ALL ABOUT OREGON

Midwinter Greens

2012-02-05T15:21:00.000-08:00

Another great thing about living in the Willamette Valley? The chance to garden year round.

The photo of this lovely savoy cabbage at the University of Oregon Urban Farm was taken on a crisp February day.

French Prairie, Oregon

2012-01-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

We love to get outside, but mid-winter is a hard time for us. I'm not interested in driving in snow or hiking in snow, so the mountains are out until later this spring. (Mine is not the blog to find information on the great ski areas in Oregon.) The coast is great for storm watching, but we could be stuck on the wrong side of a landslide across the highway. It's too early for gardening much (note to self: start seeds soon!), not to mention too soggy in the beds.

What winter is good for is a day trip to one of the many historic sites or towns in the Willamette Valley. Much of my interest in these places is personal. Parts of my family's history here in Oregon are centered in pre-statehood Willamette Valley settlements.

I'm particularly fascinated by the French Prairie area of Oregon. Most likely because that's the part of my family history that's been hardest to pin down and it's the mystery that keeps me looking.

The early French Candian settlers* were the reason for the area's name and were also the major impetus for the Roman Catholic church to establish a parish in the Willamette Valley.

In St. Paul, the first church was built of logs, in 1836, and replaced ten years later with the current brick church--the oldest brick building in the Pacific Northwest.

Just down the road, in St. Louis (little more than a crossroads now), is another old church. The church standing now was built in 1880; the parish dates from 1847.

Both churches are photogenic, surrounded as they are by farm land.

And wandering through the near by cemeteries tells an interesting story of the early settlers. French names, Native Americans identified by first name, then ancestry, and the subsequent arrival of Irish and Germans. Soon, the cemeteries will hold the newest arrivals to the area. The area is currently more than 25% Hispanic.

An easy day trip from anywhere in the valley, the French Prairie area is a wonderful piece of Oregon history.

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*We're talking late 1830s, early 1840s. The Oregon Trail pioneers began coming in earnest in 1845. Statehood came in 1859.

Down By The Bay

2012-01-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

I've lived in Oregon all my life and still get a jolt of that-can't-be-right when TV newscasters will refer to weather in the "bay area" and they aren't talking about San Francisco. I suppose it's one more sign of my Willamette Valley centered-ness.

Oregon's Bay Area--the cities of Coos Bay, North Bend, and Charleston--is located on the central Oregon coast, an area that has long been populated by loggers, mill workers, and fisherman. But the area has been hard hit since the 80s and it shows. What was once the world's largest lumber shipping port seems to have dwindled to a sad shadow of its former self. There may be a thriving industry somewhere, but to this casual visitor, it's hard to see. There are piles of logs and wood chips, but also acres and acres of empty former mill sites.

The area seems to be trying to redefine itself. Both Coos Bay and North Bend have created nice waterfront areas, but during the holiday season, even with spectacularly mild weather, they were empty. North Bend's lovely entrance to a rehabbed boardwalk would be a great place for a small festival, but has an unused look. Perhaps in the future?

However, right now, there are wonderful bright spots in the area. Coos Bay's small downtown core has a nice selection of locally owned shops. There are plenty of restaurants along the main highway. A great yarn shop kept me browsing (and buying) for way too long. We found some gems in the used bookstore. And the Coos Art Museum is fabulous--top rate exhibits* in the old post office (a model for Eugene, perhaps?). We just happened to be in town for the opening reception for the current exhibits.

Highway 101 runs through both towns. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges for Coos Bay and North Bend is simply getting travelers to stop. Try it next time you're passing through. The parking's free and there's enough there to keep you entertained for an afternoon.

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*Among their permanent exhibits is a gallery devoted to hometown boy Steve Prefontaine. The fabulously talented distance runner, who died in 1975, often seems to be a Eugene creation. But he was born and raised in Coos Bay and is buried in the local cemetery. The visitor center is home to the Prefontaine monument shown at left.

Midwinter Mildness

2012-01-08T12:40:00.000-08:00

Apart from a few rainy days just after Christmas, Oregon's had a run of very dry, very mild, weather all over the state. The local ski resorts are putting on a cheery web face, but there's not much snow up there in the mountains. Until the rain, the Willamette River, running through Eugene, looked like a mid-summer river--exposed rocks, clear, shallow water.

But the days, if sunny, are still short. And we know the rain and cold will return soon. So, we seized the moment and took a drive out into the middle of the Willamette Valley.

The day, crisp and bright, felt like a palate cleanser after the excesses of the holiday season and before the muddy rains of late winter. The grass fields are impossibly green. Sheep, fat with winter wool, graze. And hawks sit on poles, treetops, and fenceposts, watching and waiting.

A side road took us back to one of Oregon State Park's more recent acquistions, Thompson's Mills. On the Calapooia River, a mill has been on the site since before Oregon statehood. It's a history buff's dream, with plenty of gears and wheels and hand-hewn timbers.

The visit to the mill, though, was just an appetizer. The main destination of our drive was the Finley National Wildlife Refuge.

Almost 6,000 acres of wetlands, oak savannah, and prairie grass, the refuge is the winter home of thousands of Canada geese, ducks, and other birds and wildlife.

Most of the refuge is closed for hiking during the winter months, to keep the geese undisturbed, but there are still parts of the refuge that offer great bird watching right from the road.

The highlight of this trip was watching a immature Bald Eagle swoop down toward the water, scaring geese and ducks into great honking clouds of birds. The eagle finally settled into a tree and we watched until the light began to fade and we had to head home.

Lazy "Journalism"

2011-12-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

Today's Register Guard printed a brief AP piece as filler in its City Region section. See if you can spot what's wrong with this sentence:

FIVE RIVERS, Ore. — To help restore coho salmon in Benton County, fish biologists are turning to the fish’s bushy-tailed ally: beavers.

Here's a hint: Even free clip art providers realize the beaver--Oregon's state animal--has a flat, scaly tale.

The problem with a poorly-written story is that the papers, apparently staffed with fewer editors than ever before, just reprint what's given to them.

Perhaps they need a sharp-eyed elementary school student as proofreader. Students can tell you that Oregon's flag is the only state flag that has different images on both sides, one of them the beaver.

To be fair, the original reporter on the story, Bennett Hall at the Corvallis Gazette-Times, didn't make the mistake that the AP writer did. His report is interesting and informative, with a nice photo of a real beaver included!

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Hat tip to my dad, who brought this to my attention!

There Be Whales!

2011-12-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

One of the joys of visiting the Oregon coast in the winter is the chance to spot one of the migrating gray whales.

Their southward migration takes them along our coastline during the winter holiday time.

Oregon Parks and Recreation coordinates a group of hardy volunteers who staff various parks and pullouts along Highway 101. If you spot a Whale Watching Spoken Here sign, pull over. The volunteers will let you know if they've seen whales and help you spot them. They're out there, rain or shine, and their love and enthusiasm for the huge mammals is contagious.

And, luckily for us, the whales' northward return to the cold waters of Alaska just happens to coincide with Oregon schools' spring break!
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Photo is at Shore Acres State Park. Each year, volunteers light the entire garden with thousands of lights.

Albany's Veterans Day Parade

2011-11-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

I've written previously about Albany's Veterans Day Parade. Said to be the largest parade west of the Mississippi, it is an impressive event and well worth the trip to the small town. It begins at 11:00 a.m., this Friday, November 11. It's easy to find a viewing spot along the parade route, and this year's weather forecast is for dry weather.

If you're in Albany for the parade, take a while to tour some of the historic neighborhoods. Albany has three National Historic Districts and there are some beautifully restored houses from Albany's early days.

Silver Falls State Park

2011-11-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

Last night, Oregon Public Broadcasting's Oregon Field Guide aired a fun look at Oregon's largest state park--Silver Falls State Park.

It's one of our favorites for a day trip. About half way between Portland and Eugene, it's a hidden gem that actually has close to a million visitors a year. My photo to the left is from an August 2011 visit. High season, but we'd arrived very early and had the trails pretty much to ourselves.

By afternoon in the summer, the parking lots are full and the park is jamming with visitors. But you only have to hike a short way beyond the most popular falls to have the trails become quiet again.

The Oregon Field Guide episode is filmed in the fall, so there's more water coming over the falls and the trees are wearing their fall colors.

One of the lesser known facts about Silver Falls was that it was once promoted as a possible addition to the national park system. I have to say, we in Oregon are lucky it wasn't added. So easy to get to, it would become one of the "loved to death" parks.

The OPB episode has some fun footage of how the park was enjoyed earlier in the twentieth century. I doubt very much that today we'd see a daredevil vaulting over the falls in front of 4000 paying spectators.

The last blue skies for a while

2011-11-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

The Willamette Valley came close to 70 degrees today, the second day of November. I know, though, that rain is predicted and that we won't see blue skies again for a long while.

The rains make me want to travel again to the "dry side" of Oregon, east of the Cascades, where you can see blue skies, even in the winter.

The Future of Health Care Delivery?

2011-10-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

Wanting to get my flu shot, but reluctant to buy it at a Safeway along with milk and toilet paper, I remembered that PeaceHealth had opened an actual clinic in one of the supermarkets in south Eugene.

These kinds of clinics, often opened in WalMart or Rite Aid stores, are often referred to, deprecatingly, as a "doc in a box." But I have a hard time finding a problem with the business model.

I need a simple vaccination. The clinic was staffed by a nurse practitioner. My insurance was accepted. (And if I'd had to pay out-of-pocket, the costs are low.) And I needed no appointment. I was in and out in ten minutes. If I'd wanted to go on the weekend? No problem.

Chatting with the nurse practitioner, I asked how busy the location was. She said that "their numbers" were not real good and they'd like to have more business. But I'm not surprised, as she said other areas of the local PeaceHealth organization were unaware the clinic even existed. (The web page for the clinic was hard to find and is, frankly, dull.)

I'd love it if this were the future of health care delivery, if there were clinics like this in every corner of town. For the simple stuff, they're a smart alternative to the traditional doctor's office.

Covered Bridges, Oregon Style

2011-10-04T12:53:00.002-07:00

Oregon has the largest number of covered bridges in the western United States. There are currently about fifty bridges still standing. A combination of rainy western Oregon winters and the availability of lots of fine timber made covered bridges the logical choice.

Lucky for us, they all seem to be located in some of the prettiest places in the state. Across creeks and streams, sometimes they're in the middle of nowhere.

Others are intimately connected to their small towns.

And while many are still in use, others are now for pedestrian or bike traffic only.

The State of Oregon has a web page with historical background on some bridges. And there is a Covered Bridge Society of Oregon that has some good links. And there is another great site that gives directions to all of the bridges.

And with so many bridges, it seems like a good reason for a party! This Friday and Saturday, October 7 and 8, in Cottage Grove, Oregon, the Covered Bridge Festival is taking place. Music, Geocaching, and a dedication of the new Scenic Bikeway are on the schedule.

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Top Bridge: The "Office" Bridge, at Westfir, Oregon

Middle: Mosby Bridge, near Cottage Grove, Oregon

Bottom: Wildcat Bridge, at Whitaker Creek, Oregon

And The Award For The Most Unexpected . . .

2011-09-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

Again, the wide open spaces of the east side of the state called to us. It had been years since we'd been to the area south of Burns, Oregon. Home to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the Steens Mountain area, and lots and lots of blue sky and ranches.

This was the first time we'd visited the Pete French Round Barn. Built in the 1870s or 80s, it's a physical remnant of one of the area's more colorful historical settlers, the cattle rancher Pete French. He used it to train horses, both in summer and winter, and if you stand in the center, on the dirt floor, you can conjure up the sound of hooves on the ground. The barn, donated by its owners to the state in the 1960s, is largely intact, with only some restoration.

But the unexpected part of our visit to the Round Barn was the visitor center. From the outside, it's an unassuming building, bringing to mind nothing more than a low-bid government style building.

Inside, though, the building's interior mimics the lines of the interior of Pete French's Round Barn. The selection of items is huge, ranging from birding books to leather goods to western wear. The staff on the day we visited, a friendly sales clerk who was part of a nearby ranching family, epitomized the best of rural hospitality.

The visitor center's owner is part of a long-time Harney county ranching family and offers tours of the surrounding area. All I know is, I'd like to have someone from the area show me around. I'm hopeful that next time I visit . . .

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Runner up for the most unexpected moment of our recent trip? The wonderful hot springs at Crystal Crane Hot Springs. Located outside of Burns, in the middle of hay and ranch land, the natural hot springs pool was a fabulous way to begin the day.

The Garden State

2011-08-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

It might be the nickname of some eastern state, but I believe that Oregon is the true Garden State.

The greenhouse and plant nursery is the largest single sector of Oregon's agricultural business. (This fabulous brochure gives the facts and figures and lists the crops where Oregon is first or only state in the nation producing them.)

And building on the raw materials of the locally grown nursery products are Oregon's gardeners and garden designers.

I'd like to spotlight one garden designer--Darcy Daniels of Bloomtown Gardens.

It's impossible to browse her photographs of gardens she's designed without wanting to drop everything and head out to find that very plant in the middle of the photograph.

It's one thing to find that plant, though, and quite another to make it work in your garden. It's discouraging to spend the money and time of placing a plant in your garden if it dies after a cold winter or completely takes over precious garden space.

Darcy Daniels is offering a three-day workshop, Get Growing!, in her Portland garden studio that will cover the basics of plant selection and move into great ideas for creative design. It's taking place from September 30 to October 2 and space is limited. What a great opportunity for Portland (and beyond!) area gardeners!
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Full disclosure: Darcy Daniels is my sister. And one of the best garden designers in Portland!

Fairly Fun!

2011-08-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

It's time to start thinking about the Oregon State Fair. I've never seen fried butter on a stick--that seems to be a Midwestern taste--but our fair has plenty of other food, fried stick food and the finer stuff.

The State Fair is still the best way to connect the rural/agricultural side of Oregon with the urban/suburban dwellers. It runs from August 26 through Labor Day, September 5. Lots of fun!

On the Trail of Pioneers, Continued

2011-07-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

Disaster comes large and small.

The migrant who died along the Oregon Trail, a single death that, though devastating to the family left behind, falls into the category of small. The family had little time to mourn--burying the dead and moving on took precedence over more traditional grieving practices. And we today scarcely recall that so many died along the trail, on the way to a better life.

Large disasters demand our attention. We speak of them in terms of large numbers, overwhelming tragedy, of devastation on a massive scale.

But the only way--for me--to fully understand the magnitude of the large scale calamity is to look small. To find the individual story within the larger.

The single largest natural disaster in Oregon, in human terms, is the 1903 flash flood that took the lives of nearly one quarter of the inhabitants of Heppner, Oregon. I'll leave the details of the flood to those who have documented it so well, particularly Joann Green Byrd in her 2009 book Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903.

There is now a massive dam in Heppner, holding back the waters that still occasionally threaten the town. And on the hill overlooking the dam is the Masonic Cemetery, where so many of the flood victims are buried. Many are in unmarked graves. There is the eeriness of so many markers with the same date of death, June 14, 1903. Many inscribed with "Perished In The Flood." No need to say anything more. The Flood was enough.

One marker contains the name of three children in one family. Another family site has a man who lost his wife and child on that day. Life does go on, though, as he apparently remarried, only to lose another child ten years later. The memorial in the cemetery mentions seven Chinese workers who died and whose bodies were, 25 years later, sent back to China.

Small stories, individual lives. The only way to understand how big the disaster was.

A glimpse into the past

2011-07-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

I could look at historical photos all day long. And one place to find photos of Oregon, some dating back to pre-1900, is on Flickr.

Oregon State University archives participates in the Flickr: The Commons project. It's a wonderful way to spend a lot of time. Oregonians at work, at play, contributing to the war effort . . . many of the images document places long gone.

(Click here to enter the archives.)

(The first photo is of the Pendleton Roundup, about 1917. The second is of Mexicans working in flax fields in the 1940s.)

On The Trail of Pioneers

2011-07-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

The wide open spaces of eastern Oregon hold some of my favorite destinations. And we're lucky--even in the middle of summer, travel is easy. Paved roads, air conditioning, nice campgrounds.

Earlier travelers didn't have it so easy.

On a recent visit to Heppner, Oregon, we drove out to a couple of Oregon Trail sites.

Willow Creek, near Heppner, was an established resting area for the weary travelers making their way west on the Oregon Trail.

From the early 1840s until the coming of the railroad in the 1860s, migrants would leave the Midwest in the spring, when the weather conditions would allow travel, and arrive at Willow Creek around September.

When we visited this past July, the grass was already beginning to brown and the weather was warming significantly. I can only imagine how dry and hot and dusty the area would be when trains of wagons and livestock passed through. The banks of Willow Creek must have seemed an oasis for the travelers.

But, as a historical marker reminds us, the resting spot was final for some migrants. At least eighteen migrants are buried at Willow Creek.

Today, where the bodies of migrants lie, sheep graze the creek bottom in the shadow of wind farms.

Curiosity Satisfied

2011-06-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

A conversation last night got me curious. My cousin mentioned that he was traveling to Izee, Oregon soon.

Hmm. I like to think that I’m familiar with a lot of Oregon place names, but this one was new to me. Had to go to my Oregon Road and Recreation Atlas to pinpoint where it is. (Turn south on 395 at John Day, then west on Izee Road.)

But I’m always just as curious as to why a place name in Oregon is what it is. And for that, I have a reference that can’t be beat. No, not Wikipedia or Google or Bing.

We’re so lucky in Oregon to have Oregon Geographic Names, by Lewis A. McArthur. First published in 1928, the reference book is now approaching its 8th edition. (I have the 6th edition and love it, though I wouldn’t mind updating to the most recent.) Oregon Geographic Names was a labor of love for McArthur; the first edition was published entirely with his own funding. Lewis A. McArthur is named as a Notable Oregonian in the Oregon Blue Book (itself another great reference book). Oregon Geographic Names has remained a family project, with McArthur’s son Lewis L. McArthur taking over for his father at the 4th edition and Lewis L.’s daughter overseeing the 8th. A genuine love for the state and its history infuses the book—from the Native Americans here for thousands of years to corrections made by current Oregonians.

Oh, and as for the origins of Izee?

In 1927 J. E. Snow of Dayville told the compiler that this post office was so oddly named because a local stockman, M. N. Bonham, used the letters I Z for his cattle brand. Postal authorities inform the compiler that Izee post office was established Nov. 6, 1889, with Carlos W. Bonham first postmaster and was discontinued July 31, 1954.

Small town on the rebound?

2011-06-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Veneta, Oregon. A scruffy little town, always little more than a bedroom community of Eugene, it's had to struggle to find its identity in recent years.

Once the state re-routed Highway 126, straightening it out, making it easier and faster to drive to Florence, motorists could zip through without ever seeing the "town" part of Veneta. Most consider the shopping center at the intersection of Highway 126 and Territorial to be Veneta.

But Veneta does have a city hall, a mayor, a council, and a downtown. You just have to turn south on Territorial to find it.

Until recently you had to know to turn west on Broadway to find the hardware store, the two taverns, and the city hall.

I hadn't been in Veneta in about a year and a half, since we moved from the country back into Eugene. A recent drive out there really impressed us.

Veneta has re-worked Broadway into an appealing avenue, with lamp posts and sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. They've created a transit area and a nice sign letting you know you've arrived.

There are reasons to stop in Veneta: Our Daily Bread, a pleasant little restaurant in an old church, Yukon Jack's, a biker bar for the whole family, and the two Mexican restaurants, Ixtapa and Rosalina's, each with a dedicated following. Turn left the next time you're headed to the coast. The little town might just surprise you.

Historic Presevation Month in Oregon

2011-05-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

It's Historic Preservation Month in Oregon. All through the month of May, across the state, sites with historic significance will be open to the public.

The State of Oregon provides a web site with links to many of the events. It'll take some clicking to find what you want, as it's a web site that seems to be more cobbled together than well thought out, but be persistent.

One of the upcoming events is a tour of the Hull-Oakes Sawmill in Dawson, Oregon. On May 18, you can tour one of the last steam-powered sawmills in the country. It produces huge lumber products and ships worldwide.

I've poked around the site on a Sunday, when the mill is closed. I can only imagine how interesting it would be to see it in operation.

This site has an article by Gary Katz with some very cool photos of the mill at work. And if you Google Hull-Oakes Sawmill, you'll find tons of interesting facts about its operation and where the products have been used. One of those places is at Bellfountain Park, where one of the world's longest picnic tables, produced at the sawmill, can seat over 120 people.

If you can get the day off, check out this link for all the information you need to get yourself out to see history in action.

Oregon Is Different

2011-04-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

In 2010, a freshman Oregon House member decided to lighten up the sometimes too-partisan mood in the Oregon State House. He and other members inserted words from an 80s pop tune into speeches read from the floor of the House. The results were spliced and edited and posted to YouTube. The story is here and for your viewing pleasure, I present the video.

Poetry Month in Springfield, Oregon

2011-04-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last night’s Eugene/Springfield chapter of the Oregon State Poetry Association (OSPA) Spring Poetry Reading at the Springfield Public Library featured three poets and a lot of very fine poetry.

Perhaps it's because my mind is still on my last blog entry, pondering the disappearance of the landscape of my childhood, that I found myself so drawn to the poetry of Ginger Andrews. Her biography, in a single sentence, is “Ginger Andrews was born and raised in an Oregon mill town and works as a cleaning lady.”

She writes of a place both familiar and distant, populated by people I once knew. Her poems are personal—“Divorce Poem”—and droll—“What a Homeless Man Wants.” She tells us in “How to Write a Poem” that it helps if you

Live in a small mill town.

Marry a man with a big heart,

a big truck, a strong back,

and a chainsaw.

Have four children,

one bathroom,

and wood heat.

Chop kindling.

Love rain.

I don’t live that life.

But I certainly recognize it.

Days Gone By

2011-03-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of the obituaries in our local newspaper. They're a glimpse into local lives, little stories that we need to listen to.

I particularly like to pay attention to what people did for work. And I'm drawn to the almost poetic titles of timber jobs that I'm certain are gone or are disappearing from Oregon.

Just today, there was a local man who had been a "flume walker" for a local timber company. According to this 1989 Lane County Historian publication, a flume walker spent his days walking the water flume, making sure logs didn't get hung up along the way.

Recently, a woman died who'd worked in the woods as a "whistle punk." This one I knew. As this great site will tell you, a whistle punk operates the whistle that's used to communicate out in the woods. The site also gives the correct pronunciation of caulk (cork) boots and what a widowmaker is. When I was young, we kids would see the workers heading up our road in a crummy from the mill to the job site in the woods. And for many boys just out of high school, their first mill job was pulling green chain.

I imagine it makes me sound as though I'm longing for the "good old days," days that are gone and won't be returning, when I talk about the loggers of my childhood. I'm not. That work was hard and dangerous and I knew more than one family who'd lost a dad to an accident in the woods.

It's more along the lines of feeling that my knowledge is shared by fewer and fewer people. Most likely it's the same feeling my friends from Southern California have when they think back to childhoods of farms and orange groves. Their childhood haunts are now covered in housing tracts and the old landscape, physical and of memory, has disappeared.

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(The photo is a family photo, with my great-grandfather standing on the far right on the sled of a donkey. As he was an engineer, he didn't work as a faller or a choker setter, very dangerous jobs. This was taken around 1905.)

Oregon's Scenic Bikeways

2011-03-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

The (Eugene) Register-Guard reports today that the state is creating Scenic Bikeway designations for various bicycle friendly roads and trails in Oregon. Of particular interest to me is the designation for the Row River "Rails to Trails" bikeway that runs from Cottage Grove to Dorena Lake. I reported on it here and continue to think it's one of the best--and most accessible--bike trails in our area. Here's hoping that the new designation will bring it even more attention!

What Me Worry?

2011-03-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

I've heard talk by Oregonians worried about radiation coming our way from Japan. It's not something I've been fretting about, but out of curiosity, I did click on the State of Oregon's web site that lists the actual levels in western Oregon. Confirmed what I'd heard--nothing out of the ordinary in our air.

Wine Country

2011-01-29T12:57:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned that I've lived in the Willamette Valley my entire life? That I grew up in the rural area outside of Eugene, Oregon?

That could explain why, unlike Oregonians who have come to the state more recently, I'm still amazed at the success of Oregon wines.

The first photo is of a house I lived in during the early 70s. Cattle and hay were how the area residents used the land on Briggs Hill Road. Then, a neighbor, on the land across the road from our place, planted wine grapes.

The other neighbors marveled at his foolishness, the folly of thinking he could grow wine grapes on the hillside. My brother and I worked among the grapes the first year, weeding around the fragile vines. After I moved away, though, I gave little thought to the changes in the area.

But the scrappy patch of vines that I worked in grew into Silvan Ridge Winery, a lovely venue that looks out over the rolling hills. Friends and neighbors rave about Sweet Cheeks Winery just down the road as a splendid place to take a picnic dinner and enjoy the sunset. And now the west side of Briggs Hill, where cattle and hay were the norm, is home to acres of vineyards. And the Lane County Visitors Guide lists 15 wineries to visit in Lane County alone.

Oregon wines have been featured at state dinners at the White House and in reviews in the New York Times. I guess it's time for me to start paying closer attention.

National Parks Deal

2011-01-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post is reporting that the National Park Service has expanded upon its Fee-Free Program. In the past couple of years, parks offered free admission on two or three days during the year. This year, according to the Post

fees will be waived on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 15-17), National Park Week (April 16-24), the first day of summer (June 21), National Public Lands Day (Sept. 24) and the weekend of Veterans Day (Nov. 11-13), the National Park Service said Wednesday.

The only National Park in Oregon is Crater Lake National Park. It's open year round, though I've not yet been brave enough to visit in the winter. It's tempting, if only because of the Snowshoe With A Park Ranger program. These webcams show just how much snow is at the park as I write.

Even if, like us, you visit only in the summer and early fall, you'll find that you can't take a bad photograph of the lake. And, once you leave the area of the Rim Village, there are plenty of hikes that are quiet, even solitary.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

Washburne State Park on the Oregon Coast, January 1, 2011.

Game Day

2010-12-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well . . . The University of Oregon's football team is now the subject of New York Times Sunday Magazine spread. The Times has occasionally covered the team this season and almost always with the thesis that the Ducks have a gimmicky style. The piece in the Magazine at least tries to look at the high-speed style seriously, though the writer does resort to saying "There's something a little goofy about Oregon's entire program. . . There's the matter of the nickname--the Ducks."

Um, Ducks are goofy? What's a Buckeye?

Oh, well, as long as they spell our name right . . .

Shameless Self Promotion

2010-11-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, not exactly self promotion, but this video was put together by my brother's company in North Powder, Oregon (Rich's Portable Cabins), showing the construction of one of his fabulous cabins. It's a fun look at the process--with a little of his own guitar playing thrown in as a bonus!

Election Days

2010-10-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

The blog is back up and active again after a nice camping vacation in Utah. It's always nice to get out in the west. It makes me appreciate coming home again.

Don't get me wrong--there's plenty of good stuff out there. Oregon doesn't have a monopoly on fantastic landscapes, that's for sure. There are interesting people all over the west and enough stereotype-busting experiences to make you keep your mind open about all things.

But it's election time and that's one place that I think Oregon does things better. To start with, we have our "Voter's Pamphlet," a catalog mailed to every household full of information on the candidates and measures. Some years, the "pamphlet" extends to two volumes. This year's is a manageable 123 pages.

And if you lose your copy, it's all available online.

I don't know how voters manage in states that don't have these resources. Rely on the t.v. news? Not a pleasant thought.

Then, there's how we vote. For the past fifteen years or so, I've been voting by mail. First, as a "permanent absentee" voter, then, after 1999, as a matter of course as the state went to permanent vote by mail.

If you Google "vote by mail," it helpfully asks you if you mean "vote by mail fraud." There isn't much, though, and much of it is just not well informed.

I'll trade the minute possibility of fraud for the convenience and accessibility of Oregon's system. It sure beats standing in long lines at a hard-to-find polling place.

Another Oregon Blog

2010-08-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

The "other" Oregon, eastern Oregon, is highlighted in this blog. Worth a quick look-see. It reminded me that the Pendleton Roundup is coming up.

Visit Eastern Oregon

Wind Power in Oregon

2010-07-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has a report in today's paper about one of the controversies surrounding wind turbines in Oregon. It seems that one company, Caithness Energy, is paying landowners a pre-emptive $5000 to not complain about the towers located nearby. Don't let the noise of the turbines bother you and ka-ching, easy money. As one farmer said, "It was about as easy as easy money can get."

We've been watching the growth of wind turbine farms in Oregon and marvel as we drive I-84 and pass trucks hauling pieces of these monsters. It's always breathtaking to round a bend on the freeway and find yourself at the edge of one of the farms. (To get some idea of the size of them, in the vertical photo, that's an SUV at the foot of the tower.)

I'm generally okay with the wind farms, but it does make me think twice when I see that Caithness has an agreement with Southern California Edison for the power generated in eastern Oregon.

When we drove through the small town of Moro last year, we spoke with a couple of older women who were lifelong residents of the rolling wheat covered hills. "I hate them," one said, referring to the growing number of windmills in the area. She hated them for aesthetic reasons; the beautiful vast views were now spoiled by the towers.

But these women were also realistic. They knew that some of the farmers were making big money leasing land for the towers. It would be hard to pass up that kind of easy money.

When we drove across Kansas a few years ago, we marveled at the ceaseless wind on the eastern half of the state. It seemed that it never stopped blowing. But there were few windmills. According to one businesswoman we spoke with, the opposition to the windmills was fierce. People did not want to spoil the views of the low rolling hills with wind turbines.

Of course, it was hard for us to see those rolling hills through the haze caused by the coal fired power plants.

July's First Friday Walk in Eugene, Oregon

2010-06-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

This coming First Friday ArtWalk in Eugene is going to be hosted by the mayor, Kitty Piercy. Fine, but the best reason to get downtown and take part in the walk is the second stop on the tour--Olive Grand.

Olive Grand is a fabulous store in downtown Eugene (across the street from the McDonald Theater). It features wonderful olive oils, oil blends, vinegars, pasta, spices, and kitchen accessories. Many of the items are organic. The presentations are so nice that I think you could solve many of your gift giving problems. But keep some for yourself.

The only difficult part is deciding what to buy. Olive Grand has a tasting bar and while I was there today, I tasted the Kalamata Olive Oil, the Pear Champagne Vinegar, and then a mixture of Blood Orange infused Olive Oil and Fig Balsamic Vinegar. Wow. The flavors are subtle, yet unmistakable. I can't wait to try them on grilled vegetables, or perhaps some grilled salmon, this coming holiday weekend.

Good News Bad News

2010-06-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

We've had a cooler than usual May and June, with low temps and rain and clouds, and it's only now, toward the end of the month, that it feels like summer might actually be on its way.

However--with warm weather comes the pollen. Here in the Willamette Valley, the grass pollen at this time of year spikes with good weather. And even those who don't suffer from the allergies, I'll bet you notice it in scratchy throats or dry eyes.

The Oak Street Medical office in Eugene, Oregon posts a pollen count (and a nifty site showing how they calculate the count) and today's is 720. That's very high. And that's why you'll hear people with allergies hoping for rain.

Good Eating

2010-06-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a holiday weekend trip to Northeastern Oregon where we picked pounds and pounds of morels during our hikes in the woods.

It's a Memorial Day tradition for us and every year we cross our fingers, hoping for just the right amount of rainfall and sunshine in the mountains.

Hunting morels is such a pleasure, a treasure hunt, a reason to get outside and hike the hillsides.

Yesterday, while in a local upscale supermarket, I saw a display of dried wild mushrooms. I couldn't help but gasp at the price for one-half ounce of dried morels. I'm not very good at math, but I think it works out to more than $300 a pound for dried morels.

We knew we were eating well when we had the mushrooms and eggs for Sunday breakfast. We just didn't grasp how well.

Camping Weather?

2010-05-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Camping in Oregon in the spring is always an iffy proposition. And while the weather forecast for this coming Memorial Day weekend isn't quite this bad (April 2006 at Cape Lookout on the Oregon coast), there are apparently quite a few cancellations at Oregon State Parks.

The Parks Department issued a press release this morning advising the camping public to come on out and set up a tent. Their release states:

Barring a sudden change in the weather forecast to warm and sunny, reserving a state park campsite for this Memorial Day weekend is still possible.

Reservations Northwest, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's (OPRD) campsite reservation center, may have scattered openings available because of cancellations. Bookings made by 5 p.m. Thursday, May 27, can reserve sites for Saturday, May 29 and the rest of the weekend.

Other alternatives exist for people making last-minute decisions. More than 20 of OPRD's 54 parks with campgrounds offer campsites on a first-come, first-served basis in every region of the state. Updated information on vacancies is available from the State Park Information Center by calling 1-800-551-6949 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. A list of these parks is posted at http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/PARKS/reserve2.shtml.

"Some pretty good options still exist out there," said Reservations Northwest Call Center Manager Sheri Miller. "If you don't have a reservation, starting your search as early as possible on Friday improves your chances of finding a spot. Many people discover that traveling without the guarantee of finding a site can pay off."

Party with Pioneers

2010-05-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, on a hill outside of Baker City, has a spectacular setting, made all the more so when you remember that those who trekked the Oregon Trail in the 1840s and 1850s weren't doing it in the easy comfort of an SUV.

The Center is a good place to get an idea of what they faced on the road ahead. They'd come such a long way, but there were still the Blue Mountains to get through and then down the Columbia River.

The Center is, once again, hosting a re-creation of a pioneer encampment on Memorial Day weekend. The interpreters are good sports, answering questions, cooking up pioneer grub, playing a little music--all while staying in character. It's worth a stop if you're in the area. And take a minute to savor the view.

2010-03-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

After I heard the news of novelist Robert Parker's sudden death, I got a hankering to read some of his work. Pithy, cool, and just plain fun, I'm going to miss the regular arrival of a Spenser, a Sunny Randall, or a Jesse Stone novel.

So what's this have to do with Oregon? Well, one of the books I picked up from the library was Rough Weather, a Spenser novel from 2008, and at a point when Spenser is killing time, waiting to figure out whodunnit, he's reading the newspaper cover to cover. Part of that is reading the funny pages.

"I still read Doonesbury carefully, and Tank McNamara, and Arlo & Janis. . . . I was studying a strip called Stone Soup, which seemed pretty good, and might fill the void left by Calvin & Hobbes . . "

Wow! Eugene's own Jan Eliot, creator of Stone Soup, is admired by Spenser. Since we all know that Spenser was just the fictional Robert Parker, that has to mean that Robert Parker admired our Jan Eliot. High praise and such a fun tidbit to stumble across.

If you haven't seen any Stone Soup, make a point to check out the strip. For Lane County residents, there are enough inside jokes (Long Tom Calendar, etc.) to make us very possessive of the strip.

Make Your March Plans

2010-03-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

I want to point to a couple of events happening this month that are sure to be a lot of fun.

The Emerald Valley Opry plays at Willamette High School (in Eugene, Oregon) each month. Each performance benefits the music department for the Bethel School District. And I think we can all agree on the importance of music in the schools and how terribly under- (or un-) funded music programs are. The Opry performances are often sold out and have an enthusiastic, faithful following.

I'm promoting this performance (Saturday, March 13) in particular because of RedWing. Yes, I have a personal connection (spouse of a band member), but I also know that when you hear RedWing, you're going to leave the performance with a few old time fiddle tunes rattling around in your brain.

I have several of their tunes and one of their performances (at an outdoor wedding) posted on my YouTube channel. And if you come to the Opry, stop by and say hi. We'll be selling their CD after the performance.

Save the following Saturday, March 20, for a poetry reading at Tsunami Books in Eugene. Nancy Carol Moody, whose book, Photograph With Girls, I reviewed a couple months back, will be reading. She'll be joined by Quinton Hallett, another local poet from the Eugene area.

Our February Spring

2010-02-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

It comes almost every February. Our false spring. Our week of sunshine and temperatures close to 60 degrees. It feels glorious, as it invariably comes after a long stretch of days of fog and clouds and never seeing the sun. The colors are bright again; after weeks of washed out and dull gray, it's all emerald green, sunny yellow, and bright pink. We go crazy--mowing lawns, washing cars, riding bikes--we're full of energy. College girls lie in the sun, kids play basketball in the driveway. And we push away the knowledge that by next week, the rain and gray skies will return.

Folk at the Coast

2010-01-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

Florence's annual Winter Folk Festival, now in its eighth year, has become a regular event for us, something we mark on the calendar each year. When we first started going to this event, held at the Florence Events Center, the music acts and the craft fair were all jammed into a single room, making for a cumbersome event. Eventually, the organizers put all of the music acts in the auditorium, freeing up the floor for crafters. I can't help but think that the musicians appreciated the move to the roomier stage.

The festival runs all weekend, but we zipped over from Eugene for the Saturday lineup. The headliners on Saturday were Misty River, a sold-out show, so we sat back and enjoyed the daytime acts before heading home again.

I was prepared for a good time, but I wasn't prepared to be blown away by one of the bands on Saturday's roster. The Urban Monroes, a bluegrass band from the north part of the Willamette Valley, are just a superb example of a contemporary take on traditional bluegrass. Their playing was tight and fast when it needed to be--just listen to their take on "My Window Faces The South"--and swingy and slow in their lovely version of Karla Bonoff's "Home." Listening to the CD here at home, we get to play our favorites over again and focus on the musicianship as well.

I saw from the website that they'll be at the Emerald Valley Opry here in Eugene this spring. I'm definitely marking the calendar for that one. I suggest that if you get a chance to see them live, you take it.

Oregon's Springfield

2010-01-12T10:35:00.000-08:00

There are reasons some potential visitors avoid downtown Springfield--the abundance of sketchy bars and their patrons who spill out onto the sidewalks are a big one--but the downtown area offers many more good reasons to visit.

Loads of free parking, antique stores and second hand shops, the Emerald Art Center and the Springfield Museum, and the best fabric store around--Econo Sales.*

But another reason to visit is the very lovely Wildish Community Theater. A non-profit group renovated an old movie theater on Main Street and turned it into a fabulous small space theater. Not a bad seat in the house, it's an intimate, affordable venue.

Last weekend, we were there to see the Sunday matinee performance of The Maltese Falcon, a re-creation of the classic movie in radio form. Lots of fun, it looked to be a sold-out performance. The acting was first rate, just another example of how this area (and this state) overflows with talented people.

The producer of the drama, Fred Crafts, has booked the Wildish for future shows in April and in June. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has planned for his next production.

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*One reason Econo Sales is my favorite is their experienced, helpful staff. I went in with a small project (recovering some dining room chairs) and came out knowing exactly what to do.

Photograph With Girls

2009-11-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

One of the things I love most about Oregon is the abundance of artists and writers and musicians in the state. Perhaps I'm hyper-aware of all of these creative people because so many of my family and friends are among them. And, yes, it's true that every other state is most likely generously populated with talented people. But I'm writing about what I know and that's Oregon.

I want to highlight a new collection of poetry, Photograph With Girls, by Nancy Carol Moody (Eugene, Oregon: Traprock Books, 2009).

Nancy writes with humor in her "To a Font," an appreciation of the Garamond font. And her playfulness continues in sympathetic advice to Yo-Yo Ma in "The Famous Cellist Loses His Instrument." She memorializes the dead in a stunningly haunting "Egyptair 990: Sestina for the 217," and reveals the thoughts of Emily Dickinson in "The Subject Validates the Photograph."

But the power of the collection is centered in the poems of family and friends--an adult child sympathetic of a mother's desire in "Fireworks, 1963," and the same grown daughter's understanding of the childhood lessons a father was trying to teach in "Learning Geography."

Photograph With Girls is available at independent bookstores*, from the publisher**, and from the author.

--from "Photograph With Girls"

The smiles on their faces are stilled
by time; the ocean wind has calmed.
And I am the one who is left to know
which girl it is whose husband
won't go, whose it is that won't
come home, whose man returns
a man undone, and whose
will arrive to lift her from the sand
to stampede along the water's edge,
surefooted and blameless, interrupting
the sea as it hauls itself to land.

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*Including Tsunami Books, 2585 Willamette Street, Eugene, Oregon 97405, 541-345-8986
** Traprock Books, 1330 East 25th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon 97403

The Heart of the Valley

2009-11-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

About three times a year, we head downtown to shop and eat and watch the river flow by. Not our hometown Eugene's downtown, but rather, less than an hour up the road to Corvallis. Even on a Sunday there are shops and restaurants open and the parking is always easy. There's a bit of culture shock for us University of Oregon people, as the shop windows are filled with OSU Beaver orange, but I'll bet even if we'd been wearing Duck green and yellow, we'd've still been welcomed.

We usually begin with the Book Bin, a new and used bookstore that can be overwhelming, but that doesn't stop us from finding something we just have to have.

And one of the nicest shops around is The Inkwell. It bills itself as a home store and that's probably the best description. Furniture, art, gifts, and a fabulous kitchen section--I could spend a lot more time there. It's a mandatory stop whenever we're in Corvallis. You could probably do all of your Christmas shopping in this one store.

A new one for us, though not new to Corvallis, is the Many Hands Trading Company. Full of fairly traded goods from all over the world, it's brim full of color and texture. I came away with the greatest scarf from Bali. It's another of those shops where you could do all of your gift shopping.

In the past, we've loved to lunch at the Fox & Firkin down by the Willamette River. Alas, it is no more, so we'd been at a bit of a loss. The cashier at Many Hands recommended Block 15 Brewpub as a good one for us to try. Yes, it was good. A worthy successor to Fox & Firkin. The hamburger was actually better, though the fries will never compare to F&F fries. We also had the barbecue chicken, which billed itself as Kansas City style. The sauce was tasty, reminiscent of Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City.

I'm glad we've solved the problem of where to eat in Corvallis. Makes it just that much easier to head on up the road.

Veterans Day

2009-11-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

There are Veterans Day events scheduled all over Oregon (though be aware that not all take place on the actual day--November 11), but for sheer size and enthusiasm, it's hard to beat the Albany Veterans Day Parade.

Billed as "the largest Veterans Day parade west of the Mississippi," it is an impressive display of marching bands and military members, active and retired. Rain or shine, the parade goes on.

Sleep With The Fishes

2009-11-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

The Eugene newspaper, the Register-Guard, reprinted an article from the Los Angeles Times the other day, a long look at the wonderful Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a definite must-see when you're passing through the area or a destination on its own. I loved the sea otters and the huge underwater displays. And since it opened, it's expanded its scope to include consumer education--their Seafood Watch list is a valuable resource for those who want to eat sustainably.

But if you can't swing a trip to Monterey, you may be able to make it to Newport on the Oregon coast. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is a splendid destination.

The price is right--about $15--and it's close to home. It had a great surge of visitors when it housed Keiko the killer whale during Keiko's rehabilitation, but there are still plenty of reasons to visit today.

It has an aviary populated with photogenic sea birds, the jelly tank, seals and sea lions. The Passages of the Deep gives you an underwater experience where sharks and smaller fish swim above you. There's something mesmerizing about the movement of the fish and jellies.

The current Changing Exhibit "Oddwater" features animals most of us haven't seen and pairs them with glass art from local artisans. It's fascinating and beautiful.

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My title for this posting refers to the Aquarium's popular Sleep With The Sharks program--a goodie filled slumber party in the Passages of the Deep area of the aquarium.

Where are the jobs?

2009-10-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

Portland's weekly "alternative" newspaper Willamette Week (though perhaps a newspaper that's been around since the mid 70s and regularly out reports The Oregonian* should be able to shed the "alternative" label**) has a thought provoking article this week on why Oregon's unemployment rate is stubbornly, frustratingly, maddeningly high. Who Took Our Jobs by Aaron Mesh outlines four theories as to why the unemployment rate is among the highest in the nation, year after year. It's worth a read, even if it leaves you feeling powerless to change much of anything.

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* And WW's web site is miles better than The Oregonian's increasingly unreadable site.

**Other Portland "alternatives," such as The Portland Mercury, might take issue with calling WW Portland's only alternative newspaper.

Fall Colors

2009-10-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

Oregon doesn't have the great swaths of fall color of the eastern states (our forests are still dominated by the softwood trees), but I think it makes what we do have all the more knock-your-socks-off stunning.

You have to search out the color--drive up into the mountains or across the state. Wait for a crisp, clear autumn afternoon and set off.

We recently drove the Aufderheide Memorial Highway (Forest Road 19) from Westfir at Highway 58, north to Highway 126 near Cougar Reservoir in search of leaf color and weren't disappointed.

The road itself is a beautiful drive, beginning in Westfir (home to the Office Covered Bridge), following the North Fork of Middle Fork Willamette River, until you climb up and over into the McKenzie River drainage.

Plenty of logging roads and other small roads take off from the highway, some climbing onto landings that look out over the Three Sisters.

The color in the west Cascades is predominantly Vine Maple and Big Leaf Maple, Oregon's two native maple trees.

Vine Maple thrives in the areas cleared by logging or fire, but there are also pockets of it along the river and roadsides.

In northeastern Oregon, stunning colors are on display when the Tamarack needles turn.

More on Museums

2009-10-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

In the earlier post, I should have mentioned a fabulous guide to the small town (and big city) museums in Oregon---the Guidebook to Oregon Museums published by the Oregon Museums Association. The guide is on their website as well, but you can pick up a printed copy at many of the museums listed. Just leafing through it makes me want to hit the road.

Iconic Oregon

2009-10-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

There are few things that conjure "Oregon" more than the fish. Salmon, steelhead, trout.

Sherar's Bridge, in Wasco County, is where we saw the peak of the fall steelhead and salmon run. At the site, ODFW was conducting a count and tagging operation. The woman operating the count agreed when I said that watching the fish was one of the most thrilling things I've seen in a long time.

Small Town Museums

2009-10-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

Small town museums have a way of getting right to the point. They're saying, this is why we came here and this is why we stayed. This place is important to us and we want to show you why.

There are museums in many of Oregon's small towns. A couple of my favorites are the Eastern Oregon Museum in Haines, Oregon (population 435) and the Linn County Historical Museum in Brownsville (population 1755). Sometimes the enthusiasm of the collectors overcomes the coherent message, but I still appreciate how the (usually) volunteers want to share their heritage.

On a recent trip through the wheat country of north central Oregon, we stumbled onto the Sherman County Historical Museum in tiny Moro, the county seat of Sherman County. Moro has a population of less than 400 and the county itself is home to fewer than 2000 people scattered across the land.

The museum, though, is bigger than you'd think, given its small town home. Three full buildings and an outside display area make up the complex. One section is the static "collection" portion of the musuem--donated items arranged thematically in both boxes and in room-sized displays. The second is a very impressive interpretative section, with artifacts from the early Native inhabitants up to the building of modern roads in the county. And topping it all off are the explanations of the importance of wheat to Sherman County and the changes in the growing and harvest of Sherman County's most prominent landscape feature--miles and miles of wheat.

It's nearing the end of the museum's season, but put it on your calendar for next year. It's easy enough to drive through Moro--it seems to be just another fading town on Highway 97--but take a minute to turn off the main drag and check this place out.

After the Flood

2009-09-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

Is it normal to have a favorite geologic event? I'd like to think so. Perhaps the idea of the ash spread around the world from the explosion of Krakatoa sparks your imagination. Or, closer to home, maybe the more recent Mt. St. Helens eruption gives you the shivers.

For me, it's long been the Missoula Floods. The Ice Age flood that swept thunderous amounts of water and debris from gigantic ice dams in Montana across eastern Washington, through the Columbia Gorge, and down into the Willamette Valley. Then repeated. And again. And again. The last most likely only 13,000 years ago.

The floods formed the scablands of eastern Washington and are what made the Willamette Valley a fertile mecca.

(Dry Falls, above, are in Washington--outside the scope of this blog--but I just loved this photo my husband took several years ago.)

I'm not alone in my fascination with the floods. The event has its own fan club, The Ice Age Floods Institute, with a chapter in Oregon!

Progress, I guess

2009-09-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

When I was a girl, there was a zoo at Skinner Butte Park in Eugene. In second or third grade, our rural school's field trips inevitably meant a trip to town to tour the Williams Bakery bread factory (where we were presented with mini-loaves of balloon bread) and then to Skinner Butte Park, where we'd eat our sack lunches and form the balloon bread slices into small pellets to throw at one another.

Eventually, though I'm not quite sure when, the city closed down the zoo. No more bears or monkeys for us to gawk at. Most assuredly a good thing, as this 1970 article from the Register Guard makes clear.

As an adult, I've believed that roadside zoos are a thing of the past or something you'll find in the swamps of Florida.

But on a recent trip across the state, we found that the small (very small) town of Mitchell, Oregon has a blast from the past in the form of a caged black bear named Henry.

The town website says that Henry was "rescued," but from what isn't clear.

Still, if you need a rest stop when you're driving across the state, stop by and say Hello to Henry.

Taking Things for Granted

2009-09-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

While there are drawbacks to living in a small city (large town?) such as Eugene--it would be nice to be closer to IKEA--there are attractions and shops I take for granted. That is, until I travel to an even smaller town where there are even fewer choices.

I realized today that one of those is Long's Meat Market in south Eugene. A true butcher's shop*, Long's carries meat produced by local ranchers. When I'm craving a burger, I buy only Long's ground chuck, a product of Knee Deep Cattle Company. Sausages? Long's makes their own, and the lamb sausages are a particular favorite of mine.

_________
*Today they were getting ready for the weekend and had several whole carcasses out on the butcher blocks. There's no hiding your meat's origin when you visit a butcher. No plastic wrapped cuts obscure the reality of what you're eating.

Celebration Time

2009-09-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

It snuck up on me, the Eugene Celebration. Part of the problem is, the organizers move it around on the calendar every year. There's no counting on a specific weekend that the celebration takes place. This year, they're holding it on Labor Day weekend. We'll see. One thing they did right, though, is this year's theme: Strange We Can Believe In.

While the Eugene Celebration is focused on the here and now, this year, 2009, is apparently the 200th birthday of the city's namesake, Eugene Skinner. The celebration of his birthday will be held, appropriately enough, at the Masonic Cemetery, where Mr. Skinner and other Eugene notables are buried. Music and cake and a "surprise birthday announcement" are on the schedule. Plus, there are presentations by, among others, Eugene writer William L. Sullivan and poets Erik Muller and Nancy Moody.

Even if you can't make the party, wander through the cemetery sometime. I promise, it's a different kind of cemetery.

Our State Parks

2009-08-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

The State Parks Commission is looking at raising the rates at Oregon's state parks. Camping fees would increase, the rates for a yurt or cabin would rise, and the day use fees could increase to $5.00. The day use fees have always rankled me--driving along the coast, there's a patchwork of fee, non-fee, and federal fee sites. And to "pay to park" always seems counter to the idea of easy access to our public lands. Nevertheless, the fees are here to stay.

It was the most recent issue of AAA's Via Travel Magazine that made me realize how lucky we are here. Oregon's state parks have had their troubles, but that time seems to be in the past. Right now, though, in California and in other states, state parks are deteriorating and even closing completely.

Eventually

2009-08-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

Eventually, here in the Willamette Valley, the tomatoes do ripen. I got my own garden in quite late this spring, so I'm behind some of my neighbors. But there's nothing like a homegrown tomato, is there? These are Siletz and Willamette variety, grown from seeds that I get from Territorial Seed. If you're looking for seeds for Oregon conditions, Territorial Seed is the place to go. Their catalog is good as a reference--I keep mine on hand all year 'round, long after the other guys' catalogs have been recycled.

City Chickens

2009-07-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Register-Guard, Eugene's newspaper, has joined the "trend" bandwagon and reported today on the growing popularity of raising chickens in the city. Like many trend stories, the basis for determining the trend is sketchy---a city official reports more calls, a feed store says more people are coming in.

Whether it's true or not, I think it's a good idea. As a rural resident who has had chickens, I think they're a good city animal. They're funny and interesting. And there really is nothing like an egg from a free-range chicken.

The city of Eugene allows two and Springfield allows four, though I'll bet there are areas that have CCRs against them.

They're easy to raise and, as this video shows, they're easy to house!

Finally

2009-07-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

Finally. The Oregon Legislature has banned almost all field burning in the Willamette Valley. Finally.

For years and years, the smoke from grass seed farmers burning their fields has funneled down into the southern valley and into the smaller towns on the eastern foothills. For years and years, the farmers convinced legislators that they couldn't survive if they couldn't burn their fields after harvesting the seed. Too expensive, they said. But in the cost/benefit equation, we, downwind of the fires bore the cost, while the farmers received the benefit.

And it was the tenacious work of Eugene area legislators who got this passed. Hooray for them!

And lest some think that fighting the smoke is a recent phenomenon, check out this essay written by Ken Kesey over 35 years ago.

Into the river

2009-07-05T10:42:00.001-07:00

We've been having a mini heat wave here in Oregon--a couple of days of above 90 degree weather here in the Willamette Valley. There are a couple of ways to beat the heat. One is to drive to the coast and walk along the beach. During our summer heat, the ocean beaches are often 35 degrees cooler than inland. You don't go "to the shore" in Oregon to swim---it's bundle-up time in summer.

But it's easy to get into the water when you head up the river. One of our favorite rivers, because it's so clean, so easy, so close to home, is the McKenzie River. It runs from the Cascade mountains down into Springfield where it flows into the Willamette. The water is clear and beautiful, the source of drinking water for the city of Eugene.

While I fish with worms, bait, and lures, I'm in the minority on the McKenzie. It's a flyfisher's paradise.

And the lucky people who live along the river often guard their privacy with humor.

Down by the bay

2009-06-24T14:03:00.001-07:00

Winchester Bay, that is. Just a few miles south of Reedsport, Oregon, Winchester Bay/Salmon Harbor is one of our favorite places on the coast. It's an interesting mix of all sorts of toys---boats, RVs, and ATVs. The dunes just west of the village are open to the ATVs. There's a deluxe RV Park, the Winchester Bay RV Resort, which is often full of high-end RVs. And the harbor has plenty of boats, although there are fewer moored there than in years past.

Even if none of these interest you, there are two excellent reasons to visit Winchester Bay-- Oysters and Tuna.

Umpqua Triangle Oysters produces the best oysters on the coast. The best. They are fresh and tangy and taste just like the ocean. Or at least how I imagine the ocean tastes. They'll tell you in the shop it's because of how they're farmed--suspended in the water rather than in the bottom of tidewater.

And as for tuna--The Sportsmen's Cannery sells all sorts of canned and fresh fish products, but I go there for the best deal around--tuna bits. They're the "leftovers" of the tuna, the pieces that aren't just right for their deluxe albacore tuna cans. The tuna bits are the most flavorful and healthful canned tuna you'll find. It's packed in its own juices, no added stuff (except a little salt), and you mix in the oil and you have all the stuff that the health experts say we need--good omega oils.

The Cannery also serves meals, grilled outside the building. We really wanted to eat there last time we went, but we'd just eaten a huge breakfast at Harbor Light Restaurant in Reedsport and were nowhere near hungry again. Be warned! Their meals are huge--enough for two.

Don't pass by Winchester Bay while you're on your way to Bandon or Florence. Pull off 101 and take a break!

Row Rhymes with Cow

2009-06-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

There's a wonderful Rails to Trails path that begins in the town of Cottage Grove, Oregon. The Row River Trail, previously a railroad bed, is an easy to peddle path that runs for 15 miles--from Cottage Grove to Culp Creek, Oregon.

The best place to begin the ride is at the Mosby Creek Trailhead. (The portion of the trail from Cottage Grove to Mosby Creek is along the highway and not the most scenic part of the trail.) The Mosby Creek parking lot has restrooms and camp hosts. The hosts keep the trailhead area clean and inviting. And while there are no guarantees in life, it feels better to park where someone's living.

The path cuts through farmland, past covered bridges, and up to Dorena Dam. Much of it runs along Dorena Lake and there are benches, picnic tables, and toilets along the way.

It's a relatively flat path, though there is some elevation gain as you peddle toward the lake.

But hey! It's all downhill on the way back.

The entire trail from Mosby Creek to the end and back makes a wonderful full day outing, though any portion of it is great fun. Take a lunch, lots of water, and your camera. It's worth loading up the bikes and heading to Cottage Grove.

Camping Bargain!

2009-06-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Oregon State Parks department is running a special at quite a few of the state parks. Until September 30, 2009, you can stay two nights and get the third for free. (The way I read the coupon, it looks like it's for Sunday through Thursday nights only. No weekends count.)

It applies only to the first come/first served campgrounds, no reservation parks. But it includes my beloved Washburne State Park, as well as the fabulous Cape Blanco. But there are also plenty in Eastern Oregon.

Pack up the trailer or the tent and hit the road!

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

2009-06-08T11:31:00.001-07:00

I dropped into the U of O's art museum the other day to see J M W Turner's Pope’s Villa at Twickenham. The Register Guard had featured its display--purchased by a mysterious American buyer it's now on display at little old Eugene's art museum. I've seen Turner works in London and, well, I couldn't resist seeing another masterpiece.

And I wandered the museum's other exhibits---the MFA graduates had their work on display in the large rotating exhibit area. The icons had been moved and rearranged. The area that holds Japanese prints is displaying 14 views of Mt. Fuji.

But I was stunned by an exhibit by Binh Danh. I cannot say it too strongly---get down there before June 28 and see his work. His subject matter--Cambodian ancient temples and the Khmer Rouge's killing fields--are rendered in daguerreotypes and in a unique chlorophyll printing on organic matter. The images appear fragile and juxtaposed against the longevity of the temples and the finality of death for the victims of the murderous regime, the effect is emotionally very powerful.

Camping Update

2009-05-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

I came across a blog (We Called It Home) today, written by two full time campers, that described camping at Eugene's Valley River Center mall. I had no idea you could camp there, but the riverside setting, at the far back side of the mall, up against the bike path, would be pretty nice.

Food, Glorious Food

2009-05-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

When I opened up the Wednesday Register-Guard this week, I was reminded of another Oregon gem--the food writer Jan Roberts-Dominguez. She has a column, Fresh Approach, in the RG every other week or so. She focuses on local foods--this week it's green onions--and her essays and recipes are often accompanied by her own artwork. (The Oregonian used to carry her column devoted to canning. I don't think it does any longer. They should; there's a renaissance in home preserving.)

Here's one of my favorite of her recipes. As my rhubarb is going great guns, I might have to pull out the baking pans. (Be sure to use good hazelnuts. Those from Hazelnut Hill truly are the best!)

RHUBARB CAKE WITH SUGARED HAZELNUT TOPPING

(From Jan Roberts-Dominguez Register-Guard column, Wednesday, April 18, 2007)

1 cup chopped hazelnuts
½ cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, divided
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1-inch chunks (about 3 cups)

Grease a 13- by 9-inch baking pan; set aside.

Prepare the topping by combining the nuts with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, the granulated sugar, and the cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

For the cake, beat together the brown sugar with the remaining 4 tablespoons of softened butter and the egg until well blended. Beat in the yogurt. In another bowl, combine the flour with the baking soda and salt, then add to the butter and sugar mixture; stir just to blend. Fold in the rhubarb and spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle on the topping.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until the center springs back when gently pressed. Makes 8 to 12 servings.

Adapted from “Recipes From America’s Small Farms” by Joanne Lamb Hays and Lori Stein.

Sunset's favorite campgrounds

2009-05-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'm always of two minds when newspapers or magazines talk about "the best" of anything I'm familiar with. My first instinct is to hope they don't mention my favorite places. Who wants a special place overrun with newcomers? My second, though, is often to take offense that they didn't choose my favorite. What's wrong with them, anyway?

Sunset's most recent issue lists their "90 Best Places to Camp" in the west. On the Oregon coast, they chose Honeyman (near Florence) rather than my beloved Washburne. Whew! Bullet dodged. Then they blew it by naming Cape Blanco, a relatively remote gem on the southern Oregon coast. Perhaps it'll just be too far for people to get to.

They got it right again when they mentioned The Strawberry Mountains in eastern Oregon. Most of the others, though, are the big, busy campgrounds.

You can check out Sunset's Oregon recommendations here.

Willamette Valley Music Fest

2009-05-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it used to be called the Willamette Valley Folk Festival and it used to run for three days down at the University of Oregon campus. Workshops, multiple stages, lots of vendors.

Then it moved to the Cuthbert Amphitheater and was shortened to two days. Still plenty of music and vendors, just short on workshops.

This year, they changed the name and shortened it to one day. Plus, they took the "folk" out of the festival. We were a little apprehensive about all the changes. But we went down around the middle of the day, particularly to see The Traceys, a Eugene favorite. (The bands on either side of The Traceys were also fabulous---Some Guys, a Hawaiian ukulele group and The Bad Mitten Orchestre .) Loved the music, such high quality.

But the co-star of the show was the revamped Cuthbert. Wow. Gone are the wooden benches in front of the stage, replaced with stadium style seating. Finally, there's a backrest when you're sitting at the Cuthbert. Five stars for a long overdue re-do of the best venue in Eugene.

Good Old Days?

2009-05-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

I found this family photo of Eugene's downtown recently. It's from the Roundup Parade of 1952 and the riders are headed south on Willamette Street. That's Skinner's Butte in the background.

Looks like the downtown was full of businesses, but if you look closer at the (admittedly blurry) photo, it looks like the anchors on this block are a tavern, a meat packing business, and a pawn shop.

Downtown Eugene

2009-05-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that downtown Eugene is, well, not thriving. Empty storefronts and unfilled pits are just depressing. But downtown does have bright spots--the fabulous Shoe A Holic shoe store on Willamette and the section of East Broadway where J Michael's books and Ambrosia Restaurant are located.

It was on East Broadway that I spotted these wine glasses in the window of Nick & Nora's. They have portion control markings on the crystal--clever idea.

I can't help but think, though, that downtown will eventually recover. Other towns do it--Boulder, Colorado would be a good place for our city councilors to visit.

Another heartening fact is that StoryCorps is in town (until the end of May) and there are no appointments left. If you want to participate, your name is put on a waiting list.

That means there are people with stories to tell, people who care about the past and the future. More people that the little Airstream has room for.

The Register Guard's article on the arrival of StoryCorps featured members of the Kesey family--that would be Ken Kesey, depicted in the sculpture installed in the heart of downtown.

Oregon in the news

2009-05-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

See if you can spot the similarities between this brief in Sunset magazine and this article from The New York Times.

Yup, both take a small slice of the city--the funky, crunchy, counter culture slice that exists in Portland and Eugene--and stretch it to cover everyone.

My home town newspaper

2009-05-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Register Guard, published in Eugene doesn't make my list of great things about Oregon. I have several beefs with the paper. Unlike some bigger papers, it's doesn't have a public editor or ombudsman. There's no explanation for what they cover or why they cover something in a particular way. The web site is awful--cluttered and difficult to navigate. There's often no link to a story that was in the print version. Perhaps most egregious is that the paper has no local columnist of a political bent. They have a local contributor who writes with wit and insight, Don Kahle, but run him just once a week on the op-ed pages.

There is one thing, though, that makes the Register Guard worth buying.

The obituary pages.

The RG still runs local obituaries. They're not the abbreviated version you find in the Oregonian, but lengthy pieces topped off by a photo.

Sign of a small town? Perhaps. Or maybe the RG knows their print readership skews older. Who cares. For now, I can still enjoy the little stories that each obituary contains.

The Oregon Coast Trail

2009-05-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Oregon beaches are open to the public; essentially they're considered public highways. I can't imagine beaches back east, private and closed to the public.

The Oregon Coast Trail system runs 382 miles from Clatsop County in the north to south of Brookings. And now, the Parks department has put the map of the trail online, in printable form.

It's definitely worth checking out.

Eugene's Best Burrito--No contest

2009-05-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

A young man from Georgia, in town for a stint as a visiting youth pastor, told me with amazement that while towns in Georgia had a church on every corner, Eugene had a burrito cart or restaurant on every corner. He seemed to think there was something wrong with this.

I think that's one of the things that makes Oregon great.

Yes, everyone's going to have their favorite, but really, there's no contest. For friendly service, it's Burrito Amigos. For the best Carne Asada burrito it's Burrito Amigos. Breakfast burrito? Burrito Amigos.

Their main restaurant is now in a nifty remodeled space in the Gilbert Shopping Center, but they've retained all the photographs that hung on the walls in the old space. Pancho Villa predominates.

Their cart at the Jerry's Home Improvement Center on Highway 99 is a great stop for breakfast after you've made the early morning run for lumber.

A Coastal Hideaway

2009-04-28T17:08:00.001-07:00

I hesitate to blog about my favorite campground on the Oregon coast. It's such a gem and it's often overlooked by campers looking for flashier parks. Carl Washburne State Park is 14 miles north of Florence, just around the bend at Heceta Head. Pass the most photographed lighthouse on the Oregon coast and you'll find Washburne Park.

Once a coastal sheep ranch, the park covers acres and acres, almost all of it in an undeveloped state. There are several hiking trails that take off from the campground area. One of them connects with the trail out to the lighthouse.

If you're a tent camper, Washburne can't be beat. They have hike-in tent sites that are secluded among the trees. And there are two yurts that you can reserve. (And you have to reserve--they fill up on the weekends.) The rest of the sites are full hookup sites. The campground doesn't take reservations, so summertime camping takes a bit of luck.

But our favorite time to camp at Washburne is in the fall and winter. Very few campers and if it's not raining, it's never too cold for a hike in the woods.

Hazelnut Hill

2009-04-25T16:30:00.001-07:00

I know we're supposed to celebrate eating locally. I do, I really do. Nothing beats Willamette Valley strawberries, blackberries, and peaches. Our apples are pretty darned good and you can get Bodacious corn from stands all over. But some of these don't travel all that well, so unless you're from around here, tough.

But we're so lucky to have other foods that do travel well. Those pears down in southern Oregon--there's a reason that Harry & David can sell them for huge prices. Right here in the Willamette Valley, though, we've got hazelnuts.

The United States produces a miniscule percentage of the world's hazelnuts and over 90% of those are grown in Oregon, mainly in the Willamette Valley. The south can keep their pecan pies; nothing beats hazelnut ice cream.

The best place to buy all manner of hazelnuts is at Hazelnut Hill, a farm between Monroe and Corvalllis. They have roasted and natural. They have chocolate covered and toffeed. They have them chopped, floured, and buttered. I have to have a steady supply of their roasted, diced hazelnuts to have with my oatmeal. I just keep 'em in the fridge and mix in a couple of tablespoons. You never tasted oatmeal so good.

Their shop and production area are in the middle of the farm. It's a lovely drive through grass seed fields and past the Finley Wildlife Refuge up Highway 99. Just drive north from Eugene as though you were headed to Corvallis for an Oregon State game. They're at milepost 95 and they have a big sign at the road. Their operation is back off the road a ways, down a gravel drive.

And if you go in the summer, be sure to get a dish of ice cream. With a chocolate covered hazelnut on top.

Thai Food in the Gorge

2009-04-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

Every time we pass through Hood River, Oregon, we try to time it for lunch or dinner so that we have an excuse to stop at Lampoei Kitchen. The restaurant is in a converted travel trailer up above the freeway. It shares a parking lot with Mothers Marketplace (a vegetarian deli) and is next to the Tum-A-Lum building supply store. Take Exit 64 off I-84 and go uphill. If you miss it, ask a local and they'll tell you how to get to Lampoei's.

They shut down for the winter months and they're closed on Mondays. But they're worth the stop. The food is all to-go and if the weather's nice you can eat at one of the picnic tables in the parking lot. The portions are more than enough for two people. And at $7.00 a dish, well, it's the best deal in Hood River.

The last time we were there, we'd just finished a bike ride and hurried over to grab dinner. We were relieved to find him still open with a crowd of people. It was only after we ordered that we noticed we were there a half hour after his scheduled closing. He was a gracious host and said he liked to stay until all his customers were served.

Camping in the Columbia Gorge

2009-04-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

We've camped at Memaloose State Park quite a few times, often as a mere stopover on the way to somewhere else. It's right along I-84 and so we're often headed to another part of Oregon and it's the halfway point of our trip. But a couple of times, we've based ourselves at Memaloose and explored the Hood River area.

The campground is accessible from the freeway only when you're driving west. So, if you're driving from the Portland area, you have to pass the park and drive another three miles or so and exit the freeway to go back west. It takes a little getting used to, but there are signs at the exit that point you in the right direction.

The campground sits right off the freeway, so there is traffic noise, particularly at the sites the back up against the highway. If you're sensitive, bring earplugs, as trucks, especially, are a 24-hour operation.

The shadiest sites are tent sites--water, no electricity. We like the full hookup sites on the eastern edge. They have a tremendous river view.

The park takes reservations and there are usually a couple of camp hosts on site. It's not open year round; the Gorge does get winter winds and cold temps.

Not wilderness camping, but a great place to base yourself for the Fruit Loop, the historic Columbia River Highway, or touring Hood River and The Dalles.