 |
| Multnomah Falls, Columbia Gorge, Oregon |
No holding back here, I’m a West Coast Guy; born in Hawaii,
but moving to the Northwest by the time I was two; and I lived there for some
60 years before retiring and kinda/eventually moving to Tempe, AZ. And, with all due apologies to
those who live elsewhere, this, the West, especially the Northwest, and more particularly, EUGENE, is,
to me at least, the best America offers; and, most importantly, will always be
HOME.
 |
| A "toddler" in the backyard at our former house in SW HIlls of Eugene |
|
|
|
|
 |
| Backyard "Pet" drinking from the Water Feature, SW Eugene Hills |
Since retiring together 2 ½ years ago, Lanie and I have been on a grand road trip most of the time, our travels with Bertha, our Chevy Diesel,
and our Fifth Wheel taking us to over 40 states and several Canadian provinces while we have put in, so far, around 30,000 towing miles. It’s been a great ride seeing so much of
this great country (and Canada too); and we plan to keep on the RV trail in coming
years as well, though no longer on a full-time basis.
At some point each year, our travels always loop back to Eugene; and for me, one of the most
beautiful sights in the whole country is the panorama of Cascade peaks
from the Bend/Sisters area of Central Oregon.
That’s when we know we’re home in the most wonderful state in the USA
(I’m just a little biased here).
 |
| Three Sisters from Central Oregon |
Of late, though, as mentioned earlier, we’ve kind of, sorta, settled into Tempe AZ as
our permanent base from now on... We call ourselves "Reverse Snowboarders" since we live here, but plan on traveling elsewhere during the blazing hot months.
We still
have many friends and family in Eugene, but no longer any worldly possessions
there. The last of those possessions
were removed in early December of this year when Lanie and I flew up to Eugene
for a long weekend, reuniting briefly with old friends and family before
packing up a small Penske rental truck with some furniture items and household
goods left by her Mom when she passed away in August. We flew in on a Friday, originally planning
to leave early Monday morning; but that weekend it snowed heavily in the Oregon
mountains, including the Siskiyous in Southern Oregon, which just happened to
be our driving route heading back to Arizona.
 |
| Snow covered firs, Southern Oregon |
So we waited an extra day for the snowfall to stop and the passes to
clear somewhat, taking off early Tuesday in the rental truck. Still a lot of snow along the roads in the
higher locations, and near freezing temperatures, but roads were clear and not
noticeably icy; and we had a smooth trip over the Southern Oregon passes and
down into California along the I5 corridor.
 |
| Heading up the Siskiyou Pass |
|
|
 |
| We Will! |
Mt Shasta was majestic as always in its blanket of new snow,
and the Northern California scenery was quite nice as well. Then we cleared Sacramento and the Bay Area
and got into the long stretch of, well, boring dry landscape from there to
Bakersfield. We endured, putting up for
the first night in Coalinga, CA, north of Bakersfield, after a long first day
haul. Phoenix Valley was on our radar
and reachable the next day after going over one more pass, the Tehachapi east of
Bakersfield. Then we motored on,
literally diving down through San Bernadino, and on across the Southern
California desert to Arizona.
 |
| Lanie with her friend, Diane, in Sedona, AZ |
That was one short trip, the other was just this last week
when we drove up to Sedona, a two hour drive north on I17 out of Phoenix, to
spend a few days in a timeshare generously offered by Elaine’s fellow UO
College of Education retiree, Diane. Had
a great couple days there in beautiful red rock country. The sunsets on the stunning mountains
surrounding Sedona are simply spectacular.
 |
| Setting Sun lights up Cathedral Rock, Sedona |
We also enjoyed (though
shivering a bit as temps were below freezing) an open jeep tour of some ancient
Native American ruins near Sedona. Very enjoyable tour.
 |
| Hopi ruins, near Sedona |
 |
| Pictographs, Hopi Ruins |
All
in all we had a very nice. short adventure within our recently adopted home (away from HOME)
state. Arizona too has its own kind of
deserty beauty. We may not live in Eugene these days, but we're still in the West, except when we ain't (that old RV'ing thing).
 |
| Cactus in bloom |
