Eugene, Oregon

We enjoyed our day in Eugene.  It is a town of about 156,000 souls in an area of 44 square miles.  We found  all of the sights pretty close together on our tour.  We started by driving to the top of Skinner Butte. Eugene Skinner and his family were the founders of the town in 1846, when he built the first cabin in the area. In 1872 the University of Oregon was created, and the town really took off.  It's known as a great place for people who enjoy the arts and the outdoors.


The view from Skinner Butte.

We ate lunch in one of the parks that line the Willamette River.  There were bikers and walkers of all ages out and about on this lovely day.  Then we visited the Shelton-McMurphey-Johnson house, which some people think looks as if it belongs in a fairy tale. We also drove by the University of Oregon, which is close to Skinner Butte and the S-McM-J house.






In the afternoon we walked around the historic downtown shopping area called 5th Street Market.
There were interesting shops to peer into.  We were on a mission, seeking ice cream, and we did succeed. On the way we saw the charming Amtrak Station.  Outside was this directional art:




The base has three layers:
Top says, "Welcome" in different languages;
Middle has significant dates;
Bottom has mileage to some cities. 

We went to our airbnb cabin and moved in at the end of the afternoon.  It is in a lovely garden.


This arbor has kiwi and grapes growing from it.


A close-up of the grapes.


Our cabin sits behind Rebecca and Peter's house.

We are airbnb experts now, having stayed in at least ten on this trip.  It is fun and quirky and a bit of adventure to see how they shape up.  Mostly they are what we expect, but sometimes there is a surprise.  It can be a good one: There's chocolate!  Or a bad one: The neighborhood looks sketchy.
So tonight we don't have a sink in the bathroom, which is odd.  We keep looking for it.  No big deal since we are just here one night.  Just odd.