The Oregon Summer that was (part one) -- Ashland

 

It feels good to be blogging again.  My "digital detox" during July was planned but I really had meant to start again last month. However, when I was ready, my old PC was not.  It is so sad when the motherboard dies (and to find out what it costs to repair).  So I'm working with a new computer which is lovely, but the program I used to edit my photos (Picassa) is out-dated and unsupported and would not transfer.  It feels like I'm starting over, as if I were photo-blogging for the first time, as I really did about 18 years ago.   I've been experimenting with editing programs to substitute.  None so far are anywhere near as user friendly.    Well.., it is said that learning new tricks is good for aging brains. We shall see.  

As planned, we arrived at our Oregon home early in July, after mostly uneventful flights (if I remember correctly back that far).    And as if Florida wasn't hot enough for us, we made a planned stopover in Arizona on our way home.

 

Arizona

This stop was to visit Bill's sister who for several years  has lived  in the Phoenix area near her children and grandchildren.   We hadn't seen Marilyn for a long time and it was good to get together again. It really was extremely  hot when we were there and we are all getting older so we spent most of our time visiting in their  comfortable family home.  I never remember to take pictures of the people we love unless we are all visiting some scenic attraction, so sadly the only photo remembrances of our time in Arizona are a few road-shots as we drove our rental car between our hotel, their home and the airport. 

 

Phoenix AZ

From Phoenix we flew to Eugene where we spent the rest of July catching up  with most of the three generations of our  family who live here.  (Now that we're home, it's four generations when we all get together!).  We got our Oregon apartment reorganized, pantry and frig restocked and so forth. That's much easier done here in Oregon than at the Florida Canal Cottage.         

In early August we took an in-state trip to celebrate both  of our birthdays.    I'd planned to get back into the blogging routine when we returned from that trip.  Better late than never, so here's the start of that trip. 

Our first stop was Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. 

 

Ashland Oregon

One night we saw Macbeth in the indoor theater and  on another, a dramatic performance of Jane Eyre in the outdoor theater (below).  We enjoyed both.  It was still quite hot here in Southern Oregon and there was some smoke in the air from one of the many forest fires around the state.   The morning of the day we had tickets for Jane Eyre we got a text notification  that the outdoor play would be cancelled if the smoke didn't lift.  Fortunately, it did and the evening was actually very pleasant.  

Outdoor stage, Ashland

The white on top of this picture of the stage set is the night sky believe it or not!    Even in the outdoor theater  we were of course asked   not to take pictures, so this was taken before the cast of Jane Eyre hit the stage.  It was a suitably Gothic setting for this play.

 

Downtown Ashland

Ashland is quite a charming mountain town, with many of the shops and restaurants taking advantage of the famous drama festival in their themes and names  --  I took this picture from the Festival Square while we were listening to an outdoor concert before the play began.  There are live, free music performances there early on every theater evening.  It appeared that many local residents also took advantage of the free concerts.

 

We enjoyed some exploration during the two full days we spent in Ashland and of course we ate!  The pictures in the collage above are from the Winery where we had dinner one night -- beautiful place, delicious mostly locally sourced food and good wine.

 

 When we left Ashland, we took the Redwood Highway into Northern California.  It's a beautiful drive.

 

 

The magnificent and huge trees are hard to photograph though.  Its difficult to get the full effect.

 

 

 It was dusty on a scenic loop off the highway -- we think part of that was probably from the smoke.  Fortunately, this area itself was not affected by the summer fires.  

Trip to be continued.  It's good to be back home in real life and in blogland.   We are grateful.  

 

Thank you for visiting and thank you to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY ; MOSAIC MONDAY

Comments

[Lavender Dreams]

I love reading about the neat places you visit. I've missed you too!

[Sharon Wagner]

We're heading to Florida soon! But luckily not until the latest hurricane leaves the state. I have to do my book promotional photoshop work on an old computer that is so, so, so slow. But it has photoshop at least. And it works.

[ellen b.]

Sallie, So good to see your blog post pop up in my feedly! Oh how I miss picassa and making collages, etc. Glad you do have your new computer. Welcome back to Oregon and blogging, too. We spent one night in Ashland back in 2010 and it was delightful. Those humongous trees in Northern California are amazing to see in person and you are so right...they cannot be captured adequately with a camera. We are just back in the states and I'm catching up a little on all the posts I've missed while in Scotland. Cheers!

[Michelle Keltner]

Redwoods are hard to photograph! They are magnificent, but hard to understand their size unless you are there. Phoenix sounds too hot for me. My husband loves Arizona and would live there if he could. Glad to have you back in blogland. Thank you for linking up and be well!

[Pat]

Hu Sallie!

It is good to see you back on your blog, and it sounds like you had a nice summer!
I went through the loss of Picasa a couple of laptops ago--I was also very sad as I think it was a superior product with good editing ability. I have been using Google Photos since, and I don't like it as much but I'm getting used to it. As you said it is "mental exercise."
AZ was really hot this summer--my husband and I have relatives that live there. It was 100 degrees and over for over 100 days--whew--not my kind of weather!

[Photo Cache]

I didn't realize that you took a break from blogging. I missed reading your posts. But a break is what we need. The two times that we did an Oregon road trip we stayed in Ashland both times, on the same hotel too, by the freeway :)

[Linda P]

It's good to know you're well and back in your Oregon home. The photos along the way are very interesting especially the ones of the theatre and the Redwoods.

[Victor S E Moubarak]

God bless always.

[Joyful]

Such beautiful photos. I'm glad you're home now to catch your breath.

[Lisa]

You make Ashland sound so inviting! However, I live in the valley, and absolutely hate the driving in Ashland! Lithia Park is lovely, although one summer there were signs at the swimming area to watch for mountain lions!

[Peter B.]

Welcome back! I find switching to a new computer very difficult. So many programs that are no longer compatible, it really does make it feel like you are starting from scratch. Too bad computers become outdated so quickly and require replacement.

[Yogi]

Welome back to blogville.
Switching PC's is a pain. They don't last too long any longer and if they do they cannot handle updated software. Oh well.

[mae]

It’s great that you were able to get together with many relatives in so many different parts of the country. I hope you don’t find new software and hardware too frustrating.
Good to see you blogging again… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

[Eileen]

Welcome back Sallie! I am glad all is well. Your trip sounds wonderful, I would enjoy the winery and the visit to see the Redwoods. I loved using Picasa too, I miss it. Now, I am just using Photoscape from Microsoft. Beautiful photos! Take care, have a wonderful day!

[Linda Walcroft]

I’ve never been to the redwoods. I’d like to go but travel takes so much effort now that I’m older.

I used Photoshop for years until they started charging a monthly fee. My iPad comes with an editing program that’s pretty good.

[Amy]

I like the lights on the building which looks older than it probably is. Good to see you back though.

[DeniseinVA]

Hi Sally, I’m glad you had such a nice break, planned and unplanned because of PC issues. That’s not so good. Getting used to new computers can be a bit of a trial at first, dealing with new programs and the like. You certainly had a nice trip home. Arizona is a favorite state of mine (though not the heat). Even better to visit with family and outstanding to get together with all those generational catch-ups. Happy Belated Birthdays to both of you. Such fun to read this post and see all that you did. Jane Eyre was my all-time favorite book when I was young. It would be wonderful to see the stage version. Glad the smoke lifted in time for the performance. Ashland looks and sounds like a wonderful town. Those trees are truly amazing! Thank you for all the great photos and enjoyed your post immensely. Welcome home!

[David M. Gascoigne]

Welcome back, Sallie. I think I read somewhere that Phoenix had over thirty days with temperatures in excess of 100 degrees. Who can live there? Who would want to? Can you imagine the death toll if the area lost power for a few days and there was no air conditioning? With ever more frequent disasters you have to conclude that this is a possibility at some point. Better to stay in Oregon! All the best - David

[Veronica Lee]

I can relate to feeling of moving to a new computer—especially when an old favorite program no longer works. It’s great that you’re exploring new editing software; I’m sure you’ll find one that works for you! Your trip to Ashland sounds wonderful, with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the lovely scenery. I can almost feel the charm of that mountain town from your descriptions. Gorgeous photos as always and welcome back to blogging!

[dee]

Welcome back to the blogosphere and to the West Coast, Sallie.
Gosh! It's been a hot (and fiery) summer! This year we barely got any breaks from the heat, here in CA. I can imagine how hot it was in AZ. Nice to know you got to enjoy some family time there.

Your time in Ashland sounds so sweet, too. I'd love to watch a Jane-Eyre play. :)

Ah! the redwoods! They are magnificent, indeed! I can never tire of them. Even last weekend we did a little hike in a Coast Redwood forest. <3

Have a great rest-of-the-week, Sallie. :)

[tomthebackroadstraveller]

...I'm glad that you enjjoyed your digital detox! Welcome back.

[somewhereinireland]

Welcome back. Your photos and narrative are a pleasure to read. Hope you settle in and enjoy the Oregon part of the year.

[magiceye]

Great to have you blogging again with lovely photos and interesting narration.

[Beatrice]

Welcome back to blog land, Sallie, and your summer and blog detox were full of adventures. We have friends who formerly lived in Eugene and now Springfield, OR, which we visited several years ago, but missed Ashland. The Shakespeare Festival was a fun event from what you wrote about it. I also miss Picassa, and now use Photoscape and there is a free version available. There are also other free or low cost photo editing programs.

Good luck with the new computer, which one did you get?

[Gattina]

How nice to have your news again ! Still traveling you lucky girl ! Since Rick's passing, my health has very much deteriorated, my lung troubles (BPCO) have increased and I don't dare to travel I never know how I will feel the next day ! Fortunately I don't miss it, because of our beautiful park and the family atmosphere we have here. Little cat Rosie loves to be here stays in my room which is huge (101 ft, or 31 m2) enough place for the two of us !

[Shiju Sugunan]

The photos are beautiful. I'm glad you're back blogging!

[Carol]

Glad to see your post; you were missed. Your trips always sound like fun. I think seeing family is one of the best kind of trips. Take care.

[Lorrie Orr]

So lovely to see a post from you again. Welcome back! I've heard about Ashland, but have never visited. It looks like a fun place to visit.
I use the Windows editing program on my Surface, but I still miss Picasa. Have a good week.

[Dina Johnston]

Looks like a fun trip! I use Photoscape to edit pictures. Mostly cropping and lighting up. It's free and easy to use.

[photowannabe]

I use Picasa too and am so worried that if my computer which is so out of date dies, I am in BIG trouble.
Glad to see that you are in the west coast for a while.
Ah, Ashland.. my best friend and I immediately after graduating high school took a fantastic road trip to the Shakesphere Festival and loved every play we saw. and then out to the coast to do tent camping. Too much fun.
Glad you are back and umm the winery sounds delicious.
Sue

[Hazel]

Glad all’s well. Welcome back! Your pictures are fascinating as always. The Ashland area seems fascinating, and the Winery meal looks delicious!