Winter Adventures at Home

We have had an overabundance of snow for the past three days, and the weather forecast says there are several more days to come, leaving us essentially house bound. Our routine each morning, is after coffee, catching up with e-mail, Facebook, and the news, we have breakfast and go for a work-out in the Mill, which is the new location here at Dallas Retirement Village that is equipped with exercise machines. Next I go out and clear off the snow on the solar panel on our van so that the batteries will continue to charge. A good part of the last couple of days has been spent working on a jigsaw puzzle in the Jasper St Lobby.  For the last three weeks we have been participating in water volleyball in our new swimming pool one a week in the afternoons. Our evenings are usually spent watching Youtube, and movies. 

Our Winnebago Solis Pocket van after the first night of snow

The view from our bedroom of our central courtyard

the Christmas jigsaw puzzle

Jeanette enjoying our morning adventure

This morning the bright sunshine inspired us to venture out for little adventure and enjoy some more fresh snow.  It was a little more complicated than you might think. It took a while to dig our snow gaiters and hiking poles, and then to layer up good against the 30-degree temperatures. 

Day Tripping

This photo was taken a couple of months ago, October 6th in the nearby town of Independence. We are parked behind their Civic Center, where we have good access to walk and bird on the Riverview Park Trail along the Willamette River.  Now the days have grown shorter, the weather is colder, wetter, and the leaves are gone, as is our desire for complicated overnight trips. And then there are the distractions, or opportunities, you choose the word, of the new facilities here at Dallas Retirement Village.

With two new exercise rooms, a hot tub, and a swimming pool, we have lots of options to fill in the winter days.  However, we continue to use the van, primarily for daytrips to close-by parks to walk and bird.  It's a convenient mood of transportation, lots of room out of the elements to potty, change clothes, and enjoy lunch in the comfortable dinette with a furnace to keep us warm and comfortable.

Here are the links to bird walks from yesterday's daytrip.

 eBird Checklist - 10 Dec 2021 - Sarah Helmick SP - 13 species

eBird Checklist - 10 Dec 2021 - 14320–14424 S Pacific Hwy W, Monmouth US-OR 44.72092, -123.22170 - 1 species

eBird Checklist - 10 Dec 2021 - Adair Wildlife Area - 17 species

Alder Island Trail

The Alder Island Trail at Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge has to be one of our top favorite birding locations.  I checked my records, and this is our twelfth trip there this year. The trail is well maintained, and provides a variety of looks at the Siletz River and the sloughs that surround the island. Yesterday was a cold morning in the mid 30's when we left Dallas and drove through thick fog before some clearing along the Salmon River.  Arriving at the Refuge around 9:30AM it was sill only 42 degrees and a cold wind made it seem even colder. We made the one mile loop around the island before retreating back to the van and its warm furnace to have some hot-chocolate.  This is why we love the van, even for just day trips. It allows us a refuge in all kinds of weather conditions.  Hot chocolate turned into tuna salad sandwiches and chips for lunch before taking a second lap to finish off our outing.  
 

This is our kind of place, paved roads, an empty parking lot, gravel trails, lots of birds, and a warm van awaiting our return.

 

North Along the Coast - Day 3 Oct 31

 September 23, 1999

In the fall of 1999, Jeanette and I rode our bikes from Canada to Mexico. This photo was taken in-route on the day we rode from Pacific City to our home in Salem. We had so much more energy in those days! Here is a link to my Trip Journal. 

By comparison, yesterday was pretty much a non-event day.  At daylight we left our parking spot at Blue Heron French Cheese Company in Tillamook, and drove home to the Dallas Retirement Village. We unpacked the van and I gave it a wash job. But in the background in our minds, as we drove Hwy 101 were the many memories of our epic bicycle tour.   

We enjoyed this three day get away to the coast, as we continue to use our new Winnebago Solis Pocket to take us on adventures to birding locations, and provide food and shelter. We have now had the van for two and half months, and have spent 15 nights camped in a variety of locations.  We started out in August in the Cascades and Central Oregon. During September and October we made several trips to the Central and South Coast, the Columbia River Gorge, and now a section of the North Coast.        

 

North Along the Coast - Day 2 Oct 30

Kilchis Point Reserve

Our first biding destination for day two was the Kilchis Point Reserve near Bay City.  This place has been a favorite of ours for Tillamook County for some years.  It's a wonderful interpretive trail, and we enjoyed a two and a half mile walk there.  You can see our e-Bird Observation List here.

 

The day turned out to be a mixed bag with the weather.  Although we had bright sunshine, we had a strong wind.  The trail at Kilchis Point was well protected, but as we drove north along Tillamook Bay, the wind had whipped up the water to a choppy brown surface, and the birds (except for gulls) were non existent. Our general destination for the day was Nehalem Bay State Park, and as we drove Hwy 101 north, we thought back on our many memories of more energetic days, beginning with rolling along this route on our bicycles from Canada to Mexico, and then to the years of traveling in our RV's with our miniature dashound Buster, who was always eager to explore the next trail or beach. 

Arriving at Nehalem Bay State Park, we found the campgrounds crowded, and thirty one dollars for a patch of pavement with water and electricity seemed ridiculous when we needed neither, and we knew we could park for free back at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company. So, this became our turn around point and we headed back to Tillamook.

  

Hoquarten Slough Trail

Before settling back into the parking lot at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company, we stopped to bird on the  Hoquarten Slough Trail in downtown Tillamook.  Here the sunshine was still plentiful and we were protected from the wind.  You can see our bird list here.

Instead of having dinner in our van, we decided to splurge, and at the same time show our appreciation for the free parking, by having a glass of wine (me), and dinner in the cafe. In many ways, this was the highlight of our day.  The staff are all so friendly and gracious and our Philly Cheese Steak sandwich delicious. In addition we met fellow van travelers in the bar, and traded stories. In the future trips to Tillamook County, Blue Heron French Cheese Company will probably serve as our base of operations.

    

North Along the Coast - Day 1 Oct 29

Cape Lookout in the background

After enduring many days of rain, we saw sunshine on the forecast for Saturday and Sunday, so we made plans to head to the coast.  We have traveled south on the Oregon  Coast on many trips recently over the past two months with our new Winnebago Pocket van. For variety, we headed North on this trip, with a first stop planned at Clay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island. This is a favorite birding destination for us, and again we were not disappointed. You can see our birding list here.   
 

Jeanette looking out across Sand Lake

Our spot for the night

Our parking destination for the night was Blue Heron French Cheese Company in Tillamook.  We have stayed here several time in the past, and we always enjoy it.  It's sort of an miniature Oregon version of California's Knott's Berry Farm.

chicken salad for dinner

Sunset at the Blue Heron

We are looking forward to a quiet night here. And tomorrow? You guessed it, more birding!

Columbia River Gorge - Day 3 Oct 16

On Saturday morning when I stepped out of our van at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center I was greeted by this sunrise across the mighty Columbia River.  A great start to the day. In spite of planning to stay one more day in the Gorge, and travel home on Sunday, we felt finished here, and decided our preference was to travel home on a dry day rather than in the rain that was expected for Sunday. As we headed west on the Historic Columbia River Highway we enjoyed bight sunshine and vibrant fall colors, but we could see ahead that the clouds still filled the Gorge further west. We made a quick decision to hang back for a while in the sunshine, and at Rowena crossed over to Mayer State Park East to do some birding. 

A Great Blue Heron at rivers edge immediately caught our attention, and we quickly gathered our birding gear and an extra layer of clothes against the cold, to investigate the area.  A slight wind appeared to give the heron a bad hair day look. As we started to make our way along the beach, we suddenly heard the pop, pop, pop of shotguns around the bend. We quickly realized, that was the end of hoping to find any water fowl. Shortly we saw hunters packing out a grass covered blind, and bags of decoys to their pick-ups where they removed their camouflaged waders and hunting gear. It struck me as strange, that the very birds we were seeking to identify, count, and photograph, were the very birds they targeted to shoot and kill. We decided to move on.

We stopped for a lunch break at Rooster Rock State Park.  Here an elderly couple were engaged in taking scenic photos of the river and the fall colors.  Some young families with children were enjoying exploring trails along the shoreline. From there it was a tense battle of congestion through the greater Portland area on 205 and I-5.  A little shopping at Keizer Station provided a reset, and then from Salem out to the quiet of rural Dallas, our home.

All in all, our shared time with Kordell and Patty in the amazingly beautiful environs of the Columbia River Gorge made for an outstanding trip.