Sept. 4, 2014 --- Silver Falls; Oregon Gardens; Gordon House; Depoe Bay Worldmark:
Just a day in the Willamette Valley really doesn't do it justice, but that's all we could afford to do.  Thought of checking out some wineries, but we do have them back here in Mo. so thought we'd check out more of what we don't have back home---like more waterfalls!  So after packing up and getting our free breakfast from Residence Inn, we jumped back in the car and headed about 10 miles to Silver Falls State Park.
  It is the largest state park in Oregon with an area of more than 9,000 acres, and it includes more than 24 miles of walking trails.  Its 8.7-mile Canyon Trail/Trail of Ten Falls runs along the banks of Silver Creek and by ten waterfalls, from which the park received its name.  The park's most visited waterfall is South Falls, a 177-foot cascade.  This is one of the 4 falls with a walkway behind the falls.

Coni and John behind the falls.

 the South Falls in it's entirety.

 Back by the parking lot for South Falls is the the historic South Falls Lodge which was completed in the late 1930s by the CCC.  In 1983 it was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Ken enjoying Silver Falls while we were out hiking the falls.

 love their signage.

 On our way to the Lower North Falls (I think).

 another walk-behind falls.

Unsuccessfully looking for a 4 leaf clover.

Coni and John leading the way.

 the crystal clear Silver Creek.

 The Upper North Falls.  This was a rather flat walk, so we made Ken come, too.

The Willamette Valley is known for it's farmlands.  They grow lots of grass for seed, leading producer of Christmas trees, have lots of vinyards, and grow huge fields of flowers for seeds and bulbs.  I love riding around up by Silver Falls and Silverton in the Spring when the flower farms are blooming!   This looks like it is a recently harvested grass farm.

Near Silverton is the Oregon Garden which also has a Frank Loyd Wright  house---the Gordon House.  It is the only building in Oregon designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. 

 Admission to the house is $15@ and is by tour only. 

 Our docent told the story of how the Gordons commissioned Mr. Wright to design their new home, the near destruction of the home in 2000 and the rescue, dismantling, moving and reconstruction of the house in Historic Silverton next door to The Oregon Garden.

 Part of the tour includes a short video here in what was the windowless master bedroom.  Apparently Mrs. Gordon liked it really dark when she was sleeping.

 some of the details outside.

 upstairs in one of the other 2 bedrooms.  It led out to a really nice patio. 

 Looking onto the back of the house from the patio attached to the above bedroom.

 Love the way the floor to ceiling glass brings the outside inside.

 the small but adequate kitchen.

the living room from near the stairs to the 2nd level.

 We're all members of the Missouri Botanical Gardens back home and love to use it's reciprocal membership whenever possible.  The Oregon Gardens is a reciprocal garden so we saved the $11@ entrance fee for there and toured the garden, first by tram, then by foot.

 It was definitely colorful.

 Many places had great views over the valley, too.

They even have a hotel here now.

looking up towards the hotel.

 enjoying the interesting clouds.

Having been a scout and leader for so long, Ken got a big kick out of this guy.

 Last time we were here they just had the 2 larger pot people.

 The childrens garden had lots of topiaries.

 We thought this covered culvert in the childrens garden was cute, too.

more topiaries.

more colorful flowers.

I was surprised to see palm trees.  Apparently they can survive in Oregon.  I wonder why they aren't used more in landscaping here?!  We joked that Ken and I should move to Oregon and sell palm trees.

decorations in another part of the garden.

All the beautiful plants in the garden and John was intrigued with the grass.

 even saw a rainbow in the garden.

 Looks like they were setting up for a wedding.

 I was really surprised to see irises in Sept.

When we were done in the garden, we gave them a tour of the big town of Dallas, where I lived as a child and lots of my family still lives.  We even had dinner there at Murphy's Grill.   Then it was time to head to the coast.  I was able to pick up 1 night at the Worldmark in Depoe Bay, but we didn't get there until about 9pm.  I had hoped to go to their heated outdoor pools and/or jacuzzis, but the closed at 10 and by the time we got checked in, there wouldn't be much time.  So we settled for a little relaxing in the 2 bedroom condo before hitting the sack.

our 2 twins made into one bed.

kitchen

The one odd thing about this configuration is the master bedroom has double doors into the living room and (not seen here) a window with blinds looking into the living room. 

Can't go wrong with waterfalls, gardens, and the ocean!