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posted: June 30th, 2016 |
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This page begins with May 19th in Medford, Oregon. Then, down in Row #3 we begin our trip north to Alaska on May 24th. This page goes through the end of May 25th and being at our friend's house in Kittitas, Washington. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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Note Well: The photos shown on this month's pages mark the beginning of Kazuya's and my life in the U.S.A. We flew from Tokyo to Medford, Oregon on May 18th, a friend picked us up at the airport and graciously permitted us to stay at their house as long as we needed to. A different friend took us out "car shopping" the next morning and by the end of the day we were the owner's of a 2015 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab, Automatic Transmission, 4 Wheel-Drive with less than 10,000 miles on it. On the 20th we got a canopy put on it so that we would have a place to sleep as we traveled up the Alaska Highway to our home in Fairbanks, Alaska. We managed to kill a few more days in Oregon with friends as we prepared for the trip north and then we headed north on May 24th. We finally arrived at our home in Fairbanks on June 4th.
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| May 19th and 21st |
Here are four photos of the rig which we bought (more details just above in the bluish box) and then a photo of Mt. Ashland (7,532 ft = 2,296 m) which was taken from the window of our friend's house. WOW! Note that it's May 21st, and that snow dropped last night.
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| May 22nd |
Now it's May 22nd and we are taking a walk from our friend's house in Phoenix, Oregon down to a "Farmer's Market" which ended up being just the name of a store. Oh well, they had some nice fruit and vegetables anyway.
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 May22nd_002 _PhoenixRC |
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| May 23rd and 24th (Day #1 Of Our Trip North) |
The first shot in this row was taken on May 23rd and shows Mt. Ashland from near a different friend's house, this one in Ashland, Oregon. The second and third shots were taken on May 24th, our first day on the road as we were leaving. They show a bee swarm in a bee tree. The third shot has an insertion to show the actual size.
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 May23rd_005 _AshlandRC |
 May24_3_Steve _House_Bee_SwarmRC |
 May24_1Sm_Steve _House_Bee_SwarmRC |
Okay, now we are truly "on the road". Here is my journal entry from this date. Leave Ashland at 9:30 AM. Stop by our friend's place in Phoenix because we forgot to return their house key. We then continued on north via I-5 and arrived in Roseburg at 12:23 PM. We got some foods and snacks and continued on to Toketee Falls, stopped there, hiked the trail and enjoyed the waterfall and flowers. We then drove through the USFS compound where I lived many years ago, out the back entrance and continued on to Diamond Lake Store and Resort. We got some beer and then went to the Thielsen View Campground, but it was not open yet, so we went to the main Diamond Lake Campground, set things up, cooked and ate and then walked around taking pictures. Then it began to rain and we got into the canopy, into our sleeping bags, drank our beer, did our writing and talked. The first shot here shows a Table Rock or whatever as we were driving north on I-5 north of Medford. The second shot shows a Dichelostemma congestum and the 3rd shot shows me beside the North Umpqua Highway (Oregon Highway 138) where we stopped to take some flower photos and also to eat our lunch. |
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Here is a bunch of Dichelostemma congestum flowers in first position. In second position is Kazuya beside the highway and in third position is Kazuya sitting on the tailgate of our rig eating lunch. You should notice that I messed up the dates on my photos and labeled them May25....
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The first shot in this row shows the huge water pipe at the Toketee Falls parking area. Notice the water leaking from it. Interestingly enough, it looked pretty much the same when I lived here back in 1971. The second shot shows a Clintonia uniflora flower and plant and the third shot shows a group of them.
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The first shot shows Rhododendron macrophyllum. The second and third shots show an amazingly blue Collinsia grandiflora (Giant Blue-Eyed Mary). The second image shows a portion of the third shot.
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The first and second images in this row show Trientalis borealis ssp. latifolia - the second image being a portion of the first photo. The third shot shows a scenic view from along the trail into the Toketee Falls overlook.
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Here are three shots which show Toketee Falls. The center shot is a two-shot panorama to show the amazing green of the moss that is beside the base of the waterfall.
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Here is a final shot of Collinsia grandiflora (Giant Blue-Eyed Mary) and then a shot taken from the window of the rig and finally you see a shot of Diamond Lake and Mt. Bailey. You should be aware that in the upcoming pages there will be many photos which were taken by Kazuya from our moving rig. I have not attempted to disguise any of these "taken from the rig" photos by cutting out the section of the photo which shows the hood of the rig or whatever.
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 May25_22_DiamondLakeRD _Collinsia_grandifloraRC |
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In first position in this row is a shot of Diamond Lake and Mt. Thielsen (9,182 ft = 2,799 m). The second and third images show Viola glabella (Smooth Yellow Violet) - at Diamond Lake. The second image is a portion of the third photo.
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Here is another shot of Mt. Thielsen and Diamond Lake in first position. In second position is another shot of Viola glabella (Smooth Yellow Violet) and in third position is another violet - Viola orbiculata (Roundleaf Violet).
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 May25_43_DiamondLake RD_MtThielsenRC |
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Here is another shot of Viola orbiculata (Roundleaf Violet) and then two shots of Anemone oregana
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 May25_48_DiamondLakeRD _Anemone_oreganaRC |
In this row there are two shots of Trillium ovatum and then a shot of me as I was walking back to the rig after finishing up our little photographic jaunt here.
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 May24th _132RC |
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Here is a final shot of Viola orbiculata and that is followed by a photo of "Angry Orchard" Hard Cider. We drank a bottle of Hard Cider each for our entire trip north instead of beer. This photo also shows "Umpqua Dairy" Chocolate Milk. Kazuya had never seen Chocolate Milk before so he bought it to see what it is - he said "very sweet" as he drank it. The third shot shows me preparing things for supper in the Diamond Lake Campground.
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 May25_53_DiamondLakeRD _Viola_orbiculataRC |
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After we ate supper and got things put away we walked around the campground shooting photographs. Here are two shots of Mt. Bailey (8,363 ft. = 2,549 m). By the way, when I lived at Toketee Ranger Station I climbed twice and I also climbed Mt. Thielsen twice. The third shot in this row shows a final shot of Anemone oregana (Oregon Anemone). This one is in much better condition than the two shots you saw up in Row 13. And that brings us to the end of "Day #1 Of Our Trip North". We traveled only 209 miles (336.4 km) today, but we got started anyway! We're in no big rush. We want to enjoy our trip.
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| End May 24th Begin May 25th (Day #2 Of Our Trip North) |
On the second day of out trip north we traveled from Diamond Lake Campground, Oregon to Kittitas, Oregon, where we stayed with our friends Tony and Nancy for a couple of days. First of all, please note that the dates on my photos are not correct, it was May 25th and not May 26th. Here is my journal entry from this date.Up at 0530 with Kazuya. Start out with coffee and breakfast and then leave Diamond Lake Campground at 6:55 AM. Head for Highway 97 and follow it north, stopping fairly frequently to take photos – it was a great adventure all day long, especially crossing the Crooked River Gorge and then later on, the Columbia River, through the lands of the Yakima Nation, and then we finally arrive at Tony and Nancy’s place at about 4:00 PM. Get parked and go into the house and Tony give us a tour of the entire place. Then we went shopping for a few things, returned home, ate supper, showered and shaved. I gave Tony his care package from Steve and we talked until about 10:15 PM. Now it’s 11:02 PM and we’ll be sleeping very soon. The first two shots in this row show that at the Cascade Mountains Summit in Oregon there was still a pretty good amount of snow remaining. The 3rd shot is another species of violet - Viola purpurea (Goosefoot Violet) - which we found on the east side of the Casacde Mountains along Highway 97 in Oregon. |
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Here are two more shots of that Viola purpurea (Goosefoot Violet) and then a species of Lupine Lupinus sp.
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Here is a really nice Lupinus sp. shot in first position, then a shot of an interesting mountain. The third shot was taken at the Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint from the highway bridge. It shows the bridge we are on and then the old highway bridge and the third bridge is the railroad bridge over the Crooked River.
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We're still walking around at the Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint. The first shot in this row shows the present Highway Bridge. The second shot shows the old abandoned Highway Bridge, which is now open only to foot/bicycle traffic. The second shot is a two-shot panorama (one above the other). The third shot shows a large number of turkey buzzards circling (why?).
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We're still in the Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint and walking along the Crooked River. The first shot is another of the abandoned highway bridge. The second shot is the railroad bridge and also shows distant mountains. The third shot is a portion of a photo to show a Turkey Buzzard or Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura).
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Here are the final three shots taken in the Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint.
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Now we're driving north along Highway 97 again. The first photo is a scenic shot, the second shot is another Lupinus sp. shot and the third shot was taken as we got closer to the Columbia River Gorge and was our first view of the incredible number of windmills which are in this area.
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The first shot here shows that the windmills are getting closer. The second shot is of the Columbia River as we cross it on Highway 97. The third shot is, quite obviously, windmills.
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The first shot shows Kazuya at a rest area. The second shot shows the Stuart Mountains (I think) and the third shot shows more windmills.
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All three shots in this row show the Stuart Mountains (I think) and the third shot is actually Mt. Stuart (I think), in Washington. And that brings us to the end of "Day #2 Of Our Trip North". We traveled 358 miles (576 km) today and our rig now has a bit more than 10,000 miles on the odometer!
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 May26_34_ StewartMountainsRC |
 May26_35_ StewartMountainsRC |
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| End May 25th, End Page 1 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this amazing road trip from Ashland, Oregon to Fairbanks, Alaska. |
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