Armitage Park, Eugene, Oregon

(CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT)

I am sure we will have even better places to visit in the future, but Armitage Park in Eugene, Oregon is now my most favorite.  Just by chance we had the best site there (No. 30), the most interesting neighbors and the best views.  We spent almost all of our time either walking, biking or sitting under the Big Leaf Maple tree playing cards, reading or eating.

You can just see the Big Leaf Maple we were sitting under and then the blackberry bushes behind us.

The McKensie River flowed by the day use part of the park and had two trails running along beside it, one just above the river and one right along the bank.  We walked and biked both quite a few times.  There were almost no other people as it was weekday and the holiday had just ended.   Besides the freeway that passed nearby, there was also an old railroad trestle that had been converted to a walking/biking trail.  We took it to the other side of the river and taught Jake to drink river water.  (he is NOT a water dog at all!)

This is the old railroad trestle built in 1887.  Loved it!

We watched him paddle upstream and then glide back down with the current.  And he did it more than once!

Pretty sad to see the freeway cross the river and not even have a pretty bridge.  You don't think of it when you are on the freeway - just when you are viewing it.  Plain, ordinary, not interesting at all.  But what a gorgeous river! (You can see the paddleboarder down there, too)

Kirby and Jake taking a break on the railroad trestle while I took pictures and found us each a ripe berry.

The trees were what got me.  Big beautiful maples and cedar.  Awesome trees that defied getting their picture taken.  They were just too big.  We had one Big Leaf Maple (Oregon Maple) at our site that stopped my heart with its beauty.  And there are the wild blackberries everywhere.  Too early for us, darn!  By the time they ripen up, we will be long gone.  But – I did find two that were ripe so both Kirby and I got to try one.  Can you imagine just picking those berries at your leisure?  They grow wild everywhere!

This is my favorite tree, the Big Leaf Maple, and I just couldn't get a good picture of it.  But I loved it!

I ate that one ripe berry.  It was wonderful!

We had barely gotten set up and were out enjoying the quiet serenity of the park when a bus load of teenagers showed up and started setting camp up right across from us.  We moaned and groaned – how could this happen to us?  But they turned out to be the nicest young people ever.  They were part of the Northwest Youth Corp.  They spend 5-6 weeks away from home working in the forests and parks.  We enjoyed visiting with them and Jake gave them lots of pets.  They were great neighbors!

I did not get a picture of our interesting neighbors but they made our visit more fun.

Soon we will be in Montana where we will spend a few weeks.  Can’t wait to see that big sky and huge mountains!