(upbeat music) - [Vinny] Today on "All Across Oregon," it's all about the giant trees, walking among them, carving hearts out of them, swinging on them, zip-lining through them, even sleeping up in them.

We're headed to the Cave Junction area, and I can't wait to share this new adventure with you.

Let's go!

(upbeat music continues) Funding for "All Across Oregon" was provided in part by John A Warekois, CPA, Travel Curry Coast, Travel Southern Oregon, Oregon's Adventure Coast, F.V.

Martin Trucking Company, and Travel Southern Oregon Coast.

Before we get to our destination of the tree houses for the night, we're making a quick stop in the town of Kerby.

So if you're heading to the coast and you're driving down the 199, the Redwood Highway, you're gonna see a place in Kerby.

And don't just drive by and say, "Oh, that is so cool."

Stop.

Check it out.

This place is fascinating.

Well, I'm gonna let Reggie explain.

- Welcome.

It's a Burl.

- It's a Burl!

How you doing, Reg?

- I'm good, man.

How you doing man?

- Man, I'll tell you what, every time I've driven by here for like 25 years, every time, we say, "We gotta stop."

- Well, aren't you glad you did?

- I am, because this is insane.

(upbeat music) - [Reggie] So check it out, man.

We got nice art on the walls.

- Reggie, how long you been doing this?

- I've been here in It's a Burl for 13 years now.

- Did you just naturally pick this art up?

I mean, what.

- Well, you know what, I've been in the wood game, you know, for about 25 years.

You know, I was doing log furniture, then I came across here, talked to Harvey, and Harvey put me to work, and he just let me go crazy.

- [Vinny] And while we were there, we actually got to meet the original owner's son, Harvey's son, Michael.

What a sweetheart.

- This is my father, my biological father.

And this place has been here for 37 years.

This man would never, ever, ever put a tool down, ever, as long as he has owned this furniture business.

(upbeat music) - [Vinny] Are these like all mahogany, and what are they, oak?

- All different types.

- Oak.

- You got buckeye, you got maple.

- [Vinny] That is so beautiful.

Reggie, how long does it take to make something like this?

- [Reggie] Oh, I'd say about a week.

- Be very careful.

Oh see, I was eating pistachios on the way out there.

- Still looking good, man.

- Oh look, can you see you?

Yeah?

How about you, Levi?

Does it work?

- [Reggie] Check out the chair.

- The chair?

- [Reggie] Oh yeah.

Look at the chair.

You got the crystals in and all that.

- Oh, right here.

- [Reggie] Oh yeah.

- Did you make this one?

- [Reggie] No, another artist made it.

- Another artist.

- [Reggie] Yeah, Juan made it.

- We allowed to sit on it.

- [Reggie] Yeah, of course you are.

- Is this like just multiple pieces?

- [Reggie] Inlaid and all that, yeah.

You know, it's not for sale, right?

But if you wanted something like that, right, it could be made here.

- What's this for?

- For you.

- What is this for?

- [Reggie] Wow.

- What is this for you?

That's what I'm asking.

Like why is this here?

Did someone make this too?

- [Reggie] It's a coat rack.

- Oh, so they made the coat rack.

- [Reggie] Coat rack hat.

Yeah, you wanna go outside?

- And I wanna see the tree house that they filmed the movie, "Redwood Highway," right here.

- Oh, sweet.

(upbeat music) - This is from the movie?

- This is from the movie.

This is where they spent the night at.

- Look at that!

So this is where they spent the night, up here.

- [Reggie] Up at the top, yes.

- Up at the top.

Okay, Reg.

I'll go up top.

I even have a better idea.

Why don't we go catch up with the director of the film "Redwood Highway," Gary Lundgren?

(steady rock music) Hey Gary, it's Vinny.

- [Gary] Hey Vinny.

How are you?

- [Vinny] I was in town.

I was gonna swing by.

You up for a coffee?

- [Gary] I'd love a coffee.

- I'm on my way, my friend.

(steady rock music) I hope you like coconut milk.

- I love coconut milk.

- How you doing my friend?

- Thank you!

- Good to see you.

- It's good to see you for stopping by.

- Thanks for having us.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Come on in.

I'll give you a tour.

- All right.

Such a beautiful place.

- [Gary] Yeah, yeah.

This is downtown Ashland, kind of by the creek.

Been here about six years now.

After you.

- Right on.

Thank you.

So you've been here about six years?

- Six years.

Been in Ashland about 12.

Right about when we made "Redwood Highway," actually.

That was our second film, and now we've made six.

- [Vinny] All local?

- [Gary] All local, all in Southern Oregon.

- All different types of?

- All different types of movies.

Yeah.

We had a baseball movie.

We were working in commercials.

We do a lot of stuff.

- I watched the movie.

It's a sweet movie.

And I didn't know there were six movies that you did.

I just knew about the "Redwood Highway."

And because we bought it up, because we were actually filming over at It's a Burl, and then we find out you made a movie there, and then you live right here.

It's like, "Oh, we gotta go see Gary."

(Gary chuckling) - [Gary] They were so welcoming.

Tried to feature it the best we with Tom Skerritt.

- [Vinny] And tell me about that, the lead actress, though.

- [Gary] Shirley Knight, she starred in a movie with Paul Newman way back in the day, was Academy Award nominee.

She did theater for years and years.

So we were lucky to get her.

And she loved playing that role in the movie.

So, it was one of her sort of swan songs.

Yeah.

- [Vinny] These guys are talking, though.

- [Gary] Yeah.

That's cashew.

- [Vinny] Making "Redwood Highway," did you set up along the way?

I mean, how long did it take you to do that?

'Cause you started in Grants Pass.

Actually, really you did it in Ashland.

- Ashland, Mountain Meadows.

- Mountian Meadows.

- We pretended it was in Grands Pass, yes.

But it was fun filming on the road, you know?

We were on that highway.

We got to film the sign and everything, you know, all the different spots, and Shirley walking down the Redwood Highway wasn't always safe.

So we had to switch sides at times, figure out the safe areas.

We had to close the highway at one point.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Dude, you got to close the highway?

- We got to close Redwood Highway.

- I think that's like a status right there.

What do you think?

Can "All Across Oregon" shut down a freeway?

That's our next goal.

You're gonna wait back there.

And I'm not gonna tell you how long it's gonna be.

Just deal with it.

We are filming over here.

- [Gary] But the story was meaningful because the Marie character was kind of a composite of several people in our family trees.

So Marie's plight means something.

It meant something to all of us.

So when you see the movie, her character arc is meaningful to me, how she learned something about her past.

- [Vinny] Well, I'll tell you what, man, I really thank you for just letting us come out here and talk to you for a minute on your beautiful property and being such a, you know, good host and hospitable.

So thank you.

- Thank you, Vinny.

Thanks for having me.

Thanks for featuring our movie.

We still like it when people see our film, so we're always willing to talk about it.

- Absolutely.

Man, dude, thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- I appreciate you.

- Thank you buddy.

(upbeat music) - [Vinny] Reggie, that was so cool up there.

They must have had some good blankets.

- [Reggie] There's no windows or anything.

This stuff has all been dried.

- Years.

- It's been in the racks for years, yeah.

- Years.

- Yeah.

Some of the stuff that we cut up is dry too.

- [Vinny] It's beautiful in it's raw form.

- [Reggie] Raw form, yeah.

- And you just make it more beautiful.

That's so cool.

- [Reggie] We put the finishing touches on it.

- This one's so smooth in shape.

It's like metal.

- [Reggie] Oh.

(laughs) - Where are you going to get all this?

- People will bring it in.

- People will bring it in, okay.

- We'll buy it off of 'em.

Yeah.

- [Vinny] Just curious though, before you even go to your shop, - [Reggie] Yeah.

- You come out here and you're looking at it and where's your inspiration coming from, Reg?

Like, okay, I'm gonna make a, what's this?

What are we gonna do out of this?

A tabletop?

What is this?

- I might cut that up for a heart.

Or Juan might cut it up for a heart.

- For hearts.

- Yeah.

- Just right outta here.

- Just right out.

Well, he'll get a couple of 'em out of there.

He'll draw one here, then he'll come here and get another one.

He might get three hearts out of this.

So what I did, right, so I pulled up a slab, of redwod outta here, brought it to my shop, and I'm making a rocking chair.

- So how long will this take you, Reg?

- I should have this done by next week.

I'm hoping to have it done by next week.

- [Vinny] What?

- Yeah.

(power saw whirring) (bright music) - Look how you made it fit.

Just sit right on there.

- You can see where there's little gaps, right here, right?

- Sure, well, yeah.

- I'll fine tune all that stuff up.

Make sure they sit right, and I'll put some jewelry on it with, that's what we call jewelry is just, the Manzanita branches coming off in here, weaving it inside.

We'll take something like this and we'll put that in there like that.

We'll incorporate that.

You see that?

I'll just start dressing it all up inside here.

- How do you even attach that?

- Well, I'll grind this down so it sits flat here.

- Yeah.

- Put a screw there.

Poke this out a little bit and put a screw into there and go all the way around the whole chair.

- Yep, uh huh.

- It'll just kind of keep adding, - Mhm.

- Let's find out what a burl actually is.

- These is what you call burls, stuff that grows on the side of the tree.

- [Vinny] Oh, - [Reggie] Right?

This is a burl.

Let's say it was in a wind storm and branches fell off of it or it got hit.

The tree is trying to heal itself.

So this is what grows in its spot to look.

It's just like a big old bandaid.

- This is a natural bandaid.

Ow, that's sharp too, right?

Don't hit it.

Don't hit the burls.

- Yeah.

- Reggie was such a great host.

He even let me try my skill at woodworking.

Check it out.

Is that what?

- So Vin, you want to try making something?

- Do I wanna try making something?

- Yeah.

- Yes I do.

- All right, so let's make a heart for you, all right?

- Okay.

- Draw me out a heart on that.

- I feel like I should be doing it in pencil.

'cause I'm gonna mess up.

Okay.

I told you, I am not very good at that.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

See I told you!

I told you, I wasn't playing.

Okay.

- That's gonna be hard to cut out.

We're just gonna bring it down here a little more.

- Oh, the big heart, - Right?

- [Vinny] And we're gonna follow this line.

- [Reggie] All right, let's cut it out.

- Okay, let's do it.

What are we gonna use.

- Right out here, bud.

- Yeesh.

Aye, aye, aye!

This is an occupational hazard right here, for sure.

- Just want you to follow this around.

Okay?

- All the way through?

- [Reggie] All the way through.

- Yikes.

- There you go.

Wanna try and make the cut, make the bend?

- I don't know.

I think I'll leave that to a professional.

- Okay, let's see here.

- Lemme watch it.

Oh, I see.

Okay.

Then you go back.

That's pretty cool.

- It's like that.

(upbeat music) - And then we put it on here, right?

- Same thing, right?

Watch your hands.

- Gonna go fast.

- [Reggie] Oh yeah.

Just take your time.

Put your hand up on top.

(bright music) - Boy, you gotta really have a feel for it, huh?

(bright music continues) - It's really relaxing too.

You know what I'm saying?

You just get out here, right?

- I was just gonna say how peaceful this is.

- Yeah.

- It's just you and the wood.

- Wanted to go a little extra, I would take the flapper.

See how it breaks the edges?

- What?

- See that right here?

From that right there.

- Wow!

- Gonna crown all these.

- Look at that!

Oh man.

Everyone has a flapper in their house.

What do you think?

- [Reggie] Yeah, that's good.

- That is extremely peaceful in working.

I mean, hey, we were made to work with our hands, right?

- That's right.

- Man, thank you so much for letting me try that.

- [Reggie] Of course.

Now, you take that with you.

- I will take it.

I will take this heart with me.

What an experience.

I'll remember this.

What a cool, inspiring place It's a Burl is, but now it's off to the tree houses.

(upbeat music) So here we are, just a few minutes outside of downtown Cave Junction.

People from all over come to visit OutnAbout treehouse here in Cave Junction.

People you know, like Will Smith, Mike Rowe, and many others.

And now meet our host for the night.

This is Amber.

- Welcome.

So this is the magistree.

It's our tallest tree house here.

And that is your room, this evening.

- So that's what 47 feet looks like?

- That's what 47 feet looks like in a spiral staircase that was custom made for it.

- [Vinny] All right.

- [Amber] And that comes with a clean bed and two doubles up in the loft and a full shower and bathroom.

(upbeat music) So this is your hoist to get your luggage up to your tree house.

You can put things on the carabiner or in the bag itself.

So would you like to go see your tree house?

- I would like to see it, for sure.

So how many times a day you have to go up and down this?

- A lot.

This is 150 steps, I believe.

- 150.

Okay, okay.

- Here's a your private entrance to the magistree, here.

- What?

- I'll open that for you, and I will open the door.

- Right.

I'll still follow you.

Oh god.

Hey guys.

Boy, be careful, okay?

Be careful.

Don't lose your balance and go over.

This didn't look that high from down there.

- [Amber] Welcome to the magistree.

Tallest tree house at Out'n'About.

(upbeat music continues) - This is cool.

This is everybody's dream.

Well, every little boy's dream anyway, for sure.

This is so cool.

- [Amber] So one of the things that happens is, it gets windy, trees will start to feel like a boat.

You'll be up there in a tree house and it's like, I came up in the last windstorm and this is like, definitely swaying back and forth.

But with that Garnier limb, you definitely have like, all the support you need.

- You can see why people come from all over to come here.

- Yes!

It's so fun.

I love watching people's faces, and they're so excited, or they haven't told their kids yet and they just show up and the kids are screaming.

- And then these just keep connecting, right?

- Yep, you can walk that way and that will go to the spiral staircase down.

- All right, I'll wait for you.

All right.

Woo!

(upbeat music) - It's been an amazing experience.

I used to watch Pete Nelson in Vero Beach and then I moved to Hawaii.

And so like, my dream was to build tree houses and experience tree houses and live in that world.

And then fast forward five years later, I got a job here last summer, turned into an office position and I had no idea that this was even here.

And then we had the World Tree House conferences and I got to meet Pete Nelson.

So that was a big like, manifestation moment of like, seeing it fulfilled, right?

And then I found out Michael Garnier had mentored him.

So I'm working for the man that mentored the guy that started my whole dreaming about tree houses.

How magical is it to be in the trees and have be around people that are so happy and excited?

- All the time.

- Yes.

- All the time.

Yep.

On their best behavior.

Now I'm gonna get on that horse right there.

That one.

So how far are we to town, then?

Do we have to go back to Cave Junction to go to an actual town?

- [Amber] Yes.

- [Vinny] Okay.

- [Amber] You're 20 minutes from there.

- [Vinny] So is that where I gotta go tonight to feed the crew?

Shoot.

There's no little stand on the way?

- Well, I have a guy that will deliver Caribbean food.

- [Vinny] Oh really?

- Yeah.

- [Vinny] Okay.

You guys want Caribbean food?

They'll eat anything.

- [Amber] It's really good.

- And here's Mike, the owner and builder of Out'n'About tree house.

Yeah, the Tarzan Swing sounds pretty intense.

- Yes.

You gotta do the Tarzan Swing.

- Yeah.

- I actually make all my employees do the Tarzan Swing.

- Yeah, she said she got away with it for like six months without having to do it.

So, thank you for sharing this with us.

No, really appreciate it.

You know, one thing that's the, like, the best thing about this show is we meet so many cool people like yourself and just all this energy and passion that you put into something like this.

And I've watched a little bit about you and I know it started off with just a little dream at the beginning.

But man, what a thing.

Everyone knows about you.

I just mentioned, "Hey, we're gonna go over to this place."

"Oh, you're gonna go there?

I always wanted to see that place!

I wanna go there!"

And now I can say, okay, yeah.

So I got to go.

And I got to meet the man who designed it.

And there's so much to do.

There's so many activities for the whole family.

It is insane.

I mean, what do we do, guys?

We went horseback riding.

There's bike riding, there's zip-lining, there's the Tarzan Swing, there's going up and down to your tree house!

I mean, it's insane how many things there is to do here.

It is like the ultimate family weekend getaway.

Out'n'About is so fun.

One more time!

(upbeat music) And man, did we get a surprise at 11:00 at night.

We were all hungry from the day, and here it is.

My new friend, Chalo, delivered Caribbean food into the middle of the woods.

And you know what, he said he'd do it for you too.

When did you start cooking?

- I started cooking like about, maybe six and a half years old.

- Yeah?

Me too.

- With my grandmother.

- On the island.

- Yeah.

So then I continue doing it, you know?

- Well, I'm gonna make you dinner when you come to Medford, okay.

- Right on.

- So I'm a cook too.

- Oh.

- You like Italian food?

- Oh, you Italian, huh?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Yeah, man.

- I can make Italian rastafarian food.

I'll put your spices with my Italian.

We'll see what happens.

- You never know.

- You never, never know.

You never, never know.

- That's how new things come about, right?

Yeah.

(upbeat music continues) - [Vinny] Just enjoyed every minute of doing this.

- [Michael] Yeah.

I mean, once you could find something that you do that you love, you know, and make a living at it, you can't ask for anything more.

I'm getting older and there's more things I gotta do and get, you know?

- Do you have the help?

- Yeah, I do.

But I got a lot of wood hanging up in the tree, so.

- [Vinny] The fact that you can come out one hour from Medford and transplant yourself into a whole different world, which I'm sure that everyone says, but it's just a different world out here.

- It is.

And it's for kids of all ages.

- Yes, exactly.

I mean, waking up this morning and remembering where, you know, I was, you know?

Actually, I woke up at two in the morning, forgot where I was.

I was getting my morning ready.

Then I heard them snore and I realized where I was, you know?

That's not my wife.

Hey Morgan.

How you doing?

- Pretty good.

Yourself?

- Nice to meet you.

No joke, he is a big boy.

Yeah.

I found Morgan, guys.

So I guess this is our safety.

Our life's in your hands right now.

- Well, not yet.

- [Morgan] Not yet.

- [Amber] Not yet.

- But once we put you up in a saddle and put you on a line and, you know, hang you 50 feet off the ground, now 70 feet off the ground, then we'll wait.

Wait, now it's 70?

I thought it was 50.

I was already struggling with 50.

It's this swing that I have literally lost sleep over.

And I don't know why.

I think everyone's building it up and she's like, "You know, to work here, Michael says we have to do it and I got away for like, all this time not doing it."

And she got in my head.

But then you know what?

I met a young one this morning.

I met a young one, and she's 10 years old.

She says she did it.

So, you know, I know thousands of people have done it.

So one more shot of coffee though before we go.

So Amber kept building up the Tarzan Swing.

So all night, that's all I thought about.

I was petrified.

- [Morgan] Then just up over the hips, everything tucked into that harness.

- I ate that big breakfast though, man.

I don't think it's going over the hips.

Hold on a second.

(tense music) First run of the day.

What if a squirrel ate it last night, though, the line or something?

(tense music continues) - [Morgan] If you wanna look up here, though.

- Oh, I already did.

I already looked up there.

I already looked.

- [Morgan] We are gonna hand you that ski handle.

Hold on tight until we yell out, let go.

When you do let go, both hands at the same time for a smoother ride.

You can go twice if you wanna go twice.

There's only one way down, though, and that's for you to let go.

- Oh, yeah, let go.

- Yeah.

(chuckles) - That's the only way down.

- That's the only way down.

So if you wanna climb up this ladder for me, whenever you are ready.

- Chuckers, I just had a huge breakfast.

This is terrible.

I didn't think about it.

- Let's go ahead and reach down back.

- Oh, okay.

- You ready?

- Oh yeah.

- We are ready.

- So I'm just holding onto this rope here.

- Until I say let go.

- Oh my gosh!

(tense music) Oh my goodness!

(tense music continues) - [Morgan] Let go!

(Vinny screaming) - Whoa!

Okay!

Am I supposed to be swinging?

That is beautiful.

I didn't realize that we went up that fast.

Oh my goodness.

Well, I'm sure there was good fear.

Yeah, you have to hold on.

I get it.

I see what you're saying.

If you went slower, you're trying to hold on.

- Now, the real question, do you wanna go a second time?

- No, no, no, no.

I'm good.

I got a good experience.

- Do you feel brand new now?

- Yeah.

Now it's your turn again.

And yep, the camera crew had to ride the swing too.

- Holy moly!

Yeah!

- Woo hoo!

Oh my god!

- [Vinny] And then one last ride down the zip-line to wrap up the day in style.

Oh my goodness.

Okay.

I just gotta go faster, huh?

I gotta get outta here.

- Here we go.

Ready?

- As long as the other one stays on, we're good.

- Here we go.

(bright music) - [Vinny] We've had some fun.

We were able to do this in the past, zip-lining.

I kind of knew a little bit of what to expect, you know, but everyone's different.

Like, you know, man, going through those trees is tight.

Dude that was sick.

Like you're right next to those trees.

So that was really fun.

The swing, it was exhilarating.

Yeah, when you guys said let go, I think the reality hit in, you know, to let go.

My friend, you made a special trip.

Come here.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your hospitality and letting us be part of your world.

This was special.

This was nice.

We get to meet some, - No place like it in the world.

- Again, great people.

And you're one of 'em, man oh man.

Yeah.

No place like it.

(bright music) What a fabulous experience we had in the Cave Junction area.

I want you to experience this for yourself.

It was like being a teenager again!

Go see the people at It's a Burl, go stay the night at Out'n'About tree house, and whatever you do, make sure you swing like Tarzan.

(Vinny screaming) (upbeat music) Funding for "All Across Oregon" was provided in part by John A Warekois, CPA, Travel Curry Coast, Travel Southern Oregon, Oregon's Adventure Coast, F.V.

Martin Trucking Company, and Travel Southern Oregon Coast.

(bright music)