April 1st, we left Mt Shasta under blue sky, planning to camp two nights near Eugene, OR. Along the way, I read about "The Blast" in Roseburg in 1959. (Smart phones are useful in finding out about places we passed or visited.)
In the early morning hours of August 7, 1959 a fire at Gerretsen Building Supply Company ignited a truck parked on the adjacent street. The truck was carrying a two ton load of dynamite and four and one-half tons of ammonium nitrate. The subsequent blast leveled eight city blocks. The explosion created a crater fifty-two feet in diameter and twelve feet deep.
Three hundred businesses within a thirty block radius were damaged by the blast. Of those, seventy-two were declared structurally unsafe resulting in major repairs and renovation. Twelve buildings beyond the eight block perimeter were condemned. The face of Roseburg changed forever in an instant. The explosion eventually became commonly know as "The Blast."
We stopped at the park near the 7 Feathers Casino for our lunch. There is an RV resort here that had been recommended to us by other travelers. We continued on to Deerwood RV camp outside Eugene and will try 7 Feathers another time. Deerwood is a small, well kept park though close to freeway noise. We had stopped overnight in Eugene many years ago on a Lawman 1000 motorcycle trip but had no time to explore so we booked 2 nights. Saturday was the opening day of the Saturday Market downtown. After breakfast at Brail's, we found parking and wandered around the outdoor market. The day was pleasantly sunny and warm. Market vendors were selling fruit, veggies, crafts, clothing and art. There was a hippy presence of beads, pipes, tye dye and wiffs of marijuana. Great people watching outside on the sidewalk of Starbucks! I managed to get Sonny to one more park for a walk at a place called "Dorris Ranch" Dorris Ranch is a national historic site, a working farm and a public park complete with walking trails and natural areas. We followed a 2 mile trail through hazel nut groves to the river and back.
Sunday morning, we got underway at 8:30 AM for the last 273 miles of the trip back to Port Orchard. We had had wonderful experiences over the last two months but it would be good to get home. Our neighbor looked after the house plants and checked the grounds regularly. There had been a couple of serious wind storms and the power had been out for long periods but there wasn't any damage in our yard. We were happy to have a sauna as it had been 2 months since the last one! The hot spring spa in Desert Hot Springs under the stars was nice but our own sauna is refreshing, too. On Monday, we went directly to "Kelley's" for their famous bacon before going to the post office. It took us 4 hours to sort and read the two full shopping bags of mail. The yard is beginning to blossom, even the fruit trees that we harshly pruned in January. The warm days and nights in the desert were enjoyable making us look forward to summer here in the northwest.
The details:
Sonny drove 5844 miles. Diesel gas prices ranged from $1.57 to $2.59. Gas: $826; Grocery expenses: $1085; Eating out: $772; Misc expense: $660; Camping fees: $1612; Other Fees: $270; Cash: $740
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| Tacoma I-5 traffic was the only city in gridlock. |
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| Some kind of home made mud unit. |
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| Crossing the Columbia River at Portland .... |
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| ........and into our driveway in Port Orchard. |
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