Moving To Grants Pass, Oregon In September of 2008, we moved to Grants Pass, Oregon because of the climate. Grants Pass has a population of less than 40,000 and was quite an initial shock for someone who has lived in many major cities.   View Larger Map Medford, Oregon to the south of here is the major shopping hub for Southern Oregon and Northern California. It's about a half-hour away.  I got to thinking how much of a nuisance it is to drive that far, but looking back, it used to take me at least that long to shop in Portland, Denver, Minneapolis and Chicago. The difference here is that instead of one traffic light after another, the entire drive is through the beautiful mountains and scenic views of the Rogue River. 02/17/2010

2010 Census Comes Out On March 15th The 2010 Census is only ten questions, but so important! $400 billion is at stake in government expenditures. Here in Oregon, we are very close to being allowed another member in the House of Representatives if our population has risen enough. More representation for Oregon is a great idea, so remember to fill out and return your 2010 Census!   02/17/2010

Happy Presidents' Day! So when did Americans first acknowledge our Presidents with their own day? Presidents' Day dates back to our founding father and first President, George Washington.  Washington was born on February 22, 1732.  On his birthday in 1796, when Washington was in his last full year as president, the day became the holiday known as Washington's Birthday.  However, Americans didn't observe this holiday until 1832, 100 years after his birth. Abraham Lincoln was the next President to gain reverence similar to Washington.  Born on February 12, 1809, Lincoln's birthday was first celebrated in 1865, the year after he was assassinated.  Although his birthday was not honored as a federal holiday like Washington's, many states adopted it as a legal holiday. In 1968, Congress passe... 02/15/2010

Temperatures For Grants Pass, Oregon Why Move To Grants Pass, Oregon? Well, we like to say "it's the climate." We'll soon be in March where our average high Temperatures run around 60°. April will begin the mid sixties and May will take us into the 70's. From June on, we should run into average Temperatures in the 80's and 90's until October when it heads back down to the sixties. November through February run in the 40's and 50's, and some of our lows will hit the teens, but not for long periods. Winter snow stays mostly in the mountains, where as far as I'm concerned, it can stay. Sure, we can hit over 100°, but it cools back down at night. Why wait, start packing, and pick up the phone and let me welcome you home! 02/15/2010

Dutch Bros Love on Valentine's Day - Grants Pass Oregon.  Today I enjoyed some Dutch Love from Dutch Bros Coffee House in Grants Pass Oregon.  I donated my 3 cans to Dutch Bros Coffee House, and in exchange, I received one of my favorite drinks, a Dutch Mocha!  The Dutch Bros family duplicated their food drive efforts all throughout the state of Oregon this past week, collecting "Cans for Coffee" to benefit a food drive for Access, Inc. Dutch Bros Coffee has been sharing "the love" with Southern Oregon since their humble beginnings in Grants Pass Oregon in the early 90's.  These guys know how to put smiles on people's faces.   Dutch Bros Love on Valentine's Day - Grants Pass Oregon.  A great way to show some love on Valentine's Day!  Thanks Dutch Bros! 02/14/2010

Heavens Gate For all of us pet lovers out there -- I just had to share this. It was sent to me from my best friend and it really made me smile. Hope you will too. This explains why I forward jokes.   A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble... At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked ... 02/13/2010

Keeping Your Hydrangeas Blue - Southern Oregon.  Spring is almost here in Southern Oregon, and that means my hydrangeas will need some tender loving care.  I love blue hydrangeas.  This year, I have taken some tips from Southern Oregon's Valley View Nursery on how to keep my hydrangeas blue.  Hydrangeas come in shades of blue, pink or white.  White stays white but pink flowers can be made blue or blue flowers can be made pink by changing the acidity of the soil.  In neutral to alkaline soil (over pH 7) the flower becomes pink (or even red), in a strong acid soil (below pH 5.5) the flower becomes blue.Due to a lack of acidity the beautiful blue hydrangea may take a disappointing pinkish hue over time.  Since the flower buds are formed on old wood the secret to maintaining or returning to... 02/13/2010

Valentine's Day "Dutch" Love Style - Grants Pass, Oregon Dutch Bros. is taking donations on Valentine's Day for the Josephine County Food Bank at nine of their Grants Pass locations.       Bring in three non-perishible food donations and Dutch Bros. will help share the love by offering you any 16-ounce drink for just $1!   For more information, please visit their website, www.dutchbros.com, and then come help spread the love this Valentine's Day. 02/12/2010

The City of Grants Pass is rolling back system development fees in order to make it more affordable to build in the City.  System Development Charges (SDCs) are fees charged to builders to cover the cost of new development in the City.  The City of Grants Pass has reduced SDCs by by 10-12%, rolling back fees to 2006 prices.  The new decreased fees become effective February 16, 2010 for all building permits and the new fees will remain in effect until August 2011.  Josephine County Homebuilders Association says the reduction in fees will save builders an average of just over $700 for construction on a single family home.  The rollback comes after the City reduced Transportation System Development Charges significantly last year, which provided a large savings for builders on commercial d... 02/12/2010

My Compliments To The Daily Courier - Grants Pass, Oregon My wife and I moved to Grants Pass in September of 2008, and we are really impressed with the Daily Courier. Somehow the Daily Courier gets the news to us seemingly immediately after it happens! We can be sitting watching breaking news on television, and have just read about it in the Daily Courier. I lived in Beaverton for the last 38 years, and never saw the Oregonian report news as quickly as the Daily Courier. We appreciate the fact that the Daily Courier supports Wildlife Images as well as many other worthy causes.  Being a small town we don't have our own television news channel, so it's great to know we can rely on the Daily Courier to provide us with local, regional and national news. Keep up the great work Daily Courier.   02/11/2010

Hiking in Southern Oregon.  Southern Oregon offers hikers many options for a great outdoor vacation.  Oregon has thousands of miles of isolated deciduous and old growth forests, along with hundreds of miles of trail systems.  Much of this is high country, although three are several ocean and coastal beach trails.  Oregon hikers can enjoy the high mountain old growth forest trails, with icy bubbling springs and streams, jewel like mountain lakes and canyon bottoms covered with moss and fern.  In addition, there is some great hiking trails along the Oregon coast with beautiful vistas and quiet beaches.The Illinois Trail offers a hike through the north end of the Kalmiopsis Forest.  It is a reasonably difficult trail and is especially close to the Bald Mountain.  However, it offers spectac... 02/09/2010

Green Homes, Fad Or Fact? I just attended a Green Home seminar and have some lingering thoughts. We in Oregon are extremely environmentally conscious.  It seems that we attract more "save the earth" type people than most states.  This is probably because we are surrounded by such an incredible abundance of nature that it can't be ignored when it's all around you.           In Southern Oregon, we don't have the luxury of getting our electricity from hydro-electric power plants that northern Oregonians have.            We get our electricity from coal powered plants in other states. Since our winds always blow our pollution to the east, you'd think we wouldn't even care, but we do.  We realize that if we conserve the energy that we use, that we can eventually eliminate a lot of these powe... 02/09/2010

When the Saints go marching in...oh when the Saints go marching in!  I don't know about you, but I was openly rooting for the Saints to win the Super Bowl today.  And lo and behold, they did not disappoint.  And what about that on side kick to open the 2nd half?!  OMG, that is something you might see in a College football game, but not the Super Bowl.  Let's just say gutsy! It's been about 5 years since I visited New Orleans, eating beignets and drinking Cafe Du Munde coffee in the French Quarter.  After Katrina, I wondered if New Orleans would ever return to her glory.  But, today was her day.  What the Saints did for New Orleans today is just short of a miracle.  When the Saints go marching in to the French Quarter, there is going to be a Mardi Gras like none we have ever seen!  Congr... 02/07/2010

Super Bowl Sunday - Yummy Treats and Great Eats!  I confess, Super Bowl Sunday doesn't have great meaning for me, other than the fact that we enjoy yummy treats and great eats.  It has always been a tradtion in my home for the guys to watch football and the gals to cook good food on Super Bowl Sunday.  That may sound a bit sexist, but that is the way it has always been. And, there are no complaints coming from this gal.  I have spent a lifetime watching football with the guys (and even cheering for it on the sidelines in my younger days).  To this day, I still don't totally understand why guys get a kick out of watching other guys tackle one another.  I do enjoy seeing great passes and running backs taking the ball down the field for a touchdown.  But the whole contact thing, loses me. ... 02/07/2010

Size Doesn't Matter Any More!  In 2009, home buyers chose smaller homes, which drove down the average size of a house built in the United States for the first time in 27 years.  The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found the average size of a new home that was completed in 2009 fell to 2,480 square feet from 2,520 square feet in 2008.  The last time the average completed-home size fell by a statistically significant amount was 1982. Better Homes and Gardens magazine produced a survey which said downsizing was becoming a bigger priority: 36% said in November 2009 that they expected their next home to be "somewhat smaller" or "much smaller" than their current home versus 32% who said that in 2008.  "Not surprisingly, we see a ‘cents and sensibility' approach when it comes to b... 02/06/2010

Here are the latest Grants Pass Southern Oregon Real Estate Statistics for January 2010. 900 - Active Residential Listings 54 - Homes Sold 30 - Listings Pending 157 - Average Days on Market $176,948. - Average Sold Price Statistics provided courtesy of Real Estate Cafe.  Source of information is Southern Oregon MLS - Monthly NAR Statistical Report.  Information provided herein has not been verified and is not guaranteed. Click Here for more information regarding Grants Pass Southern Oregon Real Estate 02/05/2010

Friday Flowers.  I read a wonderful inspiring story written by Karen Russell of Southern Oregon, and it made me smile.  I am sure it will make you smile too.  And men, if you are reading this, take note... Karen's husband Josh knows how to keep the love alive!  Read on: Josh brings me flowers every Friday. When he first started, I was sure that it would be a temporary thing; a ritual he would eventually give up once his practical and frugal tendencies took back over. But five years later, I still get flowers every Friday. He's even scheduled Friday Flower deliveries when he's been out of town. And he always goes to the same flower shop (Judy's) because he's loyal like that.  When we moved to Central Point, he was really happy to find that Judy actually owned two stores (one in Grants Pa... 02/05/2010

Yaquina Head Lighthouse - Newport, Oregon The Oregon coast is wild and unforgiving.  That's why it is so much fun to visit. Unfriendly surf and water temperatures keep our beaches just as wild as they were back in 1873 when the Yaquina Head Lighthouse  was completed at Cape Foulweather just north of Newport, Oregon. At 93' high, this Yaquina Head Lighthouse is Oregon's tallest lighthouse.  It was constructed with more than 370,000 bricks made in San Francisco and took more than a year to complete. Delays because of severe weather were common, and boats carrying supplies and materials were in jeopardy in coming in to the cove on the south side of the head.  At least two of these boats were overturned by the pounding surf. The Fresnel lens took two years to become functional due to missin... 02/05/2010

Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area - Grants Pass, Oregon It already feels like Spring in Southern Oregon.  Soon it will be time to continue the explorations we started last year after arriving in Grants Pass. In exploring a new area, one tries to ascertain the origin of various names given to locations. One I thought to be a Native American name is the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area.    The Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area turns out to be named for the  Kalmiopsis plant(Kalmiopsis leachiana).  The  Kalmiopsis  is named after a plant  called Kalmia which was derived from the name of the Swedish botany student Pehr Kalm who first cataloged a similar plant.   The Kalmiopsisis an uncommon flowering plant unique to the Siskiyou Mountains here in Southern Oregon.  It was unearthed in 1930 by Lilla Leach.  They... 02/05/2010

Last Minute Travel Tips.  Planning ahead is a good thing, and that's definitely true when it comes to travelling.  However, sometimes unforeseen circumstances - or a severe case of the winter blues - make planning far in advance almost impossible.  If you ever need or decide to travel at the last minute, here are some travel tips to maximize savings. Be flexible - If possible, be flexible with both your travel dates and the carrier you choose.  Rigidity in either of these areas can easily translate into paying increased costs. Know when to book - Most airlines file their Web specials on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  If possible, concentrate on flights departing from major hub airports and try to include a Saturday night stay. Search diligently - There is no shortage of great websites for pu... 02/03/2010