by Doug Zanger, Guest Blogger

I’ve lived in Oregon for almost 19 years and I am very proud to call this state my home.

Which makes this next statement hard to write — I have never visited Ashland.

Yes, I know. Plenty of my friends have given me all kinds of grief for not seeing this part of the state.

As fate would have it, my wife and I had a little time to make our way down for a long weekend recently. 

The drive down south itself is worth the price of admission. I have driven through and experienced just about every part of Oregon north of Eugene. But, once we got south of UO’s home, Nature’s show just kept getting better and better.

I didn’t know much about Ashland outside of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. 

I didn’t know that the oldest working telephone booth is there.

I didn’t know that “Lithia” referred to a type of water.

I didn’t know that there was a cabaret festival.

I didn’t know that Vladamir Nabakov finished Lolita in Ashland.

I didn’t know that Ann Curry grew up there.

What I do know is that I learned a great deal about this part of our state. And the people who live there are fiercely proud of what they contribute to Oregon.

And it is clear that I will never let another 19 year gap pass.