Medford, Oregon (and Northern California) January 19-22, 2001
Created: 23 January 2001

While I was waiting for Andee to get some stuff packed, I decided to take my new Canon Rebel G SLR up to Twin Peaks, a local make-out spot here in The City. While I was up there, I grabbed some really neat-o shots. The one at the left is a picture of Mount Sutro with the requisite Sutro Tower (offsite link). Oooooh. I also got this great city skyline shot, tarnished only by the ape print in the upper left corner from the moron at Fred Meyer [more on that later] who developed my prints. Aack.

Anyhow, we soon found ourselves making our way across the Bay Bridge, destination more or less unknown. Traffic was very light (amazing, considering it was around 8:00 on a Friday evening). By 10:00, fatigue was starting to set in, so we thought about getting a room for the evening.

We stopped in this wide spot in the road named Willows, off Interstate 5. We pulled into the first little hotel we saw, a Best Western named "The Golden Pheasant Inn." I highly recommend the place, BTW. It's a sprawling little motel-style complex, but it's really a full-service hotel.

Next morning we got up, checked out of the hotel, and proceeded right back on the freeway. In retrospect, I kinda wish I would have at least wandered over to the actual town of Willows, because apparently it's rather quaint. A quick post-trip Google search provided this really neat picture gallery put up by a local realtor. Yes, Virginia, even small towns are wired in California.

Ah, but onward. At this point, I figured we'd just head up to Redding or something like that, find a place to stay there, and head back to San Francisco in the morning. So, we drove for a bit, and ended up stopping at an Outlet Mall in Anderson, which is just south of Redding. The outlet mall was more or less unremarkable... the usual outlet mall fare (that is, in a nutshell: a Mikasa and/or Corning-Revere outlet, a K*B clearance center, at least three different shoe outlets, and typically a Hilfinger outlet). This one had a Totes outlet store, which is a bit unusual. Shopping haul from the outlet consisted primarily of gloves (from the Totes store), a Trivial Pursuit Baseball game from the K*B outlet, and a Mets hat from the sporting goods outlet (it was that remarkable that I can't remember the name of either this sporting goods outlet... or the entire outlet mall).

There was one of those seemingly ubiquitous "California Welcome Centers" there, but it looked closed. Best not to tempt fate in these matters.

From there, we continued to head up to Redding. Once in Redding, we purchased fuel, looked at each other and decided that, since it was still early in the day and that Redding looked completely unremarkable, we might as well continue northward.

So, we continued driving. We stopped in Mount Shasta City for some quick food (ah, Burger King). We kept driving.

Actually, at this point, I need to stop and explain how it was possible for me to just keep on driving. Normally, I get tired pretty quickly (usually after 2-3 hours behind the wheel), and need to stop frequently. Usually, when I go on these wild weekend drives, the furthest I end up getting is somewhere around 250 miles away from home before needing a significant (like, long enough to nap) rest. Once, from Los Angeles, I did wind up in Reno overnight... but that was the exception.

What made this trip so easy to do was the fact that the scenery was really a pleasure. After seeing the drab 100-or-so miles of Interstate 5 from Sacramento to Red Bluff, things get nice in a real hurry. Plus, the highway itself is attractive, featuring some really nice vistas and a couple of steel girder bridges that are not only fun to go over, but photograph well. This photo was taken underneath one of the I-5 bridges that goes over Lake Shasta. Mahhhhvelous, simply mahhhhvelous.

Other than a few stops to take a leak and the requisite photos (most of which came out horribly due to the fact that I'm still learning this camera and it was an icky-poo overcast day), we pretty much drove straight through to Oregon, arriving in the town of Medford sometime in late afternoon. A short nap, and it was on to see what kind of tourist trap trouble we could get ourselves into.

Medford is a quiet small city, population somewhere under 50,000. Just enough people to make it have just about everything you'd need, including a local tourist attraction. Okay, well, it isn't MUCH of a tourist attraction, becase now Harry and David have outlet stores all over (including three in the Bay Area). But, I figured, it's mentioned in the "Things to Do" section of the telephone book, so how bad can it be?

For those not familiar with Harry and David, they're one of those "send fruit to someone you haven't spoken to in ten years" kinda places. Think Hickory Farms, but with pears instead of summer sausage. You probably get a catalog from them sometime in late October. If you're like me, and from California (where hours-old produce is only a 2 hour drive away from any major city), you typically toss it in the circular file. If you're not like me, and live in one of those states that has this season called "winter", you've no doubt odered from them for yourself, and cherished each pear like it was made of gold.

So, we went to their store. Alas, the photos I took of the outside were sucky. But, if you find yourself in Medford, look it up. Fresh Moose Munch alone makes it worthwhile. They also have bins-o-plenty with lots of good snackables including dried fruit, candies, and the seemingly required Jelly Belly dispensers. Oh, and a plus: they also carry Jones Soda.

After buying snack foods for our return trip, we wandered around Medford. In all honesty, there's not a heck of a lot to see. We did stop at the regional shopping mall, the Rogue Valley Mall. Hey, it had an Eddie Bauer store in it. They also had a photo store, and if I was thinking, I would have dropped my roll of film off there. I wasn't, and we'll be getting to that in a minute.

The mall was fairly well maintained, but not too terribly busy. The food court was unremarkable... the usual suspects. I did stop in the Petland store... and was blown away to find ferrets for sale. Ah, life is certainly different in Oregon. (Note: ferrets, for some nutball reason, are illegal in California.)

Dinner consisted of Red Lobster. More or less unremarkable, except the service was S-L-O-W.

So after driving around a bit, I dropped Andee off at the hotel (A Red Lion Inn), and wandered around by myself. Happened on a Fred Meyer store. I've never been to one, but I've heard a lot of things about them. There used to be a chain of stores in Southern California named Gemco that I have fond childhood memories of, and I was told by two or three people who live in the Pacific Northwest that Fred Meyer was more-or-less the same place.

Yep. It is. Think Target, but with a grocery store. Or think Wal-Mart, but without the stupid smiley faces, and better quality merchandise. Ah, and they had a one hour photo lab. Perfect.

The strange thing about Fred Meyer is.. well, that there aren't more of them. I found myself wandering through the strangely laid out departments (sporting goods in between Womens' Wear and the freezer section of the grocery department? Okay..) finding stuff I would have bought... all reasonably priced. Nice, simple decor, large easy to read signage, fairly wide aisles, helpful folks. Why can't Wal-Mart be more like this?

They even had Medford postcards. Cool. Soda. Water. Replacement film. Some munchies. Underpants, in my size. Checkout, pay. Go pick up my film at the photo desk up front.

Not to let this start a rant, but I could write a book on bad experiences at photo minilabs. Of course, this one was no different... he got ape prints all over my negatives. Sheesh. Paid for the prints (what did I expect for $5.50 at 10:00pm?), and left Fred Meyer.

I then pretty much went back to the hotel, and slept.

Day three started out looking for a place to have breakfast that wasn't jammed. Ended up at an IHOP. Hey, they can't all be bad.

We then drove around Medford, to see if we missed anything. One thing that wasn't apparent when I first got into town was the incredible lack of geometry that Medford has. Maybe it has something to do with me being from San Francisco (which has the attitude of "Euclid was a genius" and lays its matrix of 90° intersections across impossible hills), but the lack of a clear N-S-E-W orientation was a bit disconcerting. I got lost a couple of times.

Just when I thought it was safe, I saw this big ass bird. Yipes. I guess this was in front of a place that was called "Blackbird." It was still quite disturbing.

So, from there, we headed over to a little town called Jacksonville. Jacksonville is one of those "old town" kinda things... old buildings, country craft kinda stores, and the requisite Shop That Sells Bottled Sarsparilla. We kinda wandered around, but nothing really looked open, and the one or two things that were open didn't look that interesting.

Note that we were definately there in the "off season." There is a Jacksonville web site that has some things that look a little more interesting than what we saw. Maybe I'll go back up there and see what else there is to see, perhaps during a summer weekend.

What was interesting (but certainly not "open", at least in the normal sense) was the Jacksonville Telephone Central Office. They had a very interesting little display in front of the CO, featuring what looks like a Kellog model cordboard, and a mannequin operator. I took a picture of it, but unfortunately, the glass had other ideas about the flash. Note that there are other pictures of the CO in my pictures directory on home.feedle.net.

Another feature of Jacksonville was these bike racks. Well, they looked like bike racks. The spraypainted "No Bikes" warning might mean they're for something else. I dunno.

So, after wandering around, we left. On our way back through Medford towards Interstate 5, We went looking for a post office. We wandered through downtown for quite a while, and couldn't find it. We even had a friend look in an online phone directory to find it.

We eventually found it, hidden in the back of a Federal Building. In fact, from the side of the building that faced the main street, it was invisible. Only after counting blocks was I able to find it. Have they ever considered a career in advertising?

So, we started to head home. We blew through Ashland like a bad smell, which in retrospect was probably a shame. It looked like it had a lot to offer. But, we were short on time. In theory.

So, we started back across the border. Somehow, we managed to get off the freeway to take a look at Weed.

Weed Like to Welcome You? Oh brother. All the jokes in the world involving "weed", and they come up with this one. Of course, I had to satisfy my girlie giggle quotient for the weekend, so I snapped some pictures of things like the Weed Post Office, the Weed Branch Superior Court (note the Weed PD in the background), and the Weed Arch. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeed. C'mon, say it with me. "Weeeeeeeeeed". It just rolls off the tongue, don't it?

So, we continued on. We stopped in Shasta City at a place called "The Black Bear Diner". There are a number of them around Northern California, and I've never managed to go to one. Well, there's a first time for anything. Food wasn't too bad, but it was a little expensive. BTW: I suggest the cobbler. Really good shit.

Stopped and Castle Crags, a rock formation outside Shasta City. More or less stopped along side the road, pointed the camera out the window, and kept on driving. *shrug* I'll stop next time.

From this point, we headed back down to Chico, when I got kinda road weary. We stopped at the Super 8 Motel. What an experience from hell. I swear, Chico must be run by yoyos.

So, we check in, and we're assigned a room on the third floor. We go into the room, and apparently the room hasn't been made since the last occupant checked out.

Now, normally this isn't a problem. After all, it's trivial to change a set of sheets, give us a new set of towels, and maybe grab us a couple of sodas out of the vending machine for our trouble. Normally.

But there was this slight communication barrier between us and the person who came up to check on the problem. Not only was English not his primary language, it seemed doubtful that he was fluent in any form of human communication. He seemed to lack the fundamental understanding of "This Room Was Not Made". Waitress, can I get a clueburger with fries, please?

So, after a few minutes of me grunting and my wife gesticulating wildly, our new Mensa-candidate friend began to realize that perhaps the room was not up to our standards, and that relocating us to a different room was in order. So, after speaking in his (apparently) native tongue to somebody in the downstairs office, the decision was made to put us in the room next door. Note that even though I did not understand the particular Middle Eastern dialect he spoke, I got the impression that he didn't quite grok why we wanted a new room.

So, down the hall we go into the next room. This room, apparently, had already been assigned to another guest. I say this, because Mr. One Brain Cell opened the door with his magic cardkey, saw luggage on the floor, and then asked us to wait outside the room. He apparently called the front desk again, and off we were to a third room.

This one was Just Right, Goldilocks.

So, we looked in the phone book for a Japanese restaurant, ate, and slept.

Next morning, we started the mad insane dash back to San Francisco. Traffic was light.. three hours after leaving Chico, I was happily at work (grrr).

Epilogue: September 10, 2002
Today, I find this little gem in my blog feedback system (attached, by the way, to a completely different article) that calls me on the carpet on a few things. You can read the comment for yourself.. but here is my rebuttal.

1. First off, I'm not any kind of professional travelogue writer, nor have any of the moremayo.com features ever been.. well, featured anywhere but on my site. They are my personal opinions. My personal opinions on the lay of the land and the position of features are just that: my opinions.
2. That being said.. most people expect a post office to be.. well, in a post office. Not next to a police station, not behind a "federal building". In a moderate sized concrete and/or brick building with Eddie the Eagle (or whatever that stupid thing is called) on it. The fact that you are in a small town makes it more plausable that the post office would be.. well, a post office.
3. As to the allegations that I wouldn't know a "country mile" if it bit (by the way, the word is "bit") me in the nether regions: I've lived in small towns. I've lived in places where we had to pick up our mail from the post office (not the Federal Building or the Police Station, but from an actual brick building with.. oh, never mind). I even lived one place where we had no actual street addreses: all mail was sent to "General Delivery" and the clerk at the mail counter sorted it out.

Comments

Testing a new mayo feature: comments in static content!

LOL...let me guess...an irritated Medfordite didn't like your assessment of our city. I couldn't find whatever comment he or she posted, but be assured, most of Medford's citizens (particularly the younger ones) know and understand about the confusing geography, and the Big Ass Bird, the hidden Post Office (I've had trouble finding it myself), and many other things. :) I've lived here for all of my 21 years, and these are all valid points you made. I do hope that next time you visit the city, you're able to seek out the better spots, the more exciting places, and gain a sense of "Medford Geography" though, to make your visit more fun. There really *are* some fun things to do here. It's not like San Fransisco, though...I've been there (and loved it), but it's Never going to have that big city feel to it. It's Never going to be Quite as exciting as SF. (I wonder why I keep visiting San Fransisco...hmm..lol)

:) Funny report.

Hey "H.", thanks for the comments.

I've since visited the Rouge Valley three times, and enjoyed every trip. There's certainly a lot to like about the area, even if it's a little difficult to sometimes find your way around town. I've fixed the markup on the page to point to the right comment (earlier this year, I reworked the site and broke some links, something I generally try to keep working). I'm going to try to stop on an upcoming trip to Seattle and grab more Moose Munch...

Hey.... I'm a fellow Medfordite... but for the moment I'm living in Denmark as an exchange student... I stumbled across your site when I was looking for pictures of Medford.... I really enjoyed your writing... I found it very entertaining especially about the big ass bird.... it is kind of scary isn't it!!! I live in North Medford by the Cedar links golf course or by the High school..... mannn... I can't believe you went to Fred Meyers for pictures... you should have went to Costco man... great qualitly!!!! I can't say I don't like Walmart, but if you've noticed it seems as though Walmart attracts all the lets just say interesting people, well to be honest I was going to say hicks, but I guess that makes me one too since I shop there as well.... :/ ... but although Medford isn't too big, I love it!!!!! Plus we have a great football team, at least North does... not to cause any rivalry South has a great Soccer team!!! WEll I've been living in a town in Denmark with a population of 1000 and no stores.. .... so I guess Medford isn't that small!!! But I'm looking forward to see my home city again.... and hey if you ever decide to drive a little further... maybe up to Grants Pass well then just stop by in the KFC, it's my dad's and I'll most likely be working there this summer as well.... WEll take care .... Hej Hej

Hi,
I enjoyed reading about your trip. You should have gone inside "Blackbird" in Medford. Its quite an unusual store. It has just about everything you can think of ranging from army surplus to ski equipment to race car parts to clothing etc.
I also noticed that you mentioned the Display in Jacksonville Telephone Company. If you liked that, you will surly like my website....museumphones.com One more thing. Too bad you didn't take time to visit my town "Cave Junction" The tour of the Oregon Caves is great!

Ron

Post a comment

Name:


Email Address:


Enter this code:


URL:

Remember personal info?
YesNo
Comments:

---

the world needs more mayo © 1998-2007 C. Sullivan (random.2.feedle@spamgourmet.com) i like honey [Creative Commons License] [No-Spam Notice] [Legal Stuff] medford012001.shtml, Updated: Saturday, 11-Oct-2003 12:43:07 PDT .