Somebody up in the heavens left their water running and it’s overflowed their celestial bathtub and is pouring down on us below. The storm we outran when we left the coast has caught up with us here in Sutherlin and it has been pouring since late afternoon, with no letup in sight. No problem, we’ve got full hookups, decent Verizon internet, lots of goodies to eat, TV to watch and books to read. And we’re together. What else do we need?
And we even have company. Regular readers Tom and Margie Maloney pulled up next to us to say hello when we arrived here Friday afternoon. Like us, they are here waiting for better weather so they can head south for the winter. And yesterday morning, blog reader Dan Folsum stopped in to introduce himself and visited for a while.
Our friends Dave and Lynn Cross were here a couple of weeks ago, and Lynn suggested that we visit the nearby town of Oakland while we were in the area. So before it started raining yesterday, we decided to check it out. What a find!
Oakland was established in 1851 and the two block long downtown is made up of beautiful old red brick buildings dating back to the 1890s that house antique shops, restaurants, and one of the nicest small town museums we’ve found anywhere.
Exhibits in the museum include typical period rooms from local houses, a bank, general store, blacksmith shop, and artifacts from Oakland’s early days.
Operated by three generations of the same family, Stearns Hardware has been serving the community for over 125 years.
Housed in what once was once the Beckley Pharmacy, Tolly’s Grill and Soda Fountain is popular with visitors and locals alike and serves up some delicious treats.
Four miles west of Oakland we found the historic Rochester covered bridge spanning the Calapooya River. Built in 1933, the bridge was nearly lost in the late 1950s when local officials wanted to replace it with a new concrete bridge. County workers burned a nearby covered bridge, but local residents came to the Rochester bridge armed with rifles and shotguns to protect the structure. Realizing how determined the citizenry was, the county backed down and the bridge was saved.
Nearby, we discovered something really cool, an RV park with its own drive-in movie theater. Hi-Way Haven RV Park, just a mile or so from Interstate 5, was built on the site of a classic drive-in theater and guests can watch movies from the comfort of their own RVs, tuning in the campground’s private radio station for the audio. And they even provide free popcorn! How cool is that?
Driving back into Sutherlin, we stopped at a little used book store and browsed for a while, stopped at the grocery store for a few things, and then came home. Miss Terry went to the laundry here at the campground since our washer/dryer combo is still out of service, while I stayed home and worked on some writing projects and watched it rain.
Today we’ll probably stay close to home and watch it rain some more, and occasionally check our feet to see if our toes have become webbed yet.
Thought For The Day – May the child in your heart live forever.
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Nick Russell
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Nick we moved a bit south to Klamath, CA hoping to escape some of this northwest rain, but no, as soon as you began your move, the rain caught up with us again.
When did you say that you were moving on again?
Just kidding you in good fun, I think.
We spent six weeks last summer touring Oregon and Washington out of that six week we had two weeks it did not rain, we will go back next summer to see Mikes Aunt who is now 94 we sure hope the rain stay away. We are finally getting some much needed rain at home in TX not much but it is better than none. thanks for sharing the photo’s of the town of Oakland. We will try to check it out while we are in the state. Have safe travels, only worry about the rain if you start quacking along with those webbed feet stay safe my friends
I cannot believe it…we are in Sutherlin too…at a hotel on our way to CA!! Wow…driving in this muck today was not fun, though we have been in worse in NC!!