Our Kyber Cousins in Keizer

My cousin Meg Kyber and daughter Tessa welcomed us to their home in Keizer, Oregon, just north of Salem. Meg is the youngest daughter of my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Jack Shefte. I visited Uncle Jack in his assisted living home in Salem. He still has a smile on his face and a twinke in his eye at 94.


A day trip to McMinville took us to the air museum and adjacent vineyards where they sell Spruce Goose wines. The real Spruce Goose is on display here.


The Willamette Valley is ideal for growing hops . . . you can thank them next time you have a custom brewed beer in a pub.


The Wheatland Ferry is one way to get across the Willamette River. The price is right, too. Just two bucks per crossing.

Happy Birthday, Gene!

Even though the Bashaw reunion was cancelled, we still had a great time in Portland. We celebrated Gene's birthday by visiting the USS Blueback, a diesel submarine on display at the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry).


Gene with fellow Bashaw shipmate Wes.


The Willamette River flows past the beautiful Portland waterfront.


Gene seated in the boardroom of the USS Blueback.

After a day on the waterfront, we had dinner and then attended a Kenny G concert benefitting Shriner's Hospitals. We were just two numbers away from winning a signature Kenny G saxophone in a charity drawing.

Peaches and Portland

One of the main reasons to travel to Oregon in August is to pick peaches, and we found a family owned orchard on our drive between Tillamook and Portland. And why go to Portland in the summer? To see the rose garden, of course.


Happy Gene with his box full of peaches.


Parked among the peach trees. We were lucky to get the RV turned around without having to unhitch the tow car.


Look at the size of these beauties . . . my hand seems small in comparison. Portland's rose garden at Washington Park is 4.5 acres with 7,000 plantings and 550 varieties of roses. It was spectacular!


It was the perfect day. Cool air, bright sunshine and a slight breeze with the scent of roses everywhere.

Relocated!

We are happy to report that our next door neighbors from Phoenix, Del and Pat, are alive and well and enjoying their retirement in Tillamook, Oregon.


There is plenty of room in their paved driveway for the RV . . . right next to their huge garage, workshop, guest quarters.


They live just a few miles from the Tillamook Creamery where 1.7 MILLION pounds of milk arrive daily from which they make 167,000 pounds of cheese.


Did I mention that they also make ice cream!


Del and Pat took us to some of their favorite beach spots where we hunted for agates and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.


Access to one beach was through a tunnel in a cliff. That's a first!

Cape Kiwanda, Oregon

Back to the ocean! Where it's cool! The beaches here are so popular that we couldn't get reservations at any state parks on the beach, so we stayed one night at the Cape Kiwanda RV Resort . . . walking distance to beach, sand dunes and an incredible view of Haystack Rock that sits just off the cape.

This beach is famous for its dories that have been launched from the beach for the past 100 years. There is a dory association that's keeping the tradition alive. My favorite activity here was watching the dories land on the beach. The boat captain heads full throttle toward the beach, hits the sand and glides as far as he can on the flat bottom of the boat. Then they back their trailers up, hoist the boat onto the trailer and off they go.


Catch of the day . . . 22 tuna, plus baskets full of crabs.


Belly flopping onto the beach.


Racing full speed toward the shore.


The white sand beach. Cars are allowed to drive on the wet sand.

Visiting Family

My cousin Carol and her husband John have spent the past two years in Vietnam where John has set up an R&D operation for his company. Luckily, they are now home (for awhile anyway), and we were fortunate to spend a few days with them at their home in Eugene. Getting to know Carol again has been like reconnecting with a long, lost friend. We took lots of hikes, drove out to Mapleton where they have a home on a river, picked blackberries from John's kayak and laughed and reminisced. It was wonderful!

The first day we were in Eugene, Carol and I drove up to Salem to have lunch with my cousin Meg. We also visited their dad, my Uncle Jack. Though he's in his 90's, he still has a twinkle in his eye and a great smile.


Gene finally found a place to buy Oregon peaches! And corn. And green beans. And . . .


Carol, John and Gene.


Sue and Carol. We look like cousins, don't we?!

The Oregon Dunes

We've been in air boats on the Everglades, gondolas in the Italian Dolomites, speed boats in the Ozarks, white water rafts, and of course, sailboats. So why not try a rail buggy?


Here we are . . . all strapped in, goggled and ready to hit the dunes!


Gene getting harnessed in. You had to pry is white knuckled fists off the rails when we returned to the dune buggy base.


The tallest dune is about 450 feet high. The dunes cover 600,000 acres in an area that extends from Coos Bay to Florence (approx. 50 miles) and is two or three miles wide. There are even lakes in the middle of some of the dunes.


This lake is at Honeyman State Park where we camped. Families have great fun playing on the dunes and swimming and boating on the lake.

Southern Oregon

After a few nights at Valley of the Rogue State Park (where it was hot!), we headed to the beaches of southern Oregon. Maureen Haggerty, my sister Kathy's life long friend, built a home there a few years ago and enjoys the beauty of the area every day. We had cool, sunny afternoons to walk on the beach.


One afternoon we took a drive to Port Orford where we saw whales in the bay, then had lunch on the fishing pier. Here's Gene in front of the seafood restaurant at Port Orford.


There is no deep water harbor at Port Orford. When the fishing boats return to the pier, they are lifted out of the water and put onto their boat trailers. It's a fun operation to watch.


The beach and rocks at Bandon are as beautiful as any in the world.


A perfect day to horseback ride on the beach.

Living Veterans Sculture Garden

The Vietnam POW sculpture has been visited by many veterans who have left memorabilia and a POW flag.


"The Nurses" pays tribute to those who cared for wounded warriors.


The memorial to our servicemen sits among juniper and chaparral with Mount Shasta to the south.

Our last Sunday drive in California brought a few wonderful surprises: a sculpture garden paying tribute to veterans; Klamath Falls Wilderness Area; and Lava Flows National Monument.

The sculpture garden was sponsored by the Mt. Shasta/Weed Kiwanis Clubs and is out in the middle of nowhere . . . which proved to be the perfect, serene setting to pay tribute to our veterans. Sculptures honor veterans of WWII, the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Right on the California/Oregon border is a wetlands that attracts millions (yes millions) of birds every year. On the Pacific flyway, the Klamath Falls WA attracts 500 American bald eagles every year, the most in the contiguous 48 states. We saw white pelican, ibis, ducks, swallows, California quail and flycatchers. The eagles are migratory and only visit in the fall and winter. I want to come back here to see them!

Lava Flows National Monument is an area of volcanic rock with hundreds of caves to explore . . . if you've got the proper hard hat, shoes and equipment. The rangers will lend flashlights and hard hats if you've got the time and energy to do some spelunking.

Last Stop: Railroad Park RV Park and Resort

Mount Shasta is a dominating presence on the skyline.




Castle Crag Mountains form a backdrop.


Each restored caboose is a motel room and can accommodate a family of five.


We had a wonderful dinner in the dining car restaurant.

Gene selected Dunsmuir as our last campsite in northern California. Relatives of Jan Crabb vacationed here every summer, and Gene always wanted to see it. Just south of the city of Mt. Shasta, Dunsmuir is right off I-5 and next to the railroad.

The RV park we chose is back off the highway about half a mile and just up the road from the Railroad Resort. Over the past 40 years, the owners have been developing the property. It's in a pristine location along Little Crag Creek. Several railroad cabooses have been completely restored and turned into hotel rooms. Dining cars are now a restaurant. They've added a swimming pool, spa and diverted water to a pond that campers can use for swimming.

Best of all, Castle Crag mountains create a backdrop that glows in the morning sun and Mount Shasta is a short drive to the north.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

An icy lake near the summit may not be icy long. The air temperature was 70 degrees!


A crystal clear creek meanders through a meadow.


Fire and ice!


Picnic in the snow anyone?

Just 45 or 50 miles north of Lake Almanor is an alpine wonderland. Snow capped Mount Lassen looms high on the horizon at 14,450' above sea level. The volcano last erupted in 1915. Since that time, the forest has recovered, and trees, meadows and streams welcome visitors.

We drove halfway through the park to Summit Lake and stopped at several scenic spots along the way. The road through the park only reopened in late July. Ice and snow keep it closed most of the year.

Lake Almanor, CA

Mount Lassen, which last erupted in 1915, is visible from Lake Almanor.

Thanks to PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric), Californians have reservoirs for their enjoyment and for the preservation of wildlife. Lake Almanor is a haven for white pelicans, eagles, ospreys, ibis and ducks. The American Bald Eagle nests at every reservoir in this part of California.

As we pulled into the Northshore Campgrounds at Lake Almanor, an eagle swooped overhead. Early the next morning, I spotted another eagle as it snatched a fish out of the water. A causeway that crosses the north part of the lake is the perfect spot to watch waterfowl activity.