 |
Happening in Southern Oregon |
| November 1, 2005: I'm going to begin this new page for a nice location to post interesting happenings in southern Oregon. Yesterday I was doing errands in my home town of Grants Pass. One of those errands was to visit my bank where I was greeted by this sign. Perhaps this is a new city policy to attempt to reduce the number of bank robberies ... of course the sign is here because of Halloween but it struck me funny and I had to take a photograph. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
November 2, 2005: "It's the Climate" at 7am this morning in Grants Pass, Oregon. It is 44 degrees, no wind, low overcast and 20% chance of rain. Forecast says 100% chance of rain for tomorrow however. |
 |
November 3, 2005: Waiting for the rain to begin this morning are these strolling musical children. They have found a park bench in downtown Medford, Oregon. The 39 degree weather does not seem to bother them but I had trouble getting them to hold still for the photo. :-) |
| November 7, 2005: It's been rain for the last four days and today is no exception. It's 9:55 am at the Front Street Transfer Station in Medford, Oregon. We've just returned from our quick three day trip to Tucson, Arizona where it was 84 degrees and clear skies. Today's high was only 43.5 but it felt like 32. I love the Pacific Northwest but much more of this and I can understand why snowbirds head to Arizona in the winter. It was short sleeves and pants in Arizona. |
 |
| |
 |
November 9, 2005: After 5 days of rain in the valley,
Mt. Mcloughlin has some snow on the peaks again. This is a different view from the northwest rather than the south as Morgan and I saw the mountain from our mountain bike ride. This is the view I see each day now as I commute from Grants Pass. This is Interstate 5 about 8 miles north of Medford just coming into the Central Point and Medford portion of the Rogue Valley. |
 |
| November 10, 2005: The color is gray this morning due to the fog in downtown Medford. It's 38 degrees and a cold, damp feeling which seems to go right through the jacket. |
| |
November 14, 2005: No Chess today ... it's too wet and cold. A heavy mist today plus 48 degrees makes for a damp, cold day. No one is interested in playing Chess at Vogel Plaza in downtown Medford Oregon. This was at 9 a.m. Later in the day, however, the sun broke through the mist and warmed up the plaza to a comfortable 61 degrees. Still, these bronze cast chairs would be very cold ... too cold for a game. |
 |
 |
| November 16, 2005: Morgan (on the left) plays with her sister Amika. You see, when Gwen and I purchased Morgan, MY sister was visiting and could not pass on buying a puppy for herself. Now Morgan gets to visit with her sister as much as I visit with MY sister. That's two or three times each year. My sister Dorana keeps herself and Amika pretty fit. I'm sure Amika could keep up with Morgan on a mountain bike ride. |
|
 |
| November 19, 2005: There must be something special about this throw-rug. Morgan and Annie decided to share it near our fireplace. This was after their usual "wrestling" after they have returned to the house from roaming outside all day. Each claims "ownership" over the other. |
 |
| November 22, 2005: We just can't get out of the fog. Our house is buried under this blanket and has been there for nearly two weeks with no sun breaks. The temperatures barely get to the low 40's while it reaches the mid-50's in the mountains. This is very heavy, wet fog where just walking to your car from the house makes you feel damp and of course all the trees are dripping from the moisture. Visibility varies from 100 feet to 100 yards. If we had the freedom, we would connect to our King of the Road and pull out of this valley. |
 |
| November 24, 2005: I love eastern Oregon. You can drive forever without seeing another car. Gwen and I have spent much of our vacation time visiting different areas of eastern Oregon and always glad we did. This road stretches from Christmas Valley east toward highway US395 . We will be joining US395 at the base of the distant mountains then drive north toward Burns. Note all the sun ... not fog as in Grants Pass and Boise area of Idaho this day. It is also in the 60's but cold at night. |
| |
 |
| |
November 25, 2005: Caldwell, Idaho ... freezing rain from inside a Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel. This photo is looking out the drivers side window, rear view mirror is on the right with a red car in the other lane. I've not seen freezing rain before ... makes me wish for the fog back in Grants Pass. |
| |
 |
November 26, 2005: The reason we are in Boise, Idaho; Gwen is visiting her Grandkids. From the left, Courtney, Melanie, Dustin and Jake. We all enjoyed a matinee together. Of course it was the new Harry Potter movie. The only one frightened by the movie was me. During our Thanksgiving visit we have been swimming in the motel pool with the kids plus playing the Milton Bradley board game of "Life". Gwen also gave the kids an art kit with paints, crayons, chalk and drawing paper. The kids had a contest last night where everyone won a prize for their art creations. Maybe the most fun is driving in our Dodge with all four Grandkids (we have six seat belts in the truck) with Morgan sitting on three laps in the back seat. |
| |
 |
| |
November 27, 2005: What are motel swimming pools for? They are for Grandmas and Grandkids. |
|
| November 28, 2005: Yesterday, the Grandkids spent 10 hours in the back seat of the truck. This is how Courtney recovers from 4 days of playing with her Boise cousins. That was THREE in the back seat ... Dustin, Courtney and Morgan. This is usually Morgan's seat but she was willing to share especially when you get a Courtney leg as a pillow. That's 10 hours of driving from Boise, Idaho to Klamath Falls, Oregon. It was beautiful, mostly clear and cold weather. |
| While traveling back from Boise, Idaho we stopped at an Indian art shop and general store about 20 miles east of Burns, Oregon. "Oard's" turned out to be a museum, American Indian art, candy and furniture store. One of the items which caught my eye was the fancy rocking chair at the right hand-made from branches and other parts of the local trees and bushes. I did not dare sit in it although it seemed sturdy. I was glad I didn't after finding the $1900 price tag. There were also many floor and table lamps made from the same material. I always wonder how they drill a hole long enough for the wire through such lamps. If you pass your mouse pointer through the photo you will see another view of the chair. |
 |
|
| |
 |
December 1, 2005: Storming all night with a bit of snow. Snow is unusual for the Rogue Valley. Today I had to deliver advertising flyers to all the public schools in the Eagle Point, Shady Cove and White City area of the Rogue Valley. While traveling around on wet, slippery roads I spotted this couple at the entrance to a local driveway. Someone has taken a lot of time to decorate for the holidays. The new snow has added to the decoration. A straw person was sitting on the bench outside our motel room in Idaho ... I would point to the straw person and tell the Grandkids ... "that's what happens when you smoke". |
 |
| December 2, 2005: You would think that a state which has the reputation of lots of rain could handle a little storm or two. This photo shows different, it is the Rogue River at Dodge Bridge. The river is full of debris and washing over the banks as the surge from the recent rain storm drains into the flow. Dodge Bridge is a popular recreation area during the summer months. It is 20 miles east of Grants Pass. |
 |
December 4, 2005: Another step in becoming full time RV, we are saving the few DVD movies we have purchased into a notebook style system and donating the empty DVD cases to the library. We just won't have the space to store DVD movies with their cases. We don't have many movies but those we do have we would like to save for rainy days. |
|
| |
December 9, 2005: Part of my job is to create and manage community college courses. One of those courses is the Rogue Community College Jazz Band directed by Stan Mark. This is a new course so today was special. It was the first time for Stan and the twenty members of the band to perform in public. Stan is a professional big band director and trumpet player. The band has only had three months practice but sounded great today. |
 |
| |
Everyone enjoyed the music and the last day of the fall quarter. Stan has lived up to his great reputation. Slide your mouse over the photo for another view. |
 |
January 7, 2006: One of the great things about Grants Pass is the All Sports Park located in the western part of the city. It is a park only 1 mile from our house. The unique part of the park is a walking bridge over the Rogue River. It was built about five years ago. It is supported by many cables running through the concrete walkway. The Rogue River was very high today and flowing quickly after several rain storms but not as high as a couple of weeks ago when the water was over the under-bridge walkway to the left. This park has five baseball parks. If you follow the walkways around the park, you can probably walk 3+ miles. |
|
 |
| |
|
Continue to Page 2 |
