Eugene, Oregon

Published by Jane Appel on

September 1-8, 2021

It was an easy decision to make our path include a stop in Eugene to see our daughter [Elizabeth] Leigh and son-in-law Brett. We tried some new restaurants, revisited a favorite, and enjoyed some home cooking. Oh, and we found some geocaches.

George Dorris and his wife Lulu bought a property in 1892 to grow hops and asparagus. In 1903 they planted filbert (hazelnut) trees and harvested their first crop in 1905 in what would become the oldest commercial filbert orchard in the U.S. Today more than half of all commercial filbert trees in the U.S. can be traced to stock from Dorris Ranch.

Dorris is credited with agricultural techniques and the overall success of the filbert industry in the U.S.
The ranch is owned by the Willamalane Park and Recreation District, a special tax district that operates parks and recreation facilities in the area. The orchard includes 9,200 trees from which 56 tons of nuts are harvested each year.
It looks as if the leaves make cups in which the hazelnuts grow.

Other caches in the area were interesting and fun.

Dave liked this VW Beetle. Spoiler alert for the next photo.
The cache was located on this part of the car.
Dave was almost eaten when we stopped by the Museum of Natural and Cultural History for an earth cache. We hadn’t seen an elephant with mastodon tusks before.
One of Jane’s all-time favorite geocaches was this sign. The log was hidden behind it.
We found some teasels last summer and loved finding this impressive stand.
This rose was growing in the RV park where we stayed–just an I-5 exit away from where Leigh and Brett live.
Categories: Travel

1 Comment

Laura · September 26, 2021 at 9:51 am

Loving my vicarious travels through your eyes since there is no travel going on here. Loved the natural nut cups.

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