McKenzie River to Sweet Home

On Friday of Memorial Weekend a lens fell out of Derrille's regular glasses. We didn't know how to repair the frames with a string-like plastic lower edge. Derrille watch sports, sleeps, eats, reads, and reads and reads.  No glasses = no reading = an uncomfortable weekend  So we decided Road Trip!

Most opticians were closed so we went to Wal-Mart. The glasses repair took a matters of seconds, then we shopped.

I've always wanted to see Sweet Home. We were halfway there, so we drove north.

As we turned off toward Brownsville and  Sweet Home, the sign read "Over the River and Through the Wood" Oregon Scenic Byway.










 A large sign boasted "Linn County the Grass Seed Capital of the World". True to their claim we passed field after field of grasses.  Some field held labels. 

Some grew ryegrass.









Other field grew flax that gave off a blue cast. 











Several fields had white flowers. I don't know the name of that plant.

Sheep grazed in some pastures.

Pygmy goats lounged in another pasture.

We stopped to photograph these long horned cows. Several fields housed herds of cattle.

My paternal grandmother crossed the United States in 1883, at age 3, via wagon train. Her family settled in Sweet Home.  Today Sweet Home looks like a typical small American town.

What a surprise to see a still fully operational A&W busy with lunch time customers. The RIO theater sign also reminded us of a time long before the Cineplex came along.

We stopped at the East Linn Museum. I was curious to see if they had anything with my grandmother's name. A friendly docent looked through several historical record, but found nothing. She did tell me that the area was filled with Rice families. (My maiden name for those who don't know, was Rice) We looked for marriage records too but found nothing. When I have more information, maybe I'll return and look again.

Historical Museums always remind me of how "old" I am. How can some of those things that I recognize and/or still use, be "antiques"? The Girl Scout uniform on display showed an exact replica of my uniform. I worked hard to fill my sash with badges.  You could have heard me say "Oh, I had a hat just like that....and that" as I peered into a display case of 1970 chapeaus.



 


 
 

From Sweet Home we continued east on highway 20. A river rippled beside the road.  More moss covered trees stood in the forests.

 

Several covered bridges cross the rivers and streams in the area. Streams with names like, Scott Creek, Lost Creek, and Miner Creek feed the McKenzie River.

Snow appeared as we began to climb into the foothills. Check out the snow measurement poles!


At the junction of Hwy. 20 and Hwy 126  we rounded the bend and head west toward the RV park.

We concluded our stay in the McKenzie area with dinner at Takota's, next to and owned by the Harvick's Country Store.  Harvick's own two Takota restaurants, a golf course, the gas station, the country store and a nice motel.  The restaurant offered good food, T-shirts, kid books and toys, jewelry, paintings, metal sculpture, those tiny books with thoughtful entries, and decorative plaques.  I enjoyed looking around at everything.

The next day we packed up and headed for Vancouver WA.   Even with rain and storm we enjoyed our stay here.