Salt Lake City, Utah and Western Colorado

We spent Labor Day exploring Antelope Island which is in the southern end of the Great Salt Lake.  The Great Salt Lake is huge and 25% saltier than the ocean which is quite amazing.  They say that the high level of salt makes it extremely easy to float.  Because of its salinity, it is a unique environment for millions of native birds, brine shrimp, shorebirds, and waterfowl.  The island also has a population of about 500 buffalo and lots of antelope, hence the name of the island.  It was a wonderful way to spend the day.

I spent the next day exploring downtown Salt Lake City.  I started with a tour of the Capitol Building which was really informative.  The building is beautiful and filled with marble and paintings.  It was fashioned after the White House and it sits on a hilltop, further enhancing its grandeur.

After the Capitol tour, I explored Temple Square in the city which is where the first Mormon Temple was built.  They no longer offer tours of the temple itself, but there several city blocks containing many Latter Day Saints buildings.  I started at the Latter Day Saints Staff Building which has an observation deck on the 26th floor which is the perfect way to see how the square is laid out. Anyone wanting a birds-eye view of the square is kindly escorted with a personal guide.  I decided to visit the temple museum which was a great place to learn about the building of the temple with lots of photos and a huge diagram of the temple.  I then did a tour of the Latter Day Saints Conference Center which is a very unique facility able to accommodate 22,000 people with a rooftop landscape.  One half of the landscape is all desert-like native plants that you would find in the desert areas around Salt Lake.  The other half of the rooftop is planted with aspen trees and evergreens which would be native in the mountainous areas around the city. 

We left Salt Lake City and moved on to Grand Junction, Colorado which is in western Colorado and a new area for us.  We were only there for a few days, but this is an area that would be well worth allowing more time.

I started with Colorado's National Monument by driving the 23 mile Rim Rock Road through miles and miles of canyons and rock formations.  This whole area was stunning with sheer cliffs and red canyons and all kinds of breathtaking overlooks.  I also happened to catch some bighorn sheep in the canyon.  The first picture below is Coke Oven Overlook, followed by Independence Monument and finally bighorn sheep.

Grand Junction sits in a valley between the National Monument on one side and the Book Cliffs mountains and The Grand Mesa.  I spent the next day exploring the Grand Mesa which is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world.  It was a very scenic drive up to the mesa which had a totally different feel with quite a few lakes and lots of trees and greenery.  The only wildlife I caught on the mesa was a chipmunk enjoying sunflower seeds.  The drive down from the mesa was a 12-mile gravel road with narrow lanes and hair-pin turns.  It was a blast to slowly wind down the 11,000 foot high elevation with unending vistas.

I loved exploring the areas around Grand Junction and I know we will plan on another stop sometime in the future, as I'm sure there is so much more to learn about the area.

We are now in Breckenridge and enjoying cooler temperatures as we continue our gradual trek home.

Boise and Twin Falls, Idaho

Since we were in Boise, I decided to visit the Capitol Building, which is a very beautiful, marble-filled building.  The only other state capitol building I have been in was in Oklahoma and these two buildings seemed quite similar to me.  I plan on trying to visit the capitol building whenever I can just to see how similar they all are.  The city of Boise is very friendly and easy to get around in.  

 We enjoyed the RV park we stayed in and Newman especially enjoyed the Bark Park which was a wonderful grassy, fenced in area in the middle of the park.  There were usually at least a couple of dogs to play with several times a day, but the highlight of the day was about 6:00 p.m. when lots of dogs came out to play.  Needless to say, Newman had a blast wearing himself out with all the playmates. 

We moved on to Twin Falls in Idaho and I got to explore the Snake River Canyon which is where Evil Knievel attempted his jump in 1974. 

I also visited the Shoshone Falls and was astounded at how beautiful and powerful these falls were.  They are nicknamed the Niagara Falls of the west and now I can’t wait to see Niagara Falls.  I toured the area in the morning and was so impressed that I brought Gerry to view them as soon as he was done working for the day.  It was easy to visit twice since they were only about 10 minutes away. 

On my last day in Idaho, I drove over an hour away to visit Balanced Rock, which was quite interesting.  It is a rock formation in a canyon that is 48 feet high and 40 feet wide and the base is 3 feet by 17 1/2 inches wide. It's fascinating to see something like this created by the elements.  I really enjoyed the ride to Balanced Rock, since it was through miles and miles of farmland.  There were lots of dairy farms and tons of hay fields.  The other crops that went on for miles were potatoes, of course, and corn and I think soybeans.  I’m not sure about the soybeans, but there was definitely something other than corn and potatoes, so I’m guessing soybeans.  There is something wholesome about driving through miles of farmland.

We caught a spectacular sunset one evening as we were ready to walk Newman.  

We are now Salt Lake City, Utah and looking forward to learning more about the area

Portland and Baker City, OR

Since we were back in the Portland area, I got to explore another area on the Columbia River that I just didn’t get to last time.  I got to visit the Columbia River Gorge Museum, which was very informative on how the gorge came to be through thousands of years and the various stages of settlement in the area.  I then went to Hood River, which is famous for the constant winds providing the perfect conditions for wind surfers and kite surfers.  I had lunch in the city on an outside terrace overlooking the surfers, which was very entertaining.

 

I took a scenic route from Hood River towards Mt. Hood and stopped at a perfect lookout point for the mountain.  The views were simply spectacular, showcasing the snow-capped mountain in the distance with the rolling farmlands and wild pine trees all around.  

 

 On the way back down the scenic road, I couldn’t help stopping to snap a few pictures of pear orchards with the Del Monte crates just waiting to be filled.  Now you know where some of the Del Monte pears come from.  I’m sure this is not the only area that they get the pears from, but there were huge orchards running for miles in Oregon, which I found surprising. 

 

I spent a few hours also exploring the End of the Oregon Trail museum in Oregon City, about 20 minutes away from Portland. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours and reminded me of how this great country was populated. 

 

At the RV park in Fairview, Newman had a wonderful puppy to play with just two sites over from ours.  Dolly was a one-year old Yorkiepoo who could run circles around Newman with her boundless energy.  Newman and Dolly spent several hours each day playing around.  Dolly left the day before we did and ever since I think Newman finds us quite lame as playmates.  Hopefully, we'll find another puppy in another park soon.

 

On Friday we started the first leg of our homeward journey, which we will be doing gradually with 3 or 4-day stops along the way.  Our first stop was Baker City, Oregon, a very quaint town with a thriving historic downtown area.  We had dinner in town on Friday evening at Barley Brown’s Brew Pub and sat at an outdoor table on the sidewalk watching the locals come and go. 

We spent Saturday morning playing a round of golf at Quail Ridge surrounded by mountain ranges that looked like the perfect setting for any Western movie.  The course was in great condition and just challenging enough for Gerry to enjoy it.  I’m still learning to play, so I find all courses challenging.

 

We ended our day in Baker City by visiting the Antique Car Show, which just happened to be in town and was something different for us to do and turned out to be fun.

As I write this, we are in route to Boise, Idaho, which is our next stop on our journey.  Gerry assures me I will like Boise, so I am anxious to see if he is correct.

Oregon Coast

We spent a week in Lincoln City which is labeled the heart of the Oregon coast and really enjoyed where we were.  Our daughter, Stephanie decided to fly out and join us for a few days before she goes back to work teaching.  It was a joy to have her with us exploring the coastline.

We picked her up at the Portland airport and decided to have dinner in the Pearl District of the city which has a nice blend of housing, restaurants and boutique shops.  We enjoyed dinner at Metrovino which featured foods and preparations of the northwest.

We spent a day exploring the area to the north of Lincoln City which Gerry and I had briefly toured earlier.  Stephanie and I covered it in much more detail.

We drove on highway 101 and then did a 40 mile drive called the 3 Capes Scenic Drive.  The views were especially spectacular since it was a beautiful, clear, sunny day.  Here are some of the views of Cape Kiwanda.

 

 We enjoyed the stark beauty of Haystack Rock!

We continued our drive to the town of Tillamook which is home to the Tillamook Cheese Factory where we got to view the facilities where they make the cheese and got to taste several different kinds of cheese.  We left with three different cheeses:  a 100 day aged white Cheddar, a medium Cheddar and a Habanero Jack cheese.  We also bought a nice piece of smoked salmon.

Just up the road was the Blue Heron Cheese Factory, featuring French cheeses.  We got to taste 4 different Brie cheeses: a traditional, a garlic and herb, a black pepper and a mildly smoked.  Since Brie is my favorite, we had to get one of the 8 ounce wheels.  We had picked up some, marinated olives, a half baguette, some pita chips, an heirloom tomato, a red pear and some red grapes and with the cheeses and salmon had the makings for a wonderful picnic lunch.

We stopped and explored the Dunes a little after lunch.  For some reason with all the rocks around, I found it amazing that there are several areas of dunes.

 

We took a tour of the Cape Meares Lighthouse which was really interesting and finished our tour with a short hike to the Octopus Tree (a Sitka Spruce with a very unusual shape).

We spent the next day, exploring the area south of Lincoln City.  We stopped in the Siletz Bay area simply by chance and happened to be there while a gray whale was exploring and apparently feeding in the area.  We stayed and watched it spouting and following its movement until its tail disappeared in the water for about 15 minutes until the chilly wind got the better of us.  I snapped several shots of it, but it was really hard to capture its movement on film.  However in the picture below we all thought "they're gonna need a bigger boat".

We stopped at Cape Foulweather Scenic Overlook for a faraway glimpse of Devil's Punchbowl.

 

We then drove closer for a different perspective and truly discovered why it was so named.

 

Next on the agenda was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  We visited on Wednesday which is the only day they do not give tours of the inside of the lighthouse.  We stilled enjoyed the lovely views of both the lighthouse and the vistas all around it, including the seals just chilling out.

 

We ended our day of exploring by taking Newman for a walk on the beach which was just across the street from the RV Park we stayed in.  It was fabulous to be within walking distance to the beach and Newman loved it.  He especially loved running ahead to the end of his leash and then laying flat on his belly waiting for us to catch up.  He thought this was a fun game. 

 

Our week on the Oregon coast ended on Friday when we drove back to the Portland area to be near the airport since Gerry had a business trip.  We are in a very nice RV park in Fairview, Oregon which is right on the Columbia River Valley and the best feature is the 20 minute drive to the airport.  After our travel and RV set up on the new site, we decided to go back to the Pearl District in the city for dinner.  We dined at Jamisons and had a wonderful meal sitting on their outdoor patio overlooking the park with the fountains where families and children enjoyed splashing about.  It was a fabulous dinner and a perfect way to end the week.

Willamette Vineyards and Oregon Coast

During our stay at the Willamette Wine County RV Park, we visited three different vineyards which was a lot of fun.  We had tried a couple of wine flights the week before, so we decided to pick out a bottle at each winery and enjoy sipping our wine overlooking the stunning grounds.  We really enjoyed wrapping up our day at the wineries.

We enjoyed a lovely Chardonnay at Stoller Vineyards overlooking their beautiful grounds.  We could even see Mt. Hood in the distance.

 

We also visited Lange Vineyards and sipped an elegant Pinot Noir again with wonderful scenery and a glimpse of Mt. Hood in the background.  I also snapped a picture of a vine full of unripened grapes.  I can only imagine how beautiful it will be when they ripen.

We wrapped up wine week at Eyrie Winery which was the first winery to open in the Willamette Valley.  They are still doing tastings in the original tasting room which is where we enjoyed a delightful Pinot Gris which is one of the wines that is a specialty of the area.

On Friday we packed up and drove 1 1/2 hours to get to the Oregon coast line where the weather if considerably cooler.  The highs for the first two days here, hit the high 60's in the late afternoons and the mornings have started cool and foggy covered in ocean mists.  We are enjoying the fact that we don't need the air conditioner.  We explored the area briefly Friday afternoon and took a walk on this beach.

On Saturday, we explored the Oregon Coast Aquarium which was a great way to spend an hour or so.

After the majority of the morning mist burned off, we explored a bit of Route 101 which is the Scenic Byway along the coast line.  The drive was beautiful with lots of photo spots along the way.

We are looking forward to exploring this area more this week and enjoying the cooler temps.  I just wish the days would start a little warmer than 55 degrees or so and the sun would burn through the fog and mist more quickly.