We hugged the Pacific shoreline a little longer this morning to enjoy the views before we headed to the Interstate 5 Highway to break the back of our 300 mile journey from Depoe Bay to Medford at the southern end of Oregon State.
One hundred and sixteen junctions of the Interstate may seem daunting, but they did go fairly quickly and we passed the time being intrigued by some of the place names we saw along the way. These included the town of Drain (named after politician Charles Drain who donated land for the railroad in 1871. Current population 1,000); Wilbur (which brought back childhood memories of a pig in the wonderful book Charlotte’s Web); Hardscrabble Creek (a once popular area for early Indian tribes including Cheyenne and Sioux), and the unfortunate Jump Off Joe Creek (which refers to an accident of a young trapper in the 1830s). It was surprising how many National Park areas we passed through and the amount of greenery, especially trees in this logging region.
To add some inspiration at the end of this long trip we headed to Jacksonville. Not the well known town in Florida, but Oregon. This developed following the discovery of gold deposits in 1851. But when the gold ran out in the 1860s so did the economy. Today, this is designated a National Historic District. Some 100 of the original buildings remain, although most along the main strip are rather touristy in their content.
Jacksonville buildings are preserved as part of this National Historic District
The City HallWe did, however, have our best meal yet in this town. An eclectic menu but, for once, not a chip, burger or battered fish in sight.
Then it was off to our hotel. We wondered why this is the first residence providing earplugs. We are based right next to a lorry/trailer park. Rather than Sleepless in Seattle, we are hoping we will not be Sleepless in Medford tonight.
Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2019
Hope you had a good night’s sleep! What is arugula? What do I know it as? Spinach?
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