Friday, November 17, 2023
We left Red Bluff, California at a decent hour for the anticipated five and a half hour drive to Junction City, Oregon.
Since we had all day, we opted to stop several times along the way to "smell the roses."
Our drive on Interstate 5 was part
of the Blue Star Memorial Highway
dedicated to those who served in WWII
Our view of the Siskiyou Mountains
at the O'Brien Rest Area included . . .
. . . a deer sighting in the distance
Same Blue Star Highway but now
at a Vista Point of . . .
. . . Mt. Shasta
Why are their bear prints imbedded
forever along the cement sidewalk
at this View Point?
Our next stop was the quaint town of Dunsmuir.
Dunsmuir was rustic to be sure
Perhaps once Dunsmuir's
greatest dive bar
Great name for a hair salon
I wonder if grandson Jacob would be up for it?
Dunsmuir's entertainment center
We drove down a small street to Dunsmuir's artsy section on the good side of the train tracks.
Rusting pipes greeted us . . .
. . . as did this train worthy of a
David Lassen photo shoot
Funky architecture housing
the Brown Troll
Dunsmuir's Opera House first
opened its doors in 1903
A combination art gallery and coffee shop serving fantastic pastries is now this old building's only tenant.
Leaves trapped in a Halloween
inspired spider web
I told you that the coffee shop
was also an art gallery
Interesting . . .
The Bee Kind served us an excellent
blueberry muffin that we shared
Perhaps this was Dunsmuir's
fire station back in the day
Our granddaughter Mary might
move to Dunsmuir just to live in
this pink house, her favorite color
We pushed onwards to the artsy and decidedly New Age community Mt. Shasta.
On the Line?
This brought back lots of fond memories of two-a-day practices at Westlake High School in the 1970s and 1980s.
Santa Claus himself doing a
self portrait on this store's window
His pipe was simply perfect for his look today as artist not gift giver.
The community's name sake . . .
. . . Mt. Shasta
I mentioned that there is a
New Age vibe in Mt. Shasta
Mary would have loved this fairy statue.
Is her purple outfit an omen of a Washington Huskies victory over the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday?
One can only hope.
Mother Earth?
Mt. Shasta had a Christmas Store
Laurie was good and kept the financial damages at an acceptable level.
In front of the Mt. Shasta
Police Department they were . . .
. . . decorating this huge Christmas tree
Hold your horses Mt. Shasta, we still have a week until the Thanksgiving Holiday.
We enjoyed all of these stops but we really needed to push on to the Airbnb in Junction City that we would share with Mark and Susie Johnson for two nights.
They have murals in Junction City
Our Queen Anne Victorian Airbnb
was built in 1878 and is . . .
. . . PINK!
Our little Mary would have loved it on many levels!
Laurie and I ate dinner at
Bugsy's Bar and Grill
We walked the two short blocks from our Victorian dwelling to take in all of the ambiance of Bugsy's that was recently voted Junction City's all-time best Dive Bar.
The food was actually quite good and the local patrons were outgoing and friendly.
It was now time for me to attend my 40th football game of the 2023 season in nearby Eugene, Oregon.
The Governing Body of Oregon
High School Sports . . .
. . . hosts a somewhat different playoff
structure at the 6A level, their highest
There are a total of 44 schools listed by the OSAA in the 6A division. During the season their 44 football teams are given a Power Ranking based on some inexplicable algorithm created undoubtedly by a mad mathematician in Grants Pass.
At the end of the regular season, the top 16 teams, based on these Power Rankings, are placed into the OSAA 6A State Football Championship brackets.
The next 16 teams that are the ranked 17-32 are then placed into a completely separate playoff system that is labeled the OSAA 6A Columbia Cup Playoffs.
Schools ranked 33-44 turn in their gear the Monday after their last regular season game.
There was only one state playoff game at any level even remotely close to our AirBnB in Junction City, Oregon.
We were on it.
The contest in question was a 6A Columbia Cup Semi-Final Playoff Game.
Clackamas H.S. Cavaliers
Mt. Hood Conference Third Place
7 wins - 4 Losses
Ranked #22 in 6A
vs.
South Medford H.S. Panthers
Special District 1 Conference Fifth Place
8 Wins - 3 Losses
Ranked #18 in 6A
Because these two schools are located nearly 300 miles apart, the game was played at a neutral site about half way between the two schools. The game site was Willamette H.S. in Eugene, Oregon, a mere 15 minute drive from our AirBnB in Junction City.
GAME ON!
I opted for a seat in the covered
bleachers of the home side
South Medford H.S. was the designated home team.
Because of the exceedingly long distances travelled by both schools, the crowd was quite sparse in my opinion for a state semi-final playoff game.
No matter for the players as both teams came out giving great effort while playing a physical brand of football.
Clackamas, in white, kicking off
South Medford moved the ball
efficiently on their opening drive
Clackamas struggled in their
first possession
At the end of the First Quarter
South Medford led 16-0
The South Medford Defense played
a splendid First Half . . .
. . . but Clackamas still
had their moments
Just before Halftime . . .
. . . South Medford scored again
This made the Halftime Score, South Medford 30 - Clackamas 7
I was comfy at Halftime but . . .
Laurie had been home alone and the Johnson's had returned to the Airbnb from their dinner date with their local friends Scott Barnes and his wife. Barnes is the Athletic Director at Oregon State University.
As for me, the South Medford Panthers seemingly had the game well in hand, it was getting colder and we still had a Saturday night Washington vs. Oregon State game to play, so I opted to come home.
I did say seemingly . . .
I was a tad miffed that I left early when I saw the final score of the game:
South Medford Panthers (9-3) - 51
Clackamas Cavaliers (7-5) - 33
I missed a lot of Second Half fireworks to be sure.
South Medford will now play in the 6A Columbia Cup Championship Game against Portland's Sunset H.S. Apollos (8-4) who routed the Barlow H.S. Bruins (6-6) tonight, 50-21, to earn their slot in the Big Game.
Now it is on to game #41 of the season for me Saturday night when the #5 ranked, 10-0 Washington Huskies are 2 1/2 point underdogs to the home team #11 ranked, 8-2 Oregon State Beavers.
Are the oddsmakers disrespecting the Dawgs? While I am greatly concerned about this game and can see a good Beavers squad pulling off the upset for a variety of reasons, I think that the oddsmakers in Las Vegas are hopefully wrong.
All in all though, another GREAT day to be alive enjoying life with my sweetheart.
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