Cave Junction, OR

The next to last day we were in Cave Junction, OR we woke up to snow! Not exactly what we hoped for but it gave us an excuse to do some local sightseeing. We started by visiting Great Cats World Park, an attraction that is home to 35 exotic feline predators of various species including the Siberian Tiger, Bengal Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, Mountain Lion, Leopards along with other cats. The tour guide was very informative and demonstrated how several of the animals would respond to a prompt from her to growl on command or stand on their hind legs as she gave them a treat of raw meat. One of the highlights (or lowlights, if you're John) was him being sprayed by one of the tigers.

After lunch, we headed for the Oregon Caves Chateau atop a mountain southwest of Cave Junction. On the way we visited a couple of wineries. At Bridgeview Winery, the landscape outside was probably more exciting than
the tasting room and the wine. There were terraced ponds with waterfalls between each, a fountain and a variety of waterfowl including Swans, Canadian Geese, with their goslins (chickies, according to Glynda) and ducks. As we drove up the mountain toward the caves, the weather deteriorated as we gained elevation. When we reached the summit, 4000', the temperature had cooled to the mid 30s and snow was falling. Unfortunately after the long, winding drive, the Chateau was closed. There was still many photo-ops of which we took advantage. We will have to wait for another time to get inside and have that cup of coffee.