As we take a breather for a few minutes with one of our ewes in labour (UPDATE: She had twins, although the first was an assisted birth - only one leg was forward - and the second was a rear presenation that we had to monitor - but all went fine), a New York Times article from this morning has prompted me to present a series of local links to give regular visitors a better idea of this wonderful little town called Roseburg.
First, the article A Perfect Pear by Stephen McCarthy, an excellent stroll down memory lane for a successful entrepreneur making spirits near Portland who grew up in Roseburg. The comments by visitors are particularly interesting.
Next is the Lookingglass Store, a building that has a wonderful history to it. The article was written by our next door neighbour.
For those of you interested in the local activities and sites, here are a series of links that show the area in its uniqueness.
City of Roseburg Site
Umpqua Valley Wine Tours
Oregon Wine Country Tours - Personalized tours of the Umpqua Valley Wine Region
Music on the Halfshell
Crater Lake
Umpqua National Forest
Winston Wildlife Safari Park
Douglas County Museum
Follow some of the links in the above web sites and you will get a great picture of what this part of the world has to offer, from amazing waterfalls and river rafting, to hunting, fishing, and the beauty of the great outdoors. Oregon is a lovely spot in the USA that many visitors miss. It boasts two of the five greenest cities in America (Portland [#1] and Eugene [#5]) and is now developing a wine industry (around Walla Walla and the South Umpqua regions) to rival Napa Valley in California.
As the original NYT article alluded to, there is great pride around Roseburg in the production, support, and availability of locally grown and made products. Most of the (what I call) pointless larger chain stores have not made it here thankfully and the local council seems to be quite serious about keeping them out. OK unemployment is high (over 12%) perhaps as a result of this, but people are friendly and many of those around have been here for more than a single generation.
I am constantly told that moving here, into the farming business, and living a healthy and partially sustainable lifestyle is becoming more and more a desirable future amongst city folk. I can completely understand and can only offer one piece of advice - if you really want it, do it!
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2 comments:
Welcome fellow lover of Umpqua! I am pleased to see you talking up the wine industry! And what better to go with wine than cheese!
I would suggest that for a more intimate exposure to the area wineries you might suggest our wine touring biz,
Oregon Wine Country Tours.
We offer small groups of 8 and very personalized view of our beautiful Umpqua Valley AVA.
Can't wait for some local cheese!
Happy to hear that someone is interested in making artisan cheese in the Umpqua. As the wine industry grows the infrastructure of specialty food products, fine dining and lodging will greatly add to the allure for the wine country tourist. It's been long in coming and very welcome.
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