For the past several months we've been on the Oregon trail - - not 'THE' Oregon Trail, but rather one of our own trails of exploration. We decided to spend some quality photo time traveling from the Columbia River (Roll On!) and along the northern coast on our way to Silver Falls State Park, where we have been volunteer hosts since April. As always, the Oregon coast never disappoints. Just the nature of this coastline and the many features of the surrounding country is enough to give one pause!
The park and surrounds, located in the Willamette Valley just east of Salem, OR has not disappointed either. I had never explored the eastern portion of the Willamette and was totally amazed at what I had been missing. The rolling hills covered with tree farms, orchards, grass seed fields, nursery stock plantations, old barns and more flower seed and bulb farms than I have ever seen were enough to throw me, and my camera, into quite a dither!
Our volunteer hours here in the largest of the Oregon State Parks give us lots of time to explore this amazing area, with camera in hand. Our explorations paid off when we found some less expensive fuel!👌 Just the park itself, a real treasure, has been a joy to get to know. It contains 10 magnificent water falls, all different in size, shape and appearance, on a lovely 7 mile hike. Since it is located in close proximity to most of the larger population centers of the state, the park has more than 1.5 million visitors each year. People come to enjoy the falls, of course, but also to take advantage of all the camping, conference and hiking facilities it has to offer.
Our volunteer duties include meeting and greeting visitors in the historic lodge built in the late 1930's by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp.) for all of you too young to know what the CCC stands for. We also get to spend one shift each week on the trail head where we talk to visitors about edible berries, and let children play a game of matching feathers to pictures of birds that live in the park. Great fun! In exchange, the park provides us with a beautiful site in the campground especially for hosts, for FREE! (My favorite word!) A great trade off, to be sure. Pretty sure we'll come back here for another round of volunteering next spring.
In the meantime, we'll be hitting the road again next week - - our destination this time will be back to one of our favorite states - - New Mexico. I'm looking forward to getting behind the camera in the north/central part of that state, and visiting relatives who live a little farther north in Colorado. Again, we will be volunteering there for the fall months; this time at a National Wildlife Refuge just outside of Roswell. (And yes, we have our pointed foil hats at the ready, just in case we spot any weird looking characters. HA!)
I will be more diligent in posting at this site as we continue this amazing vagabond adventure we're on. Up next will be photos of what we see on the way to New Mexico (on our favorite 'roads less traveled'), and those we find in that beautiful state.
In the meantime, enjoy, and be safe and happy!
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