Sunday, October 07, 2007

Home again

Don’t you hate coming home from vacation and there’s no food in the house?
After getting in late on Saturday night, I got up Sunday morning and all I could find was potato chips and ice cream for breakfast. Then it took me approximately a week to unpack (not quite true, the suitcase is still on my bedroom floor) and to catch up on emails and projects at work. But we had a good time in Oregon and saw many strange things. The first was this dinosaur. I think it’s a weeping spruce.
We went slogging through a forest to see a waterfall. The trail was slippery and wet but you can see no one paid attention. Except me. I have a fear of broken bones.
What’s this I see? A little fairy kingdom? These mushrooms were so adorable I wanted to snap them off and eat them like M&M’s but I resisted.
We went to a winery next. We always had to do wine-tasting close to our destination for the day so I could easily take a nap afterwards. When I spotted this place I thought I was in Tuscany. Not that I’ve been there, but I read that book about Bramisole.
The winery wants you to think you’re in Tuscany too. Rolling hills, grapevines, and lots of lavender.
After my nap, I strolled around the yard of our friend’s house on the coast. Steller’s jays hang out in the rhododendrons next to the window of her dining room, which she opens several times a day to fling peanuts to them. I really like their light blue eyebrows.
In the front yard, a Manzanita with odd, peeling bark.

For excitement, we rode this dune buggy thing called a “sandrail”. The young man who was our driver apparently thinks the laws of gravity do not apply on the steep dunes. I discovered I prefer not to be that excited. Or that sandy.
Heading up the coast, the ubiquitous beautiful views.
It was really windy, or maybe I was thinking about the hair-raising ride I took on the sandrail.
This Western gull decided to make himself comfortable on the balcony of our motel room.

Heading across the state to the Columbia River Gorge, we stopped at this casino. I lost 80 bucks here on a nickel slot machine. How can that be?

It was typically rainy while we toured the Gorge. 1.1 inches of rain that day. And breathtakingly beautiful.
Every structure is cloaked in moss.
This is Multnomah Falls. I really wanted to climb the trail up to that bridge but the Dubious Gardener has his limitations. He wondered if there was an elevator. Maybe next time.
Back in Colorado, and it’s getting very fall-ish. See how pretty my neighbor’s tree is? He’s lucky he doesn’t have to rake all those leaves. They blow across the street into my yard. Home again.




36 comments:

Jocelyn H. Chilvers said...

Welcome back! Thanks for sharing your photos and stories from what looks to have been a wonderful vacation...by the way, did you ever get to eat that luscious bowl of clam chowder??

Andrea's Garden said...

Welcome home! Looks like you had to feed on the beautiful impressions of your vacation for breakfast. Really beautiful pictures! Andrea

Melissa said...

Oh I just LOVE the mushroom photo!!! So cute!!!
Melissa

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I'm glad you're home safe. It sounds like a wonderful trip!

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Looks like you had a grand time on vacation. Love the dinosaur and mushrooms. Welcome home.

Mary said...

I'm glad you are back! I can't tell you how great your photos are, Mary. Your scenic views were fantastic! The mushrooms were a cute bunch and the waterfalls are wonderful. "I have a fear of broken bones." - ME, TOO! My last break was only two years ago.

I hope you have found something better to eat than ice cream and potato chips, although I'd be delighted with it :o)

David said...

Welcome back! glad you had a nice trip--your photos are great! Cool stellars jay--I've never seen one of those!

Annie in Austin said...

Welcome back, Lost Roses - your photos may cause an upturn in the Oregon travel industry. I've seen those jays, years ago, and they make ours look drab in comparison.

Ice cream and potato chips? Doncha keep any homemade cookies stashed in the freezer?

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Bob said...

Glad you had a great time. Didn't know you were going to be near my neck of the woods. Sorry about the weather. Our rainy season really starts in the end of Oct. but this year it seemed to start early.
Thank you for sharing the great pictures. Your posts were missed.

Carol Michel said...

Welcome back! Sounds like you had a great time in a beautiful place. And your neighbor's leaves? That's nice they blow up in your yard so you can rake them up and put them in your own compost bins. Saves him the trouble of bagging them up and bringing them over to you, right?

Carol at May Dreams Gardens

LostRoses said...

Jocelyn, we never made it to the place that sells the chowder in the bread bowl, but I had my fair share of chowder all the same!

Hi Andrea, thanks! I should have fed on my memories rather than what I did eat. I guess I should have planned ahead!

Melissa, the mushroom photo was my favorite of the trip. They were just so darned cute!

Lynne, home safe is always a good end to a trip. We did have a great time, too.

Iowa gardening woman, thanks for the welcome back! I had a nice welcome back in the mailbox from United Airlines too. The movie wasn't working on the plane and for compensation they comped every passenger $100 each for future travel. I wasn't going to watch a movie anyway!

Mary, you know how when you eat something really bad for you it seems like it starts something? I've got to take control here! But at least I have no broken bones.

David, the Steller's jays are really cool, such a deep inky blue. On the west coast they don't have our normal bluejays.

Annie, I don't think Oregon needs much help from me, they really are a vacation mecca. They have a little bit of everything, but I'm sure in the summer they have the crowds to go with it! Homemade cookies -- I wish!

Bob, we didn't quite get as far north as you are, but what a beautiful part of the country you live in! No wonder you are a garden guru with those kinds of conditions to grow in!

Carol, I'm going to have to post a picture of my "compost piles" one of these days. Meanwhile I'll be happy to share my neighbor's leaves with you!

Anonymous said...

I've never been to Oregon but from what I've read and heard, I think I would love living either there or in Washington. Your photos are great (I love that dinosaur!) and I'm glad you are back home safely.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Welcome back LostRoses. What an amusing post this is. That dinosaur looks great, now why don't I have one in my garden? ;-)

What's wrong with a breakfast consisting of potato crisps and ice cream? Sounds fine to me.

Those mushrooms are too cute for words!

I love the colour of the Stellar jays, it's wonderful!

Oregon looks truly gorgeous this time of year, thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Andee said...

Hi, thanks for your note about the newspaper article about Chacala. It's been appearing in newspaper all over the country since last spring.
The writer, Chris and a couple photographers were here for about a week, so it was kind of fun.I was the tour guide for alot of their visit.

My perference would be that Chacala got no publicity, but since the reporters arrrived unannounced I figured, "keep your friends close, and your (potential) enemies closer".

Chris was fine, but an article in the Washington Times, by Tom Carter, was a much better article. He really understood about the rich history of volunteerism in Chacala.

Anyway, great photos.Looks like a fun tripl.
Andee

Rusty in Miami said...

Welcome back, that is my kind of vacation. Your pictures are great

Unknown said...

I'll add my warm welcome home, and a blissful thanks for sharing your garden travels with us. I love the description of the Dubious Gardener!

Mary C said...

Lost Roses - I'm glad you are back. Also, thanks for visiting my blog. Sounds like that sandrail is quite adventurous. I don't think I would want to try it. :)

LostRoses said...

Phillip, that dinosaur was one of the first things I noticed once we got off the freeway. We were in the car at a stoplight and I told the Dubious Gardener to just hold up traffic while I got the photo. Luckily I was quick! I highly recommend Oregon for a vacation destination, there's great stuff to see all over the state!

Yolanda, that dinosaur would look great in your garden along with all your other gorgeous stuff! I think you'd better get on that. Glad you liked my post, I do think vacation photos are funny, especially when the true story comes out!

Hi Andee, thanks for your nice note! I was so tickled to read about you and the piece of paradise you live in. But I also knew you would be worried about the publicity; I hope it brings only good things to the village.

Rusty, thanks! I think you probably need a vacation after you get your garden back in order, but that's quite a way from Miami. I know you'd love it!

Jodi, he's dubious about a lot of things other than gardening too! But he does make me laugh and is a good traveling companion. Thanks for the welcome home.

Mary C., if I'd known that sandrail was like an amusement park ride, I would never have agreed to it! Last year we went out on a much more sedate dune buggy as big as a bus and that was more my speed.

kate smudges said...

I love those bright blue eyebrows ... what a cool-looking bird.

It looks as if you saw some wonderful sights - the coast looks spectacular. And why is it that neighbours' trees always deposit their leaves in our gardens and not their own? One of those mysteries of life.

I'm glad you are back. I missed your blog posts!

kate said...

Oops ... it's katesmudges who wrote that last comment!!

Tira said...

Very lovely vacation pics-I can see that you had a wonderful time. The pics remind me very much of Napa/Sonoma.
I also hate coming home to no food-so usually freeze a couple meals before I leave-its so welcome after the hassles of travel to be able to sit down to a warm home cooked meal.

Catherine said...

Welcome home!! your photo's are beautiful!! I really love the mushroom pic, For sure some fairy's some where near there..:)
Cat

Anonymous said...

Great shots! I have roots in Oregon, but I've never been there (estranged father). I have a yearning to see it someday.
And I can so relate to the neighbor's leaves coming in your yard. That happens to us too!

Anonymous said...

You may get all the leaves, but you also get more of a view of that lovely tree than your neighbor does, I'll bet. :-)

Your trip looks like lots of fun. I enjoyed the "hair-raising" photo of you. It's nice to put a face to the voice.

Bev said...

LR, I'm so glad you are back. I missed your comments! You just went on my "Dream Trip" to the Columbia River Gorge. How great, and I'm so happy you posted the photos - beautiful!

LostRoses said...

Hi Kate, thanks for the welcome back. The color on those jays is so intense it looks phony! And the eyebrows are the perfect touch. Oh, those leaves are really falling now!

Catherine, it was so cool to see those mushrooms, and of all the walks we took in the woods, those were the only ones we saw. No fairies in evidence, though I'm sure they must have been around!

Dianne, you have a really good reason to see Oregon, not that you need one! It's just a great place to go.

Pam, you're so right about that tree because I do enjoy looking at it. They don't have a window on that side of their house to view it from. Oh,and my hair looks like that when I wake up in the morning, too!

Bev, thanks! I've been wanting to see the Gorge for a long time and I'm glad we finally got to do it. I'd go again in a heartbeat!

CountryGirl said...

Glad you had a good time! Your photos of the coast are breath taking. It was a nice, if only a brief escape from the rainy day here.

Anonymous said...

all your photos of your vacation are awesome . . . especially those little mushrooms. Wow.

Looks like you had a wonderful time.

chuck b. said...

I went three-wheeling on those dunes a few years ago. What fun!

Connie said...

Welcome back...there's no place like HOME! Thanks for the virtual tour.

EAL said...

I'd love to visit some Oregon wineries. Ponzi maybe.

Anonymous said...

Oh man! I wish I had been online before you left! Based on where you visited you must have driven right by my house! Well, at least kind of right by. It would have been fun to meet you. Maybe next time! ~A :-)

LostRoses said...

Countrygirl, sounds like you were one of the lucky ones getting rain. We usually see our fair share when visiting Oregon!

Becky, that pic is one of my all-time favorites! We did have a great time, too.

Chuck, you daredevil. Though it was fun to watch people like you!

Connie, it takes a vacation to make you appreciate home, doesn't it? Especially since I usually clean up the house before I go, it's a pleasant surprise to walk back in!

Elizabeth, I'm a poser when it comes to wine-tasting. I'd be better off tasting beer!

Cottage Magpie, really? How cool! The next time we go to Oregon, I'll let the Dubious Gardener know we're going visiting!

KC MO Garden Guy said...

Great pictures!! Love the dinosaur, wish I had the room to do thinks like that. The winery does look what I would imagine tuscany would look like. Was the wine any good? How many bottles did you bring home? What a great smell that lavender would have.
Never seen a Steller's jay. Very pretty!! What great waterfalls! Looks picture perfect. I would love to get to the west coast one of these years.
Glad you made it home safe and sound and does that neighbor come over and help rake leaves? He should!!

LostRoses said...

Cliff, wouldn't it be cool to have something like that dinosaur in your front yard? But then you'd have to get used to the sound of screeching brakes as people come to a quick stop to stare!

We did buy a bottle of wine, but only one. I'm a die-hard beer drinker! And I can't say enough about the attractions of Oregon. It's a great vacation spot!

No, my neighbor doesn't rake his leaves that are in my yard, but he's oh-so-helpful in many other ways. He owns a snowblower, for one!

Randy said...

I LOVE waterfalls and that's a fantastic picture! Great job. :-)