(Click here to go to this blog’s home page. Also, next week I’ll post more from Mr. Spaulding.)
During my teacher-librarian years, I frequently involved students in author studies so they would get enthused about reading more of various authors’ books. The ultimate intent of these author studies was for students’ reading to snowball over the courses of their lives.
With younger students, immediately before I’d begin sharing a book by the author currently studied, I’d start out with, “Now…if you’ve already read or heard this story….” The students would then, in unison, chime in, “JUST enJOY it aGAIN!”
The reason for this was two-fold. It allowed the students to be enthused even if they already knew the story. It also allowed me to get through the story without a student interrupting with unrelated, but often juicy, stories. Like the little boy informing the class that he learned about his cat’s umbilical cord when the boy’s brother and girlfriend were alone on the couch!
What does this have to do with Oregon?
Our Oregon trip route, including side trips indicated in hot pink. The numbers in bold black indicate our overnight locations. Click once and then again to enlarge photo.
In July Bill and I vacationed in Oregon. This was the first time since Abby and Katie were little (the early ’80s) that Bill and I vacationed out of state without family or friends.
On Friday, July 17th, we departed Des Moines on a round-trip flight to Portland, Oregon. After driving a loop of approximately 1,200 miles south through central Oregon, dipping into California, and driving up most of Oregon’s coast, we returned to Des Moines on Saturday, July 25th.
With posts of other topics interspersed, I’ll include posts telling about our trip, which was a relaxing blast. I realize you might have already “been there — done that.” If you have, I hope you’ll, “Just enjoy it again!” The difference here is, if you have information about Oregon you’d like to share, I hope you’ll do so.
As far as our accommodations, I think Bill and I liked everywhere we stayed, and would recommend those places. The atmosphere, proximity and value of everywhere we stayed pretty much fit us to a T. In an effort to save money, I thought we should try staying in a yurt. In hindsight, although I think it would have been a lot of fun, I’m glad we didn’t. Given more time and if we had bedding and camping equipment, I’d be game to try a yurt. I’d also like to go fishing.
In the next post I’ll begin with specifics about the trip.
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Tags: Oregon
Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter) 
August 8, 2009 at 12:30 pm |
Thanks for providing the map with your route marked. You went through Florence and Lincoln City, so you probably saw plenty of sand dunes, sea lions and the Spanish Head hotel. Camels? I look forward to reading more about your trip.
August 8, 2009 at 7:43 pm |
Well, I enJOYed reading this the *first* time! 🙂 I had not realized it had been since the ’80s that you and Bill had traveled out of the state without friends or family. Nice! I love how you described it: “a relaxing blast.” I imagine you hoped it would be both, and both at once can be hard to pull off . . . sometimes even one. So I’m happy with you! 1,200 miles–wow. And I heard the word first here: yurt. (I haven’t followed the link yet, as I’m on a computer with really slow service. I’m also getting an “x” instead of your picture. Must be on this end, as Clara got it just fine.)
August 15, 2009 at 5:54 pm |
Clara: Yes, we did see plenty of sand dunes for quite a stretch along the coast. We don’t recall that we saw any sea lions in their natural habitat or camels. However, between Gold Beach and Newport we didn’t stop a lot. I think I saw a sign for the Spanish Head hotel, which is where you stayed, right? Oregon has so much to offer that I can see us going back and perhaps staying at Spanish Head.
Peggy: I’m glad you enJOYed reading! If Bill and I go to Oregon again and I think I can afford to risk trying to sleep in a yurt, maybe we would try it. But, we’d need to figure out how to have a least bedding (and maybe camping supplies) with us. I think it sounds like so much fun (um…if there are some comforts of home close by!).