About That Eugene, Oregon (June - )

Dear Family and Friends,

Talk about green! That is Eugene, Oregon! We are in this university town for two weeks before heading to Portland. We arrived on a sunny day, but the clouds arrived in the late afternoon and it has been that way for the week. No wonder we are seeing such lush landscaping, with beautiful flowers. My skin loves the high humidity and the cool temps. Raincoats and umbrellas were definitely needed.

On Saturday, Roger and I drove into the downtown area of Eugene. We had read about the incredible farmers' market and it lived up to it's reputation.

 Fresh vegetables

 Roger is being tempted by the pastries.

 Gorgeous flowers

 Interesting people

We had to stop and take a look at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. This track and field setting has such a history. You may remember Steve Prefontaine, the outstanding runner in the early seventies. This was his alma mater. Bowerman, his coach at Oregon, developed the waffle sole running shoe and the Nike swoosh. We could not get onto the track because U of O was hosting the annual Pre Classic. 

The campus is beautifully set in lush landscaping. The sculpture of a pioneer is located in one of the parks on the campus.

Rhododendrons are everywhere on campus.

On Monday, we decided that we could not wait for the perfect, sunshiny day to drive to the Pacific Coast, so we opted to drive an hour to Florence and then North to Newport (you may have heard of Newport from the recent news because that is where the Japanese dock (from the Tsunami) washed onto shore. That happened this week.

 We were in and out of showers most of the day but felt so fortunate to see this beautiful area of the country.

Florence, Oregon
Roger and Bear

Driving along the 101 to Newport

Water coming down from the mountains and heading out to sea.

Bear and Suzanne deciding that it was alright not to stick a toe in the Pacific. Temperatures were in the 50's.

Tuesday was a tour of the Marathon Factory where a Prevost chassis base gets a custom interior and exterior finish. The factory is located outside of Eugene. 

The company is currently working on 8 coaches.

This bus belongs to Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas Cowboys) and it shows what the basic coach looks like before anything is done to it. I bet the exterior will be painted blue and gray in honor of the Cowboys.

This is an example of an interior but the camera does not do it justice. These are top of the line RVs. Many are sent overseas. 

Wednesday was the first day that we were able to get on the bikes for a 25 miler through the countryside of Oregon. The rest of the time we have been either walking or running to get in workouts in the midst of very rainy weather.

Friday morning gave us a break in the weather and we decided to visit the covered bridges located in Lane County (near Eugene). Oregon has the largest collection of covered bridges in the West. Lane County has twenty of the covered bridges. The covered bridge tradition dates from the 1850's, when they were built to "cover" the wooden trusses and protect those trusses from the damp Western Oregon climate.

 Stewart Bridge spans Mosby Creek 

 The swimming hole at Stewart Bridge offers the best swimming in the area.

 Dorena Bridge spans the Row River.

 The Row River seen from the slats on the walls inside the bridge.

Our drive continued around the Dorena Lake made possible by the dam near the previously mentioned bridge. 

The Currin Bridge noted for the red sides.

As you can tell from the following picture, our site at the Eugene Premier RV Resort is very green. We are cozy in the Tour and rainy days at home are not a problem.

Thank you for checking in with us this week. We appreciate your interest in our travels.  Next Friday, we leave for Portland (100 miles north on I-5).