Gromit's Adventure in Oregon: Cannon Beach

This is Gromit again, continuing with the trip to Oregon. Whenever Marilyn and John get to Oregon, they find some time to visit the beach. They find the Oregon Coast to be a special place. Sometimes the combination of short December days and often rainy weather means that time walking on the beach to be limited. So, they usually add in some sightseeing; this year that included the Tillamook Cheese Factory.


This was the view from our hotel room. Can you see the double rainbow? It was beautiful but meant that beach walking wasn't going to happen for a while.


So off we headed to Tillamook. My job was to help with navigation. The gps sent us away from the beach for a few miles. Marilyn and John decided to follow that route on the way down but took the coastal route on the way back. I like the coastal route better in spite of more traffic.


Once in Tillamook I got excited when we turned into the Cheese Factory. While I like watching the packaging, the samples and then the ice cream were the BEST.



After we returned to Cannon Beach the weather cleared long enough for a brisk walk on the beach. Haystack Rock is a special place for Marilyn because she spent two weeks here every summer as a child. Can you see me tucked into her jacket? It was windy and cool.


Just as we turned to walk back (with a tailwind!), this shot caught Marilyn's eye. It made me think of my friend Rover and his owner Denise who loves playing with her camera. Marilyn and I both wish she'd been there to capture the scene with her camera too!


Here's one last shot from our Cannon Beach walk. It is my favorite!

On Thursday morning we had a snack at the Waves of Grain bakery and then headed back to Portland for Christmas with the family.

Gromit's Adventure in Oregon: First Days

Gromit decided he needed to blog about his trip with Marilyn and John to Oregon for Christmas this year. He jumped into nearly every picture taken with Marilyn's camera and then chose the ones he wanted to share. Please note that his words are in italics.




Getting to Oregon requires a plane ride or two. Because of a weather prediction of possible snow, Marilyn and John packed up on Saturday and drove to the Carter Lake Super 8 motel. Did you know that a former oxbow in the Missouri resulted in a little island of Iowa right by the Omaha airport. When you drive from the airport to Omaha, you pass in and out of Carter Lake, Iowa in a blink of an eye.




I had fun in the motel playing with the iPad and then playing Gulliver's Travels with my buddies Enough Already (Gulliver) and Hutch.




The next day we headed to the airport. I traveled in Marilyn's little backpack.




After a longer than expected delay in Salt Lake City, we arrived in Portland and drove to Jenni and Brian's house. We have never stayed there before and it was very exciting. Jenni is Marilyn's niece. Two cats, Pete and Pearl, also live in this house and I decided they should be my friends.

Here I am getting up close and personal with Pearl. I was told she was shy, but she obviously loved me.



Hutch joined me for a chat with Pete. He was quite vocal at times and I know he was singing my praises! I am sure he was upset to see me leave.



We took a field trip to Voodoo Doughnuts, a very 'portland' type place! The doughnuts were normal with unusual toppings, like white frosting with purple sprinkles and purple tang crystals - a Grape Ape.


Here Jenni and Brian pose in front of our selection of doughnuts. Jenni chose the plain one while the rest of us OD-ed on the sugary frosting.




We managed to be there for a wedding. Note the voodoo spear used in the ceremony and the special wedding doughnuts.





Jenni and Marilyn posed in front of the bright pink establishment. All in attendance were glad to have experienced Voodoo Doughnuts but a repeat visit was not necessary.


Back at the house Jenni and Marilyn played with the Wii, got out their iPads named Izzy and Paddy, downloaded some fun apps, especially Scrabble, and watched a Christmas movie on the the big screen (thanks, projectionist Brian!). Unfortunately, the time with Jenni, Brian, Pete, and Pearl was short. On Tuesday we jumped into the rented red HHR and headed to Cannon Beach with a stopover to visit Anne and Vern in Banks. Did you know that Marilyn and Anne were college buddies 40 years ago???

Brr!

It is a good day to stay inside. The snow is moving sideways and in swirls. The thermometer indicates 7 Fahrenheit. Brr!

This is the view from INSIDE. Sorry, but it just doesn't show how nasty it is and you can't hear the roar of the wind!On days like today I really appreciate electricity, natural gas pipelines, and central heating!

The following is an updated photo from about 3:00 p.m. At 4:15 the snow plow made its first run. Perhaps that will be enough to keep the drifts manageable until the wind dies down. Now this is supposed to last through noon on Sunday. I think it is time for a cup of cocoa...

Fall Adventures, Close to Home

Here I am at Ashfall State Historical Park. It is in rolling hills, with tall grass similar to original prairie grasses and doesn't look too exciting until...

you walk into the Rhino Barn and see all the full sized fossils in situ. This was a watering hole that the animals came to during the ashfall from a volcano in what is now Idaho. Because of the water hole, the heavy ashfall, and the ingestion of the ash, the animals all died in this one spot.

The Rhino Barn has just been enlarged and is about 100-150 feet long. There will be archeological work here for many years to come!

Here is Gromit at Lewis and Clark State Park near Yankton, SD. He loves riding on the bike!

This is Gavins Point Dam with all the spillways open. That doesn't happen very often but it has been like this for at least a month. We drive over the dam to get to the bike path and state park and then ride along the toe road as part of the bike path.

Early October is paddlefish season. This is a very popular but very short season. Paddlefish are bottom feeders with very long snouts. There are barrels in the parking area where the fisher people have to place the snouts! Lots of boats... and lots of people on shore too!

This is the fairing John bought for his bike. It was used and had some scratches. He has been trying to smooth out the scratches. The jury is still out on the use of the fairing... a lot of glare makes it hard to see. Marilyn doesn't have a fairing and life is just fine!

Rocky Mountain National Park

In early August we headed west to Rocky Mountain National Park. We had reservations for four nights but ended up staying a whole week. When we arrived, the reserved camp site was unacceptable for our pop-up camper and the van so we found a great site in the unreserved section. That was fortunate because we could then extend our stay.

Our favorite campground is Glacier Basin with this wonderful meadow. Long's Peak is just out of the picture (on the left). The campground was closed last season for tree removal due to the pine beetle devastation. The area we were in still had trees but many were showing signs of beetle infestation and we are sure they will be removed soon. The sites just across the road from us were closed because a tree fell earlier in the season and the whole section was destined for tree removal. At a ranger talk we learned that the trees become very brittle and can fall at any time, without warning.



The shuttle bus system provides great transportation to a variety of trail heads. Only one hike we took the whole week required us to drive! The bus system allows us to do a great 9+ miles hike from Bear Lake to the Fern Lake trail head. We have done this hike three times now and each time we have hiked the last part in the rain.



As we hiked past Fern Lake, there were horses in the corral. The wrangler never moved a muscle as we walked right by! The rain and hail began in earnest within about five minutes and we hope he moved then!
When the hail started we thought we could wait it out under a tree. We both chose trees with lots of dry soil underneath but after about five minutes, we realized that it wasn't going to let up any time soon so we broke out the rain pants. This photo is pre-rain pants with lots of hail. The camera doesn't do it justice, but it was fun to see the hail that was passing by the lens!

The camera went into an inner pocket for the next hour or more as the the skies continued to open up. We felt like we were hiking in a stream and I wanted to get a picture. It finally cleared up enough for a quick pic, but it just doesn't show how much water was on the trail while it was really raining.

We had planned to visit the Snowy Range west of Centennial, Wyoming but began to have second thoughts. We had lots of rain, more than the normal afternoon mountain shower. We were fairly comfortable camped at 8,000+ feet but in the Snowy Range we would be at 10,000 feet and knew from past experience it would be a lot colder. That's when we were glad to be in the non-reservable campsite so we could just stay where we were!




For the first time we hiked up Deer Mountain. The views at the summit were wonderful. This view is south towards the Bear Lake and Glacier Basin areas. We could also see down into Estes Park. Watching the traffic driving into the park made us glad that we could utilize that bus system!

It is hard to beat scenery like this.... The Loch.

Elroy-Sparta Trail

On Friday we drove to the Tunnel Trail Campground where we had reservations for two nights, based on recommendations from other cyclists on the Root River Trail. It cost us $35/night for a gravel and dirt site up a steep hill with no electricity or water. Almost all of the other sites were lush grass. Since I had asked if we had water and electricity and was told yes, we can't figure out why we got one of the only 'primitive' sites! The campground was full of families who played games, yelled, sat around the campfire and played in the pool (think noisy and crowded). We saw lots of unused bicycles lying around. The concept of family camping, especially in private campgrounds, certainly has changed over the years! Oh well, at least we had immediate access to the trail as the entrance crossed it!


The Elroy-Sparta trail is a rails-to-trails conversion so the elevation changes never go above 3%. The trail is often wooded and canopied but does have open spaces. It has three tunnels and each is at the top of a 2-3 mile long hill.

The tunnels really provide variety on this trail. Each is unlighted so cyclists must carry flashlights and have to walk their bikes. Both ends of each tunnel have huge doors. In the train days, the doors kept the temperature consistent, especially in the winter to prevent the freeze and thaw cycle that would cause rock falls. Men were hired to open and close the doors for the 50+ trains a day. The longest tunnel was quite wet as it intersected a spring. Walking the bikes really decreased the average speed for the day!



Note the 'light at the end of the tunnel!' John and I took photos of each other to prove we were there!



On Friday afternoon we rode from the campground to Elroy and back for a total of 23 miles. (Note that we rode nine miles that morning before leaving the Root River Trail.) The section from Kendall to Elroy was not as interesting as the section on either side of Tunnel #1. Once in Elroy the signage was not clear and we took the long, trafficked route to the visitor center in the old station. There they had clean rest rooms with showers (which would come in handy in a couple of days!). We didn't leave Elroy until after 5:00 p.m. so all we did after arriving back at our campsite was to take showers and then eat watermelon, chips and salsa for supper!



On Saturday we started our ride in the other direction about 9:00 a.m. Very few people were on the trail at that time. We stopped in the second town (after another tunnel!) for a sweet roll and coffee. What a surprise that we could get bacon and eggs, etc. but NO sweet rolls or doughnuts. So, miniature Snickers fueled us for the uphill section to the longest tunnel. Suddenly the trail was quite busy with lots of families and a few youth groups. Two 12-13 year olds and an adult kept leap-frogging us. We never stopped and it was a classic tortoise and the hare scenario. Finally we saw them begin to walk their bikes as we slowly and consistently pedaled on by; we never saw them again and have no idea if they made it to the tunnel. Just before the tunnel was a rest area with a brakeman's shed and a water pump. Did either of us think to take pictures? We walked through Tunnel #3 which dripped cold water on us and was definitely sloped downhill. After riding a mile or so beyond the tunnel, we turned around knowing that the rest of the trail to Sparta was not as interesting.



The route back was broken up by walking the two tunnels and then stopping for food twice. For lunch the highlight was REAL fresh Wisconsin cheese curds. They were surprisingly tasty. Then less than a mile from our campground John saw a sign for a restaurant in an old schoolhouse just off the trail. We bounced down a steep grassy slope, along a trail through a corn field, and to bicycle racks in a large yard. With no further signs, we wandered around a bed and breakfast inn and abandoned farm buildings before locating the restaurant. It was worth it because we each had a piece of delicious, home cooked pies and then got huge cinnamon rolls for breakfast, all for less than $10!

Root River Trail Revisited

In July of 2007 John and I spent a couple of days near Lanesboro, Minniesota riding part of the Root River Trail. Our campsite was close to Whalan, so on our 'long' day we rode from Whalan to Preston, then up to Fountain and back to Whalan. A few extra blocks in Whalan got our mileage to 50 for the day!

This year we spent two nights camping near Houston, Minnesota to ride the eastern end of the trail. We rode from Cushon Peak Campground to the pie shop in Whalan and back for a total of 47 miles. The next morning we rode from the campground to the small but excellent nature center in Houston and back for nine more miles. We have now cycled the entire Root River Trail, but need to do the Preston to Harmony link at the southern end. That will be sometime in the future!

We were almostthe only people in the campground. The bluff views were great, deer came to nibble in the soybean field, water and electricity were available at the site, bathrooms and showers were almost private! Not bad for less than $20

Like most of the bike trails in Minnesota, the Root River Trail is paved. However, there were a number of small 'potholes' that kept our eyes more on the trail than on the scenery. Much of the trail is canopied which certainly makes for pleasant riding, but makes those 'potholes' more difficult to see! We rode with small two-way radios and John could warn me whenever he noticed one. I did hit a couple that made me wonder if a flat tire could be in the making. Thank goodness, that didn't happen!

Here I am - just a typical view on the trail.