Eugene Oregon

Tuesday morning I got up at my usual time, got ready for work, moved some things into the camper and then headed in to NIC to start my day. Linda had left early for the club to work out; I put Baka out back and left.

Heather and I entered the SUB at about the same time and she gave me this look. I figured it was based on the fact that I had not shaved this morning knowing we were leaving for our vacation at noon. We noticed that the TV in the foyer was not working and Heather asked me to help her fix it before I left. Then she said “Why did you come in on your vacation?” I said “What, I have to work till noon!” She said “No, you took the day off!” I said, “Oh.” We fixed the TV and I left for home and as soon as Linda was ready we started our adventure.

Driving west through Spokane the plan was to go to Ritzville and then start looking for a place to stay the first night. Since we had an early start, we moved on past the Tri Cities and took Highway 14 west before we reached Umatilla. The road took us along the Columbia River and we set our sights on a campground by the bridge leading to Biggs. Before we reached the campground we spotted an area called Crows Nest State Park and we cruised on in. The park was very nice and we were one of four campers there. We decided to give it a try and we found a very nice site and settled in. The weather had been very and today was no exception. We sat in the camp ground and about died. Evening brought very little relief, a slight breeze and the temperature dropped a few degrees but that was about it. Sleep was restless at best and when we got up in the morning I told Linda that my quest would be to find an AC fan and possibly a DC fan that we could use to move air in the camper on hot nights. I showered and reported to Linda that the men’s shower was very good and well worth the dollar it took to get it to operate.

We packed up and were on the road early. Our plan was to hit Biggs and turn right and then when we hit The Dalles we would turn left and drive the winding roads of 197 through Dufur and Madras, taking 97 to Redmond and then veering west to Sisters and on into Eugene. For some reason Linda loved Sisters and wanted to drive through the sweet little town. My navigator got us to Sisters and then she went quiet. It was not the little town she remembered from 20 years ago; it was a big bustling town now. This kind of through Linda for a loop and by the time she got back to her navigational duty, we had taken the wrong road. It wasn’t a big mistake, but according to Linda she said “ I think we are going to drive some where between 16 and 20 miles more, no maybe 30, let’s see no it looks like 50 mile farther on this road.” 50 miles is a lot more then 16 or 20 miles, but the road was beautiful and the time passed quickly.

About 20 miles out of Eugene, Linda called Al Dee and got directions to there house. Fifteen minutes later we called again and got directions from the spot where we discovered we were lost. We passed their driveway only once, turned around and arrived no worse for the wear. It was great to see everyone and as soon as Al Dee got home from work we loaded up and went to dinner and a hike along the river.

Saturday morning we got everything together and drove to Silver Falls State Park. Along the way we stopped at Wal-Mart so that we could buy Kenyon some shoes. Some how we had forgotten them back at home. At this stop I purchased two fans for the camper so we would be able to move air around if we ever hit another night like the one at Crows Nest. With shoes and fans in our possession, we Slug Bugged our way to the state park.

Silver Falls State Park is 9000 acres, Oregon’s largest state park. We entered and paid the day fee, then drove to parking lot F. The plan was to hike the circular route that starts at the South Falls and ends via the Rim Trail. This route is called the Trail of Ten Falls and was approximately five miles of hiking; we could see seven of the ten waterfalls.

Our first falls was Frenchie Falls and it was anything but spectacular. Not being a fanof the French, I thought it appropriate that Frenchie was such a disappointment. South Falls a 177 ft. beauty was next. From the top we could look down into the pond at the bottom and then when we followed the trail, we could stand under the falls as it dropped over the edge. We hiked with about forty other hikers, so the going was anything but primitive. The second large falls was called Lower South Falls and it dropped about 93 ft. into its catch basin. Lower North Falls came next followed by Double Falls Drake Falls, Middle North Falls and an unspectacular Winter Falls. I think Winter Falls is much better in the season it was named for because there would actually be water flowing over the falls instead of dripping over the falls. The Winter Trail leading to the top of Winter Falls was a bit of a climb and at the top we took a few minutes to catch our breath and then return to our van via the Rim Trail.

I left a bit before everyone and vigorously walked the hiking path through the huge trees. When I got to the road leading to parking lot F I sat down a waited for the rest of our group to catch up. 30 minutes later they had not arrived. I walked back along the trail a ways and met several people who we had passed. I turned around and again met more people walking the other direction that I knew we had passed and were hiking faster then. So I decided to walk to the van at parking lot F and wait to see if they arrive. When I turned the corner to the parking lot there they were.