I woke up early today and went to the shops to get some provisions. We legged it out of the hotel and drove to the meeting point for the rafting trip, which was about half way between Roseberg and Crater Lake.
We arrived just before 10:00 for the briefing and to meet all the peeps. The guides were the standard fare - twenty something stoners who looked like they hadn't had a shower in a few days. But they were all very nice and really enthusiastic. These moments are always tense because you worry about which guide you are going to get and who else you will be sharing the raft with. One of the dudes looked a bit brain dead, so he was out. The girl who seemed to be the leader was entirely too chirpy and I figured if I had to spend five hours on a raft with her I would probably end up smacking her in the head with my paddle. But the other guide seemed pretty cool. He was a young, small guy who was keen but didn't say too much. Perfect!
They gave us some instructions and then we drove about ten or twelve miles up the river to the starting point. We chose our vests and helmets and then scampered down the embankment to the rafts. More instructions. Now I was a bit nervous. Who would be on our raft? Who would be our guide? It's all very random and usually comes down to standing in the right spot next to the right peeps. A few of the group were getting rowdy and acting like fools. I slowly shifted to my right, away from them.
In the end, we got lucky. Our raft was good - there was five of us plus the guide. Myself, Paulo, a couple and their friend. Our guide was Nick (the young, small guy), who it transpired, only graduated high school in 2004 and is just 20 years old! He was really chilled out though and we had a great time.
There were three rafts in total because the group was so big. We did two sections of the Umpqua River for a total of thirteen miles. The day was divided in two - a couple of hours before lunch and then a few hours after lunch.
The morning was fairly easy - kind of like training. there were a few rapids but a lot of very still sections. I sat in the front on the right hand side and took to my duties straight away. You just have to listen to the guide, watch the other guy in front and paddle when he paddles. It was quality!
We traveled down the river and all of us chatted, getting to know each other. Nick didn't seem interested in having us work too hard but he knew the river well and instructed us well in the tougher sections.
We stopped for lunch. More chats and some great sambos lovingly prepared by the guides.
The second part of the day kicked off and we finally got into some decent rafting. There were a lot more rapids in the second section and some of them were quite big. There are names for them as well, like 'Alligator Back', 'Frogger I', 'Frogger II', 'Eifel Tower' and 'Pinball'. We had a great time. The only thing is that because Nick was so chilled we didn't really go into the rapids as fast as we probably could have. And we didn't do much work at all in the calm parts. But, he knew every section of the river and we had the craic. There were a few sections where nobody in the raft said anything and it was great. It was so quiet and peaceful. The scenery was amazing and you could just chill out and get lost in your thoughts.
Back at the meeting point, we said our thanks and goodbyes, changed and were back in the car driving down 5S - again! We drove to Grant's Pass to try and find a bed for the night.
I haggled my way into a Travelodge for a decent(ish) price since we didn't have any coupons. We cleaned up and watched some of the Phillies-Braves game.
Once again we went out looking for somewhere to eat. As usual there was nothing going on. We pulled into Ric's Corvette Bar & Grill and remarkably they had called last order and closed the kitchen at 8:00pm! We ended up going to Angela's Mexican Restaurant which wasn't too bad. The food was OK and our waiter was a nice guy who kept referring to us as 'amigo' and 'senor'.
We were both really tired so we went back to the room and relaxed with some tele & wifi. The time is flying by and we are one day closer to the end of the trip, which is now starting to loom on the horizon...
Showing posts with label Roseberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roseberg. Show all posts
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Day 74
I woke up and went for a 50 minute run through Medford this morning. What a crap town - there was nothing interesting there. No cafes, no cool bars, no shops, no nothing! Oregon is a beautiful state to look at but it has some of the worst towns that we have come across on the entire trip.
I went back to the hotel and sat by the pool for about 30 minutes. At least Medford had a bit of sun. Then we packed up and got the flock outta there. Paulo had to stop at the post office to mail a few packages back home. He emerged again forty minutes later. Yes, forty, 4-0 minutes. It seems the one and only staff member was best mates with everyone in the queue and had the chatsies with all of them.
We went to Quiznos for a sub and then to Starbucks for a coffee.
After a few phone calls, we decided to go white water rafting after all. Paulo had spotted a brochure in one of the kips we stayed in. We got the instructions and directions to the meeting point and then went to the Rogue Valley Mall to get some supplies for the trip.
We wandered around the mall for ages in a bit of a haze. But we did manage find eight dollar water socks that only ended up costing six dollars. Happy days!
Since the trip was near Crater Lake, we had to back track a bit. So, back on to 5N to Roseberg and would you believe we checked back into Travel Inn? The woman at reception even took another coupon for the night!
We spent a few hours watching tele and relaxing.
Around 8:00 we were both feeling pecky, so we hopped in the car and went to look for a place to eat. As I suspected - nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not a sizzling... We ended up going to a Chinese restaurant called Chi's that turned out to be really, really ropy.
During our travels, we have met a few characters. Small towns seem to collect characters. Weirdos. Oddballs. People who just couldn't fit in living in a big city. Roseberg has a few. We saw some confused looking guy sitting on the ground at the entrance to a Rite Aid. Ten minutes later he walked into Chi's with a blind guy. They sat down beside us and their conversation started:
CG (confused guy): "What do you want to eat for dinner?"
BG (blind guy): "I don't know. I think something Chinese. What do you want?"
CG: "I don't know. (long pause) Do you have any money?"
BG: "No. But a have a card. Actually I have a number for the card."
The waitress walked over to take their order.
BG: "Hi. I have a debit card. Can I use that here?"
W: "Yes."
BG: "Well, I want to know if I have any money on it. Can you check for me?"
W: "What? Yes, I think."
BG: "Well actually, my parents have the card. It's in one of my jacket pockets and they have the jacket. But I have the number and the expiration date, so if you put that in the machine I can sign the receipt. It worked for me the other day."
Paulo & me: "WTF!?"
The waitress actually entertained this idea and took down the number. She also took their order. While she was gone, the conversation continued.
BG: "I really like coffee. Now, I'm not proud but I just got out of jail. And when I was inside, I used to drink coffee every day. I like to get really wired, you know?"
CG: "I have lots of coffee at my house.
Do you have somewhere to stay?"
BG: "No."
CG: "You can stay at my house tonight. And you can drink lots of coffee if you want to."
The waitress returns and tells the guy that his card does not work. Surprise! The guy was stunned. She told them that they had to leave and walked off. Now, people I am not exaggerating. The two of them sat there for almost five minutes doing nothing before the confused guy said, "Well, I guess I have to cook tonight."
They got up, went outside and staggered down the street.
Back to us. The waitress was edgy as hell and not very friendly. We ordered. The food was terrible. But we ate it because we were afraid of the waitress. We ate it, asked for the bill and left quietly, not trying to cause any trouble.
We went back to the room and relaxed with a bit of tele before nodding off.
I went back to the hotel and sat by the pool for about 30 minutes. At least Medford had a bit of sun. Then we packed up and got the flock outta there. Paulo had to stop at the post office to mail a few packages back home. He emerged again forty minutes later. Yes, forty, 4-0 minutes. It seems the one and only staff member was best mates with everyone in the queue and had the chatsies with all of them.
We went to Quiznos for a sub and then to Starbucks for a coffee.
After a few phone calls, we decided to go white water rafting after all. Paulo had spotted a brochure in one of the kips we stayed in. We got the instructions and directions to the meeting point and then went to the Rogue Valley Mall to get some supplies for the trip.
We wandered around the mall for ages in a bit of a haze. But we did manage find eight dollar water socks that only ended up costing six dollars. Happy days!
Since the trip was near Crater Lake, we had to back track a bit. So, back on to 5N to Roseberg and would you believe we checked back into Travel Inn? The woman at reception even took another coupon for the night!
We spent a few hours watching tele and relaxing.
Around 8:00 we were both feeling pecky, so we hopped in the car and went to look for a place to eat. As I suspected - nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not a sizzling... We ended up going to a Chinese restaurant called Chi's that turned out to be really, really ropy.
During our travels, we have met a few characters. Small towns seem to collect characters. Weirdos. Oddballs. People who just couldn't fit in living in a big city. Roseberg has a few. We saw some confused looking guy sitting on the ground at the entrance to a Rite Aid. Ten minutes later he walked into Chi's with a blind guy. They sat down beside us and their conversation started:
CG (confused guy): "What do you want to eat for dinner?"
BG (blind guy): "I don't know. I think something Chinese. What do you want?"
CG: "I don't know. (long pause) Do you have any money?"
BG: "No. But a have a card. Actually I have a number for the card."
The waitress walked over to take their order.
BG: "Hi. I have a debit card. Can I use that here?"
W: "Yes."
BG: "Well, I want to know if I have any money on it. Can you check for me?"
W: "What? Yes, I think."
BG: "Well actually, my parents have the card. It's in one of my jacket pockets and they have the jacket. But I have the number and the expiration date, so if you put that in the machine I can sign the receipt. It worked for me the other day."
Paulo & me: "WTF!?"
The waitress actually entertained this idea and took down the number. She also took their order. While she was gone, the conversation continued.
BG: "I really like coffee. Now, I'm not proud but I just got out of jail. And when I was inside, I used to drink coffee every day. I like to get really wired, you know?"
CG: "I have lots of coffee at my house.
Do you have somewhere to stay?"
BG: "No."
CG: "You can stay at my house tonight. And you can drink lots of coffee if you want to."
The waitress returns and tells the guy that his card does not work. Surprise! The guy was stunned. She told them that they had to leave and walked off. Now, people I am not exaggerating. The two of them sat there for almost five minutes doing nothing before the confused guy said, "Well, I guess I have to cook tonight."
They got up, went outside and staggered down the street.
Back to us. The waitress was edgy as hell and not very friendly. We ordered. The food was terrible. But we ate it because we were afraid of the waitress. We ate it, asked for the bill and left quietly, not trying to cause any trouble.
We went back to the room and relaxed with a bit of tele before nodding off.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Day 73
Paulo and I had begun discussing the possibility of going white water rafting while we are in Oregon. It is something that he has always wanted to do and I am interested in trying it as well. However, we missed our chance to go today because the stupid dog and bone hasn't had a signal since we reached Coos Bay last night.
Feeling a bit dejected, we drove into Roseberg and had breakie in the local cafe called Brix. The food and service were both very good. Since the dog wasn't working, I thought it might be useful to try to ring some motels about a room from a payphone so there wouldn't be any hassle later on. No joy. In the meantime, Paulo had gone looking for change and disappeared. It turned out that the woman in the shop he went in to was fascinated with the details about our trip. She wouldn't let him leave! She just kept asking him one question after another. She did tell him that a place called Crater Lake was quality and that we should check it out while we are here.
So, we got onto 138E and headed to Crater Lake for the day. The three cups of coffee I had for breakfast were starting to kick in and I was ready to take on the day.
Crater Lake is a national park that has been built around the deepest lake in the States. There are no rivers or streams to feed the lake - all of the water comes from rain and snow. But it is considered the cleanest large body of water in the entire world, which lends to it's intense, clear blue color.
The lake sits inside a caldera that formed after a volcano eruption almost 8,000 years ago. The park was established in 1902 and is approximately 183,000 acres in size. The lake is about six miles wide and nearly 600 meters in depth. It's volume is five trillion gallons of water! It is surrounded by a 33 mile road called Rim Drive that offers numerous vantage points and stops for viewing the lake.
We entered the park from the North Entrance Road and drove to the North Junction, which overlooks the lake from the north west corner. I was immediately stunned by how blue the water was.
Continuing along the western side of Rim Drive we went to Watchman Overlook. It is one of the highest viewpoints on the entire rim and has a trail that can be hiked in about one hour.
The crater (or caldera) was formed after Mt Mazma erupted. However, before the crater began filling with water and forming the lake, more eruptions occurred. The biggest led to the formation of Wizard Island, which is itself a volcano and visible from anywhere around the lake.
Over time all of the eruptions and pouring lava created massive rock formations and spires all along the walls of the caldera that still stand today and offer physical evidence about the age and structure of the former Mt Mazma.
Our next stop was the Rim Village for a bite to eat in the Rim Cafe. In typical fashion, the sambos were under prepared and overpriced. But tourism has a cost and you have to pay it.
We drove further south along Rim Drive and our next stop was Vidae Falls. The waterfall is the point where a spring-fed creek flows over a glacier-carved cliff and drops about 100 feet over a series of ledges.
Phantom Ship Overlook was our next stop. It lies against the eastern shore and is a bit off the beaten track. The island is named after it's resemblance to a small pirate ship. But in actual fact, the island is as big as a sixteen story building. The rock is over 400,000 years old making it the oldest in the caldera. We stopped there in the late afternoon and the lighting made for some interesting photographs.
We decided to turn around instead of following Rim Drive up the eastern side of the lake. Our last stop was Pinnacles Overlook located south of the Rim Drive in the south east corner. The pinnacles are colorful 100 foot tall spires that sit along the canyon wall. The spires were formed by gases from the volcanic eruptions combined with the extreme heat that cemented hot ash in to solid rock cones. Since their formation, streams have eroded the canyon and exposed the cones.
Leaving the lake, we drove down to Medford and decided to stay in a Motel 6. Big mistake. Shite TV - no channels, no breakfast in the morning and (unbelievably) no wifi. We were not impressed at all.
Dinner was Applebees (again!) due to the serious lack of other choices in Medford. After dins, we went back to the hotel to chill with a bit of tele before eventually hitting the scratcher.
Feeling a bit dejected, we drove into Roseberg and had breakie in the local cafe called Brix. The food and service were both very good. Since the dog wasn't working, I thought it might be useful to try to ring some motels about a room from a payphone so there wouldn't be any hassle later on. No joy. In the meantime, Paulo had gone looking for change and disappeared. It turned out that the woman in the shop he went in to was fascinated with the details about our trip. She wouldn't let him leave! She just kept asking him one question after another. She did tell him that a place called Crater Lake was quality and that we should check it out while we are here.
So, we got onto 138E and headed to Crater Lake for the day. The three cups of coffee I had for breakfast were starting to kick in and I was ready to take on the day.
Crater Lake is a national park that has been built around the deepest lake in the States. There are no rivers or streams to feed the lake - all of the water comes from rain and snow. But it is considered the cleanest large body of water in the entire world, which lends to it's intense, clear blue color.
The lake sits inside a caldera that formed after a volcano eruption almost 8,000 years ago. The park was established in 1902 and is approximately 183,000 acres in size. The lake is about six miles wide and nearly 600 meters in depth. It's volume is five trillion gallons of water! It is surrounded by a 33 mile road called Rim Drive that offers numerous vantage points and stops for viewing the lake.
We entered the park from the North Entrance Road and drove to the North Junction, which overlooks the lake from the north west corner. I was immediately stunned by how blue the water was.
Continuing along the western side of Rim Drive we went to Watchman Overlook. It is one of the highest viewpoints on the entire rim and has a trail that can be hiked in about one hour.
The crater (or caldera) was formed after Mt Mazma erupted. However, before the crater began filling with water and forming the lake, more eruptions occurred. The biggest led to the formation of Wizard Island, which is itself a volcano and visible from anywhere around the lake.
Over time all of the eruptions and pouring lava created massive rock formations and spires all along the walls of the caldera that still stand today and offer physical evidence about the age and structure of the former Mt Mazma.
Our next stop was the Rim Village for a bite to eat in the Rim Cafe. In typical fashion, the sambos were under prepared and overpriced. But tourism has a cost and you have to pay it.
We drove further south along Rim Drive and our next stop was Vidae Falls. The waterfall is the point where a spring-fed creek flows over a glacier-carved cliff and drops about 100 feet over a series of ledges.
Phantom Ship Overlook was our next stop. It lies against the eastern shore and is a bit off the beaten track. The island is named after it's resemblance to a small pirate ship. But in actual fact, the island is as big as a sixteen story building. The rock is over 400,000 years old making it the oldest in the caldera. We stopped there in the late afternoon and the lighting made for some interesting photographs.
We decided to turn around instead of following Rim Drive up the eastern side of the lake. Our last stop was Pinnacles Overlook located south of the Rim Drive in the south east corner. The pinnacles are colorful 100 foot tall spires that sit along the canyon wall. The spires were formed by gases from the volcanic eruptions combined with the extreme heat that cemented hot ash in to solid rock cones. Since their formation, streams have eroded the canyon and exposed the cones.
Leaving the lake, we drove down to Medford and decided to stay in a Motel 6. Big mistake. Shite TV - no channels, no breakfast in the morning and (unbelievably) no wifi. We were not impressed at all.
Dinner was Applebees (again!) due to the serious lack of other choices in Medford. After dins, we went back to the hotel to chill with a bit of tele before eventually hitting the scratcher.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Day 72
Today started with a 65 minute run around Eugene. I figured that since I was in Track Town USA or The Track Capital of the World, the least I could do is go for a decent run. I ran a lap around South Eugene High School and then went up Skinner's Butte (hee hee). It's apparently named for the first pioneer Eugene Skinner to settle in the town with his family. They had a cabin on the side of the butte. As funny as it sounds, it was a tough climb up to the top.
A quick shower and it was straight into town for breakfast / lunch. Eugene is a bit thin on good cafes so we had a Johnny in a local place called Hawthorne's and then went across the street to Starbucks for a coffee. I had a Rift Valley Brew and it was strooong - just the kick I needed after the run.
We drove out 126W to Florence to check out things. We went out to the beach there but it was pretty tough to get around - there were lots of tree stumps and rocks. There was one decent little patch of sand but it was cold - only about 60 degrees and the water was absolutely freezing.
Moving on, we continued to Coos Bay where we had lunch / dinner in Abbey's Legendary Pizza shop. I really enjoyed mine but Paulo was convinced that they were not worthy of legendary status and they had some cheek calling themselves legends. Tough crowd. Still, it does take bollocks to name your self as legendary.
Further south we discovered Charleston and then went out to the beach. We stopped at a Arago Bay near a lookout where there were loads of seals just off the shore. There are Northern Elephant and Harbor Seals along with Stellar and California Sea Lions. Some of them live here year round but most of them just come here during the summer months to mate. We had a hard time seeing them but there was not problem hearing them.
After our attempted seal watching, we drove back to Sunset Bay for a game of wiffle ball. The west coast seems to have invigorated Paulo as he beat me 10-6. He played great and I played terribly. The series is now 3-1 to me. I hope that I can get myself together before the next game...
We also played a bit of frisbee and then watched the sunset.
Then we drove to Roseberg along 42E and it was some drive. There are hardly any straight sections of road - it just twists and turns and twists and turns and... We listened to the Doors new CD release of their gig in Boston on April 10, 1970. Absolute quality driving music.
We checked in to the Travel Inn, caught Futurama and Family Guy on tele and then fell asleep. I snoozed like a log all night long.
A quick shower and it was straight into town for breakfast / lunch. Eugene is a bit thin on good cafes so we had a Johnny in a local place called Hawthorne's and then went across the street to Starbucks for a coffee. I had a Rift Valley Brew and it was strooong - just the kick I needed after the run.
We drove out 126W to Florence to check out things. We went out to the beach there but it was pretty tough to get around - there were lots of tree stumps and rocks. There was one decent little patch of sand but it was cold - only about 60 degrees and the water was absolutely freezing.
Moving on, we continued to Coos Bay where we had lunch / dinner in Abbey's Legendary Pizza shop. I really enjoyed mine but Paulo was convinced that they were not worthy of legendary status and they had some cheek calling themselves legends. Tough crowd. Still, it does take bollocks to name your self as legendary.
Further south we discovered Charleston and then went out to the beach. We stopped at a Arago Bay near a lookout where there were loads of seals just off the shore. There are Northern Elephant and Harbor Seals along with Stellar and California Sea Lions. Some of them live here year round but most of them just come here during the summer months to mate. We had a hard time seeing them but there was not problem hearing them.
After our attempted seal watching, we drove back to Sunset Bay for a game of wiffle ball. The west coast seems to have invigorated Paulo as he beat me 10-6. He played great and I played terribly. The series is now 3-1 to me. I hope that I can get myself together before the next game...
We also played a bit of frisbee and then watched the sunset.
Then we drove to Roseberg along 42E and it was some drive. There are hardly any straight sections of road - it just twists and turns and twists and turns and... We listened to the Doors new CD release of their gig in Boston on April 10, 1970. Absolute quality driving music.
We checked in to the Travel Inn, caught Futurama and Family Guy on tele and then fell asleep. I snoozed like a log all night long.
