Thursday, July 5, 2012

Corvallis and Oregon State University

Today we took a ride north to Corvallis. I don't know why. Nothing's there except Oregon State University. Wayne likes visiting college campuses so I just guess that's why we went. We might have gotten a little bored around the campsite too...

Our route today took us from the campground at Harrisburg along Peoria Road where we enjoyed seeing still more Oregon agriculture. Along the road we passed four large motorized farm equipment pieces.

First, (picture to the right) this brand new big ole harvesting thing.  I loved it and don't even know what it is.

Then a brand new giant tractor that honestly was taller than Endie, I'm sure.  The last two tractors were more normal sized.

Someone at the campground told me about an Oxbow Orchard along this road. As we approached the drive into the orchard, we were thrilled to see blueberry bushes heavy laden with fruit. 


I had only seen blueberries growing on the ground until today so my urge to get out for a close look was tough to overcome.  Despite the "Danger - Pesticides" sign, I hung myself out the window for a close-up.

We pulled in to buy berries (though we have plenty already at home) but didn't see anyone around the orchard or the farmhouse.

All the doors were closed and one car sat empty in the driveway.


About that time we heard a great boom and then another and another and another.  Turns out Oxbow Orchard has some kind of machine to help keep the birds off the fruit.

It sounded like a small cannon.  Whoa... that was scary.


We also heard from someone at the campground  about an Amish farm where baked goods, vegetables and cook books could be purchased. But it is only open on Friday and Saturday, so we had to pass it by too.


A few miles beyond the closed Amish Bakery, we came upon Peoria Road Farm Market where we found a cornucopia of freshly picked fruit, nuts, ripe vegetable goodies and a strawberry Crush drink. 

I like this kind of outdoor vegetable market although for just two people, I have to use restraint to avoid buying too much and letting it go to waste. 

U-pick 'em strawberries were available through the market but of course, I'm not a candidate for stomping around in a strawberry field, bending and swatting flies. We did not get strawberries.

Peoria Road Farm Market






       I learned today that garlic is a big crop in this area.  Hazelnuts are grown here too -- a large box of them, from Junction City, sits in the floor of Peoria Road Farm Market. They're sold by the pound -- but alas we don't care for hazelnuts.

We stocked up on giant red tomatoes, honey dew and blueberries, sucked on the strawberry Crush soda and remembered it's real close to lunchtime.

Now... on to Corvallis.

Just as I had knew he would, Wayne drove immediately to Oregon State campus when we reached Corvallis. OSU looked a bit tired, run down, a bit trashy and lacked enthusiasm.

I suppose I'm "miffed" at Oregon State because of the response received when I inquired about having Ozzie's teeth cleaned at their small animal vet school. I was told OSU doesn't have vet dentistry.  With regard to the lump on Ozzie's neck, we could expect OSU's fee to be much more than if we took him to a private practice vet. In other words, they weren't interested in seeing Ozzie.

We found the OSU Beaver football stadium in short order. It's named for a food company based near here -- Reser.



Lunch was disappointing this day too.  In downtown Corvallis we spotted Alley Gyros and made the block several times looking for a shady parking place so we could leave Lexie and Ozzie in the car.  The temperature was almost 70 and we were having a rare sunny day.  When no shady parking space could be found we decided to put the pups in the stroller, get our gyros "to go" and take a short 1-1/2 block stroll to the riverfront park to eat.  Alley Gyros failed miserably for us. The food was poorly wrapped, not bagged at all and was void of taste -- completely unauthentic and without seasonings.  It turned out to be a messy fiasco but we managed.  Drat.

The final disappointment for the day was our ride to the local Corvallis covered bridge.  Lady GaGa (the GPS) took us four miles to a turn that did not allow motorized vehicular traffic.  The covered bridge couldn't even be seen from our vantage point. Adding insult to injury, there was nowhere to park the car to take the 2 mile hike required to see the bridge.

We gave up and made our way back to Harrisburg for a relaxing afternoon in the shade of the coach.

1 comment:

  1. You got some good shots! How in the world do you manage to not get anything or anyone in the way when you take pics? Enjoy your cool weather - it is 99 here today! You know where we spend most of our time!

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