Janet Lowe

Art and Life in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

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Tripping in Oregon

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The Oregon Coast!

I am currently on a road trip to the US from home in Mexico. It began a month ago with  the annual family reunion on the Oregon Coast where I spent several years of my youth. The views are spectacular and sharing this with my 94 year old mother was a delight.

I rented an AirBnb house in Newport to include my sister, her husband, my Uncle Chuck, Mom and me. Driving there from Portland I stopped for very ripe, delicious peaches and on first sight of the Pacific Ocean another stop for smoked salmon and a loaf of black molasses bread from the Otis Cafe. I arrived just as Uncle Chuck showed up and we were hungry so we feasted on my finds and a few shots of tequila I had brought from Mexico. Again this year Chuck left me with a generous check to buy children’s books for my library project, Leyendo, back in Playa del Carmen.

The next day we gathered at a beach side location to share baked salmon and marinated fresh tuna.  At this gathering we traditionally make home made ice cream with everybody getting a turn turning the metal cylinder inside a wooden bucket filled with ice and rock salt that was passed on from my grandfather.

 Sunday the function was held at Aunt Pat’s condo building in Newport on the bay with sea lions barking on the boat docks below. Dinner was pot luck with thick steaks provided by my cousin Kenny.

On Labor Day I drove my mother over the Cascade Mountains to her home in Bend, Oregon in the high desert. We stopped at the top of the pass in a truck stop for lunch. Mom suggested chocolate milkshakes and coffee. As we sat we were joined by a large group of bikers who also enjoyed the fare. Then on to Bend through scrubby sage brush and junipers.

I spent a month with my mother just listening to her stories. Her eye, ears and knees are not doing so well but her mind is sharp. Judie, my younger sister, and her husband live nearby and do much of my mother’s caregiving. My brother, Rich, from Detroit, Michigan visited for a few days with tales of his adventures working in Alaska and South America. And mother’s sister Patty, aged 91, from Florida made a special effort to see her. She, with her daughter and granddaughter, made stops in Cleveland, Klamath Falls, Oregon and then Bend to see the surviving sisters (there were originally 7 of them) perhaps one last time.

It has been a great trip!

But not over yet – on to Philadelphia to see my three kids.

 

Travels in Oregon Step Three, Smith Rock and Mt. Hood

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We left Bend and motored north in the high desert toward Portland. On the way stopping at Smith Rock, a geological wonder that world class rock climbers have discovered. Around 30 million years ago, a gigantic depression (caldera) was formed by the sudden collapse of overlying rock into an underground reservoir of molten rock. The resulting eruptions produced massive amounts of ash and debris, nearly filling the caldera. These deposits eventually hardened into rock: the largest is known a Smith Rock Tuff. Then about half a million years ago, flows of basalt lava poured into this area from vents nearly 50 miles away capping off much of the tuff that filled the caldera. The flat upper area of the park is on the surface of these now-hardened lava flows. Over time, erosion by the Crooked River has exposed and sculpted the magnificent landscape.

Then a brief stop at a pumpkin patch and a Native American Casino where I came out $9.00 ahead.

And on to Mount Hood covered with fresh snow and up to Timberline Lodge that was built by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression, 1936-38, and dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt. 80% of the cost to the WPA was for labor with about 100 workers at a time. Jobs were rotated to provide for as many people as possible in need. I have always known of a town called Government Camp on the slope of Mt. Hood and realize now that it was where the tent community developed for laborers. Furniture, fabrics and rugs were all handmade, carvings, paintings and sculpture abound.

Travels in Oregon Step Two, High Desert

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Me at the opening of Lava Tube Cave, Bend, Oregon

After the beach we headed over the Cascade Mountains to the high desert of Bend, Oregon where my mother and sister live. Marijuana is legal in Oregon now and dispensaries abound. In Bend alone there are 32 of them and only 4 liquor stores (which are state sanctioned). Delightful names: Dr. Jolly’s, Bloomwell, Hempies…..
I spent a lot of time with my mother listening to stories she wanted to share and we ventured out into the wild for dinner one night at the Cowboy Dinner Tree. A few days later we drove southwest toward Crater Lake which was closed due to forest fires but ended up for a few day at Lemolo Lake for fishing and hiking.

 

Me kissing a fish

We also visited Lava Tube Cave (2 miles long), Lava Butte and Pilot Butte  near Bend. The geological wonders of this area fascinate me. The Cascade Mountains are all volcanoes and the range was created by their activity thousands of years ago. Last year this area received lots of snow and natives hoped that would limit wildfires this summer, but spring rains encouraged tall grass to grow and then dry providing tinder for lightening strikes. There were 32 wildfires burning while I was there.  This is quite natural and many are simply allowed to burn themselves out unless humans are threatened. We drove through the remains of a wildfire near Sisters that was being contained, fire crew dealing with flames and smoldering, alongside the highway when we crossed the Cascades. in September.

The High Desert Museum south of Bend shows the history of Native Americans who first inhabited this land, the settlers who came for gold and stayed for timber and introduces the animal inhabitants also. Very well done.

Travels in Oregon Step One, the Beach

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Me on the trail to the beach.

I grew up on the Oregon Coast and return every year at the end of summer for my family reunion. Both my parents are Oregonians too and with the extended family the party often numbers 85 to 100. My mother is the oldest of 8 children and at 93 years of age was the sole elder at this year’s party in which she received the title of “Queen”. In Depot Bay there were whales mating and in Newport we listened to sea lions bark. My father’s grandfather homesteaded on the cliffs above Otter Rock and he spent time there as a young man. When he passed away 8 years ago his ashes were spread in the ocean there. It was great to be back at the beach near Newport, the playground of my youth, and family is good.