Mountain adventure

To my hubby it was all about getting the jeep off road. But for me it was about getting into the back country of the Cascade mountains on those old logging roads and experiencing the forest and the trees for just a few hours at the very least.
Really this trip is pretty much in our backyard, just 55 miles up the canyon and you are there. The destination was Skyline Road as it is called.  Improved, but not heavily traveled especially during the week.  It connects to several forest service or old logging roads in the area, and if you have a map, traversing them can be quite an adventure. This area is only open mid June thru mid October as it is deep in snow the rest of the year.

Once off Skyline road, this is why you need a map. Do you go this way?

Or that way? 

The roads all look pretty much the same. and what I snapped pics of were the good roads! Often you drive thru dry creek beds, washed out sections and over fallen trees.

 

I was a little disappointed, hoping to see more wildflowers, but it is the end of August, mid July to mid August probably would have been spectacular for wildflower meadows. But I did find some bright red berries and these tiny yellow posies everywhere. There was lots of Queen Anne lace, and a little leftover bear grass too.

Most of the lakes up there you have to hike into, but there were lots of little streams and then a surprise here and there of bigger ones

 

  The photo opp of this row of birch trees with a Douglas fir seedling (below)

was too hard to resist. It was as if they were all reaching for the sun. We stopped here for lunch, all you could hear was the creek and the birds. I am sure we had some other critters wondering what we were doing invading there pristine home.

Along Skyline road on the way back home we stopped for one more breath of this lovely mountain air and to appreciate this wonderful and so beautiful part of Oregon that we call home

Covered Bridges

Sort of a mini getaway was the plan last week. I purchased this Travel Zoo special a few months ago. Village Green Resort in Cottage Grove, Oregon. It was such a good deal and just 85 miles from home. Included 2 nights in a deluxe room, breakfast each morning and dinner one evening with a bottle of local wine included. $159, couldn't beat that.

We have been to the Cottage Grove area many times in the past, mainly passing thru to go to nearby Dorena Lake to camp, boat and waterskii, but really didn't know much about the area. The plan was to go hiking around the trails of Dorena Lake and visit some of the local wineries, and partake in some local cuisine.
It turned out to be way too hot to hike so we bagged that idea and decide to do a covered bridge tour. Now I should have known this living in Oregon, but Oregon has more covered bridges than any other state and Lane County has most of them. The reason they built so many of this type of bridge in Oregon is because it the timber was cheap and readily available here and concrete was expensive to obtain.
So we headed out on our historical trek. I took pics of a few of my favorites

Most of the bridges have the new road built next to them, as in the one above, and most have been restored to their original glory.

above and below is what was once a railroad covered bridge. It was restored in 2011 with 25% of the original wood.

 This was one of my favorites, The Dorena bridge. It is popular for weddings and understandably so.

Look at the photo below looking out on to the river below. The next photo, there was an artist with his canvas.

Since we were on the subject in fact, there is another whole covered bridge tour in my own backyard! I have yet to see all of them. I decided to throw in the pics above and below. This is the Jordan bridge, just in the next town from where I live. It was built in 1937  over Thomas Creek in Linn county Oregon and moved in the 1980's to Stayton Pioneer park. Very popular for many events.

History lesson done.

We headed up into the hills west of Cottage Grove and visited 5 wineries, and bought 6 bottles of wine. That will take care of a lot of entertaining for a while:) Each of these wineries had beautiful scenery, so I snapped a few pics of  some of the great views we had.

Chateau Lorene

Sweet Cheeks

Sylvan Ridge

Surprisingly, this resort was quite a bit nicer than expected. It had acres of beautiful gardens to tour, which of course is right up my alley.

But the rest will be my next post....way too many pictures!

August in my Cottage Garden

It was overcast this morning, so a great photo opportunity in my garden. Every year, I take photos and with a cottage garden, it amazing how things change and come and go, only to reappear a couple summers later. Below is a picture of my half moon garden. The tree in the corner is a Lollipop Crabapple, it is dwarf so it is a perfect addition to the cottage garden.

 You can click on any of the pics for full size

To frame the garden, we collected boulders for the last 6 years, many we found at the farm across the road.

The hollyhocks put on quite a show this year. I started with one plant from the nursery marked "mixed". It was white the first year, then the next I had burgandy. Since then, I get several shades of pink too. I love the surprise they bring. I just let them reseed naturally...along with everything else!

In the back, are "Kiss me over the Garden Gate" They are not booming yet--that will be a new post in a couple weeks, The daylilies will need to be divided this fall, they did not bloom well this year.

Amongst the coreopsis, one of my favorite features, a shepherds hook with a watering can appearing to be pouring into the bird bath. I have actually put large chunks of ice in the can when we have outdoor parties. The water slowly trickles into the birdbath. I just finished adding some heirloom Balsam seedlings for some end of August color.

My most prized clematis! Betty Corning . She never disappoints me. She spreads her wings and blooms all summer lovely little lavender blue bells.

This is one of my newer small gardens in another part of the property, I have a young Eden rose and a butterfly bush in back. I am hoping for a spectacular show next summer.

I hope you enjoyed this tour, cottage gardening is one of my passions and I love to share.

 AND

 

Sunday Garden Stroll..

Okay, my garden needed extreme attention and it got it this weekend. I set aside my sewing and creating to take advantage of the first 80f weekend of the year here in western Oregon. I weeded, I planted and I mulched. As you will see, everything is at least 3 weeks late....my foxgloves are usually 1/3 taller and done blooming by now..and not a rose open in site! Lots of buds tho.

Here is today's visit to my cottage garden....throughout the season I will share as things progress and change...I am still chasing the cottage garden that is ALWAYS in bloom....

Linking up to An Oregon Garden Blog

Korean Lilac