Our gracious hosts, Rich and Joan, have gone out of there way to show us the area and make us feel welcome. Until June of 2016 we had only known Rich and Joan via the internet. Some of the other members of the Alaska trip had camped with them at Quartzsite in Arizona several times. It was there where they decided to join the group for the Alaska trip. All the other members of the group were from the east so Rich and Joan joined up with us in Dawson Creek. They stayed with us until we got back to Montana and then made their way home. When we told them we were planning a western trip in 2018 they insisted we look them up when we were in Oregon.
Rich and Joan
The Rose Garden started as a test location for different varieties of roses and today contains over 10,000 rose bushes of approximately 650 varieties. It is internationally known and is the reason Portland is referred to as the "City of Roses".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Rose_Test_Garden
If you look close you can see Portland in the background
There are several gadens like the one in this photo
Pam and Joan walk thru the roses
Some roses remind you of songs. Do either of the following photos remind you of a song?
Willamette Falls is a good example of man's poor stewardship of our natural resources. Willamette Falls is the second largest waterfall by volume in the U.S. A horseshoe shaped fall on the Willamette River 1500 feet wide and 40 feet high. For centuries Native Americans fished and lived in the area around the falls. The Oregon Trail terminates at the falls and it wasn't long before Linn City and Oregon City sprang up around the falls. The Willamette Falls Electric Company was formed in 1888 to build a hydroelectric generation facility at the falls. Turbine driven dynamos were built on the east end of the falls transmitting electricity 14 miles to Portland. That was the first long distance transmission of electricity in the United States. Over the years several paper companies have built mills at the falls and subsequently gone out of business. Today Willamette Falls looks like an industrial waste land with old rusted and weathered facilities. It is shameful that such an important part of Oregon and American history has fallen to this fate. For many years the public has been denied access to the area below the falls because of the businesses located on each side of the river. Now that has changed and work is underway to improve public access. When we were there you could see kayakers rowing up the river to the falls. Let us hope that the owners of the old abandoned facilities will remove them and improve the visual appeal of the falls. Of course the lack of funding makes that unlikely.
Some informative links:
What you can expect to see at the falls today
In the photo below you can see the old turbines that were part of the first hydroelectric plant at the falls. The generators have long since been removed but the shafts of the turbines and part of the generator mounts are visible.
The remains of the old turbines
A lone kayaker approaching the falls
A group of kayakers and a fishing boat near the falls
Always great when you have locals to show you around
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