Ashland, Oregon

Ashland Oregon is famous for its 9 month-long Shakespeare Festival and winter skiing, but the entire area is unlike any I've ever seen!!

Marg, Laurel and I stayed a few days at the Mt Ashland Inn which is literally up in the mountains, on a 40 acre site, owned by a remarkably talented couple, Chuck and Laurel (yup, Laurel is her name) who have a young 9 yr old son and a magnificent golden retriever named Powder.

Powder was the Inn's unofficial greeter along with the Innkeepers' 9 yr old boy, Kaelen.


The three story log cabin was almost totally renovated by "Chuck" who is a master cabinet maker. Much of the cabin's furniture was handcrafted by him through the years.

The vistas throughout the 40 acres were spectacular. A place to remember

Sisters Oregon (continued)

Although I walked through the many quilt sites with Marg and Laurel for the entire morning, it became apparent that I was getting on their nerves and they were looking frantically for something for me to do in the afternoon.

They succeeded!!!

They saw a fly fishing shop which offered lessons and a private guide and guess what??? I went into the dark woods and mountains of Sisters with my very own private guide.


The guide, named Ralph, took me on a 16 mile journey in his 1971 Ford "pick-em-up" to the most beautiful lake region for some "not so serious" fly fishing lessons and fishing.

Here's Ralph putting a fly on my pole for me...talk about being pampered!!!

Below, I am attempting to cast while staying afloat in the most god-awful floating device which seemed to have a mind of its own. I kept finding myself ashore on the banks with my guide yelling that I needed to keep more to the center of the lake. The lake's current coupled with a mild wind would cast me adrift more often than I wanted.

Although we were on the lake for 2 1/2 hours the only thing that I snagged with my line was a fish that Ralph called a "rock bass"!

Sisters Oregon

Another stop on our adventures was to Sisters Oregon for a one day "Outdoor Quilt Show"... A remarkable venture started by one lady 35 years ago with 100 quilts shown in town. Since then, this year's show displayed over 500 quilts. Amazing!!!

One of Marg's life longdreams was to come to Sisters for the show and here she is amongst beautiful poppies.

Some other "characters" were also worth photographing.

Quilts, quilts...everywhere...



Well worth the trip...another visit with all of Marg's "sisters" would certainly be an adventure!!!

Leavenworth, Washington

During the past few days we've been in Leavenworth, Washington staying at the Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort. The resort has been named after the mountain profile above a narrow valley. The resort has over 50 buildings on 67 acres to include living facilities (cabins), dining room, library, fitness facility, sauna, deli and offers guests a variety of activities to include swimming, horse back riding, horse shoe pitching, volley ball, etc.



Throughout the resort are works of art like the Chihuly Icicles which Dale Chihuly created and it is his first permanent outdoor installation. Designed to withstand dramatic temperature changes of the Leavenworth area; each piece is secured to a steel armature attached to one of the largest boulders on the site.


Of course, the vistas are remarkable throughout the resort. Quite peaceful to sit by the running river on the property.



Flowers abound in the quaint Bavarian village of Leavenworth. The "downtown" area is reminiscent of old town Germany.

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

We journeyed into Coeur D'Alene, Idaho on Monday, July 5th and did we ever have fun!!

We stayed at The Roosevelt Inn, a former elementary school (grades Kinder - 4th grades) building. The owner of the Inn was a student in the early '60's and told us a great deal about the school. Suffice it to say that all the rooms of the Inn/School House were dedicated to and named for former teachers of the school. The pictures above are a sampling of some of the rooms. The picture with Margie lounging in bed is our room.

Before leaving the area on Tuesday, July 6th, we took a sea plane ride around one of the most beautiful lakes I've seen in a long time. The plane ride was only 20 minutes, but most enjoyable.

As an aside, the elder owner of the sea plane business, Bill Brooks, a 90 year old veteran of WW II, was a pilot of a four engine sea plane during the war. He told us that he regularly "hauled" uranium in his aircraft for "industrial usage". However, he later learned that the uranium was used in the creation of the A-bomb used against Japan!!!

The elder Brooks no longer flies, but he taught his two sons to fly. They now provide all the airborne fun, but Dad contributes each day by fueling the planes, escorting passengers on and off the plane (sometimes the most hazardous time the flights), as well as collecting the payment for the plane rides.

A short one day stay filled with excitement, to be sure.

Cheers!

Yellowstone National Park (continued)

Today was a shortened day spent at Fort Yellowstone which is on the northern side of this magnificent park.

As many of you probably know (I did not), the park was established under the leadership of President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. However, for several years, the park was under serious threat from poachers, souvenir hunters, land developers, etc. and the civilian superintendent turned to the U.S Army for help in 1886. The Army controlled the park until 1918 when the park was turned back over to the newly created National Park Service.

In 1910, at the height of the Army's presence in Yellowstone, there were 324 soldiers posted there -- plus some families and civilian employees.

Many of the buildings present during the "Army years" are still "alive and well" -- serving as residences for the Park Ranger employees, administrative buildings, etc. The last building constructed was the Chapel (picture included) which is still used today.

During our travels today we saw bison (see picture) which ruled the road ways.

Final observations relate to the skies of Montana. I can see why Montana is called the Big Sky country.

Yellowstone National Park

Went back to Yellowstone Nat'l Park today with Marg and Laurel and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

The top picture reflects the Roosevelt Gate which was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 as the original entry into the park. Now, there are four different entrances, but back in the early 1900's -- only one.

The middle picture is typical of the Montana/Wyoming sky which is breathtaking.

The final picture is of the Upper Falls which Ansel Adams made famous in his wonderful black and white photograph many, many years ago. The beauty and power of the water cascading down is overwhelming.

Montana

Well, as you can see, we're now in Montana and have explored the Western part of Yellowstone National Park. A remarkable drive thru beautiful, winding roads to Old Faithful. Further proof of the existence of a supreme being. Of course, the 4th of July weekend is probably the busiest time of the year, but we still enjoyed our visit. We'll be in the Yellowstone area for the next 3 days and expect to keep busy.

Another North Dakota story

While Marg and Laurel visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park as well as the Oxe Bow area, I spent yesterday (June 30) roaming the streets of Dickinson, North Dakota. Visiting shop keepers as well as locals, I stumbled across two organizations which represented a community's "self help" efforts.

The first was a unique bookstore called "Friends of the (Dickinson) Library". All the books (both soft and hard cover) -- donated by locals -- sold for the ridiculous price of no more than $ 1.00 per book while magazines such as a June 20th issue of The New Yorker sold for $ .25. The remarkable thing about this organization is that all proceeds are donated to the Dickinson Library.

The second organization, a "Good Will-type" store, called ARC (Association of Retarded Citizens) Aid. Receiving donations from the Dickinson citizens, it resells the items at quite a mark down of price. All proceeds are used by the local Association in support of the community's Special Citizens.

I specifically mention these organizations because it was refreshing to witness efforts to better a community without "Big Brother" (translated = big government) involvement. There is hope for our country after all!!!