All the possibilities of the wide-open, Central Oregon landscape and Native American culture await at Kah-Nee-Ta. Explore the high desert trails by horseback or tackle the 18-hole championship golf course. There’s also volleyball, tennis and swimming in the resort’s signature hot springs pool. Enrich the family in the traditional arts of basket making and jewelry in the nearby Museum at Warm Springs. Adults can step away to throw a few quarters into the slots at the resort casino or sashay to Spa Wanapine for massages, facials and manicures.

If the family is feeling the pull of the coast, Newport’s your spot. Voyage out to sea with Marine Discovery Tours as part of Spring Whale Watching Week, March 19-26. Oceanic wonders are within reach at the tidepools and other hands-on displays at the award-winning Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Hatfield Marine Science Center. The exploration continues in Mariner Square, in the Undersea Garden, Ripley’s Believe-It-or-Not, and The Wax Works. Newport’s two iconic 19th century lighthouses, Yaquina Head and Yaquina Bay, beckon from their spectacular bluffs.

Eugene offers up a mix of worldly gee-wiz and local Willamette Valley flavor. At the Science Factory Children’s Museum and Exploration Dome, local scientists go small — no, smaller — in explaining the cutting edge of molecular research during Nano Day, March 26. Kids see the secrets behind their favorite toys in the exhibit Toys, The Inside Story. Oregon Duck fans can hop a Eugene Pedicab for the Duck Sports Hall of Fame Tour. Discover how the first Nike shoe was created at the Nike Store, visit historic Hayward Field, check out the new Matthew Knight arena and explore several local halls-of-fame. Also, don’t miss foot stomping in the Barn Dance at Spencer Creek Grange, and a local rendition of The Wizard of Oz .

If Portland is your destination for Spring Break you can hit three great family-friendly attractions in Washington Park and never lose your parking spot.  Or, take the TriMet Light Rail Service (Max) right there if you are traveling green.  First, you can monkey around at the Portland Children’s Museum as Curious George kicks off Spring Break. Next, venture around the world at the World Forestry Center where each day explores the unique and interesting cultures of five locations including: Russia, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, and Hawaii. Last, but certainly not least, pop over to the Oregon Zoo for a tropical celebration.  Get crazy with crocodiles and party with the polar bears during the Zoo’s Gone Wild.

Get up close and personal with the animals at the Oregon State Fair happening this year from August 27- September 6. Take the family to the animal exhibits, you’ll see everything from horses to guinea pigs. By day, check out the livestock competitions, milk a cow or cuddle with a kid (baby goat). Refuel at one of the 75 food booths located around the fairgrounds (curly fries and cotton candy? Yes, please) before taking in an evening of great music including headliners such as ZZ Top, country singer Dierks Bentley, Lynard Skynard and Lifehouse, not to mention the Michael Jackson laser and dance spectacular!

For a true farm experience, head out to Molalla to the Rosse Posse Acres Elk Farm. This 52-acre family farm has a petting zoo full of friendly goats, turkeys, sheep, chickens and even a miniature donkey and horse. Take a guided tour of a domestic elk farm and learn how elk are raised.

Head out to the coast for a wild animal adventure at the West Coast Game Park Safari. The walk-thru safari has hundreds of roaming animals to see and pet. In Southern Oregon, the Wildlife Safari is a drive-thru adventure with more than 500 animals from around the world.

Take an extended retreat and stay in a wood cabin overlooking orchards and verdant pastures at the Leaping Lamb Farm Stay in Alsea. Here you can spend days exploring the original Spencer Family homestead and their many residents including chickens, geese, horses, peacocks , as well as turkeys and lambs.

“I said, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted!” Earl says.

Half in jest, she suggested they start a company. Soon, Sipping Dreams was born. The Eugene-based company sells European-style drinking chocolate bars, and is accomplishing what Earl originally hoped — sharing a wonderful treat with lots of people.

Many, she says, are unfamiliar with real drinking chocolate. “Most people, in this country at least, think of hot cocoa as hot chocolate.” While hot cocoa is a lighter drink made from a mix of cocoa powder and sugar, true hot chocolate is melted chocolate, which is thick and creamy due to the cocoa butter content. (Typically the bars are melted in cow’s milk, but coconut and almond milk are vegan alternatives.) Drinking chocolate is meant to be sipped in small portions.

Some say the beverage dates as far as back as 1,000 B.C. to Mayan culture. Modern day Sipping Dreams currently sells two varieties — Original Flavor and Peppermint Snap, both made from a proprietary blend of Guittard Chocolate with a cacao content of about 68 percent. Earl says a third variety with cayenne pepper, cardamom and 15 other herbs and spices will be available this spring.

About the size of a deck of cards, Sipping Dreams drinking chocolate makes a perfect stocking stuffer. Order online or buy from one of the many Oregon stores listed on their website.

Sipping Dreams donates a portion of its revenues to local nonprofits, most recently Food for Lane County and Ophelia’s Place, an organization that empowers young girls.

Look for Sipping Dreams at ChocolateFest at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland and the Good Earth Home Garden & Living Show in Eugene, both January 18 through 20, and at the Oregon Chocolate Festival, March 1 through 3 at the Ashland Springs Hotel.

Truffle season in the Willamette Valley means it’s time to pull out the mushroom recipes that you’ve saved up all year long from magazines and websites that offer that one special article on how to use truffles in cooking and baking or even as a condiment.  At the Joel Palmer House, the truffle I was coveting was being grated over just about everything I put in to my mouth.  With both eyes closed most of the time, I let the taste of that precious tuber permeate my senses into oblivion as I savoured every gorgeous bite!

Susan Barnes does what many of us only dream about: she gets to know Oregon’s wild places better than we know our own backyards. In fact, she gets paid to learn about St Louis Ponds near Woodburn. Best of all, she’ll help you to learn more about the place too – First Hand!

“It’s a wet native prairie and there aren’t many places like this in the Willamette Valley,” noted the state conservation biologist as she led a small group of curious folks through the 260-acre site.

“Be sure to wear boots because you will get wet,” advised Barnes.

Each had signed up to spend half a day with Barnes to see and learn more about an increasingly rare habitat type in western Oregon. Barnes specializes in Oregon’s non-game species; the animals that are not hunted: “I think it’s important to learn what we have in our own backyard because that‘s what we have the greatest influence over,” noted the longtime biologist.

Barnes shared her knowledge with folks who had signed up for a tour of St Louis Ponds in a program called First Hand Oregon.

The program is the result of a new and unique partnership with the nonprofit Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation.

The Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation has ‘walked the talk’ of protecting, preserving and enhancing Oregon’s natural resources for more than thirty years through programs, outright land purchases and public projects across the Oregon outdoors. Back in the early 80’s they spearheaded the purchase of the lower 12-miles of the Deschutes River and secured public access for hiking, biking and fishing. They designed and built the popular sturgeon exhibit at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery in the Columbia River Gorge where visitors can see “Herman the Sturgeon” and his buddies anytime. Most recently, they developed a new Willamette River fishing dock at West Linn so anglers have a riverside location to cast for salmon and sturgeon.

The First Hand Oregon educational tours partner with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s land managers, field biologists and others who will spend a day with you, talk about their work and show you the lands that they are responsible for in Oregon.

The range of classes is remarkable – including hatchery visits for the chance to learn how salmon spawning is done – to turtle trapping techniques to see and learn more about Oregon’s native amphibian populations – plus many more classes emphasizing outdoor education – it’s a perfect for the curious.

It’s real science that’s fun, takes you to a new place and can help determine conservation strategies that will make a difference for the future of Oregon wildlife.

The Tulip Fest at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn starts March 30 and runs through April 30. Visit more than 40 acres of tulips and daffodils, buy cut flowers and order bulbs for planting your own rainbow of color.

St. Josef’s Winery in Canby will celebrate the 30th annual Red Lips & Tulips Founders Day Festival April 14-15. The weekend will include tastings of reserve wines, Gypsy jazz and special European foods.

The 10th annual Gardenpalooza takes place at Fir Point Farms in Aurora on April 14, with more than 45 vendors bringing plants, tools and garden art to help kick-start your spring planning.

Oregon Ag Fest at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem happens April 28-29 and will feature more than 100 booths, including many with garden and landscape plants.

The Oregon Gardens will offer a verdant backdrop for the eighth annual Oregon Garden Brewfest April 27-28 in Silverton. At least 38 breweries will be on hand to help you toast the coming of spring.

Root for runners: Check out the Prefontaine Classic at historic Hayward Field on June 2. This premier track and field event is a chance to see world-class athletes compete. And from June 22-July 1, American athletes will converge here for the U.S. Olympics Team Track and Field Trials.

New duds: The fire is in the belly, but a new outfit can fire you up, too. Visit the Eugene Running Company or the newly remodeled Nike store for retail encouragement — shoes, shorts, techwear, water bottles and snacks. Feel faster already, dontcha?

Run for fun: Join up with a local running or walking group from the Eugene Running Company. Check out the Monday popular night run, the “Bagel Run” on Sundays, or the Run Momma Run on Thursdays.

Carbo load: When its time for carbo-recovery, we’re thinking Ambrosia Restaurant & Bar. Manicotti di pollo, calzone margarita and bruchetta with butternut squash and marscapone. Mangia! How about a beer chaser at one of Eugene’s many fine breweries — Ninkasi Brewing Company, Oakshire Brewing, Steelhead Brewing or Rogue Brewing?

Sweet dreams: Rest those tired legs in style at Inn at the 5^th, Eugene’s new boutique hotel. Enjoy a state of the art fitness room and the elegant design of comfortable guestrooms. Spa anyone? Massage? If you need anything else, you’re likely to find it a few steps from your room at the Fifth Street Public Market.

Willamette Valley Vineyards hosted a “truffle dog training seminar”– the only event of its kind in North America, say the organizers! Dozens of truffle hunters and their canines spent a weekend in truffle training in forests where truffles grow.

Here’s a video of Martha and her Dog Saylor!

Dog owners were able to observe the handling and training of skilled truffle dogs and to introduce their dog to the scent of both Oregon and French black truffles. This two-day event began in the classroom with lectures on canine scent detection and scent training then ended in a forest seeded with truffle spores!

I wonder, after the dogs get a whiff (and taste) of truffles, how they’ll ever be satisfied with a mere dog bone!!

Compared with Europe, Oregon’s truffle industry is young and undiscovered. “Secrecy pervades the world of truffles and is a part of their mystique, but it has not served Oregon’s truffles well, as secrecy precludes development of the knowledge necessary to bring the real potential of the Oregon truffles to market. Simple details like how to choose and handle a truffle to tease out its grandeur are known to only a few harvesters and chefs.” says the Oregon Truffle Festival Website

After the big truffle hunt, we met in the dining room at Willamette Valley Vineyards for a truffle-infused lunch cooked up by executive chef at Timberline Lodge, Jason Stoller Smith.

This week, I head to three holiday lighting extravaganzas that are perfect for all the right reasons for youngsters and those young at heart.

Dilley: In Dilley, Oregon the winter weather may be cold and frightful, but the folks who keep tradition alive are warm and delightful. Since early November, Sue Marshall’s family has touched up the scenery, strung the lights and kept alive a holiday tradition called “Storybook Lane.”

The event has been a Christmas gift to friends and neighbors since 1935. Beginning December 15 and continuing through Christmas this year the lights shimmer, children scamper and music plays while families stroll thru a show that really shines. And it may warm you to know that “Storybook Lane” is free to all visitors of any age – and it begins each evening at 5pm sharp.

Directions: Drive south from Forest Grove on State Highway 47 for approximately three miles to Dilley. Watch for signs to “Storybook Lane” on the left side of the highway. It opens each day at 5 p.m. beginning Saturday, December 15 and continuing through Christmas.

Keizer: In Keizer, Oregon holiday lighting is a community effort that means pitching in to help neighbors in need through donations to the Marion-Polk Food Share.

The event is called the “Miracle of Christmas” and it’s a driving or walking route of decorated homes that stretches more than three miles thru the Gubser neighborhood. The event started in 1985 and hundreds of homes glimmer with impressive displays in an event that neighbors call a “bit of friendly and neighborly competition.

Last year, the 26-day event collected more than 25-thousand pounds of food and more than $18,000 to help the community.There is no admission fee and the Keizer Miracle of Christmas Lights continues through December 26.

Oregon Coast: The Oregon coast is a many splendored place boasting unique sights and sounds that will amaze you anytime of the year. It’s safe to say that most holiday lights don’t hold a candle to the ones the Friends of Shore Acres State Park put up each year.

The folks who show up each weekend beginning before Halloween and go the extra mile to light Oregon’s only botanical garden state park.

A small, dedicated group of twenty-five or so will spend all of their free time on weekends, putting up the park lights and displays in time for opening night on thanksgiving day. They will stretch 3400 strings of lights and it is hard, painstaking work to get them to look and to work just right. Many say it is also the sort of work that makes them feel good and puts a smile on their face.

The holiday lights continue through New Year’s Eve and the park is open daily and closes each night at 10pm. There is no entry fee, but there is a required three-dollar state park parking permit.

The Victorian-style house overlooks downtown Eugene and was built in 1888 by Dr. Thomas Winston Shelton and his wife, Adah.  After Dr. Shelton’s death, Adah moved to Portland, leaving the house to her daughter, Alberta, and her husband, Robert McMurphey. In 1950, Eva and Curtis Johnson bought the house. The house has been a Eugene landmark for more than a century, remaining an example of late-Victorian Queen Anne Revival style architecture.

Several times a year, the Shelton McMurphey Johson House staff hosts a seasonal three-course high tea. October’s homemade menu centered around the harvest.

Warm maple pecan scones with Devonshire cream and apple butter came first. After plenty of time to enjoy, visit and savor the scones, course two came, pairing scrumptious apple cheddar sausage balls & Dijon balsamic glaze with stuffed mushrooms and apricot tea. A tea would not be complete without a bit of sweet decadence. The third course welcomed caramel apple cheesecake bites, pumpkin gooey squares and jazzy tea.

With fall nearly in the past, the Shelton McMurphey Johnson House will soon redecorate for the holidays and start preparing for Holiday High Teas, December 1 & 8, 2012. The popular events often sell out; call (541) 484-0808 to reserve your spot and experience the magic of going back in time.