One of the great things about having a blog is that you get to share things that are of personal interest. So this post is about one of my fond summertime memories, as well as a suggestion for yourself or your out-of-town guests who come to Lake Oswego.
I have a very great fondness for the Oregon ferry system because of my grandfather. As a child I spent vacations at his home in Salem. He would load myself and my 3 big brothers into his car and take us out to ride the Wheatland Ferry on the Willamette river between Salem and Newberg. Along the way we would see field after field of hops, corn, tomatoes, peaches and all manner of fresh produce. We’d always be sure to make a stop at a road-side stand to load up on peaches. Then we’d have them for breakfast with fresh cream and oatmeal the next morning.
When you live in Lake Oswego, you have easy access to your own working ferry: the Canby ferry. It’s located just about a 15 minute drive South of Lake Oswego. Take Stafford Road South past I205, turn left at Mountain Road, and that will take you straight to the ferry. The ferry runs year-around, except for extreme weather. It starts early in the morning at 6:45am and runs until 9:15 in the evening. 1-way cost for a car is $2. It will take you from the Lake Oswego/West Linn side of the Willamette to the Canby side. To make a similar journey via the surface roads would take about 20 minutes longer. So as a means of transportation, it is actually pretty functional. But it is also scenic and adds a very nice ambiance to what is otherwise a fairly mundane drive on the freeway. On the Canby side you’ll find all sorts of roadside stands for seasonal fresh produce, just like I enjoyed with my grandfather 40 or so years ago.
The ferry is one of several in the current ferry system. The Canby ferry has been in service since 1914. Two other ferries that are still in service are the Wheatland ferry near Salem and the Buena Vista ferry that is South of Independence.
This subject is leading me to a little bit of Oregon history. As you drive around the metro area you’ll see quite a few roads that feature the word ferry in their name: Taylor’s Ferry Rd, Graham’s Ferry Rd, Scholls Ferry Rd. And here in Lake Oswego, Boones Ferry Rd is one of the major streets in town. These roads were conveniently named to lead travelers back in the days before we had bridges across the Willamette River to the many ferries that aided with these crossings. Boones Ferry Road led to the Boones Ferry, which was located where what is now Boones Bridge in Wilsonville (actually the current location of the Boones Bridge across I-5). Boones Ferry was operated by Alphonso Boone, a grandson of Daniel Boone.
Oregon isn’t necessarily well known for its ferry system the way that Seattle is. But we have one. I think it’s a hidden treasure and I love living in Lake Oswego where I have easy access to the summer-time pleasure of taking the ferry to buy fresh peaches on the Canby side of the river. It’s a great personal past time, but I also enjoy sharing it with friends who are visiting the area. There are also quite a few great things to do and enjoy as you head South down the valley. I’ll touch onto those in a future posting.
P.S. Fresh peaches and cream on oatmeal are THE BEST!
If you have been reading the Propertyblotter for awhile, you know that I am a big supporter of the annual Race for the Cure. I am now a 2-year breast cancer survivor. It’s a club I never wanted to join, but now that I’m in it, I’m doing whatever I can to keep other women (and men too) from having to join.
Breast cancer will strike one in 8 women in her lifetime. My great-grandmother died of breast cancer in 1929, at the age of 48, the same age that I was when I got my diagnosis. Luckily for me, in the 80 years since my great-grandmother died, thousands of people have put time and money into education and finding a cure. I see it as my duty to pay that forward so that future generations don’t have to live in the shadow of this terrible disease.
Even more than inviting you to walk with me, I would like to ask you to consider making a donation. It is such a worthwhile cause. $77 pays for one un-insured or under-insured woman to get a mammogram.
Here in Lake Oswego we are blessed with the long, warm days of summer that come on the heals of the misty and rainy days of May and June. The combination, along with personal commitment to gardening, leads to a rich bounty that is currently at its abundant peak. I don’t know of a better place to see this, in all of its glory, than at the community garden at Luscher Farm.
The community garden is just one part of Luscher Farm, but it is a high-light, for sure.
If you are not a returning gardener, but would like to have a garden plot next summer, I recommend that you call the City of Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Department on December 1st to find out the date and time that the plots will be distributed. In the past they were given out on a first-come-first-served basis and all plots were gone within an hour or two of being offered. This year they are considering a lottery system, but that decision has not been made. The phone number for Parks and Recreation at the City of Lake Oswego is 503-697-6500.
Luscher Farm is also home to the 
your good health. In the summer shareholders pick up the bounty of the crops on a weekly basis. In the late fall through early spring it is less frequent, but it still happens. I visited the wesite for 47th Avenue Farms and found discriptions of various share options, but no specific pricing. I would imagine that next year’s membership is still being formulated. There is a link to a waiting list as well as for e-mailing to get information. The website is 
This Sunday there are currently 25 houses scheduled in the RMLS to be held open, including my listing at 13638 SW 62nd in Southwood Park. It’s a big, family home with 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, and 2 family rooms for just $319,900. Yes, it does need some cosmetic updating, but it has a newer 50 year roof, new windows, and new paint in and out. I’ll be there from noon to 3pm. I’d love to have you stop by. Look for my signs on Westlake Dr and Southwood Dr and follow them in to SW 62nd.
The last 12 months have been a pretty rough time to be selling a home. Your home may have even been on the market for a period of time longer than you ever thought possible. But now you’ve gotten a good offer that you have accepted. This is a key time in any home sale. You must now get your home to pass the home inspection. I want to give you a list of 10 simple repairs you can do to prepare your home as well as a few things to do on the day of the inspection.
While today I am posting our regular list of the Lake Oswego Open Houses as advertised in the RMLS, I want to take a moment to discuss open houses in general. Open houses are probably one area in which Realtors really differ on their opinions. I have known agents who absolutely refuse to do them. One man in particular had a sign he took to listing appointments that had the words “Open House” with a big red circle and a diagonal line across the words. He was making it very clear that there was no way he would ever do an open house. I happen to have the exact opposite opinion. I happen to think that they work. Sure, you get the neighbors and the “Lookie Lou’s”, but you also get lots of great exposure to a property that needs to be sold. I think the key is to advertise the open house so that a good percentage of the people who show up are real buyers who know the price and size of the property before they get there. I hold homes open pretty much every Sunday. I believe that on average I sell at least one listing a year off of my open houses. In fact, I sold a house in Lake Oswego about 3 weeks ago as a result of my open house. So I think that open houses do have value.