Oregon or Bust!

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Thelma and Louise are at it again…aka…Celia and her BFF, Yvonne Hyatt. Have you ever had a friend that you can talk and laugh with for hours on end and never tire of their friendship? Well, Yvonne and I have been friends for over 21 years and still make each other laugh those belly ache laughs that just won’t quit.
My first trip this summer is up the Oregon Coast. Yes, away from the farmland of last summer and keeping it coastal this year. (Don’t be surprised if I can’t resist taking a picture of an old barn or two along the way however.) Yvonne and I took off in a car packed to the brim with camping gear. Of course, I we had the trusty essentials in the front seat: GPS, Pandora and homemade granola. It was Oregon or Bust!

But then…things distracted us along the way. First, we just had to stop at Pour Girls Coffee. Great little country coffee shop owned by some sisters. Then, because I am often confused half the time, we had to stop at Confusion Hill. (Don’t ask-just someone trying to make a buck.) No need to stop at if you are traveling up Highway 101.

BUT DON’T MISS THE REDWOODS! Yvonne and I stopped and with my trusty hiking shoes, we walked a little trail while surrounded by these great giants. (What? You don’t hike in flip-flops?)
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This was a great spot to have lunch, and a healthy one at that. YUM, Mango Salsa Chicken Salad! It really was like having a “fiesta” in my mouth. Thanks Yvonne!

Back on the road again and low and behold we were going over a hill and came across the most beautiful site! Clam Beach! We just had to stop and roll around in the sand for a while. The sand dunes were so amazing that you could hide between them.


But we were on a schedule, or so we thought, so we only stayed for a short visit. Elk, did I mention you have to watch for elk along 101? As you get closer to Oregon you definitely hit Elk Country. Yvonne yelled, “ELK!” and I pulled over to a lovely area that consisted of a drift wood carving store, campground area, an old schoolhouse with an old fire truck in front of it, someone selling hot dogs and of course, elk. Yes, elk lounging around looking like they were waiting for someone to feed them one of those hot dogs.


A few pictures here and there and we were off to experience a tall tale. It was at the Trees of Mystery that I got to visit my old friend Paul, yes, Paul Bunyan and his beloved ox Babe. It was great to see and talk to him. Yes, I said talk to him. It is easy to confuse the statue verses the real Paul sometimes but don’t be fooled. There Yvonne and I were just casually taking pictures reminiscing Paul’s great Tall Tale. I commented that Paul sure had a hairy chest and to my surprise he assured me (loudly) that it was ok because the hair kept him warm at night.
(Ok, this is where I just have to say, “Wouldn’t that be an awesome summer job?”)

WELCOME TO OREGON!

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Camping, camping comes in many forms. Before my forties, I would scowl at the wimps not roughing it. A tent and only a tent meant you were camping. Bathroom and shower? Those were for softies!

Then I hit the forties, ok I’ll admit I am forty-six. Yikes, that is hard to say. You know you are getting old when your birthday rolls around and you think you are turning the age your were last year. Sadly, that is exactly what I experienced this past May.

Anyway, imagine you are hearing angels sing from the heavens now. Ok, that is what I heard when we drove-up to our cabin at the KOA campground. You can see by the pics how cute it was. I know, that is a girlie thing to say, but seriously, it had hanging flowers and a swing on the porch! Cabins had nice beds, WIFI and electricity-need I say more? Oh yes, I have never been in a cleaner bathroom and shower facility in my life. It was perfect!

We were “home”.

Bryce Canyon-It really is orange!

If you have ever seen photo’s of Bryce Canyon (like mine you will soon see), you might wonder what the big deal is.  You truly have to visit this place to understand the shock and awe of what is there.

I know I am a few days behind on my blog so let me first catch you up. I drove from Salt Lake City to Bryce.  I was excited to go see the place that thousands of people from all over the world travel to each year. My drive went from sunny to stormy quickly.  In fact, I have never had so much rain dumped on my car at once. It is amazing how big the raindrops are here. They are huge!

As soon as I arrived at my hotel (I stayed at the Best Western Grand-A+ for the room, grade C+ for the breakfast), I decided to check out the tourist traps across the street.  (It was cloudy and not a good time for pictures so there was nothing else to do.) Here they have your typical huge store where hundreds of tourists flock to buy their “one of a kind” overpriced vacation memento.  Can you tell I am not impressed with places like this? But of course, I had to go check it out.  I confess I did try on a cowboy hat. Anyway, after having fun tourist watching a bit, I headed back to my hotel to go to bed early. I wanted to beat the tourist buses that head into the park at 8:30 a.m.

Foodie Fact Alert: The best thing you can do at a place like this is to bring your own food.  The restaurants are way overpriced for food that is pretty bad.  The only place I would recommend here is Subway. It is still pricier than ones at home but at least the food is fresh and not greasy.

So I need to give a big thanks to Dana’s friend Kim and my cousin Heidi!  They told me to head to the park early in the morning and to take the Queens Garden Trail.  This was the perfect advice!  I entered the park at opening, 8:00 a.m., and beat the tourist buses by a good half hour or more.  Then instead of starting this trail where the tourists do (sunrise point), I started my hike on the opposite end (sunset point). This gave me additional time to take pictures without a lot of tourists milling about. I did not run into the tourist bus visitors until the very end of the trail. Here are a few pics I took along the way:

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Believe it or not, this is just a small fraction of the pictures I took. I still can’t believe how many pictures of rocks you can take and still want to take more here. Mind-boggling.

All in all-a great place to visit!

Have you ever been to Paris

and Dingle in one day?  I now, can say I have!   Dingle’s welcome sign states that  it is “The Capitol of the World” while Paris boasts a population of 479!,

Ummm, what can I say about Dingle?  It is very small. There are a few red barns. Since pictures are worth a thousand words, it looks like this:

Paris in the summer, ahhhh.  As you can see by the signs, Paris is older than Dingle even though they are only across Bear Lake from each other.

Just as Paris, France has the Eiffel Tower, Paris, Idaho has the Paris Tabernacle:

                                                                                                                                            

The average visitor may not believe their eyes when they hear that all the wood is made out of pine in the tabernacle.

Apparently, the settlers who built this tabernacle thought pine looked cheap, so they hand painted all the wood to look like oak.

                             The reason the ceiling looks like it should be on a ship is that a shipbuilder made it!                                                                                                        

To get stone to build this building, people would wait for the lake to freeze over in the winter,  then cross the lake,  cut the rock and then bring cut stones all the way back across the lake.

Side note for my antique lovers out there: There is only one antique store in Paris. Everyone in town agrees that the store is overpriced but the owner makes really great pizza.  (It is amazing the things you find out from a tour guide, isn’t it?)