Eugene Public Library

This afternoon I made a visit to Eugene, Oregon's downtown public library which appears to be pretty new, maybe less that ten years old. Wow, what a great building! Bright open spaces, easy access to all levels, and exterior construction that will withstand the decades of neglect often required of public buildings.  It's such a pleasant contrast to Seattle's new downtown library that is failing us on so many levels.

 

Eugene, Oregon Riverbank Path System

This morning I took a bike ride on the 13 mile Riverbank Path System that runs along the Willamette River between Eugene and Springfield, OR. There are four dedicated pedestrian/bicycle bridges along the length of the trail that allow users to cross over from the Eugene side to the Springfield side.  It was a great place to ride away from all of the cars and traffic noise.  (click on the picture for a larger view)

Pedestrian bridge accross the Willamette River.

Willamette River from the Riverbank Path pedestrian bridge.

Rogue River - Rogue George

Today I hiked a portion of the Rogue River where it courses through a gorge about 15 feet wide and 50 feet deep at the narrowest point.  The hike was just upstream from where I was camped on Union Creek and was about a 3 mile hike for the round trip.

Rogue River - Natural Bridge Hike

Today I hiked along the Rogue River trail to  Natural Bridge where the entire Rogue River disappears into a lava tube then reappears 50 yards downstream.  The round trip hike from my camp at Union Creek was about 6 miles.

Here is the Rogue River upstream of Natural Bridge.

This is where the river disappears into the lava tube that carries it about 50 yards downstream.

This is where the river emerges from the lava tube and continues its downstream course to the right.

A not-so-natural bridge along the Rogue River Trail that turns part of the hike into a loop.

Rogue River - Union Creek Hike

 Today I took a 7 mile hike along Union Creek. The hiking guide book described a waterfall that looked like a good turn around point to head back to camp but I wasn't able to find it for sure. It was a great day for a hike with temperatures in the 70's and lots of sunshine coming through the trees. I kept moving right along so the mosquitoes would leave me alone.




 
 

Rogue River - Union Creek Campground

Late Tuesday morning, June 22nd, I left Perry and Carol's house in Bend to head south towards Crater Lake where I planned to spend a few days camping and hiking on the Rogue River. I arrived at the Union Creek Campground at about three in the afternoon and set up camp in a site right next to Union Creek about 100 yards upstream from where it empties into the Rogue River.

Oregon travels...

On Friday June 18th  I left for a trip to Oregon for at least a week and maybe until just before July 4th.

On the way to Bend I stopped off for a night to visit my friends Mancil and Jennifer who live in Independence, OR just outside of Salem.   Mancil's daughter and her partner Shawn came over on Saturday morning to show off their new recumbent trike-bikes-- here's Mancil showing off.

On Saturday I left Independence for Bend and arrived at my friends Perry and Carol's house in the mid-afternoon.

On Sunday we took a bike ride and here you can see Perry and Carol on the covered bridge at Shevlin Park in Bend.

 My friends Perry and Carol on a bike ride to Shevlin Park in Bend, OR.

While reading the newspaper I noticed that Merl Haggard was going to be playing a concert at the outdoor arena adjacent to downtown Bend Sunday evening. I'm not really a huge "Hag" fan but I used to play in a group where we had some fun playing a couple of the Hag's songs-- Okie from Muskogee and another one I don't remember. Thinking we might be able to hear some of Merl's magic cruising the arena Perry, Carol, and I decided to take a stroll around the arena to see what we could hear. I expected there to be a couple of opening bands before Merl would play so planned our arrival for a little less than two hours after the advertised start time. Bad idea... By the time we got there the concert was over and Merl's bus was pulling out. But I'm hopping that when judgement day comes I'll at least get credit for trying to see Merl live when I had the chance.

On Monday we biked to McKenzie Pass west of Sisters, OR.  The road is closed to cars right now and open to only bikes and pedestrians.  It took about two hours to ride to the top of the pass and twenty minutes to ride back down.  The round trip was probably less that 20 miles.

Me on the McKenzie Pass bike ride.

So I had my head examined...

If you ever thought I should have my head examined... I did.  An expert said "no abnormalities were noted".  So it's not me... it's you.  Unfortunately it seems I kind of look like Homer Simpson.

Habitat for Humanity Utility Shed

Last Thursday I spent the day working on a project for Habitat for Humanity.  We were building a prototype for a utility shed.  They plan to build about a dozen of them from donated recycled concrete forming lumber.  This was the first day of REAL work I've done in a long time-- I was pretty pooped out at the end of the day.

Deep River Blues

My friends Bruce, Ed, and John and me playing Doc Watson's Deep River Blues...

Seattle Folklife Festival - Sunday 2010

Whozyamama cajun jam: