Douglas County

Willy looking in on the viewing window on the North Umpqua Dam.

Douglas is a very big county, from the Pacific Ocean all the way to the Cascades.  We stopped by the North Umpqua Dam off Highway 99 to view the very large salmon and regular-large steelhead heading through the fish ladder.  The dog did not care for the metal stairs and metal grated landings that goes to the viewing window.  We were  really in awe of the monster fish that passed us by, as well as the teeny tiny fish that were hanging out with the big guys.

Kids being in awe of big fish.

      To top it off we drove through downtown Roseburg on Highway 99 (instead of the interstate) to take in the city.  I used to work in Roseburg and it is nice to pass through.  We regaled the kids with the story of half of Roseburg being leveled in the 1950’s due to a fertilizer truck exploding.  The county is beautiful and there are a lot of places worse to live, though many of the cities in the county are poor, now that timber is not the industry it once was.  Whether due to over-logging or Spotted Owl is debatable, and truly not worth debating with me.