Southern Oregon and the Coast

 24-30 August 2011

 Sylvan, Paula, C.J.

This trip has become almost a tradition in a few short years – it’s a chance to visit with our paraglider friend, Barb, at her yurt near Woodrat Peak, and with C.J.’s pre-kindergarten friend, Paula and her family who have a vacation trip together at the coast.

24 Aug, Wed – C.J. and I made the familiar trip down I-5 to the yurt with stops for gas at Covington and Eugene.  We detoured to the Woodrat LZ around 1730 to see if anyone was going up to fly the glassoff.  We saw someone high above the mountain and some overdevelopment behind so we figured it wouldn’t be a good night to fly.  We got to the yurt around 1800 or so.

C.J., Barbara, George, yurt in the background

25 Aug, Thu – Hung out in the shade with Barbara until noon; it was too hot to go hiking or to fly midday.  We went down to the Applegate library to collect email, etc. and then went over to Cantrall-Buckley Park for a dip in the icy river – even colder than usual it seemed.  We met a number of other pilots at the Longsword Winery at 1700 along with Kevin Lee and some students.  C.J. got a new PTT and an offer to fix and return hers by mail all for $50.  The flying was good and several of us got up above Woodrat Peak and flew to Longsword (A glassoff first!) where we had left the Outback.

26 Aug, Fri – A repeat of Thursday except in the afternoon C.J. and I went to Applegate Lake. The water was low but the blackberries were ripe.  We didn’t have much time because we wanted to get back to Longsword to meet folks for the glassoff.  We checked out the osprey nest which had a large bird perched in a nearby tree, and the RV park to see where Christian might have landed to get the $100 prize.  Back at Longsword there were another group of pilots ready to fly again so we went up and launched from ‘Mid”.  Again we got up and were able to fly to Longsword.

27 Aug, Sat – Around noon we went in to Medford to get gas at Costco and buy some chips and fizzy water for the party.  We also figured on having a Costco hotdog for lunch but there were so many food samples that all we needed was a very-berry-sundae for dessert.  On the way back we stopped at the strawberry stand and they still had some of the “worlds best” strawberries so we got a couple of pints to bring to our next stop.  The library was closed when we got there just after 1400 but the wi-fi was still available from outside, and Barb was there for an afternoon swim in a nearby pool in the Applegate River.  Back at the yurt, there was shade and we spent some time cleaning and setting up tables and chairs.  [I disconnected the negative wire on the battery to make the CEL go out – stayed off all the way home].  Unusually, people began arriving right at 1830, mostly women friends of Barb.  Some neighbors and some paraglider pilots showed up also (Kevin and Heidi with Enatai, Sam Crocker and his wife, Donato with Athena (?) his wife, Wayne, and probably others. Juan, one of our guides from Ecuador, also came with Kevin!)).  There was lots of food including an abundance of rotisserie, home-cooked and fried chicken.  We had brought WAY too many chips and Perrier, but better too much than too little.  Cleanup wasn’t too bad and we got to bed in the yurt not much later than usual.

28 Aug, Sun – We were on the road by 1030 and took the scenic route down the Umpqua River from Sutherlin to Reedsport.  Rte 101 up the Coast was not particularly busy for the last weekend of August and we arrived at 4990 Surf Pine Lane, Waldort, where Paula, Stephen and their family greeted us and found time for a walk on the beach.  We had a big, thick slab of salmon for dinner, cooked on a charcoal grill.  The huge rented house is just adjacent to a broad, sandy beach and accessed by a private path.  It was fun to catch up with Paula and Stephen’s grown-up daughters, Heather and Courtney, and see how much Sylvan had grown.  We also got to talk hang gliding with Ryan who had learned from James Feiser while living in the B’ham area.

29 Aug, Mon – We took a long walk on the beach up toward Waldport and had another delicious fish dinner, this time of fresh, line-caught tuna also cooked on the grill on oiled aluminum foil. (Put it on for a couple of minutes, turn it, cook for another couple of minutes then take it off the grill – it looks raw in the middle but is perfect.)

30 Aug, Tues – We got started home around 1030 and stayed along the coast after Lincoln Beach, driving through Pacific Beach and Tierra Del Mar (parking lot for the flying site is now gated).  We stopped to look at the Cape Lookout launch and stopped again on Hwy 6 at a new Tillamook Forest Interpretive Center (complete with a suspension bridge and fire lookout tower).  After two more stops – one for my free Starbucks birthday gift drink in Longview, and one for gas and a roasted chicken at Covington Costco - we got home around 1900.