WHERE WILD FLOWERS BLOOM

Here at the Oregon State Fair one can find wild flowers in the most unusual places. As you walk around the various exhibits you will find treasures where you least expect them. To all of you folks who picked up my card with this blog address, I say "Welcome aboard!"  I hope you made some memories to keep you company in the years to come.

If you are unfamiliar with the "blogisphere" please enter your email address in the "subscription" field on the upper right of this blog to enable you to receive future blog posts via your email as I do them. Generally I post a few pix and write a few paragraphs of my trips upon my return home. Since I have been at the Oregon Authors table for the past 9 days with 2 to go I have not posted travel-centric pix. But I wanted to take minute to welcome you to my blog and invite you to click on the earlier posts to get a sense of what Oregon has to offer YOU.

As we all proceed to TRIPPING ON A SHOESTRING consider what one person told me, "I will probably die of old age before I grow up." That is my wish for us all. Go Wild!

TRIPPING AT STATE FAIR

Eleven days is how long the Oregon State Fair runs. Eleven days to meet folks and talk about "Tripping On a Shoestring". Eleven days to sell enough books to make it "worth while". The yellow water lilies in the pix below reminds me why I am really here. My goal is to let people know how easy it is to get away from home, out of the familiar rut, and explore the beautiful country surrounding us. 

As I contemplate the pix below, I am reminded of the fresh air, sunlight and calm feelings that await those of us who actually sit alongside a pond and enjoy it's beauty. My little "how-to" manual awaits any of you who think you are "too": Too busy; too old, too poor, too tied down, too...you name it. But please don't claim it. One of the wonderful folks who crossed my path this week said, "There are seven days in a week and none of them are named TOMORROW." I love that. 

So, if you think you can't, you are right. If you think you can, you are right. I hope to see you on the trail. Let's enjoy each day. Treat it as if it's your last. That's my attitude because I drive on Lancaster Drive here in Salem, Oregon. It behooves me take a deep breath and leap into today's breech. I never know where I will land, but land, I will! You will too. Make it a soft one!

IT'S ABOUT THE FOG!

It's all about the fog. While members of my wonderful family think it's because of the family reunion that I travel to the coast this week, I'm telling you: It's all about the fog. 

We, who live in the Willamette Valley have had a heat wave this summer rendering all valley residence into puddles of sweat. On the east side of the Cascade Range where summers generally carry 90+ temperatures it is considered a "dry heat". There is nothing "dry" about the Willamette Valley heat. It is muggy and damp mimicking the way those of us who live there feel.

While on highway 38 heading west my van’s thermometer read in the high 80's as I headed for the coast. Approaching Reedsport along the Umpqua River I saw the first vestiges of fog.

Fog! It soothes my eyes better than the most expensive sunglasses. As soon as I drive under it’s gentle embrace, I feel my forehead relax. 

Then there’s fog’s effect upon my nose. What set of sinuses doesn’t wish for the moist coolness arriving on a fog-bound breath?

But most of all it’s my skin. Well, as my body still radiates accumulated heat, my arms are already sprouting goose bumps. Goose bumps! Just think of that. What a delicious feeling.

Here on the Oregon coast fog does not “steal in on little feet” as fog is so often described in books. No! It tromps in like Big Foot as it stomps through valleys and shoves it’s way up the hills. The vegetation sighs in relief and grows like it’s in a race to be the biggest and best. 

Fog dampens with a dew loved by all plants. You can tell by the way they respond. I think even the spider who spun the web in my pix below enjoys the morning mist as much as I do.

RELAX

The only good reason I can find to constantly nag people to get out and "take a hike" exists purely because I want to share what I experience while I do just that. Knowing it's not for everyone, I will give that a rest. My new mandate to myself includes the nag "relax" so that will start tomorrow.

My latest trip was a three day camp-out next to the glorious crystal clear Metolius River. To follow up on my "relax" mandate I actually pulled my camp chair up within three feet of the rushing water in the shade and watched the river flow, as the old song said. A cool breeze blew over the water providing me with a rare and delicious moment of coolness not experienced in this month of the Willamette Valley heat wave. Every once in a while a warm patch of air would blow across my face bringing with it the aroma of warm pine. Yum!

Each evening and morning I took my camera for the "river walk" which is a two mile trail up one side of the river and down the other. The morning and evening light presents a different picture with each passing step. The top pix below was taken late as the evening sun was setting. Sun light filtered through the Ponderosa Pine needles and glittered off the river ripples creating diamonds rivaling a jewelry store display in June. The bottom pix came out of the morning light as it hit the far river bank while the shade formed upon the water to provide a perfect canvas.

So, there you have it: My reasons for being such a nag. I hope you all find your perfect place to relax and enjoy the light. 

CLEAR LAKE REFLECTIONS

Our morning sun had not shown its face over the horizon as I started off to take my morning hike on the Clear Lake trail. Clear Lake is an icy cold spring lake that becomes the headwaters of the McKenzie River in the Cascade Range of Oregon.  

About 3,000 years ago, give or take a day or two, Sand Mountain erupted. The resulting lava flowed toward a cold river right where it "sprung" out of the earth. While sliding toward the ice cold river the molten hot lava burned forests growing in its path. Upon hot lava reaching the icy water it stopped thereby causing a wall of lava that back-filled the river to create a lake. It happened so fast that the existing forest still stands beneath the cold lake preserved in the icy waters we now call Clear Lake.

Much of the trail surrounding Clear Lake crosses these ancient lava flows. Vine Maple and numerous other plants dot the lava bed with an occasional old growth fir thrown in. Interspersed with the lava between flows the Douglas Fir lives to create dense old growth forests making for a varied path. 

All along the trail views of the lake avail themselves making for very slow going. I don't know about you, but I cannot walk and "gawk off" at the same time without toxic results. While my book “Tripping On a Shoestring” is not about ‘tripping’ I have been known to take a few disastrous spills. So it's walk a few steps, stop and gawk off, take a few more steps, ooh photo op, snap, snap, few more steps...well you get the idea. Since it's such slow going, I only made it half way and back in two hours. But the side I walked on gave me the best photo light for pix of the lake. I hiked on the east edge with the rising sun striking the west side highlighting the reflective beauty of tall pines perfectly reproduced in the calm waters of the lake. The brilliant blue sky reflected with a bit of white puffs here and there for the back-drop.

It’s an easy trail, each step filled with eye-popping sites. Shallow coves hold turquoise water reflecting lime blades of water-loving grasses. Why would any of us want to miss out on this? Please take a day or two to pause and “reflect” in the icy water of Clear Lake. It will give you one more treasure for your Memory Treasure Chest. Here in Oregon, you can "get rich quick" by just stopping to reflect.