Thanksgiving with Family Well Spent

Issue 62

by Steven Kramer

Despite living out of town, I still get invited on certain expeditions my parents go on. Thanksgiving, being traditionally a holiday spent together, I was invited to go to a deluxe yurt at Umpqua Beach State Park, an invitation I gladly accepted.  Deluxe yurts are very similar to the regular yurts mentioned in previous issues.  For those who haven't seen or read about them before now, these are modernized replicas of the mongolian traditional structure: in essence, a round cabin with a checkerboard-like wooden framework, a glass dome in the center of the roof, a heater, a lamp, table and chairs, a futon, and a bunk bed. In essence, a deluxe yurt is the same, except that a deluxe yurt also has a built in bathroom with shower, a TV, VCR, and kitchenette… not exactly 'bare necessities camping' but a nice alternative to tent camping, in a part of the state where winters are rainy and average around 50 degrees.

My parents came down to Ashland to pick me up, and I drove the return trip along I-5, to give them a rest. We spent the car trip catching up on each others lives, and had dinner and watched a movie when we got there. However, despite our sluggishness, Umpqua (əmp-kwah) Lighthouse State Park is in the middle of the southern Oregon Coast, so there are no shortage of things to do, and we made the most of these. When we weren't watching movies or episodes of Grimm (see review, next issue), we explored the coast, and saw a few places we were already familiar with. 

We had lunch at a local casino, which does a thanksgiving buffet. It was very good food, but took us nearly an hour to get into, and we were both hungry and slightly annoyed by the time we were finally seated. Overall the weather was outstanding (unusually so for November on the Oregon Coast) and we made the most of this as well. We went for a handful of hikes, including one around the lake at Umpqua Lighthouse, and a nearby lake, called Eel Lake. The latter hike takes its travelers away from civilization and into the southern Oregon backcountry so that the only sign of civilization is the occasional boat and the sound of Rt. 101 on the far bank. We also walked the dunes and beach in the nearby Oregon Dunes Nat. Rec. Area. The Evergreen Huckleberries, a winter crop, with a sweet, smokey taste, were ripe and Dad and I enjoyed several handfuls worth, though Mom decided to pass.

By far, however, the highlight of our trip was the Shore Acres State Park holiday lights. Following a reasonably long hike to let the sun set, we went into the botanical gardens to see the lights. Shore Acres State Park is a public showcase of the remains of a large coastal estate, including gardens, tennis courts, and beautiful natural features. The Gardens were it up with all sorts of lights: colored draperies on bushes, strings through trees, and then there were the shapes. By far these were the most impressive. There were lights in the shapes of flowers on flowers, with round lights to look like the flowers themselves. There was a jumping frog, a stationary frog next to a soundbox to give the illusion the frog was alive, two glowing underwater koi, and two whales. The inside of the groundkeeper's house was decorated as well, with tinsel, lights, a tree in every room, and Christmas themed things that were loaned from other people for the display, including Santa in a bubble bath of clear glass globes.

The weekend went well I'm getting older, more mature and am beginning want an independent life away from family. However despite this new and exciting journey known as college, it's always nice to spend time with family now and then, if only for a weekend.

The glowing fish and garden decorations as they
 apeared in 2012. Much of the decoration in this picture
 were brought back for the 2013 season.