Oregon Road Trip Anyone?

Oregon road trip anyone OR have tools will travel..... 

We have been known to jump at any opportunity to get out the Arizona heat. So when Jack's brother mentioned he was needing some help replacing tile flooring we decided to throw some clothes in the Jeep and get out of town for a couple of weeks and go north to Oregon. It was mostly work related but we did squeeze in some fun stuff including some awesome geocaching.

After driving over 500 miles from Scottsdale, AZ to Tonopah, NV we stayed in the newly restored 1906 historic landmark which started it's life as the Nevada State Bank and Trust and now as the newly renovated Belvada Hotel. The accommodations were very nice and so comfortable that we actually stayed there on the way back down to AZ also. 

Belvada Hotel - Restored 

Nevada State Bank & Trust / Belvada Hotel - Circa 1906

The interior lobby was so welcoming.

Our King bed room

Also located 'not far' from Tonopah, NV is the 'Oldest Cache in Nevada' and of course I talked Jack into driving another 60 miles (one way!) so I could check this off my geocaching list.

Nevada's oldest geocache

This cache has been in existence since 12/26/00 and is located in a very remote desert area on 18 miles of dusty dirt open range road where we saw a few horses and cows. Many geocachers make the pilgrimage to this cache merely to write their name on the log and add it to their list of accomplishments. Me included. We had fun locating it (sorry I can't reveal the exact location - it's a secret LOL), logging it and admiring the desert terrain before heading back to town for dinner.

Once we were back in Tonopah and after dinner, we visited the Old Tonopah Historic Cemetery where we also caught the sunset. This particular cemetery is dated between 1901-1911. If you stroll the grounds you will see some of the causes of death like fire, mining accidents, plague and murder.  There is actually a brochure that is a walking tour through the cemetery.  

Old Tonopah Cemetery

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After several more miles and a couple of delays and detours due to the Dixie Fire, we finally reached our destination in Grants Pass, Oregon. Jack started to work with Bill on helping with the tile work and Donna and I kept out of the way by entertaining ourselves. I quickly introduced her to geocaching and off we went to explore the area, visit an art gallery and shopping.

Donna's first cache - Whimsical Frogs made
by a chainsaw artist. Cool carvings.

 

Grants Pass, Oregon is known for da' 'Bears'.  The first bears were created in 2003 at the request of Brady Adams, former President of Evergreen Federal Bank. Local artists design each bear uniquely and the finished product is displayed on the downtown streets of Grants Pass in the summer. In the winter the bears are removed to the 'Bear Hotel' to hibernate. The number of bears is ever changing but there is typically around 50 bears on display plus the ones that have been privately acquired. These are some that we visited.

BOLO - the Police Bear

Bear Necessities - the Fire Station Bear

Post Office Delivery Bear

After the floor was nearing completion Jack and Bill needed a 'work' break so we loaded up in the car and  headed west to drive Highway 101 along the Oregon coast for the day. We were greeted by  beautiful scenery, cooler weather and good seafood.

Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint - Bandon, OR

The path to the beautiful viewpoint

Arch Rock Cove on the short trail out to view point near Brookings, OR

Arch Rock between Gold Beach and Brookings, OR

Looking North along the coastline near Arch Rock

Waves at Brookings, OR

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On our way back to Arizona I again talked Jack into a detour (not fire caused!).  This time to the 'Oldest Cache in Oregon'. It was only a mere 300 miles out of our way.  No problem - we're retired! 

The cache is located near the edge of the Mt. Hood National Forest. We had to put on our hiking shoes and hike down to the cache through a enchanted forest of trees, mushrooms and ferns. Only to huff and puff back up the mountain to the car. It took us 2 hours but it was well worth the adventure.

Oldest Oregon Geocache

Scenery along our hike to cache

Some of the leaves beginning to show 
their colors

Hiking path

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Over a thousand miles later we finally made it to Flagstaff, AZ for a couple of nights before heading home. Jack and I both attended NAU and that's how we met 39 years ago (married for 37 years) so we always like hanging out in Flagstaff especially when it is really cool at 7000 feet in elevation and really hot in Scottsdale. We stopped at the Friday night hot rod show and Sunday we completed an Adventure Lab (connected to geocaching) created by our friend, Vivian.  Her Adventure Lab, Historic Route 66: Flagstaff to Williams, AZ shared 10 historic locations where we learned about the past movie set of Easy Rider, the highest point on Route 66 and the bizarre fence made of skis. It was fun and a good way to end the day before heading home.

Hot Rod Show on Route 66

 

Movie setting for Easy Rider. In the film
they pull up on motorcycles to get a room for the
night and the motel owner shuts the door and 
turns on the no vacancy sign.

Bizarre Ski Fence along Route 66

Old concrete of Route 66

One of the painted Historic US 66 Route road shields. 

And there you have it.  We ended our adventure by 'Getting our Kicks on Route 66'.

Until next time. Be well. You never know when the next adventure will pop up. 

Happy Trails,

Jack and Deb

Chasing Cooler Weather

 As many of you know we try to leave Arizona in the summer months. However, we decided to forgo our annual summer trip and stay home to get some 'honey do's' started around the house. 

WHAT WERE WE THINKING!!!!

It's hot in Arizona in the summer.  Even though outside is HOT we have been able to organize and thin out some stuff in the garage. But we are by no means done.  We've had a very wet 'Monsoon' season which has been enjoyable, but it had tapered off for a couple of weeks and staying HOT.  So we decided to 'get out of Dodge' for a couple of weeks.

First we travelled to the central part of Utah to the Manti-La Sal National Forest and the Trail mountain range surrounding an area of creeks and water basins called 'Potters Pond' in search of the oldest geocache in Utah with our friends, Vivian and Lee. Also to do some four wheeling and just enjoying the evergreen covered mountains and cooler environment. Then after saying our good-byes to Vivian and Lee we ventured to Montrose, Colorado to visit friends and enjoy the cooler weather of the area.

Utah

We arrived at Potters Pond Campground and were welcomed by cooler evening temperatures and I (Deb) was happy I had brought a hoodie.  During the day it did heat up to the low 90's, but nothing like AZ.(and it did get COLD at night)  Following are the photos of our time near Potters Pond.

Potters Pond, Utah

Shared campsite #2 at Potters Pond Campground. Jack and I 
are in the tent and Vivian & Lee are in Airstream Basecamp.

We enjoyed a number of searches for caches that turned into nature walks/hikes .
Jack is leading the way.

We sat and relaxed after a tough up hill hike to the oldest geocache in Utah.

Taking in those last glimpses of beauty as we hiked out.

Great views abound from the famous Skyline Drive above Potters Pond at over 10,000 ft elevation. 

If you look closely you can see sheep (there is about 6 in this photo)... not the rocks.

Not a very good photo but those are sheep in the meadow with sheepherder on horseback and
numerous dogs moving the herd along. We were happy to finally see the herd because the entire area is dotted with sheepherder wagons but we hadn't seen any sheep until now.

That concludes our Utah trip.  Thanks for coming along.

Colorado

While we were staying in Montrose we were able to tour the museum, visit and shop in nearby Ouray,  spent some money at the Ridgway Farmers Market on some goodies, meet up with some friends and attend the Palisades Peach Festival.  As usual we enjoyed staying in Montrose and the surrounding areas to get our fix of mountains, rivers, wildlife, forest, four-wheeling and cooler weather and even found a few geocaches.

Our cabin in the Riverbend RV Resort, Montrose, CO

We were only a few steps to the Uncompahgre River.

Montrose mural of John Wayne and his famous gallop through the meadow in the
movie True Grit which was filmed nearby.

Our visit to the Montrose Museum:

A 1912 photo of the Montrose Depot 
now the Museum.

In the museum was a section on the history of
Jack Dempsey, the boxer. He had lived and trained
in the Montrose area.

This caught my eye as a neat ride in its day but it would be a bumpy ride with leather strap suspension and take a look at those brakes.

A day at Ouray, CO:

Mountains above Ouray that got a dusting of snow that night (IT's MID-AUGUST !)

This bench is made out of skis framed with flowers. 
Very inviting.

Main Street, Ouray, CO

The mountains are calling........

Flowers in bloom along the Owl Creek Pass dirt road doing some Jeeping.

Peach Festival:

We ventured to Palisades, CO to attend the annual Peach Festival with friends from Montrose, Linnea and Eddie.  We ate peach pie, peach ice cream, drank a peach margarita and bought peach preserves and syrups.  It was a fun day had by all.

Palisade Peach Festival Queens! LOL

Palisade was dotted with artwork. This is
only one piece of many.

Before we knew it it was time to head back home. 

Heading home through Ouray. It's early morning
the there are no crowds.

One last good-bye to the San Juan Mountains. Until we meet again.

Thank you for joining our adventure.

Jack and Deb