Destinations

For this one, I need help, in the form of comments, from my fellow Oregonians.

I'm not taking a big out-of-town trip this summer. For one thing, I don't have the money. For another, I don't have time, as I have this steady dribble of little responsibilities and duties and chores that will keep me tethered to home.

This is not a bad thing, really. I've grown into a homebody in my middle age. What I've decided to do, though, is make a lot of little one-day excursions. And in Oregon, there are a lot of those available.

What's below is a draft list of places I plan to visit. If you spot good choices that I'm overlooking, do please put up a comment and add to them.

The criteria are pretty simple: it needs to be easy to get to. That means either it needs to be a two-hour drive or less from Eugene, or it needs to be accessible by Amtrak. (I love Amtrak!) And it needs to be worth the visit. And it can cost something, but it shouldn't be opulent. I can spend one night, or possibly two, but single day trips are what I'm really after.

Here's what I have so far:

• Portland/Seattle. I'm going there at the end of June. The Indigo Girls are playing in Eugene, Portland and Seattle on consecutive days, so I'm following them up the coast on Amtrak, then coming back home and getting back to work.
  
• Along the way, I do plan to swing out and see Multnomah Falls.
  
• And I may take in the Japanese Garden again; I saw it in December, but I'm told it's spectacular in the summer.
  
• And I've been commanded to go to OMSI.
  
• Coos Bay/Bandon. A couple of folks in my Sunday School class are Coos Bay natives, and they tell me there are all kinds of coolness to be found in these two towns, some of it little-known.
  
• And although I took one excursion to the coast last fall, and checked out both Florence and Newport, I by no means exhausted everything there was to see. I skipped Heceta Head, and rolled through a lot of towns like Yachats.
  
• The South Sister/Mount Pisgah. I haven't been much of a backpacker thus far, but I'm very okay with extremely long walks, even strenuous ones, and I'm told either or both of these treks would include some mind-slamming views. I'm also told I need to check out Sahalie Falls while I'm out that way.
  
• The church has an excursion to Triangle Lake in mid-July, so I'll get a good look at that.
  
• Speaking of the church, the college fellowship folks are talking about a road trip to Ashland for the Shakespeare festival. I'm quite intrigued by that.
  
• And closer to home, places I can reach on foot, include Spencer's Butte and Gillespie Butte.
  

That's the beginning of the list. Help me make it longer, eh? Thanks.