Lane County, Oregon -- it's a great place to spend a summer. When we're here, it feels just like home, except in a smaller and more manageable house than the one we lived in for so many years. That house, in Springfield, was a great place to raise a family but at this stage of life, our traveling home gives us more time and less work.
The best thing was just hanging out with our family and having a chance to visit with friends.
We had great times with our Northwest kids and their families -- including all six of our grandchildren. What could be better? Most of the time, there were no special occasions, just the gift of having time to spend together. The picture is our grandson Ryan, with two catfish he caught from our little boat at Fern Ridge Shores.
We did have one big family event, Andy and Denae's Labor Day wedding at Buford Park in Eugene. (He's our oldest grandson.) It was a lovely day. Click here to link to their blog where you can read about their fantastic adventures in India. There's a wedding picture in there too.
Click here (and scroll down) to read previous posts about our Oregon summer. Here are a few extra random bits.
This picture is Spooky Island on the lower McKenzie River. It's about three miles from the RV Park in Coburg where we stayed in July and just a few blocks from where we used to live in Springfield. Our kids used to play here. There is a huge new modern hospital now right across from here (where there used to be bean fields that provided summer jobs for all the neighborhood kids, including ours).This is it:
Some friends and I had fun on a 6K Volkswalk that took us through the Olympics Track Trials Fan Village at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. We got to see some of the meet on the big screen and enjoy the excitement -- no cost, and great fun and exercise. Eugene did a very good job on the Trials. I thought it would make it more fun to watch the Bejing Olympics, but sadly nobody we saw did very well there.
Oregon has a bunch of excellent wineries, several in Lane County. The picture below right is at King Estates, probably the best-known one.
The wine is good and the scenery is terrific.
One day we drove to McMinnville with friends to see the Spruce Goose Museum (below). It's an interesting museum and kind of amazing story the way this iconic plane ended up in this tiny town. That is one big plane! There are a bunch of other air-related exhibits, the miniatures of the plane's interior and exterior that were used in shooting the film "The Aviator" and an I-Max Theater.
Our feet start to get itchy when Oregon's rainy season approaches. But since we never have quite enough time to see all we want to of our family and friends, it is always hard to leave Oregon. I guess we have split personalities. When we're in Oregon, the part of us that enjoys routine and familiarity kicks in and it becomes difficult to leave. We always seem to put off our departure day several times before we finally hit the road. Thus, it was mid-October before our summer in Lane County ended. We enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you everybody for the wonderful times. We love y'all!
Isn't it crazy to see that huge plane sitting out there in the middle of nowhere?! Denae and I drove by the museum once at about 4am and the spruce goose was lit up and visible from the outside, pretty cool. We were pretty hopped up on casino coffee which made it all the more memorable. I hope you guys are doing great, love you,
Andy and Denae
Posted by: Andy | October 25, 2008 at 11:25 PM