 

We finished our tamale dinner  and Judd-made salsa on the deck at sunset. The B&B is tight:  8 rooms but obviously newly renovated.  Spacious bathroom (separate from toilet rooms) with lights  that go on when you enter and time out after you leave; toilet extra high (so you barely need to genuflect to lower yourself -- ideal for the arthritically challenged).  We've camped in places with constant traffic sounds--this place had lovely constant running-water sound from the river across the street.

We walked the 1.5 blocks to "town": a bar, a deli, a pizza oven, a pastry cafe, a winery and a post office. It took us about 10 min to walk back from "town" and 20 min to figure out the wi-fi had no password and was free to all. We watched a movie from the VHS library once Judd rewired the VHS machine to the hang-off-the-wall TV.  Zorro 2 was pretty good but the boot-legged copy still had all the 2005-06 commercials, over and over, and that meant the VHS couldn't hold the last 8 minutes of epic movie climax/ending.   We went to bed wondering if Antonio Banderas' son ever learns that his daddy is Zorro.    He would have been so 
proud.  : ( 

Saturday

Breakfast at Tomaselli's "in town" and a 40 min drive to the coast. We googled nearby hikes and it was between the Gold and Silver Falls or the Tahkenitch Loop.  We chose the loop.  It was billed as a 2 mile hike from forest to dunes to beach "more difficult"  OR a 3 mile hike from forest to dunes to beach "more difficult"  OR, a 6 mile loop with a 1 mile beach walk connecting the previous two. We chose the loop wondering if they were both "more difficult" then what was "easy" or "most difficult."   Pretty randomly, we chose the 2 mile hike in, a beach walk and the 3 mile hike out.  HOWEVER, once over (i.e. up AND down) walking in fine white sand, and through the beach grass, we found the beach walk is not labeled.  It was a sunny, bright beach with next to not a soul in sight.  (We passed a family of 4 in knee high rubber boots going toward the creek trail and over took 3 people and a dog, THEN not a soul in sight.)  On the beach, the wind had done creative sculpting so that every broken sand dollar or pebble or piece of wood had a sand-shadow behind it.  Judd took some artistic, lie-on-your-belly shots. Judd freed a still live crab back to the ocean but we continued walking swiftly away so we wouldn't see a seagull come eviscerate it while still kicking. 

 We feel quite smug that we've chosen to walk the beach mile toward the south as the wind is behind our backs, nudging us along.  We lunch on our carrot and celery sticks and 90% dark chocolate while sitting on a big dry drift log.  We start to estimate how long a mile could take to walk. I start looking for our egress in what I think is a mile of beach walking. Judd says, 'it's always farther than you think,' so we keep walking and then we see a pretty-in-the-distance sign We think we'll go  find guidance.  I periodically check my phone for "locate my phone" and I state I think my phone has walked well past where the lake should be over the dunes. Finally, we decide we must have overshot the trail and we head back north on the beach INTO the wind (for, what I again think is, over a mile.) We scan the beach grass for footprints which might signal someone has come or gone inland and, yes, Judd spys it.  We figure we only went 2-3 miles out of our way.  And now, the 3 mile hike out, back up and over the dunes, through the primordial forest of huge ferns and tall, straight Douglas firs. When we have cell service, we get pics of Malindi and Kelcy, et al. skiing at Sugarloaf.

We decide turning a 6 miles loop into a nine mile loop gets us a free trip to seafood dinner on the ocean.  We drive around the peninsula from Reedsport and find Griff's on the Bay. Judd has the best scallops he's ever eaten (and he's from Maine!) and I have the Crab Louie. Somehow this feast at 4 pm post-hike counts as lunch, so we still manage to go for brick oven pizza "in town" for a late 7pm dinner.  We're the only ones in the place but Joshua fires up the oven, throws the pie in the sky for us and pours a bottle of Oregonian wine we can carry home.  Elkton, albeit tiny, has big hospitality.  

VHS for the night: French Kiss (both our favorites: Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline, 1995)

And I don't even have time to tell you about Sunday's festivities yet.......