Cape Lookout

Portland provides wonderful access to both mountains and seaside. I decided to spend a day on the beach to get away from hot weather in Portland. Nobody told me that the Oregon coast can be COLD in June!

I did take a nice hike on along Cape Lookout - lots of beautiful trees with views of the ocean below - but no lighthouse at the end of the trail.

Tall trees, narrow trail and fog!

Glimpses of the shoreline underneath the fog

Sunset on Nye Beach

Morels

Most mushroom hunting happens during the fall when the warm earth and late summer rains bring out tremendous varieties of mushrooms. However, there is one delicious type of mushroom that only fruits in the spring -- morels.

They are notoriously difficult to spot and are quite finicky. Some years Oregon boasts bumper crops of morels. But not this year. The winter and spring have been unusually dry, so spring mushrooms have been few and far between.  Furthermore, morels grow slowly, so if they have all been collected from an area, they might not return during this growing season.

However, morels like forest fires. And that's where we found them this weekend - at the base of partially burned conifer trees from last year's fire season.

After some intense searching, and with the aid of local experts, we did come up with enough for a tasty dinner.

Newport Oregon

One of the things I enjoy most about living in Portland is that the ocean less than two hours away by car. With spring-like weather in the forecast, I made a return trip to the Sylvia Beach Hotel, a somewhat rickety wooden structure originally built in 1913. The rooms are unique, each decorated according to a theme surrounding a well known author. Prices include a delicious hot breakfast and the hotel also offers a fixed price four-course dinner served family style where single guests do not feel left out in a room full of couples. It was my second visit this past weekend. You can see the attraction, this was the view at dawn from my window:

The hotel is a book lovers haven, featuring books in every room along with a reading library. It's also the site of occasional writers' retreats. I went the first time fully intending to focus on writing, but warring notions caused me to spend more time out walking and shooting photographs. This time, although I took my notebook, I ended up spending more time exploring tide pools, the marina, and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

 

 

I took a tour of the historic Yaquina Head Lighthouse, tallest on the Oregon coast. First lit in 1873, it was converted to electricity in the 1930s. The four inch halogen bulb casts a light that can be seen 20 miles away, thanks to the refraction of the Fresnel lens made in Paris.

The three full-time original lightkeepers spent their days polishing, cleaning, and repairing, as well as tending gardens and livestock. The cast iron staircase had to be repainted every year!

 

Oregon coast

The Pacific Ocean is only an hour and a half from my home in Portland. Sunny weather on a recent weekend provided the perfect opportunity for a two-day excursion.
First stop: Cannon Beach with its iconic Haystack Rock

I spent the night further south, near Depot Bay. Here's the view from my balcony after the sun went down. I even saw some whales from my window!

The next day, I visited the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the tallest on the Oregon coast.

 

I finished the trip with a hike along the Nature Conservancy Trail on Cascade Head.

Mt. Hood

This was the view from my window seat on the flight from Portland to Denver yesterday.
I'll be staying in Colorado until the end of August.

Mt. Hood

Portland Rose Garden

Portland's Rose Festival is in full swing. It's a great time to visit the International Rose Test Garden located in Portland's Washington Park. See for yourself!

 

Hunting for mushrooms

It's morel season! At least it was two weeks ago when a friend of Rachel's came back with these:

We went out last weekend to the same area hoping to find more of the precious treasures. It was a bright sunny day with a rare view of Mt. Hood.

Wind surfers on the Columbia river with Mt. Hood in the background

 As we neared the target area near the base of Mt. Adams, we found plenty of flowers

Fairy slipper orchid

Huckleberry

Don't know the name of this one

 But we found no mushrooms. :-( 

We came home empty handed, but with lovely memories of a fine hike.

Rachel and Philippe with Mt. Adams in the background

My new habitat

I've left behind the sights, sounds and tastes of Paris in exchange for a much quieter existence in Portland, Oregon.   I am now spending my days reading, writing, and cycling in my new neighborhood near the Willamette River - enjoying the sights and sounds of nature.

Sellwood riverfront park

Springwater corridor bike trail - a 40 mile loop

Houseboats and sailboat on the Willamette River

Portland skyline seen from the Willamette

 

Heron in the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge

I've also seen a family of bald eagles. Too bad the eagles are hard to photograph in flight.

Portland Japanese Garden

A perfect place to meditate on my decision to leave Paris and to return to the U.S.