Ashland, Oregon: The weather here is just so lovely. Really warm. No wind. (Mary and Captain Jim are reporting 104° in Indio.) After exercising and working, Dave and I drove into pretty Ashland for lunch and a chance to walk/drive around and check-out the town. Dave had spent quite a bit of time here his senior year of college (quite a while ago!) doing a field mapping project for a class. He has a lot of fun stories that I will have to share one day because Dave does not have a blog.
First stop was lunch. We walked around until we found a place that looked interesting. Granite Taphouse is upstairs in one of the old buildings across from the entrance to Lithia Park. Set in a group of different rooms, we found a table facing the street below and ordered adult beverages.
Granite Taphouse - Ashland, Oregon
Day Drinking: Perfect Margarita
This is a very focused photo of the tip of a steak knife
We split a burger (organic, grassfed) and Parmesan-Truffle FriesAfter all that grub, we needed a walk, so headed up Main Street (where we dined last evening) to see the shops and poke our heads into the Visitor Center and Oregon Shakespeare Festival office. The town is ridiculously cute. With all the culture, natural beauty, outdoor activities, art, theater, Southern Oregon University and great restaurants - Ashland is a very popular retirement destination.
Pretty Ashland building, and "Street Scene" by Marion L. Young
Spring water bubbles up around Ashland from Pompadour Chief Springs, four miles from downtown. It has a bad odor and a terrible taste, and as the above sign reads, the water contains elevated levels of barium and daily consumption is not recommended. These facts have not stopped citizens in the past from trying to pump the water into spa baths (the high mineral content corroded the pipes very quickly and that idea was abandoned) or bottling the water to sell (it tastes awful, so that genius business plan also went bust). Yet, it bubbles up in various fountains around town and I watched nearly everyone passing by lean over and take a slurp - like it was a magic potion. Your correspondent took one for the team. Horrid stuff.
The best part of our afternoon was the two hours we spent in shady 93-acre Lithia Park, along a path following Lithia Creek, so named for the high lithia content in the water. The creek's headwaters are nine miles south of town, flows through town (serves as the city water supply) and into the Rogue River.I took way too many photos in the park this afternoon, but the rhododendrons and azaleas were in full bloom and just fantastic to see. Enjoy.
Or not.
Lithia Park
Rhododendrons and the creek
Lithia Park
Rhododendron bud
GO DUCKS!
Lithia CreekI made a little video of the pretty creek. Take 35 seconds to relax and listen to the sound of the babbling water.
Azalea
Path in Lithia Park
Lithia Creek
Massive Rhoddy
Gorgeous purple-throated Rhododendron
Another blossom
Western Swordfern
Lithia Park
Oregon Grape
DT performing in the park's bandstandWe had such a great afternoon in Ashland! What a fun little town.
After eating so much (and eating too much meat!), we stayed in and enjoyed Gina's salad greens for dinner.
Until my next update, I remain, your thirsty correspondent.
RV PARK: Holiday RV Park - A few sites for big-rigs, best sites are for smaller RVs and front-in to the pretty creek. Full hookups, free wifi and cable. We paid $40.25 with our Good Sam discount.