Friday, July 17, 2009
Head East!
I'm too tired to blog about the trip east from the coast, so I'm just going to upload a graphical representation of our road trip. Click to enlarge to get full detail.
Self Portraits from here and There :-)
Just got an urge to put all the self portraits we have taken along the way into a post...and since it's our blog, we can :-)
In the lodge at Odell Lake
Morning coffee and relaxing on the dock at Odell
Crater Lake on a perfect day!
Snowy at Crater Lake in July!!!
We have no self-portraits from Diamond Lake, so I thought I'd take a moment to remind her how much fun she had...cause I am not sure exactly what she remembers ;-) Not tellin either, so don't ask!
In the lodge at Odell Lake
Morning coffee and relaxing on the dock at Odell
Crater Lake on a perfect day!
Snowy at Crater Lake in July!!!
We have no self-portraits from Diamond Lake, so I thought I'd take a moment to remind her how much fun she had...cause I am not sure exactly what she remembers ;-) Not tellin either, so don't ask!
We forgot an entire driving day!
We were sitting here tonight as Terri wrote the blog entry for the run away from the coast, when we realized we didn't blog about the amazingly beautiful day and drive to the coast!!!
Another day headed toward 100 in the Rogue Valley area, but we had been assured by the weathermen (the aforementioned Big Fat Liar McLiar Heads) that it was going to be one of those great amazing 90 degree days on the coast...and we both love the ocean oh so very much that we were enticed by their seductive lying ways...and off we went! Couldn't decide which way to go to Brookings from Diamond Lake...we had a choice of Hwy 138 North and then East, or Hwy 62 which would take us Southeast and then back up North. Hmmmm...why not go Californy way?!?!?
It was a beautiful, near 100 degree day and with the top down on our Fine European Driving machine, it was just that much more perfect!!! The roads were nearly empty of traffic and Terri and I had them all to ourselves for the most part...wonderful it was! We listened to great music and Terri took hundreds of pictures along the drive - the shots she can get at 70 are amazing!!!!
Rogue River Gorge - this was just stunning!
Cruising Hwy 62...or 199 :-)
Terri's Self-Portraits :-)
California!
Gotta get our agricultural inspection to go into California...hmmmm
Beautiful Hwy 199 in California!
This was the Smith River...Middle Fork I believe...I think we crossed this one at least 6 times....curvy little MF!!!
Starting to get into the Redwoods!!!
Gee...we must be near Oregon's coast...this was when we really started to hate the weathermen!!!
Like we needed this to tell us we were here...the clouds and chill in the convertible clued us in quite quickly ;-)
So...once we got to the coast, we headed for Brookings...we figured, we're here, we will stay the night and give it a chance. The best place in Brookings seems to be the Best Western...I say seems to be as the little wench behind the desk was one of the most arrogant rude front desk people we have ever met. I think someone must have told her that it was the only hotel for 600 miles and she could treat people like shit because of it. Terri and I quickly decided that it would be well worth the 25 mile drive to go to Gold Beach...if for no other reason than to put the "Bitch of Brookings" far behind us! Good decision as we ended up at the Gold Beach resort with a lovely front desk woman named Valerie who gave us a kickass restaurant recommendation!!! Had a fabulous dinner and then went back to the hotel to plot our next move....
Mother Nature did decide to grace us with a nice sunset at the coast...so we have to share :-)
Another day headed toward 100 in the Rogue Valley area, but we had been assured by the weathermen (the aforementioned Big Fat Liar McLiar Heads) that it was going to be one of those great amazing 90 degree days on the coast...and we both love the ocean oh so very much that we were enticed by their seductive lying ways...and off we went! Couldn't decide which way to go to Brookings from Diamond Lake...we had a choice of Hwy 138 North and then East, or Hwy 62 which would take us Southeast and then back up North. Hmmmm...why not go Californy way?!?!?
It was a beautiful, near 100 degree day and with the top down on our Fine European Driving machine, it was just that much more perfect!!! The roads were nearly empty of traffic and Terri and I had them all to ourselves for the most part...wonderful it was! We listened to great music and Terri took hundreds of pictures along the drive - the shots she can get at 70 are amazing!!!!
Rogue River Gorge - this was just stunning!
Cruising Hwy 62...or 199 :-)
Terri's Self-Portraits :-)
California!
Gotta get our agricultural inspection to go into California...hmmmm
Beautiful Hwy 199 in California!
This was the Smith River...Middle Fork I believe...I think we crossed this one at least 6 times....curvy little MF!!!
Starting to get into the Redwoods!!!
Gee...we must be near Oregon's coast...this was when we really started to hate the weathermen!!!
Like we needed this to tell us we were here...the clouds and chill in the convertible clued us in quite quickly ;-)
So...once we got to the coast, we headed for Brookings...we figured, we're here, we will stay the night and give it a chance. The best place in Brookings seems to be the Best Western...I say seems to be as the little wench behind the desk was one of the most arrogant rude front desk people we have ever met. I think someone must have told her that it was the only hotel for 600 miles and she could treat people like shit because of it. Terri and I quickly decided that it would be well worth the 25 mile drive to go to Gold Beach...if for no other reason than to put the "Bitch of Brookings" far behind us! Good decision as we ended up at the Gold Beach resort with a lovely front desk woman named Valerie who gave us a kickass restaurant recommendation!!! Had a fabulous dinner and then went back to the hotel to plot our next move....
Mother Nature did decide to grace us with a nice sunset at the coast...so we have to share :-)
Weather forecasters are all big fat lying liar McLiar heads!
We headed north hoping to find warmer weather on the coast after the stupid weather channel told us it was going to be 90+ degrees on the southern coast. Liar liar liar! We drove to Bandon and it became clear that our time on the coast was going to be chilly - and we didn't want to be chilly. So, we headed back east towards Diamond Lake to see what we could find.
About 10 miles inland it was clear we had made the right choice as we were back to blue skies and sunshine. Ahhhhhhhh. More later...
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Decisions...decisions...
Well, we find ourselves in Gold Beach...where we can't see the beach!!! Cloudy on the coast...we are going to head north for a bit today, and if we can't find sun, then we will head east...maybe to the Roseburg area for some river lodging in the heat...more later! We'll let y'all know where we end up!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Crater Lake!!!
There's really just not that much to say about one of the most stunningly beautiful places on the planet, so I'm going to post a bunch of really cool pictures and let the day speak for itself. I will say the same thing Terri said yesterday though...SNOW?!?!? Are we really seeing snow in July?!?!?
Flipflops in the Snow!!!
Flipflops in the Snow!!!
Odell Lake
Since Kirstin was only able to provide a synopsis due to our poor internet access, here's a little more info about Odell Lake.While heading down I-5 south we saw a billboard for Odell Lake Resort off of highway 58 - it looked neat so we decided to check it out.
It was absolutely gorgeous - here I am standing next to the lake on Monday evening. The next morning it was even more gorgeous.
If you are reading this Carl - we have to go kayaking here. It was awesome and they even have a wheelchair accessible cabin (much bigger than the one Kirstin and I were in) and the launch access is perfect.
This is where we had our morning coffee - at the very end of part of the dock that goes out over the lake. The restaurant is small but had great food - and for those keeping track, I would like to report that Kirstin gets a 4/5 sammiches for almost finishing her entire dinner and having Marionberry pie for dessert!
Good Job Kirstin! :-)
Random pics:
The dock. Did I mention they have a party barge you can rent for the day?
Living room area of resort looking towards the front desk
That's it for now.
Diamond Lake - July 14 & 15th
While driving around Crater Lake, we noticed it was about 3pm, so started pondering where the days end may find us. We had heard about Diamond Lake, and it was only 60 miles away, so we thought we'd give it a shot. After Odell Lake, we were totally open to trying new places out again! They had a two bedroom cabin available on the lake and we were set!
If you haven't been there before, it's worth checking out! Huge lake with tons of rental cabins and boats! Nice big beach area and a beautiful setting!
We got there and got settled, then wandered the grounds a bit checking things out. It is old (not quite as old as Odell Lake Resort), and I'm sure in it's heyday was quite the high-end ritzy place, but it seems to be stuck in some twisted mix of the 50's and the 70's and may be frozen in that time twist forever :-) That, however, is not an entirely bad thing - it gives the whole place a kitschy quirkiness that adds to the charm. The concept of a resort and how it has changed and evolved over the last 100 years will probably end up with it's own blog post by the end of the week as I find it to be a fascinating subject having now been to two "resorts" that may have been just that in 1920, but in 2010 don't quite feel like most know to be one. We have become very spoiled as a society :-) It is a beautiful place though and would be a great place to hang for a vacation! They even rent party barges too!
Thoughts of food and drink started popping into our heads so we wandered over to the lodge to check out the options. They had a "regular" restaurant, and a "higher-end" place as well. We chose the third option - the lounge :-) That was where we found Jerry the bartender - he was a hoot as were all the folks hanging out for the evening. Here's a pic of Jerry with a bottle of Grey Goose and a bottle of Rothschild. There was a vicious debate on good vs. bad vs. expensive vs. cheap vodka! I still say Grey Goose is tastier!
That's also where Terri's mood apparently struck her, and one vodka tonic turned into many...and a few more ;-) I'll not claim innocence here as I was feeling very little pain by the time I remembered that I needed to eat something (working on a four sandwich star day I was) having had 3 or 4 myself. The BLT got me straightened out, but Terri was on a roll and continued on until I talked her into leaving for s'mores at the campfire...which I built after we got back...and got roaring and ready for marshmallows at about the same time that Terri decided that it was time to sleep ;-) I did however have s'mores and the campfire and even took some night pictures of the lake!
Before she fell asleep though, I did manage to get one picture that I truly believe captures the essence of a) how much fun she truly was having and b) how many drinks she had. I will probably be in trouble later for this one, but hey, what the hell!
We got up this morning, and decided to take a long drive to Brookings...where we heard it would be 90...as Penn and Teller would say...BULLSHIT!!! But that's another blog post ;-)
If you haven't been there before, it's worth checking out! Huge lake with tons of rental cabins and boats! Nice big beach area and a beautiful setting!
We got there and got settled, then wandered the grounds a bit checking things out. It is old (not quite as old as Odell Lake Resort), and I'm sure in it's heyday was quite the high-end ritzy place, but it seems to be stuck in some twisted mix of the 50's and the 70's and may be frozen in that time twist forever :-) That, however, is not an entirely bad thing - it gives the whole place a kitschy quirkiness that adds to the charm. The concept of a resort and how it has changed and evolved over the last 100 years will probably end up with it's own blog post by the end of the week as I find it to be a fascinating subject having now been to two "resorts" that may have been just that in 1920, but in 2010 don't quite feel like most know to be one. We have become very spoiled as a society :-) It is a beautiful place though and would be a great place to hang for a vacation! They even rent party barges too!
Thoughts of food and drink started popping into our heads so we wandered over to the lodge to check out the options. They had a "regular" restaurant, and a "higher-end" place as well. We chose the third option - the lounge :-) That was where we found Jerry the bartender - he was a hoot as were all the folks hanging out for the evening. Here's a pic of Jerry with a bottle of Grey Goose and a bottle of Rothschild. There was a vicious debate on good vs. bad vs. expensive vs. cheap vodka! I still say Grey Goose is tastier!
That's also where Terri's mood apparently struck her, and one vodka tonic turned into many...and a few more ;-) I'll not claim innocence here as I was feeling very little pain by the time I remembered that I needed to eat something (working on a four sandwich star day I was) having had 3 or 4 myself. The BLT got me straightened out, but Terri was on a roll and continued on until I talked her into leaving for s'mores at the campfire...which I built after we got back...and got roaring and ready for marshmallows at about the same time that Terri decided that it was time to sleep ;-) I did however have s'mores and the campfire and even took some night pictures of the lake!
Before she fell asleep though, I did manage to get one picture that I truly believe captures the essence of a) how much fun she truly was having and b) how many drinks she had. I will probably be in trouble later for this one, but hey, what the hell!
We got up this morning, and decided to take a long drive to Brookings...where we heard it would be 90...as Penn and Teller would say...BULLSHIT!!! But that's another blog post ;-)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Terri may or may not be drunk....
more later ;-)
OK, it's later...as in the next evening...and oh boy howdy did she :-) There is even pictorial evidence that clearly will show what I mean...but she was so damned much fun!!!!
OK, it's later...as in the next evening...and oh boy howdy did she :-) There is even pictorial evidence that clearly will show what I mean...but she was so damned much fun!!!!
random pics...if they work...
We'll explain these later when things are faster. Having more vodka while these pics load ;-)
Back online, but still in the mountains!
We find ourselves on this fine Tuesday evening at the bar at the Diamond Lake "Resort". Posting from the bar as that is the only place we can connect to the interwebs ;-) Believe it or not, this is the first time we have had internet access, and our phones aren't working either. So...to catch everyone up on all of the fun and adventure so far...
Well, just tried to load some pictures, but apparently here at the "resort", the wireless speed is, well, slowwwwwwwwwww. Text version now with pics when we find faster web service!
Our car was delivered to the office around 1pm - it is a GORGEOUS BMW that we get to wander around in for the week. We took off on I5 South with no particular destination in mind, but an earlier scan of the Oregon map made us think that Hwy 58 looked interesting to head east on. :-) As we neared Eugene, we saw a billboard for Odell Lake Resort and cabins...mmmm....cabin...on a lake...we must check this out!!!!
Arrived at Odell Lake and they had a quaint, rustic LITTLE cabin available :-) Odd odors included free of charge! Seriously though, an amazing place that we can't wait to post pics of. Great folks running the place and a lake that is just amazing!!!! Plus, one of the best dinners in recent memory!!! Service was great and we would highly encourage people to go check this place out!!!!!
No TV in the cabin, so we watched Thelma and Louise on the Macbook. It was Terri's first time ever to see the movie - now she finally understands the many comments people have made, and we had a very fun evening...safe and sound in our little cabin.
We woke up Tuesday morning and went and got coffee in the lodge and then wandered down to the docks to sit for a bit and chill (more pics should go in here, but again with the slow net connect). Just a magically beautiful little slice of Oregon paradise!
Decided to hit the road and head down to Crater Lake. Will tell some more about that part in a bit, but right now, I am going to have another vodka tonic and a smoke and will post in a bit...or make Terri do it ;-)
Baby - I will call you as soon as I get cell service!!! Smoooches!
Well, just tried to load some pictures, but apparently here at the "resort", the wireless speed is, well, slowwwwwwwwwww. Text version now with pics when we find faster web service!
Our car was delivered to the office around 1pm - it is a GORGEOUS BMW that we get to wander around in for the week. We took off on I5 South with no particular destination in mind, but an earlier scan of the Oregon map made us think that Hwy 58 looked interesting to head east on. :-) As we neared Eugene, we saw a billboard for Odell Lake Resort and cabins...mmmm....cabin...on a lake...we must check this out!!!!
Arrived at Odell Lake and they had a quaint, rustic LITTLE cabin available :-) Odd odors included free of charge! Seriously though, an amazing place that we can't wait to post pics of. Great folks running the place and a lake that is just amazing!!!! Plus, one of the best dinners in recent memory!!! Service was great and we would highly encourage people to go check this place out!!!!!
No TV in the cabin, so we watched Thelma and Louise on the Macbook. It was Terri's first time ever to see the movie - now she finally understands the many comments people have made, and we had a very fun evening...safe and sound in our little cabin.
We woke up Tuesday morning and went and got coffee in the lodge and then wandered down to the docks to sit for a bit and chill (more pics should go in here, but again with the slow net connect). Just a magically beautiful little slice of Oregon paradise!
Decided to hit the road and head down to Crater Lake. Will tell some more about that part in a bit, but right now, I am going to have another vodka tonic and a smoke and will post in a bit...or make Terri do it ;-)
Baby - I will call you as soon as I get cell service!!! Smoooches!
Monday, June 29, 2009
A few of my favorite things!!
Kirstin here -- I was just looking through some old pics, and had to share the things that I truly can't wait for on this trip...
Vodka and the ocean view :-)
Sunshine!!!
Laughter - much much laughter!
More sunshine!!
Convertible with tunes!!!
Time with my bestest bud!!!
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