Pacific Northwest, Port Orford, Oregon

Back in June, my Darling Daughter and I combined a business trip she had visiting colleges (she's a college counselor) with a drive up the west coast.  It was quite a drive with some beautiful scenery in places, but a very tedious and LONG drive.  Not one I would want to repeat.  The road is narrow, very twisty, and there's next to no way to stop for food or potty etc.  That wasn't something we were expecting; but............one of the bright spots was Port Orford, Oregon.  We stopped for an overlook area.

We wanted to see, and we wanted to get out of the car and stretch our legs a bit.

  Pretty views, and you can see off on the right lots of fishing boats.

And in general, it was just pretty, peaceful and we were glad we stopped.

This caught our attention and so we made our way over to the sign.

It's still a bit hard to read, but after some googling this is what I learned.  The propeller is all that remains from The Wreck of the Cottoneva from Feb 10, 1937.  This ship was a cargo ship, transporting lumber and had started in Los Angeles.  It stopped here in the port of Port Orford presumably to take on more lumber to make it's way to Grays Harbour in Washington, but 75 mph winds made the ship run aground.  The Coast Guard saved all 26 Seamen and their Captain, Captain Eberhard Stahlbaum.

I wanted to learn more about it, but the little visitors center was closed when we arrived, so all I managed to do was to get a few pictures looking through the glass.

 You can see even though these aren't great pictures how difficult the shoreline must have been

The google map above and search indicated it is 412.1 miles from Port Orford, Oregon to Grays Harbour in Washington which was the ships intended destination.

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Wineries, Airbnb and Mother Daughter Trips

Ell Cove Winery in Gaston, Oregon.  On a recent Mother Daughter trip to the west coast we spent a few nights in Portland at a Airbnb.  The purpose of the trip was business for my daughter, but I was able to accompanying her for about half the trip.  She kept busy during the day, while I knitted and walked and explored the neighborhoods where we stayed, but on our first wkend we were able to visit some wineries and to some wine tasting.

General View of Elk Cove Winery which was started in 1974, very early in the Oregon Winery Story.  At that time there were less than 10 wineries in Oregon.  40 years later there at 700.

 A beautiful and very peaceful hill top patio/deck area for wine tasting.

We really enjoyed our time at Elk Cove with our knowledgeable guide.  The story behind the name of the winery is cute.  Back in the early days Pat and Joe Campbell were working in the field near their trailer (which preceded them building a home) when 40 Roosevelt Elk showed up.  

 Very pretty in every direction.  In some areas you can see Mount Hood off in the distance.  Truly a very pretty area.

 We enjoyed a flight and selected what we liked best.  We purchased a bottle of Pinot Noir to take with us and a Rose, and had a half of a case shipped home.

This was the first of our stops.  We both enjoyed it and highly recommend the staff, the views, and the wines!  My daughter's been able to locate a local wine shop at home (St. Louis) to purchase Elk Cove.  Thus far, I've not been success in Columbus Ohio; but still have 1 bottle left from my shipment...so hopefully I'll find more locally.  If not, I can order and have it shipped.

My daughter purchased some beautiful flowers at the farmers market prior to picking me up at the airport, which added to homey feel at our airbnb.

She likes traveling using airbnb's over hotels for added comforts and space of having a kitchen and living room.  And when you're multiple nights in the same location it is generally more cost effective.  I got a kick out of the canisters and thought them picture worthy.  If you're a child of the 60's, you no doubt will chuckle.

 A huge benefit of an airbnb over a hotel room is fixing your own meals.  My daughter loves to cook and is a rather good one.  We had wonderful avocado toast for breakfast for several meals.

 She prepared a lovely salmon dinner one evening with fresh salmon purchased at the local farmers market.

Recently I read an article with some stats from research about how important, and healthy mother daughter trips were.  See how smart we are, lol.  We've enjoyed several trips together prior to reading the article; but both agreed it's time to consider where we go next.

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your google+ profile link or your blogger profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate and visit your blog. Profile pages do not.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens, Portland Oregon

Come walk with me through Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens in Portland, Oregon!  I've never been good at taking a selfie, need more practice, but was trying to show you how pretty the gardens behind me are.

Let's Walk

Across the street is Reed College where my daughter was touring for her job as a college counselor.  So, I occupied myself by enjoying the gardens.  Luckily, we happened to be there on a Monday........and Monday is free!

The location of the gardens is listed as between Reed College and East Moreland Golf Course.  Has 9.49 acres, and 2500 plants of Rhododendron, Azaleas and companion plants.  Many donated, and many purchased with proceeds from entrance fees, which is usually $5.00.  Summer hours are 6 am to 10 pm, from April 1st through Sept 30th.  And while I lucked out and hit it on a free day (just happened, we didn't know), it's well worth the $5.00 fee the rest of the week.

The oldest Rhododendron planted in the garden was planted back in 1917!  The land was originally owned by William S. Ladd, a 2 term major back in the 1800's.  He called it Crystal Springs Farm.  

Students at Reed College historically referred to the area as Shakespeare Island, because college performances of Shakespeare took place there.

It's quite pretty, serene a wonderful place to walk, or have a picnic or just sit in the shade and enjoy the beauty.

There are handicap accessible walkways.

While I missed the prime blooming season, it was still a very enjoyable visit.  Prime blooming season is Late April to mid May.  

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your google+ profile link or your blogger profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit. Profile pages do not.