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.

TREE ISLANDS FLOATING IN SAND

Wow, I'm back from a week along the Oregon Coast and what a great trip. One of many amazing sights was these tree islands that look so improbable growing in the middle of enormous sand dunes. The dunes stretch for about 50 miles along the lower coast of Oregon and the "islands" are apparently remnants of forests that the sand has not covered. Yet! And I thought we had huge dunes in Colorado. So ours are just tall.

An interesting note: when we inquired at the Chamber of Commerce in the town of Florence about the ecological aspect of dune buggy rides, we were told that the state of Oregon encourages them to help keep the European beach grass in check. They spent years planting that species to try to control the dunes and now they want it eradicated! Oh, those invasives. They might need some of that beach grass on the dunes behind the local Fred Meyer store. They have to send in bulldozers regularly to keep the sand from engulfing the parking lot!
When I returned home I found the fall colors in full swing. What had been a few leaves turning when I left had morphed into a full-blown display of reds, oranges, yellows, and russets. Our higher elevation gives us the fast-forward on autumnal glory and this year seemed especially brilliant. But I think I say that every year. This photo is the view of my neighbor's yard from my front door. A few days later a strong wind blew most of these leaves off. It's fun to crunch through them as my neighbor and I take our evening walk. But I do wish the leaves would stay on the trees longer so we could enjoy our own "tree islands" of color.