OFF TO SALEM

I have no doubt we will stay at Seven Feathers RV Resort whenever it is along our travel path - what a great stay. We even used the indoor pool and hot tub last night.

I took this photo of the wildflowers along the roadside this morning while we were taking our last walk. The landscaping in the park is beautifully designed and manicured, but the sculpted berms along the long, curving driveway leading to the park appealed to me even more; they clearly had been planted with a wildflower seed mix of pinks, blues and brilliant red poppies. Gorgeous, and such attention to detail.

We dragged ourselves away 15 minutes before checkout time and drove north to Salem, where we settled into the RV parking at the Elks Lodge. Ho-hum. Yes, I got spoiled after only 3 days! But we have a nice big site here, backed up to a park with room to roam (not too far) for Luna. We will be here 2 nights, until we head for a week-long stay in Hood River, along the Columbia River.

I opened up our "Northwest Hiking" book after we briefly explored downtown Salem this afternoon, and found we are less than 30 miles from Oregon's largest state park, Silver Falls. Here is a description of the trail we plan to hike tomorrow, the premier hike in the park:

"The Canyon Trail is a nationally recognized trail system that leads hikers along the banks of the north and south forks of Silver Creek. It takes you to 10 majestic waterfalls, ranging from the grand South Falls (177 feet), to the delicate Drake Falls (27 feet). Four of these falls have an amphitheater-like surrounding where you can walk behind the falls and feel the misty, crisp spray."

That's tomorrow's plan.

A TRUE RESORT

Too bad I didn't take a photo yesterday, when the weather was sunny, blue, and 70-something degrees. Still, though today is cloudy, you can see that this is a beautiful spot. That's Scoopy in the center of this photo, flying our peace flags. (Double click the photo for a larger view).

Seven Feathers RV Resort is one of the few parks we have visited that deserves the term "resort", though many a miserable dive feels free to tack it onto their name. As we headed this way yesterday, we made a list of the amenities we feel are the minimum allowable for a "resort" - Seven Feathers has everything on our list and more.

This morning, our 10,000 steps took us down the hill through the RV park, under I-5, to the Seven Feathers Casino. The RV resort gives a 10% discount if you have a Player's Club card, so we went off to get one.

The Player's Club card comes with all the usual coupons and inducements to entice you to gamble. They sucked us in, and soon we were sitting in front of a video poker machine feeding in a Player's Club credit of $5 and one lone dollar bill of our own (last of the big-timer spenders).

Fifteen minutes later we were out the door with $75 of THEIR money, on our way back to the RV resort to pay for another night. We paid for night three AND got a credit back for 10% or the first two nights stays... at this rate, we might just move in.

MT. SHASTA TOWERS OVER ALL

WOW! When we left Redding this morning in bright sunshine, Mt. Shasta floated in the distance like a mirage, soon swallowed by the thickly forested slopes of the "lesser" mountains. Suddenly, no warning - pow! You go around a curve and there is Shasta, totally dominating the view, snow-capped, dominating, powerful.

This photos was taken in Oregon, at the rest stop where we ate our lunch. Odel told me the plane in the foreground is one of the retardent dropping planes used in firefighting.

When we drove south on I-5 last October, we stopped for lunch near Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, Oregon, 100 miles north of the CA/OR border. The Cow Creek band of the Umpqua Indians own the casino, and had just finished an RV resort nearby, which we visited. It is one of the few we have seen that deserves the term "resort".

For an unusual treat - after a wild night at the Redding Elks where a boisterious high school graduation party lasted until 5:30 am - we decided to spend the next two nights here. Oh, blessed quiet! Gorgeous view, wildflowers blooming, hot tub, swimming pool - and a free "happy hour" tasting of wines from a local winery just after we checked in. Excellent day with an excellent evening in store. I'll try to post some photos tomorrow.