Exploring States and National Parks: a Bucket List entry-

In my Bucket List I noted a number of the Western States of the United States of America. Technically, I have already visited thirty of the fifty states. However, most of those visits were limited in scope. I was compelled for one reason or another to remain largely in just a few places within those states. I have seen a lot of the country, but not as much of it up close as I would like.

Our protracted move to Medford, Oregon, will define a lot of my early exploration. Southern Oregon and Northern California will be within reach for shorter adventures. Shorter adventures are less costly, and therefore can be conducted more frequently. However, local exploration is not the whole of my desire as expressed in my Bucket List.

Other states will be touched on by my U.S. Route adventures. Washington state shall benefit from the Route 395 adventure as well as the Route 2 adventure. Indeed, only a few more explorations will be necessary to pretty much complete that exploration, at least for the purpose of my Bucket List.

Route 395 will also fulfill a big part of California and Oregon exploration. It will just touch on Nevada. That state will require some additional planned explorations. Again, much can be reached on forays from Oregon. A dozen two week adventures could cover quite a bit of that state, with careful planning.

Arizona will require more advanced planning. It is an interesting state, and worth some protracted adventuring. Probably explorations of New Mexico would be made at the same time, since visiting Arizona will bring me closer to New Mexico than I would be under any normal circumstances.

These two states also stand along the return path from Route 61. A carefully plotted return journey could allow for some pretty nice exploration along the way. However, the Route 2/Route 61 adventure will take a lot of time and resources, so the Arizona/New Mexico exploration would be defined to a large degree by available time and money.

Forays to visit some National Parks would serve as platforms for exploring a number of states on my list. These forays are far in the future, most of them. I should be able to apply a lot of travel experience to reducing the cost of these journeys, and I should also learn just how much time I can afford to spend on any one adventure.

In the Western States I shall incorporate the National Parks into exploration. The National Parks, however, exist in places other than the Western States. Those outside of the Western States shall await completion (to my satisfaction) of Western State exploration before becoming the targets of future adventures. Some might fit into my distant route 1 journey. Others will have to be targets in themselves.

I am anxious to begin these adventures. Even my little journeys in the beginning are exciting prospects. If I am quite fortunate I shall be able to find seasonal employment or develop some flexible business venture to help fund my adventures. I don't expect to be traveling a lot in the colder months, and dedicating them to building travel funds seems a good use of the time.

For now, I wait on the buyer of our house finding us. We are doing all we can to find them. It is just a matter of time.

Medford, Oregon-

Having made my journey along Highways 101, 299, 96 and Interstate 5 to Medford, I enjoyed a week with my family. I see my family but once each year, and it is a special time. We don't always do much, but then with family you haven't seen for a year you don't really have to do much. Just being together again is enough.

A public blog is not a great venue to report such a visit. It might not even prove interesting to those who were there. It was time together, and it was good.

I enjoyed a visit to my sister Donni's pre-school. We watched her interact with and instruct her students in her custom built classroom. This is The Kinder-Garden, a dream project my father and my sister shared in bringing into being. Her long education and extensive experience in pre-school education, advised and assisted by my father's lifetime in the field of education, makes this a valuable asset for parents seeking quality pre-school education for their children in the Medford area.

One special part of the visit that is worth a report is our evening at Porters Restaurant in Medford. My niece Shayla manages this fine establishment, and invited us down to enjoy her hospitality in their very nice bar. She provided some very delightful selections from the bar menu for us to enjoy.

I would love to have taken notes. I did not. My Dad and I had bacon burgers that were excellent. There was a very interesting pizza made with goat cheese, and some sweet potato fries that were accompanied by two heavenly dips. I am a late-blooming foodie, and I simply failed at registering the many delights that graced our table.

The restaurant and bar occupy the former train station in Medford. The decor is rich and tasteful, with the railroad theme carried throughout without being overwhelming. The bar was very comfortable, with elements of whimsy here and there to provide a sense of fun. My own photos are valuable to me, but I think the images provided in the web site convey enough of the spirit of the place without introducing my own images.

The evening at Porters capped a very pleasant visit in Medford with my family.