Sublimity Cafe with great food.

Okay, I know it isn't Saturday, but I decided to start a new part that talks about the little-known small businesses in the Mid-Willamette Valley. This new part of my blog is to encourage area consumers to buy more from a small business that a national or global chain.

Today, I would like to feature a small business in Sublimity, Oregon called the Canyon's Edge Cafe. As of now, I have been there twice and had two different sandwiches that are great. Their Reuben sandwich is perhaps the best Reuben I have ever had. Both times that I was there, I noticed other customers ordering the Turkey Wrap, which must be pretty darn good and I might try one next time. They even have their own Facebook page: Canyons Edge Cafe. So if you happen to be in the Stayton-Sublimity area, skip the McDonalds and give the Canyon's Edge Cafe a try. To get to this from Cascade Highway (the 'Main Street' through Sublimity), park in front of the Ditter's Town Square and go through the arch. On your left will be an open area with tables that are set out in front of the cafe. If the parking along the street in front is full, there is more parking in back.

For providing great food, great prices, and excellent service, I give the Canyon's Edge Cafe ★★★★ (out of four)

Oregon AgFest 2013

This morning I went to the Oregon AgFest at the Oregon State Fairgrounds since I have never gone before. They had all sorts of things on display and to learn about. What interested me most were the animals and old tractors. Starting with the John Deere Tractor...

 I liked this tractor for the plow at the back.

 It's not often that I get to see a horse-drawn anything out here in Oregon; so when I saw these two hooked up, I had to get a picture.

 All of the goats you see below are Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats from Blythmoor Farms. Since I never heard of Dwarf Goats, I mistook them for Pygmy Goats at first.

 

If you look closely, the goats' eyes have turned blue from the camera.

While there were sheep, a few chickens and rabbits, I tended to skip them is they weren't anything special. As for the llama in the picture below, I took its picture over the other four because I have never seen a llama with so much white fur (I even mistook it for an alpaca)

The two calfs above wanted to meet everyone, especially the black and white one.

The calf above was camera shy -- it kept turning it's head away.

This is 'Nosey' and supposedly she is a Brown Swiss 

 I'm not quite sure why, but this nice looking truck was on display in one of the buildings.

4 Oregon State Parks in 7 hours

After making sure I had a better map and my hiking stick with me, I headed out to the first of four state parks at 7:30 this morning. The first stop was Bonnie Lure State Natural Site. Just before this stop, I saw a brown Hare hop out of the brush and onto the side of the road; I could tell it was a hare as it's ears were rather small and unfortunately I didn't get a picture. The small parking lot for the park should have told me that it was going to be a small park, but I hiked the very short hiking trail past several plants in bloom to the edge of Eagle Creek.

After taking a few pictures, a went back to my car and took a different way back. This allowed me to see 7 deer foraging in somebody's field.

Mount Hood is in the background.

Once on the highway again, I missed the exit for the freeway and got lost in one of them any suburbs of Portland. I normally leave cities alone, hence the reason I got lost. After following my intuition, I was able to get on the freeway and make it to the next park: Mary S. Young State Park. It seemed more like an over-sized city park with many trails through the forested region. Some of those trails used to be rails from a bygone era. Although, seeing the Trillium in bloom made it worthwhile.

After seeing what I wanted to see there, I left for the next park. (I may go back someday to hike the trails) The next park is one I have wanted to check out for a while now. Champoeg State Park, near the small town of St. Paul, has a long history that includes being the first place in Oregon to have a government. After touring the Visitor Center, I decided to walk a small distance to see some of the plant life and unexpectedly startled a Blue Heron. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture fast enough. I definitely want to go back as I didn't see all of this park due to the fact that I was getting quite an apatite and decided to go into the town of St. Paul for some food. I found this nice mobile BBQ called the Burning Boar BBQ and decided to have the sausage with saurkraut and grilled onions. It was quite good and I give the Burning Boar BBQ five stars for quality and low price.

Anyway, the last stop of the day was Willamette Mission State Park. As I didn't see the whole park, I intend to go back. The highlight of the visit was seeing the nation's largest black cottonwood. It is 26 feet, three inches around; 155 feet tall; and supposedly began growing in 1735, making it 278 years old. Two small lakes allow for fishing and kayaking/canoeing. One of these lakes, Mission Lake, was formed during the Great Flood of 1861 when the river changed to it's present course.

A Montana rock and many geese.

I decided to make Wednesdays my day for exploring the Willamette Valley. So today, I went out to the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge and then go to Erratic Rock State Park. Unfortunately, I got to Baskett Slough NWR when it was still foggy. So I headed northwest to Erratic Rock State Park, home to the Willamette Valley's largest rock that shouldn't be there. Before I realized, I had passed the small sign next to the side road and so I had to find the next side road to turn around at. The next street just happened to be one of which a produce store was at.

Erratic Rock State Park really isn't much of a park. It has very little parking, a trail, several glacial erratics (rocks carried by ice and set down as the water recedes), a good view, and a picnic table.

The Trail head and the 'parking area'

After walking a short, uphill distance, I got to the top. What a view I had there.

 

As I was leaving the place, I noticed the farm right next to it was a Century Farm, which I think are pretty cool. I also saw a mailbox with this on it:

Next, I headed back to the wildlife refuge. In one of the many ponds at Baskett Slough, many black ducks or some other waterfowl were either washing themselves or diving for food. and beside the same pond were some geese.

At another stop, I went on another hike that took me up a hill and through some woods that were mainly Oregon Oak. In one of the fields were many geese:

I plan on going back soon to check out the other trails, and also go back in late October when the Oak trees are full of color. Baskett Slough NWR is one of the few places in the Willamette Valley that preserves the Oak Savanna that once covered all of the Willamette Valley.