On the Road with Bill & Barb: On to Oregon!!!!

Our first stop in Oregon was Baker City, right on the Oregon Trail. We went to an Oregon Trail museum and there was a terrific display showing the life of the pioneers who traveled this route in their wooden RVs. Of course Barb had to get her picture with the "tatanka"! We even stopped and walked on the actual tracks of the wagons - quite inspiring to see their story since we are doing the very modern version of traveling across country.

We were in Baker City at the time of the Miner's Jubilee Celebration. We went to a nice craft show in the park and actually panned for real gold. We have a small vial of our gold which we will hang on our RV travel tree we are planning for when we settle down. We also went to bronco riding night at a rodeo - cowboys are truly crazy!

From here we moved on to Portland with an overnight stay in Boardman, Oregon at a beautiful marina RV park. The trip to Portland was exquisite and the land changed from mountains to flatlands back to mountains to a wonderful coastline. As we traveled along the Colorado River Gorge we sighted Mt. Hood (this highway is a big wind tunnel and great for wind surfers and kites.)

In Portland we visited the Classical Chinese Garden in Chinatown which was truly serene. We ate at the teahouse and soaked in the age old traditions of a country that has come to mean a lot in our family.

The famous International Rose Test Garden in Portland was a sight to behold - imagine over 10,000 plants and 400 varieties of roses in every size, shape and color. The Rose Festival is held in June so we were a little late for the peak season but they were still so beautiful as you can see by the pictures. (the last rose picture was one of the 2008 winners). People were taking advantage of the beauty and weather everywhere. The ampitheater also was wonderfully designed and fit the setting so well.

Another day in Portland took us to the Pacific coast - so different from the Atlantic coast. Words really can't describe so just take in the beautiful shots we got around Seaside and Cannon Beach.