Elkton, OR and Fort Umpqua Days Festival

http://www.elkton-oregon.com/visiting/visiting.htm

"Elkton is a unique and breathtaking city. From the famous Umpqua River to the Butterfly Pavilion, the City takes pride in its unrivaled attractions, renowned Smallmouth Bass fishing, and its unique neighborhoods which are treasures of its own. Discover the variety of outdoor recreation and scenic beauty that reflects the Jewel of The Umpqua. "



I joined my RV club http://www.rvsingles.org/ for a fun filled weekend in Elkton, OR for the annual Fort Umpqua Days Festival.







Back in the mid 1800's Elkton was a thriving settlement and the home of Fort Umpqua, for the protection of the settlers. The flag above is an original flag from those early days when Fort Umpqua was owned and operated by the Hudson Bay Company.

check out http://www.fortumpqua.com/ for some interesting facts about the Fort Umpqua

Today an energetic group of volunteers is re-creating the fort. They debark the logs then do whatever they do to the logs to make them useful. The above picture shows the first section of the fort. It looks like it will be a long, slow process.


The logging truck arrived with a new load of fresh cut logs to be used in the building of the fort.

The big claw works with great precision to unload the logs.

Our scenic parking spot was bordered on the south by the Umpqua River, and on the west by a huge sheep grazing field.


The sheep graze 24 hours a day. A few of the females were sporting sheep bells, which clank constantly. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and I'd hear bells clanking. The sheep must never sleep. All they do is walk and eat. They eat while they walk. And the bells clank!! Apparently the bells are so the ranchers can easily find the sheep. Intermingled with the almost 200 females were a few males. Yes, that's a male in the picture above.
As the story goes, llamas are used to protect the sheep from coyotes. It must work because I never saw one coyote all weekend.

(Judy, Marv, Trish, Randy, Me, Sam, June, and Bertie)

The highlight of the weekend was dressing up for the Saturday parade. I (in the middle) and several of my RV friends, dressed up in period clothing (thanks to Trish) and danced our way along the parade route. At the direction of June we performed the Virginia Reel to the sounds of Bagpipe Bob's bagpipe. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of Bob playing his bagpipe, dressed of course, in a kilt.


(Marv, Randy, prospective member Sam, and Trish)

(Me, Wanda, Judy, Trish and June Where'd all the guys go?)

And of course, what would a parade be without our own Hummer Bob leading the way, complete with Sandy sitting on an ATV which is up on the back end of the Hummer. And that's Nelda poking her head outside the sunroof. We were the hit of the parade and actually won First Place of some category.