A weekend in Southern Oregon

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It's been years since we spent any time south of Eugene. So it was a treat to drive Jordan down to visit his girlfriend Jamie and her parents, Linda and Jeff Taylor. A nicer couple, you could not find.

We reserved a hotel room in Medford, but we barely saw it because we met the Taylors for dinner Friday night in Shady Cove and then returned the next day for an afternoon of hiking and sightseeing, and came back yet again the following morning for a fabulous breakfast, featuring blueberry-huckleberry pancakes and fresh deer meat that Linda had shot and killed just days earlier.

The Taylors live on Butte Falls Road, about 25 miles northeast of Medford, just off Oregon Highway 62. (If you follow Hwy. 62, it takes you to Crater Lake, which is truly one of the seven wonders of the world.)

For us city folk, it was a treat to experience a taste of what Jamie and her two sisters have grown up with. Imagine a vast and unspoiled sky of pure blue with wispy clouds drifting over 102 acres of rugged, rocky soil, with lots of trees and several outbuildings, including a century-old barn, to house various animals and vehicles.

As best as I can recall, the Taylors have three dogs, nine cats, three goats, six horses, five chickens and a rabbit. Jeff and Linda are both multi-talented -- for starters, they are both licensed electricians. They hunt, they grow their own produce, and can various veggies and berries. Jeff is a licensed pilot and is building his own small plane. He hopes to also restore two 1952 Chevy pickups but admittedly doesn't see that happening anytime soon.

Just a short distance from the main house, they've got a shed that also has a second-floor bedroom and bathroom; it's where Jordan stays when he visits. In addition, they're building a huge two-story home with lots of windows, the better to gaze upon different pieces of the property.

Oh, and did I mention the two all-terrain vehicles? Following approximately 30 seconds of instruction from Linda, Lori hopped on behind me and we followed Jamie and Jordan up the hillside to where their property comes to an end, adjacent to U.S. Bureau of Land Management acreage. From there, we had a spectacular view of horse ranches, grazing animals and green hillsides. We could only imagine the storybook quality it must have with a winter blanket of snow.

It was a revelation to see Jamie in her element -- kick-starting one of the ATVs, standing up as she backed it out onto the gravel driveway and then roaring across the property, blonde hair flying out from beneath her cowboy hat. Of their three girls, the Taylors told us, only Jamie totally embraced the lifestyle, feeding and caring for the animals as she grew up and, later, becoming a licensed veterinary technician specializing in the care of horses. It's easy now to imagine her riding her horse six miles each way to school.

On Saturday afternoon, after Jeff returned from a job, we all piled into their six-seater pickup and headed north to the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness for what we thought was going to be a two-hour roundtrip hike, but which took twice as long. Linda had forgotten she was on horseback last time she did the trail, so she was apologetic for making us walk twice as long.

The hike up the south slope of Anderson Mountain, along Sandstone Trail #1436, was totally worth it. We saw bear tracks, took in amazing vistas of endless Douglas fir and hemlock trees and, lastly, came upon a subalpine meadow that rolled out like carpet toward the distant horizon as the mountain air cooled and the wind made its presence known. Jordan and Jamie went ahead to a second, larger meadow but the four of us turned back lest we get too chilled.

We scarfed down sandwiches and chips and sucked down Pepsis and water to get our strength back, then promptly headed for a can't miss tourist spot -- the Rogue River Gorge. Even at night, it was spectacular, seeing the frothing, frigid white water pound the rocks with unimaginable force.

We tumbled into bed and slept soundly, then hit the road to visit them once more for a delicious country breakfast, complemented by farm-fresh eggs, coffee and bacon.

I know this isn't the most introspective of posts, but, hey, it was just a lot of fun. I have enormous respect for Jeff and Linda and how they are absolutely living their values. They are self-sufficient, generous, unpretentious and humble. They are respectful caretakers of the land and animal lovers of the first rank.

They made us feel completely at home and left us wanting to return soon. Maybe we'll get that chance before the end of the year.