Central Oregon: Photos and Stories, Part 1

 

Anne and I planned a four-day trip to central Oregon with a stay at Eagle Crest Resort (Worldmark timeshare) in Redmond and, Glory Be, nothing got in the way of the trip—although the Bomb Cyclone almost did. The purpose of the trip was to get out of the house and do some photography. Both goals were met and I’ll share the results in this and the next post with vignettes and photos. As always, comments and notes are appreciated.

At Starbucks in Sandy, OR

Two Early Trip Photo Stops

Our first stop after a windy and rainy drive over Mount Hood was at Peter Skene Ogden State Park and the bridges over the Crooked River Gorge. 

Bob grabbing a bridge picture.

It was nice that it was dry after the Bomb Cyclone flooding the Willamette Valley. This gave me a nice opportunity to try out my new Nikon Zfc mirrorless camera and my new lens, Nikon Z 24-200mm zoom.

The next stop was at Smith Rock State Park at Terrabonne. This is a prime rock climber location with more than a hundred climbing routes—

it was late in the day and we didn’t see any climbers this time. There are numerous hiking trails that start in the park’s main parking area. The rocks, river, and visiting deer gave me plenty of subjects on which to practice.

The Shoe Adventure

Mountains to the west of Sisters--The Sisters are shrouded in clouds.

Old farm between Redmond and Sisters.

We hit snow about ten miles from Sisters on Three Creeks Lake Road.

On our first full day on the east side of the mountains (Cascades) we drove the 18 miles to Sisters, OR, and visited one of our favorite coffee shops, Sisters Coffee, as well as the rest of town. 

No mountain views, but still plenty to photograph.

At a photo stop on the way to Sisters Anne had put on her boots when we got back to the car. From there we went to coffee and Anne’s first walk in her new boots. 

The walk from the car to the shop was about fifty yards after which Anne complained mightily about how badly one boot hurt. At our table, once we'd ordered our coffee and delicious scones, Anne untied her boot, took it off, and pulled out of the boot a medium-sized plastic shoehorn. A man at the next table said, “You walked with that in your shoe?!” To which Anne replied, “It feels much better now.”

Sisters Meat and Smokehouse where we bought sauces and smoked turkey.

Oliver Lemon's Market where we bought specialty olives.

Paying for Stories

We had a great breakfast on our second day in Redmond at Christie’s Kitchen, a restaurant in an older house near downtown. 

We then started our drive to Mitchell fifty miles east on Hwy 126 looking for fall color photos. The hour drive was nice, but the photos didn’t show up. 

We got some views on the way to Mitchell.

The better mountain photos would have been between Mitchell and John Day (another 60 miles)—we weren’t going that far. Instead, we made do with photos in Old Mitchell.

Two experiences in Old Mitchell were interesting—in different ways we endied up paying for stories. First, we visited Little Pine Gift Shop at the end of town. 

As I approached the shop I saw a sign which read, “Restroom for Customer Only.” We decided we’d become customers by buying something—I really need to use the facilities. When we walked in I asked, if we buy something could we use the restroom? The owner and clerk both smiled and the owner chuckled, “Of course, you’re a customer.” There’s the first story: the restroom story. Anne did find out that the shop had been a hardware-grocery-cafe and had recently changed to a gift shop with local products. We did become customers and owners of a winter scent candle and a Christmas decoration. 

The second shop was in the middle of the block that is Old Mitchell. We dropped in to Judy’s Place, an antique/odd-and-ends shop where owner Judy is the star of the show supported by Patches the dog. 

The story we got here was the story of how Mitchell is surviving in troubled times—old homes being redone, new businesses opening (brewery), how the local cafe closed because the most recent owner was just “not right for the town.” [Interpret that as you will.] We didn’t find anything to buy, but I left a fiver for the stories and the picture I took of Patches.

Next: The trip continues with Painted Hills, a museum, and a new auto. 

A Real Trip, Sort Of

Butteville, Oregon--We are on the road.

 

    This is a post about real travel, small though it may be. We got out of the house, drove our new car on a trip for the first time, visited with friends, went out to eat, played golf, and took a few photos. What joy! 

    This short trip to Seaside and environs on the north Oregon coast was the first time we had loaded our new Subaru Forester for an actual trip. 

The New Ride: A 2021 Subaru Forester Sport

Plenty of room, even though it’s slightly smaller than our other car, a Subaru Outback. The car was easy to drive and got relatively good mileage for a new car. We stopped in Newburg at the Coffee Cup to pick up a latte and scone for the road (a delicious habit of ours). 

Buying our coffee and scone at Coffee Cup in Newburg.

The scone is a large marionberry scone which reminds us of the type of scone we get in Scotland. Traffic on the backroad we take to the coast was fairly heavy for a mid-week September day and coast attractions were quite busy. I stopped a couple of times for photos, but for the most part just saw photo ops with no place to stop—a problem for almost all photographers. Our first planned stop was at Bear Creek Artichoke Farm north of Hebo and Beavercreek. 

Expensive, but delicious.

This is a good farm shop run by friendly staff and with a good variety of merchandise and food stuffs. We picked up a couple of fresh sweet and savory scones (raspberry, zucchini and parmesan) which would be lunch and tomorrow’s breakfast. 

    Twenty miles on we stopped to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory, one of the main attractions on the north Oregon coast. 

The visitor center was crowded, but people were masked and worked hard to keep socially distanced. The tasting bar was closed, but the retail shop was fully stocked, and free pre-packaged samples were given as you left the center. We stocked up on cheese curds and fudge, among other things. We next took our scones and cheese and had a picnic lunch Bay City County Park north of Garibaldi. 

The view from Bay City County Park.

The calm summery weather was a special treat. To top off our lunch we got lattes at a pleasant coffee shop, Manzanita News and Espresso. 

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

    

    Our two night stay was at Best Western Plus Seaside. Rooms were nice and clean with small kitchenettes, but expensive even for a resort area. 

View from our room at Best Western

Our friends, Gary and Carol Jo, were already checked in, so we dumped our stuff in our room and went to theirs for a visit and some pre-dinner snacks. We decided to go to Mo’s a few blocks away for dinner because they had available outside (protected) seating right on the promenade. 

Mo's has wonderful outside covered seating with great views.

Gary, Carol Jo, Anne and our food.

The guy and gal sitting behind us put on the evening's show.

My clam chowder came with a rainbow.

At dinner we felt some of the affects of the pandemic—Mo’s was significantly understaffed. Our dinners were delivered without regard to the fact that we were eating together—for instance, my garlic bread didn’t arrive until after I had finished my chowder. The saving grace of dinner was good company and a lovely sunset. 

    

Evening on Broadway in Seaside.

Late evening view of the Seaside promenade and beach.

The next day started with a breakfast of left overs (garlic bread and scones),fruit cups, and cheese curds. We wished we had known about the kitchenette ahead, but it wasn't listed clearly in the amenities of the room. Gary and Carol Jo had McDonalds and Starbucks take-away. 

Main activity for the day was a drive an hour and a quarter to a golf course in Oceanside (WA) to play nine holes. All the local courses were filled with tournaments. 

The Megler Bridge over the Columbia River from Astoria to Washington state is over four miles long.

The drive was pleasant and the course, Surfside GC, was friendly and funky. We finished golf just as the sea mist started rolling in. 

It was a fun activity for us all. Even the take-out lunch from Micky D’s shared in a car was enjoyable. We agreed to meet at 6:00 for dinner at Finn’s Fish House in the heart of Seaside. In the meantime, Anne and I got a little reading done at Starbucks and got a quick rest. Our dinner plans were perfect. 

Finn's Fish House

We only waited about fifteen minutes at Finn’s for a spot at one of their heated outside tables. Each us enjoyed our meals (my oysters were excellent) and the service was great—nice contrast to the previous dinner. In fact, we enjoyed dinner at Finn’s so much we met up again the next morning for breakfast there—nobody was disappointed. 

Hug Point State Park

    It wasn’t a big trip, but it was safe and away from home with friends. The affects of Covid were noticeable: many places had worker shortages, almost everyone wore masks, for the most part people keep reasonable distances from others. Business has adapted and most have survived. I look forward to more and bigger trips where everyone can travel safely.

Reflection from hotel windows onto the dunes.

Please Do This for Me: The last post had more than 250 viewers, but not one comment. Please, whether you read this post or just look at the photos, drop me a note (in the comments, on Facebook, or email) to let me know what you like or don't like. Thank you to those of you who always take the time to tell personally tell me you read or view the blog and enjoy it. I appreciate your support.

New Travel Arrangements and Crass Comm'l Announcement

 

Standing Stones on Machrie Moor, Isle of Arran

A Croft in St Fillans

New Travel Arrangements

We had a trip to Scotland planned and booked for spring of 2020; then came Covid-19 and put an end to that plan. We got lucky and moved the trip to the fall (who knew the reality at the time) without much trouble. In fact, we got money back on our tickets because prices were so low—$200 on each ticket. All I need to say is Covid. We cancelled that trip and thought we’d be okay to book for the spring of 2021. Covid. In the middle of the summer we could see the writing on the wall, “C-o-v-i-d.” We waited as long as we could with a September 5 trip date. Although we saw some signs of opening up, the reality of things in America was really much worse. Finally, we cancelled our lodging bookings in Scotland, picked some new dates for the spring of 2022, and started to change our flights for the umpteenth time. 

This is where this trip gets involved. First, I tried to change our flight dates but Delta wouldn’t let me make changes online.  I could though cancel my trip online. I called their help number and was told that “due to the high number of calls, your wait time will be 4 hours and 42 minutes.” No way! I decided to cancel and rebook myself, except that by cancelling my flights I might get my credit in two or three business cycles (months). So I called at a different time, stupidly thinking it might make a difference. This time I got two options: wait online for an hour for the next agent or register for a call back within an hour without losing my place in line. I opted for number two and got a call back 8-1/2 hours later in the middle of the night when the phone was on silent and we were asleep. Next day the wait was to be two hours. I stayed on for three hours and got an agent. But by then my phone had frozen and although the agent was shouting, “Mr Jones, can you hear me?” And I was shouting to the frozen phone, “Don’t hang up, I’m here.” She eventually hung up. Anne stopped me from throwing the phone in the toilet. The next day I tried again. After four hours and making sure my phone was working, I got the connection. The agent quickly cancelled our flights, rebooked our tickets to the new flights we wanted (April 2022), and charged us each $200 because prices were now up.

The two agents were both nice, especially the one we could talk to, but Delta needs to do something about their communication system. In a way though, this is a travel story, after all booking a trip is part of traveling—the bad part.

Anne at Balmoral Castle, the Queen's Scottish Home

St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands

The Rest

The rest of this post highlights my travel/photo book, Scotland in Black and White. The book is a signed and numbered limited edition of 100 books each with 90 black and white photos depicting varied aspects of Scotland. Each photo is accompanied by a commentary (story, description, poem, or history related to the photo). The limited edition book comes with an additional photo mounted in the book (each book has a different mounted photo). I’m highlighting the book because I still have few available. If you’re interested, check the information at the end of this post. What I present here are three sample pages—photo, technical details, and commentary—from the book.

(7) The Three Fishermen of Comarty

Nikon D5500, Sigma 18-300mm at 300mm, 1/400, f/9, ISO 640

Commercial fishing has been a major industry in Scotland for hundreds of years. Although the country only holds a little over eight percent of the UK’s population, it lands 60% of the total commercial fish catch. In recent times fishing restrictions by the European Union have affected all EU fishing fleets, but Scotland has been hit most severely in the cod, herring, and whiting boats. Demersal fleets (cod, haddock) have declined from 800 vessels to just over 400. The nephrons fleet (scampi or langoustines) is building slightly. The pelagic sector (herring) has been almost completely terminated. Fraserbugh and Peterhead on the North Sea coast, once prominent fishing towns, are now depressed villages with rows of closed shops and half empty harbours.

At Cromarty in the north of Scotland at the edge of the Cromarty Firth we saw these three fishermen whose body postures tell the story of the local fishing industry.

(11) Crieff (Craoibh) Village

Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 30-110mm at 30mm, 1/250, f/4, ISO 560

Our home base in Scotland is Crieff (Craoibh meaning “tree”) Village centrally located between Perth and Stirling which are located between Edinburgh and Glasgow. We can be in the Highlands within minutes, at St Andrews in an hour, and both the east and west coasts are easily accessible. Crieff is the second largest town in Perthshire (after Perth), and has all the amenities a tourist needs. It is rapidly becoming known for fine dining in the area.

At one time Crieff was an active “drover’s town,” meaning it was a major gathering place for cattle being driven to market. It was Scotland’s rendition of the wild west, including an active hanging tree for wrong doers. The outlaw Rob Roy McGregor often visited Crieff.

There’s more to Crieff, though, than its wild history. Crieff is home to nearby Innerpeffray Library, Scotland’s oldest lending library and today home of much genealogical research. The village also hosts Scotland’s oldest “legal” distillery, Glenturret licensed in 1775, now Famous Grouse. Almost as famous as the whisky at Glenturret is Towser the Mouser (1963-87) who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for dispatching 28,899 mice in his lifetime. 

We may be partial to Crieff, but I really believe it’s one of the best examples of traditional Scottish villages.

(27) Amulree Locals

Nikon D100, no lens info at 58mm, 1/350, f/10, ISO 800

There are more sheep in Scotland than people. In 2013 the human population was about four and a half million, but the sheep population was almost seven million. In fact, the first cloned mammal to be created from an adult cell was a Scottish sheep. Dolly was born July 5, 1996 and died February 14, 2003. It might be a tad morbid, but the stuffed Dolly is now on display at the University of Edinburgh medical school.

At Amulree—a small Highland hamlet with a ruined hotel, a closed tearoom, a couple of houses, and a small church—the church is the main visitor attraction. Whenever we visit the church the only locals about are the neighboring sheep. It’s always fun to stop and say “Hi” to the locals who usually don’t mind posing for a picture. 

The book, Scotland in Black and White, is available from Amazon at more than $35, but  I still have a few of the limid edition signed and numbered books available from me for $25 plus $4 shipping if I can’t deliver. If interested, email me at bajones97013@yahoo.com.

Highland Coos

Edinburgh Tourists

NEXT: A Trip, Really