Tag: travel
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Sierra Nevada: Good times, as usual
An evening of beer tasting and dinner at Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico was a highlight of our weekend visit with son Brad and his girlfriend Ashley.
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Portland…after the storm
Portland got dumped on Tuesday and Wednesday. The expected 3-4 inches of snow piled up into a good foot of the white stuff, sending the city to a screeching halt for the rest of the week. We stubbornly refused to postpone our scheduled trip, and arrived yesterday (Friday) to icy roads and slippery sidewalks…but beautiful…
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Gold Hill stage stop serves history and fine wine
After a walk around the gold mining town of Jacksonville, Oregon, we found an old stage coach road through the foothills of Jackson County northwest of Medford. It delivered us to a stage stop in Gold Hill, home to one of more than 80 wineries in the area. We sampled three white and three red…
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Coastal Trail reveals hidden beauty
The Coastal Trail weaves like a thread along the rugged Pacific Coast, stringing together scenic viewpoints, state parks, hidden coves and dense forests. The trail also offers numerous opportunities to stretch one's legs, which is exactly what we did while sightseeing on our most recent camping trip on the South Coast of Oregon. Armed with…
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A California diversion leads to secret World War II radar station
A narrow, one-way dirt road near the mouth of the Klamath River in California's Del Norte County led us to an important World War II site today, perched above the Pacific Ocean. Disguised as farm buildings, the early warning system housed radar to watch for Japanese submarines and planes. Radar Station 71 is the…
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Going Green on the Oregon Coast
When we reserved our Harris Beach campsite last week, the weather report for the south coast of Oregon called for several days with mostly blue skies and temperatures in the mid-sixties. The perfect opportunity to sneak in, what might be, one last trailer trip before winter weather arrives. As promised, temperatures have warmed up each…
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Oregon mountain holds link to WWII bombing
It was a September evening off the Brookings, Oregon coast. Nobuo Fujita strapped himself into the pilot's seat in his floatplane atop the submarine aircraft carrier. His spotter gave the thumbs up and their craft was catapulted from the sub into the air, eventually rising to several thousand feet as they headed toward the redwood…
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Smith Rock State Park – A Commanding Presence
Bursting from the high desert floor, Smith Rock State Park offers outdoor enthusiasts 650 acres of breathtaking recreational opportunities. With its towering rock formations, Smith Rock, 25 miles north of Bend, Oregon, has become a popular destination for rock climbers of all abilities, attracting enthusiasts from around the world. For those of you who, like…
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Colossal Newberry volcano begs for exploration
Oh, what a difference a day makes! We packed our hiking shoes and a picnic and headed for a second day in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. After a 34-mile drive south and then east from Bend, we were greeted by brilliant sunshine and twin lakes that filled an area bigger than Crater Lake. The…
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