Someday soon I just know (in the deep recesses of my heart) that the sun will come back. When that day happens, I plan to get out and enjoy it. Sometimes that means I putter around the garden, or sit in my favorite chair in the backyard (a resin adirondack chair spray-painted purple. I know you're jealous...). There are days, however, when I also just need to "get the heck out of Dodge," as I'm fond of saying. Fortunately I have ready resources at my fingertips at Grass Roots to help me get things moving.
Close to home, Marys Peak is one of my favorite places to visit. It's like being on a mountain without actually climbing a mountain. I just climbed a really big hill. The views are great, the wildflowers are lovely, and it's so close! Sky Island Graphics puts out an excellent map on Marys Peak and McDonald Forest. It clearly labels trails and forest roads, and notes points of interest. As long as you're going to the top of Mary's Peak, you should pack along a copy of
Wildflowers of Marys Peak Meadows, a small, spiral-bound guide produced by Steven E. Carpenter. It has fantastic photos and useful information about the flowers found in our own backyard.
For a different kind of adventure, I'll check out
Moon Spotlight: Eugene, Salem & the Willamette Valley. It hits the highlights in the towns nearest to us. There are times when a trip to Eugene sounds downright cosmopolitan, and this book handily lists restaurants, attractions, and hiking destinations close to home.
If I'm truly longing for a trip to "the big city," Portland is pretty darn close at hand.
Best Places Portland is a fantastic book highlighting the best of the City of Roses. It points out restaurants, lodgings, attractions, cultural landmarks, shopping, and suggestions for short trips out of town, and then it rates them. It is a fantastic resource.
Someday I just know my family will come to visit me and join me on some of these adventures. To inspire them, I may send them my favorite Oregon photography book,
Oregon: Portrait of a State by Rick Schaefer. The photos are fantastic, and it's remarkably affordable for a hardcover, coffee-table book.
All these options, I don't know what to do first. I'll think about it as I gaze longingly out the window at the rainy days... See you at the bookstore, friends!
Pamela.
Close to home, Marys Peak is one of my favorite places to visit. It's like being on a mountain without actually climbing a mountain. I just climbed a really big hill. The views are great, the wildflowers are lovely, and it's so close! Sky Island Graphics puts out an excellent map on Marys Peak and McDonald Forest. It clearly labels trails and forest roads, and notes points of interest. As long as you're going to the top of Mary's Peak, you should pack along a copy of Wildflowers of Marys Peak Meadows, a small, spiral-bound guide produced by Steven E. Carpenter. It has fantastic photos and useful information about the flowers found in our own backyard.
Someday I just know my family will come to visit me and join me on some of these adventures. To inspire them, I may send them my favorite Oregon photography book, Oregon: Portrait of a State by Rick Schaefer. The photos are fantastic, and it's remarkably affordable for a hardcover, coffee-table book.
All right. Those Mary's Peak books; I'll be in.
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