March 28, 2026 - Go to Roseberg

 

Lawrence and Andrea

Title: March  28, 2026 - Go to Roseburg
Hike Info : Description :  Extra Photo's

Hike Info:

Type:Touring

 

Description:

By the time I got up on Saturday morning, both Andrea and Lawrence were already gone to Silver Falls State Park for their March Madness walk. That is 20 miles with an elevation gain of 2700’. Ah, to be young again and do that kind of challenge.

I got up at 7:00 and had my normal breakfast of granola. I putz around a bit until Sherri gets up at 8:30. I finished packing. There was a discussion of how long to pack for. For an explanation of what really seems like a silly statement: we have found that when we are going for a shorter stay, it is easier to carry in only the essentials and minimize that baggage. I put my medicines together and some underwear, socks and shirts. We had decided to only pack enough for the next two nights. If we stayed a night on the road back to Fresno, I would deal with that later. 

The original plan was to spend 1-3 nights getting back to Fresno. But rain is forecasted starting Monday and with Sherri being banged up, we will probably take one night to get back. First we will spend a couple of nights at Dennis and Bonnie's house. Dennis was my best man and roommate many years ago. If we got there early enough, they had talked about taking us on a hike to Toketee Falls, just east of Roseburg.

 

When we leave Salem at 11:00, that dims the possibility of going to the Falls. We had talked about doing the “No Kings March” in Eugene, but we also started late for that. Also we wanted to avoid the crowd there and not eat in Eugene. About the time we were thinking of stopping at a rest stop and having a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich, we saw an inviting sign for Creswell Bakery.

We get to the bakery about 12:30. Even for a small town, there is a nice line-not terribly long, just that there was one is an indicator that we will be in for a treat. There is a turkey provolone sandwich special today. We decided to take that and split it. Pretty tasty. By the time we finish, it is a little after 1:00.

 

 

We stopped at a rest stop for a few minutes and then we are off again. We get to Bonnie and Dennis’ at 2:20. They are waiting for us. It is good to see them and talk with them. We talked for over an hour. Bonnie had mentioned to Sherri earlier that they could take us to Wildlife Safari which is about ten miles away. They have season tickets to it with enough for guests. Sherri wants to go and I mention this to Dennis. They made it possible.

What is Wildlife Safari? It is a Jurassic Park type place, only thing instead of dinosaurs, it has all kinds of exotic animals: giraffes, antelope, elephants, rhinos and hippos, bears, lions, tigers and many other animals. You stay in your car and drive the premises on their roads. It is one way traffic. Today there is not much of a line in most places. The one place where the grizzlies are playing, people are trying to get good views of them and not moving. They are fun to watch. Another place is the tiger area.

When we get back, Bonnie gets dinner on the table and we have pot roast, carrots, potatoes and a salad. She has it all together within an half an hour of us returning. Wonder Woman she is. After dinner, Dennis serves us some soft-serve ice cream. Then there is more talking.

Dennis and Bonnie have a tradition to play a game each night. At 8:00, we started to play Wingspan. Sherri and I have played it before, but it has been awhile we have to get refreshed on the rules and strategy. This causes the game to be a bit slower than usual. We finish up about 10:45 and are back in the Barn to go to sleep by 11:00-a long day it is.

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