Jacksonville, Oregon

Jacksonville, not to be confused with Jacksonville, Florida, is just a few miles west of Medford, Oregon, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. After my overnight stay in Medford, I awoke to bright sunshine, so I decided to take a short detour to check out Jacksonville for myself before completing my road trip back to the Bay Area. What a feast for the eyes and my camera lens!

Jacksonville has its roots in the gold mining craze of the 1850's, and its citizens have worked tirelessly to preserve its historical charm and legacy. It's a popular getaway for Oregonians and hosts various festivals throughout the year. So what will you find there? Impeccably well-kept shops, restaurants, inns, and homes. There are also informative museums and charming art galleries and parks. The town also has all the usual necessities city residents come to expect. Take a look at colorful Jacksonville, Oregon...

Here are some scenes from the downtown...

The City Hall...

The Jacksonville Museum...

Nice paint jobs...

Touristy shops...

A beautiful old home...

St. Joseph's Catholic Church...

The popular Magnolia Inn...

An art gallery...

The McCully House Inn...

Gold miner's statue outside the library...

War Memorial...

Another beautiful home...

Jacksonville Cemetery...

Are you in need a long weekend getaway from the San Fran Bay Area? Try Jacksonville, Oregon. It's only about six hours away and well worth a visit. The local residents are extremely friendly and kind, and the surrounding area is filled with natural beauty.

Cottage Grove, Oregon

I've passed by the exit signs alerting drivers on Interstate 5 to Cottage Grove who knows how many times. Its name always intrigued me - I mean how could it not....Cottage Grove. Sounds so quaint! Oregonians endearingly refer to this town as "the covered bridge capital of Oregon." Apparently seven covered bridges are in or around the town, so when I found that out, I decided that the next time I passed by, I would take the exit and do a quick survey of the town and search out those bridges myself before hitting Interstate 5 again. Well, it's a charming little place indeed, but I only found one covered bridge. I hunted down the covered railroad bridge just a few blocks from the downtown only to find that it had vanished and is currently awaiting rebuilding. Sigh...

All's well that ends well, however, and now I have an image of charming Cottage Grove etched in my mind so that the next time I zoom past its exit sign, I'll visualize this:

Lots of murals...

Restored buildings lining the main street...

Lots of places to grab something to eat or drink...

Old advertisements painted on brick buildings..

Another mural...

Funky stores...

Colorful paint jobs...

Centennial Bridge...

The river under the bridge...

Cottage Grove has been awarded the All-America City Award from the National Civic League twice, in 1968 and 2004, so that alone definitely makes it worth a quick visit. There is also a loop road that takes you to the other bridges that are farther outside of the town limit. Maybe next time I'll give that a try. You never know what you may find off the beaten path!

Boating around the San Juans - Part Three

Here's the final installment of our boating jaunts around the San Juans. On August 4th Captain F wanted to go from Anacortes to Seattle and back; I wasn't too keen on this idea because we were getting too late of a start, the lingering forest fire haze was obstructing the scenic views of the mountains, and it would be a very long ride - and remember, I don't like long boat rides. Nevertheless, I joined Captain F and we started heading south through the Strait of Juan de Fuca along the western shores of Whidbey Island. By the way, Whidbey happens to be a very long island - 62 miles to be exact. I love Whidbey and have spent many hours exploring it on foot and by car. However, most of the western part of the island is a bit boring from a boater's and photographer's perspective. This is mostly what you'll see...

When we got to the tip of the island, called Possession Point, our plans changed. We noticed two boaters just off the point waving the distress signal. Captain F, being ever so vigilant, announced that we had to go see what was going on with them, and so we did. Seems that their motor had conked out (not a good thing); apparently they had been trying to catch the attention of passing boaters for four hours! Well, we towed them slowly back to their home base (their boat was a lot bigger than Bad Boy). Needless to say, they were extremely grateful that we had taken the time to stop and help. This hour long delay meant that I was able to talk the captain out of continuing our journey towards Seattle and instead start heading back home along the eastern side of Whidbey.

Here's Cultus Bay, where we towed the stranded boaters...

Here's a small village along the eastern shore...

And another beautiful, but hazy sunset...

On August 8th we put Bad Boy in the water for the last time. We meandered around the islands and just stopped wherever we felt like it. The weather was glorious and the sky photogenic.

Here's Bad Boy heading forth...

We found some really interesting tidal action and had to stop to play around in it for a while...

Then we explored James Island, a marine park...

Here's the other side of it...

I hopped off and checked it out since we'd like to try camping here next summer...

It's a popular destination with boaters...

These seagulls found a nice spot to hang out...

Then we headed over to Blakely Island,

which is privately owned and has its own landing strip...

It has a very clean and pretty marina for its residents...

Here's a nice home with a view...

Some of the boats in the marina...

Our final stop was at Deer Harbor, which is on the southwestern tip of Orcas...

Looks like these yachties had a busy day...

A seaplane prepared for departure...

And we headed back to Fidalgo Island...

The boating season in the San Juans is over for Bad Boy and Captain F, but hopefully we'll all be back up here again next summer.