My Love Affair With Oregon..

The Central Oregon Coast

I live in Oregon!  I haven't always lived here.  I was born in the high desert country of southern Utah.  I was raised on the southern coast of California.  I married and lived in California, Arizona, Utah, Illinois and back to California.  After the passing of my first husband, I re-married and moved to New Mexico.  From there, I moved back to southern Utah then onward to Oregon in 1998.

When I first moved to Oregon, I was prepared for nothing but rain.  But Oregon is more than that.  Yes, it rains nearly 8 months out of the year, but we do have winter and we do have summer.  It is the rain that gives Oregon its lush green color year round.  And it is the rain that creates such amazing hiking adventures for Oregonians.

Dean and I love to explore (when we have some free time to do that) and we have discovered only a handful of the amazing beauty that this country has in store for us.  I am going to share some of those hiking adventures here,

Though "hiking" isn't what you think of when you visit the seashore, its miles long beaches do offer some of the most spectacular views of God's amazing creation--the ocean shores of the Pacific.  These are my favorite walks and uplifting to the soul.  There is a song I heard once that says, "When you stand beside the ocean"...you feel so small!  And it is true.  I stand at the edge of the sea and view eternity.

Just twenty minutes east of Lincoln City, there is a beautiful hiking trail.  It is called Drift Creek Falls.  It is a favorite hike for the Mickelson's.  It is just my kind of a hike.  Not too strenuous and not too long.  We like to pack a lunch, enjoy the scenery and then take our refreshments in the beauty under the falls and next to Drift Creek.

Just south of Lincoln Beach, there is a WorldMark Resort--The Resort at Gleneden Beach.  Since we are members, we like to "get away" for a weekend and walk the grounds and feel pampered.  Walking among the beauty of a landscape is another of my favorite things to do.

Another peaceful place to enjoy a leisurely walk in beauty, is the Connie Hanson Gardon in Lincoln City.  I love to stroll the lanes and discover the beauty of the landscape.  We took Dean's Dad here for a walk recently and he loved it.

While we are on the subject of gardens, Oregon has some amazingly beautiful ones.  There are the Rose Gardens in Portland, the Tulip Fields in the Valley, and this year we visited the Dahlia fields near Canby, Oregon.  Though none of these walks through the gardens would be considered a hike, I do like to get my exercise "strolliing" through beauty.

Let's leave the coastal and valley regions for a bit and check out the beauty of the mountains.  Oregon has several beautiful ski areas in Central Oregon.  Dean, Billy and Ingrid spent time on the slopes of Mt. Bachelor, while I enjoyed the peace of the condo below.

Just for fun, I am going to throw in some photos at random and put a title on each one.

Fogarty Creek on Oregon Coast

Hebo Lake, Oregon Coast

Enjoying the walk at Hebo Lake

Dean stopped by L.C. Kite Festival

Kite Festival

Cannon Beach Sand Castle Festival

Sand Castle Festival

Watching a Wind Surfer at L.C. Beavh

A Fall hike to Fall Falls, southern Oregon

I didn't realize there were so many beautiful things to see in Oregon when I moved here.  Every season has its beauty and every season offers a new adventure for us.  I'm getting a little old for the strenuous hikes of yesteryear, but wherever we can find beauty, I am usually game.

One last hike I wanted to share is the one we most recently discovered.,  Right in the middle of Lincoln City, not a mile from our Church, there is a wooded area that we hiked through.  It is mysterious there with tall pines and mossy trees.  The path is covered with the roots of the trees and I gave it the loving name of "Root Canal!"  We shared a picnic lunch there yesterday and some quality family time together.

I'm sure there will be future hikes, walks and strolls for the Mickelson's.  I am glad that God has given me such beauty to enjoy on my journey.