Foodie interlude: Keep Portland Weird.

I say!

Especially the Darth Vader, playing bagpipes on a motorized wheel….












All this while queuing for half an hour to buy donuts from a tiny downtown shop that is a must visit in Portland, called Voodoo Donuts.

So we sugar overdosed on oreo, chocolate with peanut butter, Portland cream, chocolate coconut donuts….when in Portland do donuts.

Carbon Footprint

So John wryly asked Fred about whether he was concerned about the carbon footprint of our epic 3 months in the US. And Fred replied as only he can'... more worried whether the tires are going to last'.

Well, they were down to canvas and we spent some time in Portland replacing all 4 tires. So ready for the next 3 weeks of travel.

Welches, Oregon: on a trail

Great way to spend a Sunday, find a trail and walk with family.

The Old Salmon River Trail is through a spectacular old growth forest, along the river and we did a 5 mile piece.

Add caption

Tillamook County: finding barns and wooden quilt blocks

 The collector in me was delighted to read about the wooden quilt blocks that are 8' by 8' hanging on barns and buildings in Tillamook, Oregon.

Had to go and find some, loved the barns and I 'made' a quilt.

Foodie interlude: pancakes

Shawni and Craig have arrived from Nassau and no better way to celebrate than Fred making his legendary pancakes. Wimbledon mens final in the background. Fabulous plump blueberry's and yoghurt all the way from the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

All good and a lovely way to celebrate the 4th of July weekend.

Quilting interlude: a peep back into the 19th C

Museum in the old school building!

Tillamook, Oregon and exploring the charming quilt museum. 

The centerpiece of the current exhibition is a quilt called Crown of Thorns made in 1883 by a 16 year old quilter - the quilting is so fine, about 12 stitches per inch. It is a vibrant beauty and perfectly preserved, must have been a showpiece quilt and hardly ever used.

I browsed through the textile files, looking at the bits and pieces of silks, brocades and cottons and thinking would love to work with these little gems.

A fragile delicate quilt and the quilting is amazin

My favorite, tiny little 1 inch squares and such funky colors from fading over the decades.

Our trip in numbers...

 We have been on the road for 9 weeks in the USA:

•   travelled 7274 miles, (11706 km)

•   been in 4 US states – California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon

•   explored 9 National Parks - Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Yosemite, Golden Gate Alcatraz, Lassen Volcanic, Redwoods. Lava Beds, Crater Lake

•   visited 7 State Parks - Big Sur, Salton Sea, San Jacinto Mountain, Hearst Castle, Red Rock, Red Rock Canyon, Humboldt Redwoods

•   National Forests; 5 Sequoia, Sierra, Tahoe, Lassen, Fremont Winema

•   slept in 19 beds; 6 hotels/inns, 5 motels and 7 timeshare units, 1 private home (make it 25 with Bahamas)

•   ate Ben & Jerry ice-cream, 8, Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, Triple Caramel Chunk, New York Super Fudge Chunk, Americone Dream, Cheesecake Brownie, Everything but the…., Coffee. Coffee Buzz Buzz!

•   added 51 birds to my US bird list which is now 215 and my world list is 1498, top bird Roadrunner

•   popped into 4 museums, Palm Springs Art, Cable Car (SF), De Young (SF), Maritime Museum (Lake Tahoe)

•   farmers markets, 2; Oakhurst, Ferry Building (SF)

•   decaprio 3 movie catch-up, Aviator, Gatsby and Departed

•   Oscar 5 movie catch-up, Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska, August: Osage County, Zero Dark Thirty, Charlie Wilson’s War

•   relished organic extra virgin olive oil, 3 farms 

•   walked 169 miles; beaches, mountain trails, coastal meadow, high altitude lake, golf courses, climbing red rocks, canyon rim, valley trail, desert paths, Las Vegas Strip, mountain hikes, many city blocks

•   walking well ahead of schedule, 24 miles credit, (for each 50 miles driven we want to walk 1 mile)

•   longest hike 10 miles on Four Mile Trail with 3200’ climb on steep switchbacks

•   took a bike, cycled along the Truckee River for 16 miles, (26 km)

•   canoed 9 miles along the Upper Klamath Canoe Trail

•   watched 7 episodes of Game of Thrones, season 4

•   lowest driving elevation, 214’ below sea-level at Furnace Creek Golf Course, Death Valley

•   highest driving elevation, 9945’ Tioga Pass, Tioga Road, Yosemite

•   got cold at the lowest temperature below 40 degrees F in Tehachapi (3 degrees C)

•   was hot at the highest temperature of 115 degrees F while walking in Death Valley (46 degrees C). Car registered 125 degrees F at one point – over 50 degrees C

•   wine tasting, 2 at Tablas Winery, Paso Robles and Souza Family Vineyard

•   modes of transport, 9, helicopter over the Grand Canyon, ferry to Alcatraz, cable car, bus, metro, streetcar, bicycle, paddle boat on Tahoe, canoe

•   shows/events, 5, in Las Vegas, O Cirque du Soleil; in San Francisco, Beach Blanket Babylon, SF Giants baseball in San Francisco; in Reno Extreme Bull Riding, in Reno, Rodeo

The evolving footprint of our trip.

Fred is watching the FIFA World Cup quarter finals and I am packing as we move today to the Portland leg of our trip.

Playing with maps, its the geographer in me and the navigator.

Oregon: Canoeing along the Upper Klamath

The Upper Klamath Canoe Trail is a quiet space; marsh, open lake and forest with miles of open water all to ourselves.

Such a treat to be out early in the morning, fresh air, calm waters, as Fred paddled, I was parallel with Canada Geese, Pied-billed Grebes, loads of LBJ's calling vigorously from the willow and cottonwood trees, the large-leaved yellow pond lily in bloom, a coot with her young and so much more to see and hear.

A few Bald Eagles remain here in the Basin during summer and we saw a circling eagle and picked up a nest in an old Ponderosa Pine. Even a few lifers for the trip - a sky-pointing American Bittern and flying Black Terns.

We canoe'd for the morning, covering nearly 9 miles of the trails. And yes I did paddle and according to Fred, even helped just a little! So cool.

Watching the reflections as we paddled along the creek.

World to ourself.

Oregon: Crater Lake National Park

 Another day of wonder, another first for us, a caldera formed 7700 years ago.

Riding the Rim Drive, the 33 mile road encircling Crater Lake. What a privilege to drive this road.

The scenery is unmatched and each stop is yet another viewpoint of this deep blue lake formed when the volcano blew and then collapsed on itself.

The lake is almost 2000' deep at its deepest point and the encircling rim ranges from 500' to nearly 2000' above the lake.

                                                          Crater Lake GoPro video…...

A layer of exposed orange pumice, creating Pumice Castle

The oldest exposed rock within the caldera - Phantom Ship

Rock formation at Watchman Overlook

Wizard Island

And Crater Lake

Just beautiful.

Crater Lake National Park: The Pinnacles

Just when I thought that I had seen it all!

These are The Pinnacles, in the Crater Lake National Park and they are fossil fumaroles.

They stand as tall as the Ponderosa Pines.

The fumaroles are formed when hot volcanic gases rise up through a layer of volcanic ash and the heat cements the ash into solid rock.

Erosion of the soft rock exposes these weird and wonderful forms.

Quite remarkable volcanic features

Quilting Interlude; building a little stash

The birds and the bees -  or rather, this week is birds and quilts, fabric and whatever comes my way.

Like this doorway in Merrill, Oregon, a traditional square made from tiles . A quilter must live or work here.

And here in Klamath Falls, Tisha, a quilter running a small business from her home.

Popping into local quilt shops in Klamath Falls

A little stash it is, but so colorful for my special quilting group back home.

Northern California: caving in Lava Tubes

The outside temperature hovered in the early 90 degrees, while in the lava tubes it dropped down to almost freezing, the winter air gets trapped and it is so cold that there is permanent ice at the bottom of Skull Cave.

Its dark and eerie underworld and I felt as though my breath was shallow and loud in my ears.

Mushpot Lava Tube Cave

Caving not my scene, but how amazing to see these caves created by flows of smooth lava thousands of years ago, like veins carrying blood, they formed kilometers of these tubes as the lava forced its way to the surface.

Mushpot Cave was the only lighted cave, in the others we walked in the pitch dark with weak torches provided by the Visitors Centre, bending and taking care not to bump heads.

Gnarly indeed….

Walking through Mushpot

Skull Cave: This cave is the remnant of 3 very large lava tubes.

Entrance to Skull Cave

That's me, gingerly walking into the cavernous dark….

...relieved to see the daylight.

Valentine Cave, almost feels man made in its smoothness.

Extraordinary shapes..

…and no further for me, caving done at this point!