Sabbath Sites: Spring

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Now that it is March, I suppose it’s safe to post the flowery shots we’ve been getting in the past few weeks…  Spring is most definitely on the horizon here in the Roseburg area:

Looking forward to the adventures the warmer weather brings!

Sabbath Sites: Mouse Droppings

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Useless cat.

You’re welcome for not posting the pic of the droppings.

Field mouse inhabitants, lots of washing and drying of lots of pots and pans. 

I’m tired.  The end.

Sabbath Sites: Brosi Sugar Tree Farms

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Seeing as it’s that pumpkin time of year, we had to fit in a trip to a pumpkin patch.

Original, aren’t we?

Thankfully there are several “local” (as in within 45 minutes’ drive or so) ones.  Since the local homeschool group was organizing a trip to Brosi’s Sugartree Farms, that’s where we went on a sunny October afternoon…

Brosi’s is in Winston, not far from where I work.  With both U-Pick and Already-Picked produce available throughout the summer, it’s one of those places I want to visit more frequently than I do.

We started the field trip in their store, filled with local produce of various kinds…

…and a strange-lookin’ pony garnering a drink, as well…

…and a dog that caught a bat?

Then we headed out to their corn maze to get eaten by a giant spider.

We saw lots of corn.

I also saw a scary monster in the corn.  Thankfully Esmé wasn’t around at that moment or she would’ve been scared to death.

And Esmé adopted a creepy thing that she nursed for way too long.

Fortunately we eventually made it out of the maze alive.  Here is proof.

Then we decided to trust this tractor…

…to give us a ride…

…to the pumpkin patch, where they amazingly had PUMPKINS!  It never fails, year after year after year!

Esmé found her flower right away…

…but took a lot longer to find her pumpkin, so I entertained myself taking pictures of droopy old sunflower ladies.

I also looked under every leaf for ready-to-eat pies, but alas, found none.  Esmé finally found her perfect itty bitty pumpkin, which won’t make enough of a pie to be of any use to us, so it is safe at our house.

We finally traversed back via wagon to the store, and I entertained myself a bit taking photos of Brosi blooms before heading back home…

…marking the completion of our annual pilgrimage.

Sabbath Sites: Stewart Park

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OK, so smack in the middle of Roseburg, this one isn’t so exciting for Roseburg residents.  But it IS the most popular park in Roseburg, so there must be a reason, no?  Esmé loves it…

Here’s the official blurb:

Stewart Park is located on the west side of the city, surrounded by Garden Valley Blvd., Stewart Parkway, and Stewart Park Drive. Stewart Park is a 236-acre regional park. The park is home to the Stewart Park Golf Course, Umpqua Valley Tennis, and Roseburg
American Legion Baseball, Music on the Halfshell, and Movies in the Park. In addition to the amenities listed there is also a concrete skate park, butterfly garden and antique steam locomotive.

So, lots to do for any age range – and a nice 2+mile walking path that goes through.

We were there for a birthday party a few weeks ago, so here are a few birthday party photos under the main pavilion.  Tea time!

A quick photo op in the butterfly area garden around the play area…

The playground keeps the kiddos occupied for hours – lots of fun things to discover…

And a word to the wise – that playground equipment gets HOT in summer sun!  Fortunately, the South Umpqua is a quick hop, skip, and jump (or roll) down the hill, with a nice little wading area for the adventurous.

Sabbath Sites: Lone Pine Campground

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Wow!  Where did September go?!

A few weeks back, when it still felt like summer, we had a church campout at Lone Pine Group Campground, about seven miles from home, across the road from Millpond Recreation Site on Rock Creek.

A central fire ring for group meetings, a 50-person pavilion for meals, a ball-field area…This is a lusciously green spot, with a lot more than one pine to admire.

I had every intention of walking around to get decent photos for this post, but Esmé decided to get stung by yellow jackets, which put a crimp in the photography session plans.  She managed to enjoy herself eventually, nonetheless.

Fortunately I couldn’t photograph the outhouse smell wafting through the pavilion area.  Wind was blowing the wrong direction at times, it seems. 

Did I mention lusciously green?  This type of scenery was everywhere you looked...

…with lots of rotting logs to dig into, plenty of grubs to eat observe.

There was a sweetly-paved loop through the camp, allowing parents to sit comfortably at their campsites while observing the kiddos go around, and around…

…and around.  Only one major bike crash that I’m aware of.

The camp is pet-friendly, allowing for goat-walking opportunities.

There is a 1-mile wheelchair-accessible Sawmill Trail, and Millpond across the way has a playground and accesses a swimming hole in Rock Creek.  (And Millpond has flushable toilets.)

Overall, a beautiful out-of-the-beaten-path camping spot that would be perfect with a couple of showers…

Sabbath Sites: Elkton & Fort Umpqua Days

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(Excessive photo alert…)

Elkton – a town famous for…

…uh, being halfway to the coast from Roseburg?

With a population of 200, we’ve driven through it numerous times, but haven’t seen much reason to stop unless we needed an emergency potty break…

But they host a Fort Umpqua Days event each Labor Day weekend that inspired Esmé and I to check it out last Sunday. 

The event is held at the Elkton Community Education Center, home of the beautiful Butterfly Pavilion and kid-friendly Fort Umpqua.

We started out in the butterfly flight room, abuzz with flight.  I really tried to narrow down my butterfly pictures to just one, but I couldn’t!

Using our new-found monarch expertise, we can now tell you that this butterfly is a male…

Most of the butterflies were monarchs (which Esmé insists she’s never seen before), but we did recognize a few of our little Painted Ladies (the species we had in our terrarium last spring to watch the metamorphosis cycle).

The Flight Room contained all the life cycle at once!

I told Esmé she wasn’t allowed to touch, except for rescues (there were a few caterpillars getting squished on the pathway where people were walking), so she spent a lot of time looking for crawlies to rescue.

She found a couple of butterflies to rescue, too…

After a short break…

…we ventured out into the gorgeous butterfly garden.  Butterfly-friendly plants, interesting metal sculptures, this was the venue for a butterfly release later in the day. 

A trip to the gift shop netted a finger puppet butterfly who needed to visit the garden as well…

But it’s not all butterflies!  We’ve got to head to Fort Umpqua as well!

This is a replication of the southernmost outpost of the Hudson’s Bay Company and their second-most prominent fur collecting point in Oregon.

As fur trade declined, it became an agricultural center, with resources such as fruit trees and cattle.  Fort Umpqua was destroyed by fire in 1851, and in 1862, all evidence of the fort was washed out with a flood.  This replica stands about a mile downstream from the original fort.

First stop:  the trading post, with furs to feel:

And displays like this one of brick tea and more:

Then Esmé signed up for a stint with the Hudson Bay Company…

…with a quill pen, no less, something she’s long dreamed of writing with:

First assignment:  pumping water…

…to water the garden.

Next, some laundry to be washed:

She comments, “This is so much fun!  I can’t wait to see what’s next!”  And I wonder why she doesn’t get the same joy from work at home…  She does a stint in the kitchen, sorting beans and grinding corn:

And a reward for all the hard labor: an arrowhead!  Which Esmé absolutely treasures: “The first thing I’ve ever really earned!”  I maybe need to stock up on some arrowheads?

We took a quick walk down to the beautiful Umpqua River.  Not too comfortable down there (no shade and lots of sun), so we walked back up the bank and took a break where we could hear the river flow by and see glimpses of it through the trees.

No pictures, but the Outpost Café near the Butterfly Pavilion was the perfect place for us to cool down, with blended coffees, smoothies and soft ice cream options.

Last stop for us (though there was more to explore if we’d had more time):  a community-flavored historical pageant based on songs from Annie, Get Your Gun.  Not exactly a Broadway production, but  we got front row seats!  And the snafus, such as folks forgetting lines, contributed to the comedy of the concept that Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show would stop at a tiny place like Elkton.  The true test – it kept a 6yo’s attention…

When Esmé realized we were heading to the car afterward, she expressed “great displeasure.” 

“I wish when you picked a place to live, you picked a spot right here.  Close enough so I could walk here whenever I wanted!”

I don’t think a place can get much higher praise than that!  Well done, Elkton…