The border area is mighty purdy, with lots of great vistas, rolling hills, etc. I stopped at Roseburg to visit the Douglas County Museum, which like most US museums is very well made. Varied exhibitions on the history of the area with lots of material also on the natural history. They also have some sections on natural wildlife and such where (especially children) are encouraged to touch the objects, such as pelts, stones and stuffed animals. They also have many samples of animal sounds. THIS is how a museum needs to be to get kids' attention. Interesting historical fact: The county is named after Scottish botanist David Douglas, who also gave his name to the famous Douglas Fir tree and the Douglas squirrel.
I had planned to continue straight up the I-5, but my curiousity was piqued by the place name "Norway" a few miles to the southwest, so I decided to make a detour out to the coast. When I got there, I couldn't actually find any community, much less a town, the whole place seemed to be just a few houses and businesses scattered along the way. Bummer. I then drove north along the coast for a while; maybe I didn't see the most scenic parts, as I have had several trustworthy people tell me that the Oregon coast is well worth seeing, but I soon found the area boring and quickly drove inland again to the interstate. The northern part of the state is quite mundane compared to the parts closer to California, it's flatter and greyer and doesn't seem to hold much of interest, not to yours truly anyway.
Just before the Oregon border I saw this magnificent view - not sure if these pictures do it justice. The clouds were amassing just behind the hills and then sort of slowly seeping over them. It was very beautiful and a bit creepy too, in a cool way.
The interior of a pioneer cabin. Life could be hard for the first settlers, and it took some time before Europeans came to Oregon in significant numbers.
A wagon, a steam-operated thresher and an old Dodge car.
You were encouraged to touch the bear, the tent, the trees, sit in the chairs, read the books etc. Novel and cool!
A covered bridge anno 1921, found on state route 42 between I-5 and the coast. Yes, I do take pictures from a moving vehicle. I'm a bad, bad man.
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