How about PNW Round-Up?

Dang, of all of the coincidences, I was just talking with that Hill couple's niece, well great niece, about 1/2 hour ago. Both of that couple where interesting characters.

I'm interested! I would be happy to help plan the event.

Need to fine a central area, where it would be fun and not to expensive.
Need a map to get a location, then a time frame. Mmmm
Wash. Oregan. But then we have Sofer (montana) but then again he may be in Alaska at that time. So what would be the middle?
Vancover my guess LOL any place there????
Helping here, any other ideas???

At risk of speaking for another....It seems to me Sofer is an expert traveler, easily adept at multiple modes of transportation. I think he will get there no matter where it is held given the time frame works.

I think somewhere in Oregon. It would totally depend on time frame for me, and unfortunately I won't know my summer schedule right away. I will try to figure it out soon if possible.

I have viewed some of the RUs in other forums, they have fun and do it annually so its planed and made like a vac. a Resort. Sounds cool to me. Love to kick back around a pool, with a BBQ going on. and talk about plants and what evers.
I'm dreaming again, But no It can happen.
We just need to do it.
^_^

O.K. I'm just throwing out some ideas. Champoeg State Park, just south of Portland is an amazing place. It's massive; wonderful trails, a heritage center, etc. It has tent sites, trailer hookups and cabins and yurts that can be rented. They also have reservable picnic/day use areas. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_113.php there is also a brochure about the park http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/champoeg_history.pdf

The best part is that it's about 30 minutes from:
Heirloom Old Garden Roses http://www.heirloomroses.com/
The Oregon Garden http://www.oregongarden.org/
Ferguson's Fragrant Nursery http://www.fragrantnursery.com/wst_page2.html

And 45 minutes to:
Joy Creek Nursery http://www.joycreek.com/
There is also Farmington Gardens in Beaverton which I believe is about 30-45 minutes away. http://farmingtongardens.com/
And also Al's Garden Center http://www.als-gardencenter.com/

For my fellow Washington DG'ers there is Tsugawa Nursery in Woodland, WA, literally just off I-5, http://www.tsugawanursery.com/ to hit on the way back home and Shorty's http://www.shortysgardenandhome.com/ in Vancouver and/or Ridgefield, WA.

I have been to all of the above stated nurseries/gardens (except for Shorty's Ridgefield location) and love them all dearly and enjoy returning to them every chance I get to head to Oregon (at least once a year!)

So thought I would throw it out there for everyone to chew on. Enjoy!

I think we'll need to go for a week... =:0)
Our group will take all afternoon at just one of these places. Perhaps we could start a DG contest on the longest lasting RU? (Save $ for plants by sleeping in the parking lots.)
And seeing that we're a bunch of enablers, will we be able to exercise restraint? That pesky loading of the vehicles comes to mind... After visiting just 2 nurseries, I know whose cars will have zero capacity.
Definitely an overnight trip, so please plan the dates accordingly.
Oregon sounds like at would be great - it's always warmer there than up here!

A camp out sounds like just the thing, especially with cabin rentals available for those who need a little more physical TLC. Champoeg looks like a good option. Hmmm. I'll have to dust off the old guitar for singing around the campfire, but I know mostly children's songs, like 'Old MacDonald' and 'I Wanna Be a Dog' so hopefully someone else has some talent that would match the group's interests better.

Nurseries nearby! Oh joy! That means I need to get moving now on creating more garden beds so I have a place to plant things.

Sounds good to me - It is only 25 or so miles from my house so I can commute!
Portland Nursery on Stark is also a great one to visit, as well as the Rose Test garden.
Does anyone know if dogs are allowed in the park?

They absolutely are allowed Portland, they even have an off leash area.

Holly- Bring the guitar! I was a camp counselor for quite a few years, I may not have a songbird's voice but I sure know alot of camp songs!

I have already scheduled my summer work. So it will depend on when. I will wait for you all to figure it out. Look for a Shakespear festival, nursery class, "taste of portland" to tie into it nearby. I like the idea of Portland area. I haven't been there in years and would enjoy the Columbia R gorge enroute.

The guitar is a must!

Jan 23 you either have to get a plane ticket or start driving! Can't do this without you!

Rachie, before I returned to school to study architecture I was an RN for many years - my daughter was a camp counselor and talked me into being a camp nurse. It seems like every other kid had an inhaler and an epi pen and their parents told me scary stories about how little Tommy "might stop breathing!!!" so I had epi pens in every pocket and I was paranoid the whole time. It was scarier than my job in a neurosurgery ICU. I thought for sure I was going to have to call all the parents to tell them the bad news that little Tommy succumbed to camp dust. As it turned out, there were no problems and no one came to the nurse's cabin for their inhaler. The counselors came to secretly use my shower!

I can't make a trip but I will send a recording of me singing "Little bunny Fu-Fu". That would have you all screaming in agony.^_^

I think it requires a 3-day weekend. Maybe I can get my neighbor, Dan, to come and we'll have two guitars to sing along with around the campfire!!

Wallace Hansen's Native Plant Nursery is in Salem. I've been wanting to check that out.

Sounds good. I'm in!

Does Memorial or Labor day weekends work for anyone?

A native plant nursery sounds excellent!

I'm in, and I'll have a truck by then with a canopy, can sleep in that. If they well let me. Haven't been camping in a coons age.
Labor Day weekend works for me, my Bday in on the 3rd. A late bday present to me. LOL

Willow, would love to hear Bunny Fu Fu? I think^_^

Labor Day would be better for me - more time to plan. Don't have a DH here to stay with the menagerie, so leaving town takes quite a bit of planning.

Portland, here's the link to Wallace Hansen's place: http://www.nwplants.com/

You can rent cute little cabins in Champoeg State Park for a very reasonable price. They can sleep 5 or 6 people. A couple of friends came out from Kansas and Oklahoma a couple of years ago, we rented a cabin for a week and had a blast. There are lots of really good nurseries nearby, including Heirloom Old Garden Roses, Schneiders Iris, Fragrant Gardens etc. Salem is about 45 minutes away. Portland Rose Garden and Japanese Garden are not far either. It's a great central location. When were there a bus load of the Rainbow people camped near us, they were on their way to Bellingham if I remember right.
There are also mint fields on one side of the park so it smells good at night.

I bet everyone needs the Labor Day 3 day weekend to make it possible for them to attend, which I understand.Unfortunately for me, that is one of my busiest weekends of the year getting ready for a new school year to start, usually at school practically all of those 3 days. However, since the holiday comes later into Sept. this year it is possible that school will start sometime the week before. I don't want to be a downer, since I think the Round up/Camp out idea is great, but I think the traffic on the freeway around Labor Day is really horrendous. Is there any remote possibility that people could do it the last weekend of August? I realize that could be impossible.

Good points, Holly. I'd definitely use a vacation day to make it a three-day weekend. It doesn't have to be Labor Day for me.

Hi Kathy!
Ditto for me.
Memorial day, 4th of July & Labor day weekends are pretty much out.

Hi Kate.

We need to get together for coffee soon. And maybe make a 'quick' hellebore run to WM?

So maybe it's better NOT to do it on a major weekend. It'd probably be easier to get spots at a campground, too.

We have a 35' motorhome if anyone would like to ride with me (us?). It only sleeps 4, but someone could sleep on an air mattress. And several could ride down.

If you all want to explore the Seattle Tacoma Olympia area, I can put you all up here (FREE). We have a guest room, a hideabed in my office, a couch in LR, a couch in DH office, Motorhome sleeps 4, Travel trailer sleeps 6, and a guest room in loft of barn, plus lots of room for tents, campers, etc.

Holy cow, Lynn. We could set up a small city!! You do have a beautiful place there.

Hi backatcha & yes we neeeeeeeeeeeed to coffee & run, not walk!, to WM. A Hellebore run - now that's something I could sprint about.
When are we going? Soonish? I like soonish - I'll check with them to see what's cookin over there.

LOL How about this Saturday morning? Anybody else want to meet up with us at Tully's coffee in Redmond?

Tell me what time - I have no plans except to sleep in until 7:30!

I'm sleeping in until AT LEAST 8:00!! How about if we meet there at 9:00. Tully's is the one we usually meet at, right?

I'm looking forward to this. Hey Kris - this is still in your neighborhood. Are you up for a quick [yeah, right] nursery trip?

Good points about the holiday weekends Holly. I just looked at the Champoeg reservation site and it looks like there are quite a few openings for the last two weekends of August. Not to sound pushy, but if we want to make this a reality we need to get serious about it and make reservations before they all fill up. I could do either of the two weekends (Fri, Sat, Sun.) Anyone else?

Thanks for thinking of me. Jeff and I did an overnight at one of our son's, so was not able to post right away. If I'm in town I WILL be there, but don't know our schedule this summer. We are going to renovate our kitchen. Jeff is making very detailed plans - even down to drawing the cut plans on each piece of plywood - to minimize waste. He wants to have all the cabinet 'boxes' made before we even start demo to cut down on time the kitchen will be out of commission. We do want to come out sometime this summer, but when is another question. Boy, was that a ramble! Sorry.
You make me feel like family. :)

Hi guys, I'm up for coffee at Tully's but will need directions. I'm still directionally challenged, probably always will be. I'd love to visit a nursery too. I've lots of room for plants, just no exact plans where to plant them. Let me know if it's a go and I'll make arrangements for critter care with the kids and be available.

Jan - it would be so cool if you could come!!!

I'm hoping my dad will be around for his 91st birthday, so most likely I'll be in Corvallis the weekend of the 22d-23d. The next weekend would be the only weekend I could make. Labor Day is the 7th of September this year - the following weekend.

How about we plan for the weekend of the 29th-30th and tack on an extra day on one side or the other?

Kris - My mistake. It's not a Tully's, it's Pete's. Do you know where the Whole Foods Store (17991 Redmond Way) in Redmond is? The Pete's Coffee (17887 Redmond Way) is across the at the opposite end of the Whole Foods parking lot - it's a tandalone building.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=whole+foods,+redmond,+wa&sll=47.673479,-122.107158&sspn=0.013524,0.027466&ie=UTF8&ll=47.669867,-122.106256&spn=0.013525,0.027466&z=15&iwloc=A

I don't, but I can find it in advance so I know where I;m going. Thanks for the map.

It's basically highway 203, right before you cross I-522.

Hehehehe - that would be "Peet's".
Let's not get Kris headed in the wrong direction.
Peet's is where the cute Redmond Firemen hang out - remember Kathy???
9 sounds fine.
=:0)

How is August 29th, 30th and day on either side for the Round up for everybody?

If this is it, I'll do everything I can to convince DH we need a family vacation in Oregon at that time.

Don't want this question to get lost in the excited conversation about a nursery visit.

That would work for me, as long as I have enought notice to put my vac. time in. I am ready, need a break. LOL

I am open - and happily so since retiring!