I made another trip up to Portland, and on my way back on Wednesday I stopped off at the rest stop south of Wilsonville to take pictures of the Grove of the States. I blogged about this place last month.
The trail through the grove is beautifully maintained.
Here’s some of the more exotic trees in the grove:
Here’s the bald cypress I have on my deck:
Our climate is so mild here, we can grow all these trees. Extremes of hot and cold are rare in the Willamette Valley.
Filed under: Uncategorized on August 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »
The Friendly Street neighborhood, is named after Sam Friendly, a 19th-century Mayor of Eugene. It’s a popular neighborhood with home buyers, convenient to local businesses, parks, and downtown. They have a very active neighborhood association and a very informative web site.
The Friendly Street neighborhood is bounded by Amazon Parkway (East), Chambers (West), 18th (North), and 28th & 29th (South), and includes College Hill, that I blogged about last March.
I was all over this neighborhood last Saturday with my family. My son Aysh and his fiancee Allie are visiting us from New Mexico, and my mother-in-law is here from Joshua Tree California.
We all went to the Friendly Area Neighborhood garage sale event on Saturday. What a wonderfully organized event that was! There was a map, available in local stores, with a 4 page list attached. A huge number of neighbors participated. We only got to a small fraction of them before the trunk was full!
Aysh and Allie were especially anxious to hit the garage sales. They tell me that garage sales in New Mexico aren’t that great.
I love looking at the homes here. There are many vintage homes built in the 1920s on the hill and homes built in the 1940s and 1950s on the flat. It was great fun talking to all the friendly neighbors.
Filed under: Friendly Street Neighborhood, Neighborhoods on July 29th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Portland is a handy two hour drive from Eugene. Tom and I and our daughter Loreen and granddaughter Beatrix took a trip to Portland to visit relatives. On our way home yesterday we stopped off at the southbound Baldock Rest Area just past Wilsonville. Beatrix (age 16 months) really needed a break. It was a great stop.
We explored The Grove of the States. There is a tree from every State plus Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands. Because the trees are so big, we thought it must have been planted in the 1940’s. It turns out, it was planted in 1967 to commemorate the meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General.
We threw a ball around between us to Beatrix’s great delight. She has recently figured out how to throw and bounce a ball. After a half hour we were back on the road feeling great.
Filed under: Outdoor Activities on July 27th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
A tree caught fire a few booths down from mine, behind the info booth across from the library. The fire went up the trunk and was very impressive. My first instinct was to get the heck out of there, so I made sure every got out of my booth and ran.
Within a minute the people around the area had the fire beaten down, and all that was required was for the fire crew to put out the hot spots. As soon as I saw that it was mostly contained (no flames) I went back and took these pictures.
This is looking away from the fire toward the sun, showing the smoke. Taken from my loft.
The tree on fire is the one on the right that splits into three trunks.
Here’s the tree that burned. You can see it still smoking near the top of the right hand trunk.
Some of the Oregon Country Fair crew on the scene. My husband Tom is the one with the long beard with his back to you.
Here’s another shot of the Oregon Country Fair Fire Crew on the scene.
The fire crew cut the tree down and hauled it away.
Filed under: Outdoor Activities on July 13th, 2008 | No Comments »
I’m at the Oregon Country Fair this weekend! I sell silkscreened greetig cards that I make that are scenes of Oregon. My booth (#398) is at the top of the eight on Abby Rode, next door to Cafe Layfayette Cajun Restaurant. I have four crafts in my booth: Utilikilts, my daughter’s masks, jewelry and my cards.
My 15 1/2 month old granddaughter, Beatrix, is camping with us as well as Utilikilts 14 month old baby girl, Yosha. What fun!
Filed under: Outdoor Activities on July 12th, 2008 | No Comments »
This afternoon I volunteered at the Windermere tent in the free-to-the-public pavilion. We have a great display of children’s art work. Windermere ran a contest in the local schools, with 4 first prizes in different grade levels. First prize was 4 sky box tickets each!
We were also giving out autograph books. I got one autograph when Dedy Cooper (110 meter hurdler) stopped by, and he hung around for awhile to give autographs.
We have some people scheduled to be in our tent for autographs. They are:
Thursday, July 3 4-7 p.m.
Kenny Moore, author
“Bowerman and the Men of Oregon”
Saturday, July 5 10 a.m. - noon
Geoff Hillister, author
“Out of Nowhere: The Inside Story of How Nike Marketed the Culture of Running”
Mac Wilkins, Discus Thrower
Sunday, July 6 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Geoff Hillister, author
“Out of Nowhere: The Inside Story of How Nike Marketed the Culture of Running”
Tinker Hatfield
Nike shoe designer and former U of O pole vaulter
Filed under: 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials, Outdoor Activities on June 28th, 2008 | No Comments »
Saturday was my birthday, and it was wonderful! Tom and I went hiking on Mt. Pisgah with my daughter Loreen, her husband Damon and my 14 month old granddaughter Beatrix. The weather was cloudy, but pleasant.
I recommend you do this on a cloudy day. Some of the hike goes through beautiful shady woods, but much of it is through hot sunny fields. The views of oak savannas and beyond to the city are magnificent! Mt. Pisgah is 209 acres with well maintained paths. The summit is at 1,531 feet, 471 feet above the valley floor.
Wildlife abounds. We saw deer and a lizard on this hike.
We took a small trail off the main trail. It stopped after a while and we had to backtrack, but it sure was beautiful. Wow, the ferns!
The summit has a panoramic view of the Willamette Valley. You can see Eugene to the northwest, Springfield to the north, Creswell and Cottage Grove to the south.
There is a bronze relief sculpture at the summit that is a memorial for Ken Kesey’s son Jed and Lorenzo West. Jed and Lorenzo were killed on the way to a wrestling match when the van they were in encountered white-out conditions and plunged over a 300 foot cliff.
While we rested at the top, we saw parachutes coming down near the strawberry fields on Seavey Loop. The U-picks there will be another blog when the strawberries are ripe!
We saw lots more wildflowers on the way down.
Filed under: Mount Pisgah, Outdoor Activities on June 12th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Yesterday was the first day of June, and I had a wonderful hike with my husband Tom, my granddaughter Beatrix and her parents: my daughter Loreen and her husband Damon.
We started at edge of town on the corner of West Amazon Drive and Martin Street.
This trail leads up to the Ridgeline Trail.
Tom is carrying a sleeping Beatrix, age 14 months.
It’s June and wildflowers are everywhere!
This is the headwaters of Amazon Creek. It flows through town and finally into Fernridge Lake, west of Eugene.
We’re on the Ridgeline Trail now, and Beatrix is awake and singing!
Wild roses
Salmonberry flowers.
The berries are great eating.
The paths are well maintained and with good bridges.
Lots of ferns.
Watch out for poison oak! Look for the 3 leaf structure, smooth not fuzzy, sometimes shiny. It’s green now, but turns beautiful red colors in the fall. Wear clothing that covers your legs.
Filed under: Hikes, Outdoor Activities, Uncategorized on June 2nd, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I just did a study of solds, month to month, for the past year for condos in all of Eugene and Springfield. Â This was not filtered at all, it’s all condominium sales here in RMLS. Â It shows prices are about the same as last year:
Averages:
Month    List$/Sq.Ft. | Sold$/Sq.Ft. | # of Sales | Days On Market
2007
June          $184              $182                14                  129
July           $170              $165                22                   91
August      $187              $185                32                   61
September $194Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $192Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 24Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 65
October    $199              $198                26                   41
November $192             $189                19                    93
December $195              $192                21                   116
2008
January     $176             $171                10                    90
February   $222            $207                6                    178
March       $206            $193               14                    135
April          $148            $141               10                     76
May           $203           $190                8                     65 (to 5/23)
Year          $188            $184             208                    86
An individual month can look very different if there are few sales and one sold price is very high or low.
For instance, in February 2008 there were only 6 sales, and one of them sold for $220,000 with a Sold$/Sq.Ft.
of $225.
Filed under: Statistics on May 26th, 2008 | No Comments »
In southeast Eugene, on the hill above Spencer Butte Middle School and Edgewood Elementary, there is a beautiful woods. Edgewood City Park is on 2.2 acres. Homes on Pinecrest Drive, Fox Hollow Road, and the dead end of Hilyard Street border the park on the north and east side. School property borders it on the west and south sides.
It’s a peaceful area to stroll, walk your dog, and enjoy the woods and wildflowers. To get there, go south on West Amazon to Fox Hollow, turn right on 43rd Street, then left on Hilyard. Three blocks up is the dead end of Hilyard and entrance to the park.
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Filed under: Edgewood Park on May 8th, 2008 | No Comments »