Salem, Oregon

Today was the second day of our trip to Oregon.

We left yesterday morning and headed south on I-5. Our final destination for the day was Grand Ronde, to visit with Tim's brother and his wife. To break up the trip, however, we stopped for a bit in Salem, the state capitol of Oregon.

I had done some research on Google to find some interesting sites to visit. One was the Martha Springer Botanical Garden. What was not clear from the Google map, however, was that the garden was on the campus of Willamette University. We eventually parked and walked around the university campus, which is a very pleasant and attractive venue. Never did locate the garden, though.

The creek running through the campus of Willamette University.

Before that, however, we had parked near the capitol and walked around a bit. By chance, we parked next to the First United Methodist Church, which interestingly is situated at the corner of Church and State.

The architecture of the church is quite traditional. Its spire is impressively tall and visible from quite a distance.

Nearby is a city park with this whimsical sculpture, called "A Parade of Animals."

Then we wandered over to the grounds of the state capitol. It would have been nice if it had been open for tours, but we happened to be there on a weekend. (Tours are scheduled only on weekdays, unlike the Washington state capitol at Olympia which we toured on a Saturday.)

This stalwart fellow represents the Oregon Pioneer.

Salem has some other places to visit that also might have been interesting. Some were closed because it was a Sunday; others might have been open, but it was rather warm to be walking or driving around, and we were running short on time.

Tomorrow: Newport, Florence, and the Oregon Coast.