Where We Live

We live in the USA state of Oregon which is on the Pacific Ocean side of the USA (USA west coast). Oregon is just to the north of California, and south of the state of Washington.

Our town, Ashland, as a population of about 22,000. While this is nearly twice the population of Tuvalu, it feels like a small town. We can walk almost everywhere in our town, for example. It is a good place to live, with a university, a community college nearby, and many theaters, restaurants, music venues, and art.

The town is in an upland valley at about 650 meters elevation (2000 ft). The valley is surrounded by quite high mountains -- eastward the Cascade mountain peaks can rise to over 3000 meters (10,000 ft). To the south and west the Siskiyou and Klamath mountains are somewhat lower.

Anne and I enjoy outdoor activities including walking, skiing in winter, hiking and camping, and exploring the western deserts of the USA in our Volkswagen camper, as this picture shows. We have also lived in Italy and try to visit there each year or two.

Our three children, Nonu, Kilea and Tavita (Lorien, Claire, David) and our grandchildren, three boys: Owen, Dylan and Cedar, and two girls: Emerson and Anabel, visit us in the summer and for Christmas as often as they can. We also pay visits to them and their families several times a year.

This picture with Anne and our van is taken in the desert country of Utah, in the American Southwest. Oregon is much greener!