Honey, guess what I brought home

I must be nuts. Flew down to CA to pick up a 95 Eurovan camper. It is hard to find one in nice condition with a manual transmission. Fortunately this one runs great. The trip home was uneventful. On the way back I stopped at Silver Falls State Park. With almost 8000 acres, it's Oregon's largest and is well worth the side trip. I will go again. The big falls are about 177 and 139 ft high and you can walk behind them.

This park was created by the efforts of one man, June Drake. He roamed this area as a kid and the beauty of the area inspired him to become a professional photograher. He spearheaded the move to make it into a state park, including purchasing 160 acres which he turned over to the park. In 1933 FDR made it a CCC project and over the next 7 years they created this incredible park. The buildings were built from stone and timber on the land. The furniture was made by them too. All the table and chairs were made from a couple large myrtle trees and they are stunning.

The mastodon and horse are by an unknown artist sitting on their property. This person is not only a good welder, but has an incredible eye.

For more info:
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_211.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Falls_State_Park

Nice pics and nice vehicle, BG. My maternal grandfather (who I was lucky enough to know & work with & learn from for many years), was an architect/contractor/builder/craftsman back when things weren't yet so specialized as they are today. You wanted a house on your farm in Iowa? He'd design it with you, then hire a crew and build it...right down to the hand-planed crown moldings. Want a stone church? He'd get 'er done it right down to handcrafting beautifully graceful wooden pews. During the depression in the 1930's, he was able to find work with the CCC. It meant dragging his family around the country a few times...but it was work. He oversaw many projects just like the one you described...parks and wildlife refuges, for the most part. In each case, they made the very most of what they could from the locally available materials. His sturdy work still stands in many places...Iowa, Arkansas, Oregon, Florida, Massachusetts, to name a few. I've been to see some of his work, and I have old pictures of many more of his projects. The legacy that program (the Civilian Conservation Corps) left to all of us is absolutely priceless, a national treasure. This park you visited in Oregon is one example of many across the country. I'm glad it's being well taken care of, and I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. Rick

Rick, your grandad did some very fine work. The fact that 80 years later these building are still standing proud is a testament to the good workmanship of the CCC.

I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures of the lodge, but wikipedia has this nice one of the exterior:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_Falls_Lodge_west_elevation_-_Oregon.jpg

Thanks. We're trying to figure out what the big purple bushes are? This was after Redding and they were quite common, but just in this area of I5. the flowers are quite tiny, but there are thousands of them per bush.

I thought the same but these were definitely more purple than the redbuds I have seen. However there is a Chinese variety that may be close, not sure.