[written by Jean]
Monday July 19, 1971
Reedsport, Ore.
Dear Muriel, Palma & Sylvia
This was the day of our trip up
the Rogue River
on the “Official Mail Boat.”
There’s also the “Original Mail Boat.” We had our second
breakfast of Virginia Bakery
sweet rolls. This time with orange just as there were no quarts of
milk in the store last night. Daddy’s coffee dealy is working out
very well. Then packed up & off to the mail boat.
They left pretty much on time. We
were the 2nd of at least 3 leaving at 8:30. It’s a beautiful river
with a very wide flood plain. As you get up a few bends the trees
don’t have so many snags among them and it’s better forest. There
are several places where the channel must be deepened or they
couldn’t run the boats all summer. There are 2 places to eat and
they ask you where you’re going before you leave and evidently
phone the orders up. We made the last stop at Singing Springs.
It’s efficiently run and you’re assigned a table as you arrive
and tell them your order — chicken or roast beef. We arrived
shortly after 10:30; lunch at 11;30 — leave at 1. We chose to walk
to “town.” There is a Forest station and one store
in Agness.
2 room school house and high school is an hour away. It was quite
warm and we just sat under the trees after lunch until time to leave.
As we were leaving Carl noticed a busboy we were talking to was from
Iowa. I noticed it was Des Moines and asked if he’d gone to East
High. Sure enough he knew Clarice.
I found the trip back less
enjoyable as going downstream we had a stronger wind but it was only
1½ hours (about 30 miles) back so that helped. The day dawned clear
and it was still clear at 2:30 when we returned. Since then we have
driven to Reedsport where we got out first motel with a pool. Laurel is swimming now
behind me — I was in earlier about ½ hour. We don’t plan [on]
going out to dinner tonight after a good lunch and expensive dinners
the last 2 nights.
We’ll call you at 9.
July 20, 1971 Tue
The fog came in so it was foggy
when we looked out at Reedsport. So we are seeing the Oregon Coast in
sun and fog. As we came north we found there were so many interesting
things to see we decided we didn’t care whether we got to Astoria
or not.
1st was a little place where an
insectivorous [plant] grows profusely.
The sea lions were hiding in the
fog.
2nd Cape Perpetua;
first the short Indian shell mounds and then an interesting Forest
Service Visitors Center, and and fog.
At Newport
there was a bakery, county museum, old lighthouse
and right up the highway an agate beach.
At Cape Foulweather
there is a beautiful view — the one on the Sunset Oregon book —
with sea otters out on the rocks. Finally we headed to Tillamook
and I couldn’t get Carl to either stop or take a byway again.
Love,
JRS