On Thursday, we struck camp early to drive to Ashland for the matinee we were scheduled to see. I'd expected the play to be the only interesting feature of day. On the contrary--we saw many great sites on the way to Ashland and by our cabin/hotel in the evening.
I took a variety of pictures this day.
On the way out of Crater Lake, we paralleled the Rogue River much of the way and stopped at various spots along it to sight-see. At some point we left the forests and entered the so-called Rogue River Valley, where highway 5 runs and most of the towns in this part of Oregon are clustered (including Ashland).
The weather was beautiful in the valley. When we'd stopped at our first viewpoint on the way out of Crater Lake, the thermostat has just reached 40 degrees. By the time we left the forest and mountains and entered the valley several hours later, we were in a different climate and at a warmer time of the day. It was 70s in the sun.
We stopped at the Rogue Valley Growers (i.e., farmers) & Crafters Market, which was held this day in Medford, the town next to Ashland. It's a good-sized, wide-ranging market.
Much of it is devoted to food and food ingredients. I liked the selection of prepared foods: lots of bakeries (including one that sold huge scones and another that sold "baklava bites" = little pockets of baklava and a third that sold apple, cherry, etc. pies baked like empanadas/turnovers), a donut stand (that made fresh donuts on-location), a Greek-ish stand (spanakopita, squash pies, apple strudel), a Turkish stand (with a gyro skewer), a good-looking Japanese food truck, and a local ice cream stand (butter pecan, toasted sesame with honey). Of course, as usual there were stands selling vegetables, fruits (the strawberries were cheaper than in the bay area!), mushrooms, honey, pasta, etc. There was a stand selling locally raised meat: beef, chicken, veal, and even buffalo!
Some stands sold plants, including cactuses and carnivorous plants.
The market also had many arts and crafts vendors, selling items ranging from carved wood and jewelry to perfumes and soaps.
We bought a lot of stuff at market for later meals.
After we left the market, we stopped by a park briefly, happened upon some deer on the road and in the park, then made our way to Ashland.
The reason we made Ashland a destination on this trip was because it's the site of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which I've been to twice before and enjoyed (1, 2a, 2b, 2c). Ashland and the festival are the same as always; I won't bother to describe my overall impressions of them in this post because my impressions haven't changed.
In Ashland, we headed to Lela's Cafe for lunch. I'd been there before and remarked that the sandwiches are so good that it alone might be an excuse to travel to Ashland. Well, the sandwiches were as delicious this time! Details are in the pictures.
After lunch, we trotted over to our matinee play: She Loves Me. Here's my reaction, indented so as to be easily skipable.
It's the timeless trope of two people who fell in love writing letters to each other yet had never met. They end up unknowingly working in the same perfume shop and don't get off on the right foot. Meanwhile they're still writing each other passionate letters, not realizing the other is the person they fight with at work. The first half of the play sets the scene; the second half shows what happens when their romantic worlds start colliding.
It's a cute, fun musical of a play, funny at times. I wouldn't call it a full musical because there are fewer dance routines and it has a smaller cast than a normal musical. The story is based on the play Parfumerie (written in Hungarian) by Miklos Laszlo. It was made into a musical by the same guys (Bock and Harnick) who later did bigger musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof. The tale was also adapted into many plays and movies, most notably You've Got Mail.
There are some funky (though nevertheless fun) musical interludes (Twelve Days to Christmas, the madcap dance in the Cafe, etc.) that don't really advance the story. These bothered me a little. (They didn't need to be there.)
Everyone in the story felt real, human, like ordinary working people looking for love. I compliment the play-writers for keeping everything grounded. Fundamentally, as one critic put it, the play is an "unsentimental love story."
I was surprised to notice that there were no deep themes here, no commentary on life or the human condition. This is unusual for plays I see. (Even Shakespeare's comedies have one-off lines or soliloquies that make a broader statement.)
Knowing that we were staying in a cabin this evening, after the play we stopped by the Ashland Food Co-op to pick up supplies to cook for dinner. The food co-op is a pretty good grocery store--quite extensive--with a fun deli section (bison tamales, anyone? sesame noodles? baklava?) and a wall of bulk food bins including things such as buckwheat grouts (roasted or unroasted) and rye berries. The freezer section even had such novel treats as honey pomegranate Greek ice cream. Finally, I was impressed to see a little bin one could put wine corks in to be recycled.
Amply supplied, we drove east on curvy route 66, heading to our place for the night. The road rose above the valley, yielding some pretty views. Although narrow and curvy and sometimes without guard-rails next to drop-offs, the drive didn't bother us because we were already used to Rim Drive in Crater Lake.
We checked in at Green Springs Inn's front desk, which is located in the inn's restaurant. They gave us a key and a map that provided directions on how to get to the cabin. We drove down the one-lane dirt road to our cabin, named Pilot Rock, passing deer on the way.
There, we discovered that our cabin was awesome! Thus begins my encomium. The pictures and especially the videos I recorded present it pretty well. First, it's really well designed / laid out. I've been reading a book on architecture, so I'm even more sensitive to this than usual.
The cabin's a rustic chic. It was built from the wood on the property; indeed, we passed the wood shop where they put things together on the way to the cabin. (They're building more than the four they currently have.) Nevertheless, despite the rustic feel, it has fancy, modern conveniences such as a sound system (for radio, set to NPR) and wireless internet. There's no TV, but we didn't feel its absence. The cabin is well outfitted with amenities. There's a hot tub. There's both a wood-burning furnace (for cozy heat) and a regular heating system. We found a shelf of games: yathzee, scrabble, cribbage, uno. Finally, though we didn't get to use it, there's a barbecue grill and a supply of firewood out back. Also, the cabin is built to the latest green-building specs.
Confirming the cabin's secluded appeal, there's no sound when on the deck. No cars. No other people. One hears only the forest. The only man-made structure in sight was another cabin, but it was a substantial distance away.
Fundamentally, this cabin is an incredibly peaceful, comfortable, special place to be. I think this is the best place I ever stayed in (in its class -- it shouldn't be measured on the same scale as the Peninsula and other four-star hotels). By the time we left the cabin, Di Yin was talking about going back for three days or three weeks. I kept saying, "Three weeks? No! Three months!" It's a great retreat.
The next morning, I spent some time reading the cabin's guest book. It was fun to read; the other guests were as panegyric as we were. Di Yin left a fun note (and an illustration) in the book on our behalf.
Incidentally, we ate dinner this evening in the cabin; Di Yin cooked us a lovely meal.
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