Early evening shot...

Fall is in the air...

October bouquet

Winter pansies...

The winter pansies are in!

I planted approximately 600 in five gardens...in the back yard garden(bottom picture), in the side perennial garden, and three gardens in the front yard. It will provide the yard with some color during the bleak winter months until mid February when spring typically arrives in the Rogue Valley. By then the pansies will have entirely covered the gardens with each plant having 10-12 blossoms each.
Check back in February - March to see the difference.

Swan Island Dahlias - Canby OR

October Oregon Getaway, part 6...

Part 6...

On Wednesday we continued east up the Hwy 138 from Steamboat to Toketee Falls. It was a nice 1/2 mile hike into the falls on a beautiful morning. From there we headed up to Diamond Lake just north of Crater Lake National Park. We have lived in nearby Medford for almost 30 years and had never been to the lake/lodge. We have driven by the entrance dozens of times on our way to Bend but never stopped. Now we can say that "been there, done that".

As we turned onto Hwy 230 back to Medford this was our view of Mt. Thielsen (9123') just north of the north Crater Lake entrance. About 2 hours later we were back home...refreshed and ready to get back into the "routine".

October Oregon Getaway, part 5...

Part 5...

Our next stop was at the Oregon Gardens (http://www.oregongarden.org/). It was a little late in the season for the tour but it was good to see what is going on there. It would be worth the time to come back earlier in the summer next year. The town of Silverton was a very pleasant surprise. A charming little town northeast of Salem. We'll have to visit there for a weekend sometime.

Our next stop was to be at Silver Lake Falls but we found ourselves at the entrance at about 3:00 pm Tuesday afternoon and realized that we had to be at Steamboat Inn, east of Roseburg, for dinner at 7:30. And, much of the trip would be on country roads. So..."Silver Falls next time." A quick calculation indicated that we had about 3 1/2 hours of driving to make it in time for check in and dinner. We made it to the front door at a little after 7:00.

Steamboat is a "wayside inn" about 40 miles up the Umpqua River east of Roseburg. It's a beautiful ride and the destination was worth the trip. The Inn is very charming with the rooms/cottages located right above the Umpqua River on a 12 mile section of fly-fishing only. Hard-core fly fisher"people" come in from all over the country to fish here. The evening meal is served family style. It was expensive...more so than Nick's in Mcminnville...but not as good as Nick's. I would have paid about 1/3 as much and would have been quite satisfied. For the price we paid is was good but not great. Our stay was wonderful. Old, quaint, well maintained cabins with all the modern conveniences made for a nice relaxing getaway. No TV, radio, etc. Just the sound of the river.

After breakfast on Wednesday morning we drove up to Toketee Falls, Diamond Lake and back home. Part 6 for the final journal...

October Oregon Getaway, part 4...

Part 4...

After visiting Swan Island, (http://www.swanislanddahlias.com/), we stopped at the Mt. Angel Abbey. It sits up on...you guessed it...Mt. Angel which is a big hill overlooking the town. Beautiful setting. The cathedral, seminary classrooms, dorms, etc. are all located on the "mountain top". The library isn't much to look at from the outside but the interior has been featured in several publications for it's inovative design...seen below.

After a couple hours at the Abbey we found a restaurant in town with great food but lousy service. With our stomachs full, we continued down 99E to Silverton and the Oregon Gardens....continued in part 5...

October Oregon Getaway, part 3

Tuesday, October 2...part 3

Tuesday morning we heading down the east side of I-5 on Hwy 99E to Canby to Swan Island Dahlia's. I've never seen anything like it before. 40+ acres of dahlias....that has to be at least about 1/4 the size of Rhode Island!!!

As I walked through the gardens with my order form, all I could say was "so many dahlias...and so little dirt!" My order will be delivered in early April 2008.

October Oregon Getaway, part 2...

Part 2...
From Mcminnville, we headed up 99W to Forest Grove. Along the way, we took this picture of the barn. It reminded us of the barns in Pennsylvania Amish country.

Just outside of Forest Grove, we stopped at Elk Cove Vineyards. It's quite the place and the wine is exceptional...especially the Pinot Noir which I purchased. According to the pictures on the wall, the Clinton's...yes...Bill and Hillary have made several stops here and the wine was served at the White House during their administration. And, no...I didn't ask if there was a surcharge on each bottle with the proceeds going to Hillary's campaign war chest. All kidding aside...it was a story book setting. (http://www.elkcove.com/)

From Forest Grove we drove back towards Portland on the Sunset Hwy, Rt. 26 with a side trip over the Skyline Drive into Portland. From there we made our way down to Sherwood to Al's Garden Center. How appropriate! It is quite the place...the Costco of gardening supplies. Al has several locations but the one in Sherwood is the newest and biggest.

(http://www.als-gardencenter.com/)

After a "tour" of the nursery, we checked into our room in Lake Oswego followed by dinner with our long time friends the Hartups. We ate at Marco's in Multnomah Village. Funky but good. (http://www.multnomahvillage.org/)

After bidding our friends goodbye we called Tad and Jenna Hildebrand and found them wandering the streets of Multnomah Village in search of a coffee/dessert spot. So...we met them a Marco's (again!) for coffee and sinful desserts. mmmm good.

Tuesday...to part 3

October Oregon Getaway...part 1

On Sunday, September 3oth, Dianne and I headed up I-5 for a spur of the moment mini-vacation. We left Medford around 9:00 am and arrived in Eugene in time for a nice lunch at Market of Choice. From there we drove up Hwy 99W with the intention of visiting Broadley Vineyards in Monroe. Somewhere along the way we missed a turn and found ourselves on a quiet country road between 99W and 99E. It turned out to be a delightful adventure at the expense of missing Monroe. We did manage to find our way back onto 99W in Corvallis and up to our second planned stop in Rickreal at Eola Hills Vineyards. http://www.eolahillswinery.com/ Dianne is not a wine drinker (tea is about as strong as it gets) but I did a little tasting and ended up with one of their Cabernet's made from grapes from the Rogue Valley. Go figure.

Our next stop, unplanned..."Hey that one looks good...let's stop there!", was at Left Coast Winery. It's been open to the public for two months and it was obvious that they are pulling out all the stops to impress the public. A charming spot...and, yes...I picked up a bottle of their 2004 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir. http://www.leftcoastcellars.com/ Dianne took the picture as we turned the corner to the tasting room.

After Left Coast, we drove into Mcminnville for dinner at Nick's Italian Cafe. http://www.nicksitaliancafe.com/ Our friend, Optomotrist, and Medford's Mayor, Gary Wheeler recommended it highly. He was right. Wow. A five course, two hour event. Each course featured several choices with each offering a superb offering. Expensive but worth it.

That night we stayed at a new Comfort Inn near the Spruce Goose museum. The next morning we toured the facility for about 2 hours. Spectacular. To describe the "Goose" doesn't do it justice. It's just plain huge. Made of plywood and it's bigger than a 747...made in 1945.

(www.sprucegoose.org)