Wednesday 13 June 2001

To Bend Kampground, Bend, an undistinguished campsite which gives no discounts at all: disgusting. On the way we stopped at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument; the beds are in green sandstone hillsides whose material washes downstream to form pretty green puddles ...

Unfortunately, all the visible fossils along the main walk have been ripped out of the hillsides, so for the benefit of people who have come to see them a number of imitation ones have been 'planted' along the route. A bit of a cheat, we thought.

Thursday 14 June 2001 - Saturday 16 June 2001

On our way out of Bend we stopped at the High Desert Museum, for animals and lots of information about Plateau Indians. Saw our first porcupine ...

... although it's not a free-range one. Porcupines have a long gestation period for their size - about eight months - and so the young are born fully developed, including quills although they're initially soft for about half an hour; the mother must really hope for a quick delivery.

Camped in the Umpqua National Forest campground at Diamond Lake, a truly beautiful spot but unfortunately with no electric, water or sewers although there are hot showers.

Diamond Lake is near the much more famous Crater Lake, which is the reason we came here, although five times as many Oregonians visit Diamond as Crater since it's great for fishing, boating etc. Crater Lake is a massive volcanic crater about six miles in diameter atop Mount Mazama, with intensely blue water and containing another smaller volcanic cone known as Wizard's Island ...

... and the remains of yet another more ancient cone known as the Phantom Ship ...

Lots of interesting wildlife, including a grey jay, an Oregon junco, a Clark's nutcracker ...

... and zillions of golden mantled ground squirrels. These treat the tourists as their main resource; we saw one who had knocked a roll of kitchen towel off a table onto the ground, and wrestled individual sheets off it which he promptly dragged down to line his burrow.

Near the crater are the Pinnacles, tall thin structures which were originally fumaroles. These are created when mineral-laden gasses rise through volcanic ash to create hollow chimneys which are much harder than the surrounding rock and which are left when the soft rock erodes. Gosh, this is educational, isn't it?

Although we plan to be in Oregon for a while, tomorrow we're off for a brief stay in California to see the Giant Redwoods. Back in a few days.

Wednesday 20 June 2001 - Thursday 21 June 2001

Hello again. A pleasant drive up the coast on US 101 to Coos Bay, the largest natural harbour between San Francisco and Puget Sound although we'd never heard of it. Our post forwarded on by Liz from Massachusetts arrived at Lucky Loggers RV Park five minutes after we did.

Pretty cold and wet here, as it tends to be along much of the Oregon coast, so not surprisingly the countryside and vegetation is very reminiscent of England - proper lawns of narrow-bladed grass full of daisies, buttercups, dandelions and plantains. Visited the English Rose Gardens and a huge house built by a local entrepreneur around the turn of the century (before he went broke) with great views of the Pacific over the cliffs ...

Friday 22 June 2001

On up the coast to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park campsite, where we got the last unreserved spot. Better than the average State Park campsite, with full hookups and hot showers. Drove to the Downs Creek Wildlife Wetland viewing area, which was a bit disappointing but we did see red-winged blackbirds, nesting swifts and some distant deer (not to the same scale) ...

... and also whales at the correct time of year; at the moment they're up in the polar regions feeding their faces. 

This area of the Oregon coast is famous for its dunes ...

 which stretch for about eighty miles and are a paradise for off-road riders of various kinds.

Saturday 23 June 2001 - Sunday 24 June 2001

Up the coast again to Newport, where for the first time we were turned away from an RV park on the grounds that they take motorhomes only: no common trailers are permitted to sully their pristine acres. However, they were more than half empty so maybe their snobbery is costing them as much money as we sincerely hoped. Went over the road to the Agate Beach RV Park where once again we got the last site available.

In the afternoon we visited the Newport Aquarium which had been recommended to us by several people along the way. The high spots were the puffins in breeding plumage ...

...  and the sea otters ...

... which  are the only mammals other than cetaceans to spend all their lives at sea and away from land. As they lack a layer of blubber they have to preen their fur meticulously to ensure that a layer of air is trapped for insulation.

Next day we went down to Yaquina Head State Park to visit the lighthouse ...

... whose light is provided by one miserable 1000 watt bulb, and and see the wonderful tidal rock pools ...

... stuffed with starfish, sea urchins, sea anemones and the giant Pacific or gumboot chiton which looks like a giant orange slug but which we unfortunately neglected to photograph.

Crab cakes and shrimp cakes for tea from the local supermarket. Oregon seafood is superb.

Monday 25 June 2001 - Wednesday 27 June 2001

Roamers Rest RV Park at Tualatin near Portland, one of the finest parks we've found. All services including a phone line to the site, a book exchange, and beautiful grounds including walks by the river.

Over the course of our visit here we got the windscreen wipers fixed at last, which someone did while I waited but which took the best part of a day, as well as a full service and new set of tyres which took part of another. Also, the 'Service Engine Soon' light keeps coming on (indicating an emissions problem, apparently) but then going off before I can get it seen to, and the transmission is whining. Still, we've done nearly 30,000 miles in nine months, many of them towing a three ton trailer, so I suppose we can't complain.

Our last day was heavy-duty sightseeing in Portland. First, the beautiful formal Chinese Gardens built by craftsmen from their twin city of Suzhou ...

A Japanese lunch, followed coincidentally by a visit to the Japanese gardens on the far side of the city - very different from the Chinese, in that they are much more natural (and extensive) ...

... after which we went to the Rose Gardens where, each year, a Rose Queen is crowned and has her name immortalised on a plaque embedded in the ground. We particularly liked the idea of Queen Sharon II ...

Finally, the Pittock Mansion built by a local pioneer ...

... the nearest we've found to a stately home in America including some excellent furniture and great views over the city ...

Tomorrow, Washington.