Bear in charge blog 6, Oregon Vortex and House of Mystery

Baxter here.  Hope all is going well.  Another day on vacation for this bear. 

Today I am out and about exploring Gold Hill Oregon.  As the name might imply there was gold in them hills many years ago.  The building I am about to explore is an old  assay office that fell off its foundation and slid down a hall in 914.  Some say it slid down the hill because it was built near the Oregon Vortex, a place very sacred to Native Americans.   

The Oregon Vortex and House of Mystery is a roadside attraction known for optical illusions.  You can't take video at the vortex (rules....you know) but I found a you tube video that demonstrates the coolness of the place.

Little Fox would love the color of this sign. 

 You learn about the vortex and other vorti in the world then you get to see all sorts of optical illusions once you get inside the old assay office.   Whoa, be careful in here.

 Can they turn on the lights please?

The tour guide said that dogs are not allowed at the vortex.  They say that when service dogs come they start barking, growling and get aggressive inside of the assay office.  The tour guide explained that it's part of the mystery of the vortex.  

Next stop was to visit a winery for a picnic and a glass or two of wine.  I found a nice winery to hang out at.  Big vats of wine all ready to go.

 Lots of elbow room at this winery.

The grapes look in good shape.  The grass is mowed, the grapes are planted in nice rows, now the wine maker just needs to wait for grapes to grow.

Now it's time to sample some of the local wine. 

Heaven on Earth Cinnamon Rolls

My roommates are being a little too sneaky for my taste.  Sequoia is with the dog sitter and they told me to pack my bags - of course I don't have any bags to pack so I just grabbed a seat in the car.   I got in the car first and chose some good driving music  

My roommates heard of this bakery along the highway and when we pulled into the parking lot I was a little confused. Err, this places seems a little "dilapidated".

My roommates told me to turn around and this is what I saw: Ahh this looks better.  I am still wondering what my roommates have in mind for me.

This restaurant is called "Heaven on Earth" lets see if they live up to the name.

Ok, I have to give my roommates credit.  They seemed to have found a good bakery.  This pan is a large apple crisp.  Not my favorite but a good job.  Do you he see the cinnamon rolls in the background?

Jerry, do you think they they are looking for a taster?  I can submit your resume.

Let's see what else they have in the bakery?  Not the best picture in the world but look at all of these baked goods.

I could really sink my teeth into these cinnamon rolls.  I haven't seen so many in all of my travels.  

So many choices - my roommates told me I could not get a tray of anything but I did get this large cinnamon roll.  It's almost as big as I am.  This is perfect!

I don't say this often but my roommates are certainly getting good marks for this roadside stop.  I will have to make a note in their evaluation.

Mail call

Oh, hello everyone.  I was discussing with Sequoia our next adventure this afternoon when my sekrebeary informed me I received some mail. 

Where should we go this week?  The beach?  The mountains?  Dog Park?

Let's see what we have.  The first letter is from Droopy.  I must say Droopy has done a good job of training his sekrebeary in handwriting, it's beary good.   

These stickers are awesome!  I am always a sucker for pictures (or stickers) of animals hiking and being outdoors.  Thanks Droppy!  

It also seems I received some cards from vacationing stuffies.  Jerry and Ben shared a cool card with a bear on it.  Are there lots of bears in Northern Minnesota? 

I have heard Minnesota has lots of lakes, mosquitoes ,and a SPAM museum (southern Minnesota if anyone is interested) and it seems that they have bears in MN too.   In case you were interested in the Spam Museum (come on, you know you are kind of interested) here is the link 

 http://www.spam.com/spam-101/the-spam-museum

Anyway, I digressed.  Ajdin also had a great trip in Ohio.  I wonder if he had time to see the topiary of French people or the Arnold Scwarzenegger statute?   Perhaps Jerry and ben should visit Columbus.  Ben would probably enjoy the topiary of French people and I bet Jerry could film an on location show of Jerry's corner.  

Check out the link for the topiary people:  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11390

Thanks for the awesome mail everyone!