May 2nd ~ Overnight in Central Point, OR
Mount Pitt aka Mount McLoughlin – (courtesy of Laura Urban)
We enjoyed our time at Howard Prairie, regardless of finding few morel mushrooms. But, it was once again time to pack up and move on toward our next stop. Leaving the Howard Prairie area, we admired a nice view of snow-capped Mt. Pitt (aka Mt. McLoughlin).
Our first stop of the morning was at Lake of the Woods. Many wonderful summer days had been spent here staying at a cabin owned by family friends from our childhood.
Lake of the Woods
Felt like Goldilock sitting in Papa Bears chair
Too cold for most of the boats to be in the water
We selected an RV park in Central Point as our home base, quickly set up and then took off in our tow vehicle (Jethro) to show them the old mining town of Jacksonville.
Jacksonville Tavern sign
“Jacksonville was founded following discovery of gold deposits in 1851–1852. Jacksonville was home to the first Chinatown in Oregon, founded by immigrants from San Francisco, California.” ~ Wikipedia
Designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1966, the town still has the feeling of the Old West. Old time advertisements can be read, although faded, on the sides of well-worn brick buildings.
Levi Strauss Overalls add
Chewing tobacco add
The original jail, city hall, and fire station still stand.
City Hall
Fire Hall
Home of the yearly summer Britt Music Festival which draws fans from around the country. This seasons performances range from classical orchestras to well-known names such as Chris Isaak, Jeff Dunham, Ann Wilson, Arlo Guthrie, and Peter Frampton to name a few.
Flowers grow very well here
After a stroll down main street, exploring some of the Britt estate gardens, a short hike on the Zigler Trail, and a refreshing smoothie, we traveled a few blocks to the old cemetery.
Jacksonville cemetery
Jacksonville cemetery
The Nunan House is one of the most impressive of the older estates to be found in the area.
Nunan House
Nunan House
I grew up in Medford, and my parents and grandparents are buried in town. Since it was so close to both Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, my sister and I wanted to stop by the gravesite to leave some flowers and pay our respects.
My mom’s grave. Iris was her favorite flower.
Dinner was at a favorite pizza parlor, Kaleidoscope, which has a Grateful Dead theme. Laura pronounced it the “best pizza she had ever eaten”.
The evening was topped off with Go Kart racing. A couple of pictures show off the competitive spirits. Please forgive that they are a bit blurred, but I took them while driving. I found out that my traveling companions take this VERY seriously 🙂
Laura has a “KILLER” instinct that came out on the track, lol.
Thumbs up
Mark was in it to win it!
And another fine day came to an end…
Laura, Joanne, Jan
Tim, Mark, Michael
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful for another walk down memory lane, and being able to show our friends more of my “roots”. Paying our respects to our departed family members held some mixed feelings for me and my sister. There was a twinge of sadness, but mostly we felt joy at being able to celebrate the wonderful memories of our childhood and to be together paying our respects to them. We felt our parents love and believe that they would be/are happy that we have such full lives and that we were able to spend this special time together.
A Note From Abroad 
Beautiful presentation of such amazing places. Great post.
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Thank you very much.
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Welcome
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Wow… what an incredible cover image !!!
Beautiful post with diverse images which truly gives a feel of the place 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
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I hope that you are getting an idea of why this area remains so special for me. Growing up in Southern Oregon was a blessing that I took for granted at the time – spectacular natural beauty, a safe community, excellent education system and a loving family environment.
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Absolutely 🙂
I could very well relate to what you said, as I quit my IT job with some big corporate and now settled in my native, Kerala 🙂
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Sometimes the simpler life is very rewarding.
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What a wonderful day, so much fun.
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Yes, it was 😃
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Boy, today’s post was memory lane tripping for me. To the max. I spent happy summers at Lake of the Woods, at the Scout Camp there, and it included Mt. McLoughlin climbs. And it was a big thing as kids to ride bikes from Medford to Jacksonville for the day. How I wish my kids could have experienced some of this. Hey, sure hope you’re taking your friends on the Rogue River. If nothing else, drive the river from Grants Pass to Galice and have a meal there overlooking the river.
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Mike, we are currently in Gold Beach, camping next to the mouth of the Rogue River. So glad we could share some good memories with you as well. ❤️
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Enjoying your posts as you travel the coast with your friends! Thank you, again, for the wonderful narrative and the beautiful pictures!
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Our pleasure! Thank you very much for following along. The more the merrier 🌹
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Beautiful photos, especially those of the ghost ads. What a nice trip down memory lane!
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It is pretty amazing that those old time ads can still be seen.
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What a wonderful trip you have had. Thanks for sharing your travels with us.
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Our pleasure 😃
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We always like learning about a new historic place to visit. We will definitely put Jacksonville Oregon on our list. Thanks. Good images too.
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Jacksonville is small enough to cover well in a day, but if you can schedule a visit around the Britt Music Festival, it is a win, win.
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Your post brought back memories. I was a Portland, Oregon girl, but a friend I met at youth camp invited me to his family’s Lake of the Woods cabin where I learned to waterski!
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Oh, I can imagine what fun you had on that trip!
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Looks like fun!!…………………….Ernie
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We are having a great time! Hugs to you and Lynn ❤️
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Sounds like a great day! Mount Pitt is so pretty, with the snow on top. I can’t believe those flowers! So beautiful. Go carts seem to bring out the competitiveness in most people. Looks like you all had a fun time! I now live in my small hometown, which still has some of the advertisements painted on the brick buildings too.
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Laura is a city girl, born and raised in the greater Los Angeles area and is getting to see and experience a completely different childhood through my eyes.
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I hope she is enjoying it. I can’t imagine growing up in Los Angeles. Completely different upbringings, for sure. Now I’m curious as to how you met and became friends.
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We met in 1988 working together in a Hematology/Oncology office in Fountain Valley. Laura in an Oncology RN and a nurse educator. Lynn also worked with us. The three of us were all single at the time and dubbed our little group the “Mountain Mamas” after a fateful girls adventure to Running Springs. By 1992 we had found great guys and were all married and our friendships have only grown ever since.
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That’s so nice! I love stories like that!
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Michael and I are experiencing so many wonderful new places that we haven’t seen before. We feel truly blessed to walk down Joanne’s memory lane and learn more about my BFF of 30 years!!! ❤️
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It is wonderful showing you places that I’ve talked about over the years. ❤️
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Reblogged this on Vietnam Travel & Trade Portal .
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Appreciate the share!
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Amazed that you are still travelling. Wondeerful. Love all the notes & pictures.
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Yep, we are still enjoying getting on the road in our RV, but no more international trips planned for this year ~ so far anyway. Sending you and Rod big hugs ❤️
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