Letting the trout go!

Cedar Creek Fish Hatchery
Hebo, OR

It was supposed to be nice today!

Rain again...off and on at least :-)

We learned some more things about the hatchery today,

and our schedule.

Our days on will be Friday-Monday, 20 hours each per week,

which we can work at the same time.

As I said before, we will be mowing (with a riding mower!),

doing some weed control (spraying or whacking),

cleaning the office, 2 bathrooms, and sweeping out the feed room weekly.

We also get to help with the fish duties.

Today George got to help round up the Rainbow Trout.

These trout were getting bigger in the our ponds for another hatchery.

Bob the manager, George, and Lawrence

walked in the pond in waders, dragging a net to round the trout up.

Once they are in the net up against the end of the pond,

one of the guys from the other hatchery scoop them up in a net.

Then he puts them in a holding tank full of water in his truck.

At that point, George went with Eric to release the trout into Hebo Lake & Town Lake.

The fishermen were waiting! George didn't think to take a picture ;-(

I did some weeding of the flowerbeds,

and took some pictures of the local critters..

Hairy Woodpecker

Allen's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

 I was surprised to see a woodpecker on a Red Hot Poker flower.

George is hoping that the sun will finally dry out the grass here

so that he can get some mowing done.

I want to start spraying some weeds that are in the gravel.

More fish round-up tomorrow!

Ahh, so that's what a hatchery does!

Cedar Creek Fish Hatchery
Hebo, OR

Another rainy day in coastal Oregon.

The forecast is promising sunny days soon!

Today we met up with the manager of the hatchery, Bob.

He went over some of our duties, and we got to know him better, 

and he learned more about us.

George and I shadowed him as he went through his daily duties.

Call me umm..uninformed (?) but I thought that a fish hatchery's purpose was to raise and study fish.

Well, knock me over with a feather :-)

Not being a hunter/fisher/gatherer, I never knew that fish were raised for the sole purpose 

of catching and eating them!

Now, wouldn't it just be easier to come up and throw your line straight into the ponds at the hatchery?

I guess it would take all the sport out of it :-)

Although the bulk of our duties are to mow, keep the landscaping looking nice,

and do weekly cleaning of the office area,

we do get to help with the hatchery process.

This hatchery raises winter & summer steelhead, Chinook, and Rainbow Trout.

I won't go into the whole process detail, but it takes approximately 1 year from egg to release.

The nursery!

George feeding the trout.

Feeding frenzy!

 We spent the whole day learning the process in a nutshell.

Bob took us on a tour of the grounds, including where the 

Cedar creek feeds all the water in the various ponds.

At the end of the day, I weeded our flower bed on our site..

there are tons of flower bulbs coming up around the property.

It should all look lovely very soon.

It should be a great summer!

A new part of Oregon

Cedar Creek Fish Hatchery
Hebo, OR

George and I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend.

We take the time to remember the fallen who died for our country.

We left southern Oregon and drove the 286 miles north to Hebo, OR.

It was an uneventful drive over Grant's Pass on I-5.

Our GPS took us up through Eugene, and then eventually onto route 22.

Cedar Creek fish hatchery is right on route 22, about a mile from 101.

It rained the whole day, but it made for some nice views of the fog on the mountaintops.

We had to unhook and get set up in the rain, but oh well :-)

We will be here at the hatchery for the summer. 

Among our duties will be to maintain the grounds, including cutting the grass,

maintaining the flower beds by our site and the pond.

We will get to greet visitors, answer questions, and let any children feed the mature trout.

There is some minor cleaning of the office and public areas as well.

Our site is right on the hatchery grounds, in between the office and hatchery ponds.

Tomorrow we learn our duties.

Looks like it is going to be an interesting gig!

It's also supposed to get sunny here by the end of the week..

there IS sun in Oregon :-)

Natural Bridge Trail

Valley of the Rogue SP
Gold Hill, OR

Despite feeling like crap yesterday, I figured I'd feel like crap

whether I was sitting at home, or taking a ride.

Off we went :-)

I had looked up a short hike just past Prospect, OR,

which is about an hour from the campground.

Prospect is about 35 miles this side of Crater Lake, but we're saving that for next time.

The directions were easy to follow, and there was ample parking for the big truck.

The trail was even, and paved for a bit. It runs right along the Rogue River.

There are some cool overlooks, with signage to explain how the river runs under the lava.

The water was very powerfull!

It was definitely worth the drive,

and I'm glad I got out of the house :-)

Pollen, ugh..

Valley of the Rogue SP
Gold Hill, OR

That says it all.

We had such a lovely day in Jacksonville, then ended it with a wonderful bike ride

along the Rogue River, through grasses, trees, etc.

Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy head.

I sniffed Flonaise, took some Claritin, and still felt lousy all day.

As we have no satellite signal, and can't get any air TV either,

I ended up watching a couple DVDs while George putzed around outside.

So today I woke up hoping that with the nice weather we could go on that hike.

Hmm..still feel lousy :-(

I saw some of the camphosts riding around in their carts with pollen masks on.

I should have taken that as my clue!

 We've been watching all the holiday weekend warriors coming in.

Lots of tents, kids, dogs, oh my! Tomorrow it looks like rain, so they'll all be getting their fun in today.

Monday we pull out of here, go over Grant's Pass (ugh!) and start our new workamping gig.

Watch for us at the Cedar Creek Fish Hatchery in Hebo, OR

Jacksonville...Oregon!

Valley of the Rogue SP
Gold Hill, OR

Even though there was rain predicted..a little bit..

we decided to take a trip down to the lovely little town of Jacksonville.

Jacksonville was established in 1851 when gold was discovered quite by accident.

Of course, like other gold mining towns, it grew in size until the gold rush was over.

Now it is a sleepy little town of 2500 people.

It has a wonderful quality to it, with a lot of old buildings,

and some restored houses and churches.

George and I decided to take a trolley tour,

which for $5 each was a bargain!

The driver took a small group of us on a 50 minute tour of the town.

We walked around the town a bit afterwards,

and stopped at a little coffee shop for a latte..

..what great foam art!

When we got back to the campground, we decided to take a ride on our bikes.

There is a great paved trail called the Rogue River Greenway Trail.

It is connecting several towns along the Rogue River. 

Eventually it will span 50 miles of bike/walking trails!

It runs right along the river, and we saw some great things!

I was very excited to see my first bald eagle :-)

Very cool!

Of course there are always squirrels..

It was a terrific day..

and tomorrow I think we're going on a hike!

So it rains in Oregon :-)

Valley of the Rogue SP
Gold Hill, OR

We are settled in a beautiful state park here in Oregon.

Monday we left Weed, CA at about 11 am. The park here in Oregon has a check in time of 4 pm! 

As it was only about an hour or so drive, we didn't want to be sitting and waiting to get in.

On the way north on I-5 we went through a few grades, including a 7 mile 6% .

The truck (and George!) made it through fine. George got a knot in his stomach

worrying about the brakes and over-revving the engine.

He wants to put new brakes, a heavier duty kind to help with these hills.

I think if George had his way, we would stick to the flat states :-)

As it turns out, we could have come to the park anytime, the booth wasn't manned for some reason.

We have a nice pull-through site..

 ..but with  lots of trees..so no satellite signal :-(

It also has been raining, yesterday and today.

We even had a small hailstorm yesterday.

I've been researching a few places to go when the weather gets a bit better.

There are some nice hikes within an hours drive, and some great little towns to explore.

Looking forward to it!

A bit of hiking

Friendly RV Park
Weed, CA

This morning Shasta was covered in a misty cloud.

By about 11 am, the sun had warmed everything, and the cloud melted away..

George and I decided to pack a picnic lunch,

then take a drive into Mt. Shasta City to the visitor center.

We found out that due to snow, the road called

Everitt Memorial Highway, was closed beyond Bunny Flat.

Bunny Flat is where most expert hikers start to make their way up the glacier to the summit.

Since we are not experts.. ;-)..

We started an easy one..a vista trail.

It was about a mile round trip, 

and had beautiful views!

We drove all the way up to Bunny Flat,

and were as close as we could get to Mt. Shasta.

Even though there was snow on the ground in spots, the sun was quite warm.

We headed back down the mountain, and stopped at a turnout for lunch.

This gave us a spectacular view of Mt Lassen..

..and the valley below..

Even though our stay was cut short a couple days,

we still enjoyed our visit to this beautiful area.

Tomorrow we will be leaving to head to

Valley of the Rogue state park in Oregon..

where we will spend a week exploring the Rogue river!