Continuing on the Lewis and Clark trail, we set our sights on Oregon. When we pass through an area that I think has a beautiful landscape, I write about it in the blog so you can look it up in your spare time if you want. And we've been lucky to see some beauties on this trip.   But, forget what you've read so far. This time I'm serious. Driving up through the southern part of Oregon through the Siskiyou Mountains had the most breathtaking topography I have EVER seen.  And you're going to say "Come on Eileen" we've heard this before. And I'm going to respond "I hate that song"...but I'm really serious this time.   

Just over the California border into Oregon is an expansive mountain range that left us pointing in every direction saying "wow...look at that".  The all but empty red-clay Shasta River masks an entire side of the mountain for miles. Up above was a lush green mountain range with colors neither of us had never seen before. Apparently, because of the high elevation, it rains and snows a lot which keeps everything bright and healthy year-round. We had to drive through the Siskiyou Summit, which is the most dangerous pass on Highway 5, an interstate going all the way through Oregon.  And I can't tell you how happy I was Lisa was driving. I don't intentionally put her behind the wheel on the difficult routes but when it happens, know that I am nothing short of encouraging and supportive...much like the coxswain on a rowing team. We no sooner passed all the greenery when everything turned dark and we drove right into a wild snow storm on the mountain top. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was a white knuckle drive for several miles as she slowly maneuvered around semi trucks on the dirty, unplowed gravely mountain road. I'm also not exaggerating when I tell you she's paying to get my car washed. It was absolutely filthy when she finally decided to get us off that God-forsaken mountain.  I can't stand a dirty car. 

Talent, Oregon,  1/2 way between San Fran and Portland, is where we were staying for the night. A friend of ours has an aunt there she wanted us to meet. She lives in the foothills and we found out the hard way you don't want to go up those lumber roads in the dark. The roads are not clearly marked and obviously there are no streetlights. Trixie was completely unglued and nearly walked out on us (trust me, she wouldn't get far...I hid the owner's manual). It got to a point it was just easier to shut her off.  Sometimes that Brit gets on my very last nerve. 

Lovely Aunt Jody Woodruff had home-made soup,  salad and a fire ready for us. The next day she grabbed her walking stick and took us on a tour all along the winding streets pointing out indigenous trees, teaching us about the climate and telling us why she likes it so much in Talent. 28 years ago she went on an excellent adventure with her late husband, ended up here and never looked back. And, she takes full advantage of what Oregon has to offer...from snow-shoeing, cross country skiing, hiking, kayaking, writing for the local newspaper and then down to the nearby town of Ashland for live music.  Oh, and by the way she's 78! She admitted she has a lot of girlfriends but it gets a little lonely at times and she'd like to meet a companion (great...more competition). She told us her neighbors run a Sufi retreat (which is a liberal breakout of the Muslim religion) and although she said there's potential to meet men, she doesn't want to join the movement. She also tried the local Buddhist temple but said it was full of women probably looking for men, too. We talked about on-line dating and she agreed to a quick photo shoot. So we snapped a few shots and will check our mailboxes in the next few months for her wedding invitation.  I'm sure we'll get to do the readings.