Wayne Morse Family Farm and Park

Hidey ho my friends! Hope your day is going well. Today I'm going to tell you of a short little trip my human and I took up to Eugene, Oregon. We visited the Wayne Morse Family Farm and Park.

This is a 27 acre park that use to be the family farm of Senator Wayne Morse. Mr. Morse moved to Oregon in the 1930's to teach at the University of Oregon Law School. He soon became the youngest dean of any law school recognized by the American Bar Association. He became a Senator in 1945 and served until 1969. His motto was "principle above politics" and was known for opposing his party's leadership. That is why he went from a Republican to an Independent and then to a Democrat. He was against US involvement in Vietnam, a stand that hurt him politically, losing his seat in the senate. Mr Morse died in 1974. His farm in Eugene is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is now a city park.

This park includes the Morse family home

(which can be rented out for functions), a lovely picnic shelter (that can also be reserved), a meadow, a hiking trail, and an off leash dog park. Now, my human and I weren't able to go in the house (it is by appointment only and we didn't have one), but it is free to walk around the park. We started in the meadow. As you probably know, meadows are open spaces with no trees. Not exactly my cup of tea. However it was lined by a group of large felled tree trunks. Now we're talkin'. I had a great time checking them out and climbing all over them.

Good times, good times.

After the meadow, we headed over to the trail.

This wasn't bad, lots of lovely trees, but the grass had been mowed. Now this is what you want for a city park. It keeps rodent numbers down, which the neighbors appreciate. However, I like the natural areas with tall grasses and bushes. Don't get me wrong. I liked this trail, it just could have been better in my opinion. We checked out the trees.

I watched a few birds and even a squirrel, but I was distracted by the constant barking coming from the dog park. I mean, don't canines ever shut up? Sorry to complain, but you won't hear my fellow felines going on and on like that. It was truly annoying. Needless to say, my human and I avoided the dog park. Crazy loud canines. 

We didn't spend a lot of time at the park, it was beginning to rain, but it is a nice park. I highly recommend it if you have a canine. They don't seem to mind open areas, mowed grass, or even other canines making a lot of noise. Plus, with the off leash area, they can run around a lot. Maybe they will wear themselves out, go to sleep and give our ears a break! In spite of the barking canines, it was a lovely park both my human and I enjoyed.

Till next time, go check out a city park. And as always, keep wandering!