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| Hiking at Silver Falls State Park, Silverton, Oregon - June 29th, 2016 |
In the mean time though, we got to explore a part of Oregon we never would have visited, or even knew existed! We stayed at the Oregon Garden Resort in the town of Silverton, OR. A quaint little town surrounded by a ton of nurseries and farms growing plants to be sold in gardening centers all over the place. They also grow a ton of hops in the area; and did you know that Oregon is the top producer of Hazelnuts in the US? I know I sure didn't. Also, Silverton has a Mural Society, which is weird, but the murals around town as very well done. Our room was cozy with it's own fireplace and private patio area. The king size bed was comfy and the front desk staff were hilarious. The free breakfast buffet was a bit of a let down but the yogurt (made in house) and coffee cake were delicious! Also, access to the gardens is complimentary to resort guests! You can even wander the gardens well after it closes to the public and stay till dusk!
On our one full day in the area we decided to take the advice of our tow-truck driver, Tommy, and visit the Silver Falls State Park. Here you can visit 10 amazing waterfalls in a 7.2 mile loop with about 800 feet of elevation gain. It was the perfect "starter" hike for us being completely out of shape and me wearing in new shoes. It be honest, I wasn't expecting much but MAN were we wrong! The trails are well kept and the waterfalls are incredible! We ended up only doing 5.5 miles of the hike (we didn't visit the North Falls area) but were still blown away by the beauty. Three of the waterfalls have the trail leading directly behind the curtain of water offering a misty view of the canyon and forest that was every possible shade of green at this time of year.
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| Drake Falls. one of the 10 waterfalls at Silver Falls State Park, Silverton, Oregon - June 29th, 2016 |
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| Geoff chillin at the Lower South Falls at Silver Falls State Park, Silverton, Oregon - June 29th 2016 |
After the hike we talked to the mechanic and gave the go ahead to repair our ride then we headed to Dairy Queen for a cool treat. Afterwards, we headed back to the resort to take in the gardens. The Oregon Gardens are situated on a slope of about 110 acres and are beautifully landscaped into different themes and sections. We decided to take the tram tour but not before getting a cold adult beverage from the resort bar. The bartender even gave us "to go" cups so we could take a bevvie on the tour with us! The tour was informative and pretty cool. The gardens are landscaped around 24 cooling ponds for the Town of Silverton's treated waste water. This allows them to naturally cool the water through a series of manmade wetland ecosystems before returning it to the streams and lakes in the area.
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| Check out this adorable covered bridge we found as the sun was setting in Silverton, OR! This is Gallon House Bridge and turns 100 years old this year! |
In the morning we got up early (for us) and headed back to pick up our well running van and carry on with our trip. Once back on the road we made great time between Wilsonville, OR and Vallejo, CA. The van did really well over the passes through Southern Oregon and Northern California. The day was clear and Mount Shasta was looking stunning against the blue sky. We decided to pull into a rest stop around 10:00pm overlooking Vallejo and our next destination... Six Flags.
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| Mount Shasta looking lovely just as we round the bend after crossing into California from Oregon. June 30th, 2016 |
As you may know, we got season passes for Six Flags amusement parks. There are 13 altogether and we will hopefully hit up 11 or 12 of them. All except the one in Mexico City. We celebrated Canada Day (July 1st) by playing on roller coasters and ridiculous ride all day. Oddly, everyone was wishing me a happy 4th of July... weird. haha!
Discovery Kingdom is a bit different from the Six Flags in Chicago we visited a few years ago. This park has animals and marine shows that we just were not interested in at all. But that doesn't mean we didn't have fun. Of the 8 roller coasters they have at the park, we went on 7 of them... multiple times. The 8th was down for maintenance so it just wasn't an option. We also went on several other thrill rides that were just plain awesome. Our favorite ride was by far their newest coaster, The Joker. It just opened this spring and is a hybrid coaster. The frame is wooden but the track is steel allowing for crazy barrel rolls and inversions. Yes this wooden coaster goes upside-down! Our favorite non-coaster ride was definitely the Tasmanian Devil and even though we were there on a Friday, the lines were short. The Medusa and Superman Ultimate Flight were tied for 2nd place with Dare Devil coming in 3rd.
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| Superman Ultimate Flight - Six Flags Vallejo, CA - July 1st |
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| The SkyScreamer (swings) and the roller coaster Medusa at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, CA - July 1st, 2016 |
We spent another night at the rest stop then in the morning went back to Six Flags for another round of coasters before getting back on the road to Oakland, CA to meet up with some relatives of Geoff's, Rita and Kevin. They were kind enough to host us despite the fact that they've never met either of us! But this is getting long and I'm tired so our tales of San Francisco will wait for another time.
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| Geoff - not the hero Seattle needs. the hero Seattle deserves. lol Yeah... we totally got capes. Six Flags - Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, CA - July 1st, 2016 |
Till next time - Fair winds my friends!
Marsha and Geoff
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