Fall is here.

We decided to cut our stay in Oregon a little short as the fall storms have made it here and are looking to stay for a while.  We were lucky one morning as there was a break in the weather and we made it to Cottage Grove, the covered bridge capital of Oregon.  Side note: Oregon has the most covered bridges west of the Mississippi River.

But this place is known for something else, artistic murals.  They are beautiful, unique, and dotted around this small town.

We headed out of Oregon and are now in Northern California, home of the world’s largest yo-yo!

Ok, there is a lot more here than the world’s largest yo-yo.  We went through Corning, CA, which is the largest producer of olives and olive oil in the US.  If you make it here, drop by Lucero Olive Oil.  You can tour the mill and taste the olives, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, tapenades, and mustards.  They are award winning and are all wonderful.  *The William Sonoma House Olive Oil is one of the Lucero award winning extra virgin olive oils.

Not sure what tree this is, but the picture does not do it justice.  It is very red with beautiful green leaves, opposite of what you usually see in the fall.

The Spruce Goose & Bruce

The weather was cold and EXTREMELY windy today, so David and I headed away from the coast to McMinnville, OR to the Evergreen Air and Space Museum.  We passed it on the way from Portland to Pacific City.  You cannot miss it from the road.

Many of you know the story of Howard Hughes, or at least have seen The Aviator with Leonardo De Caprio.  This brilliant madman was well known for both filmmaking and aviation.  His iconic work was the world’s largest plane called the H-4 Hercules, also know as The Spruce Goose.

Some Stats:

Length: 218 ft. 8 in

Wingspan: 319 ft. 11 in … a football field

Height: 79 ft. 4 in

It’s hard to take pictures of because it literally takes up the building.   But it is a site to see.  This plane had one flight that lasted all of a few minutes and never made it far off the ground.  Even though it got the name the Spruce Goose (which Howard Hughes hated), it was made mostly of birch.  It truly is amazing.  The entire museum is.  If you come to Portland or any of the surrounding areas, it is worth a trip out here.  There are some very interesting planes, including an actual B-17.

On a side note, when we entered the museum we met a nice gentleman that discussed the exhibit.  He looked very familiar, and then explained he was in a video on the Internet with his wife called Webcam 101 for Seniors.  If you have not seen this video, you should watch.  It is a worldwide internet sensation and completely hilarious…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcN08Tg3PWw

Bruce told us about his wife, the interviews, and that he is considering writing a book on how to be famous and still be poor.  He is just as funny in person as he is in the video.  Even the yellow button on his vest suits him.

It says, “I may look good, but I don’t see well.”  J

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Haystack Rock

We have a ton of pictures of this rock.  It's just that cool.  Sitting about a mile offshore and 32 stories high above the water, the rock is part of Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City, OR.  Thousands of birds call this rock home including, one of my favorite, the brown pelican.  The brewery on the beach is even named for it, Pelican Pub and Brewery.  They won best small brewery in 2000 and 2005.  I recommend the Scottish Ale.  The food and service have all been great although you may need a surfer interpreter at times.  Just realize when they say, " That's killer" or "It's sick", they are saying that something is really good.

The surf here is sick.  We were lucky enough to watch the Cape Kiwanda Longboard Surfing competition this past weekend.  It-was-killer.  I love watching the surfers out on the water.  This is my favorite picture as the outline of the surfer is the similar to the rock.  It looks like they are both out there, just waiting to catch a wave.

It is beautiful here, even when the weather is bad.  It was raining when we first pulled in, but we headed out to the beach anyway.  Someone had made a sandcastle of Haystack Rock.  We had to get some photos of that.

One night we stayed out on the beach until dark to get pictures of the sunset.  It's nice they let you drink on the beach, because it gets cold at night.  I love this pic too.  Good night, Haystack Rock.

Lots of pics of the rock and some other stuff.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/e_e_b/sets/72157627752778952/

Portlandia...

I want to start by saying that I like Portland.  It is past the prime time for roses, but the International Rose Test Garden is still beautiful.  The most authentic public Japanese Garden outside of Japan is in this city, and it is also beautiful.  Powell's Bookstore is, by far, one of the biggest and best new and used bookstores I have ever been in.  We have enjoyed the food, the beer, and watching the people that live here.  We sat in a coffee shop for about 15 minutes one day and really noticed how different the people of this city are. 

And we are not the only ones that feel that way.  Take a look at this You Tube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVmq9dq6Nsg

 

This video is funny on it's own, but it becomes hilarious once you have been here.  If you don't believe it, here is a picture taken with the iPhone when we were crossing the Burnside bridge.  Yes, that is a double decker bike.  If you want to see more, search Portlandia on You Tube.

Yesterday we took a trip out to Hood River, a small town about an hour east of Portland. We LOVE it here.  The wine is wonderful and inexpensive.  The fruit & veggies are fresh, superb, and super cheap.  The lavender farms are beautiful, even out of season.  The town is laid back.  A large portion of the people here windsurf and kite board in the Columbia River.  And FYI... at least  80% of the people out there on the river were older, many much older, than I am.  You do not have to be young to do this.  Just young at heart.  We will definitely come back here.

The link to more pics...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/e_e_b/sets/72157627562729937/

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Been a while...

Since my last post.  We've been really busy exploring cities of the Northwest.  We had a stop over from Glacier on our way to Seattle in Coer d'Alene, ID.  We enjoyed it so much we stayed for a couple of days.  The lake was beautiful, food was great, and people were extremely nice.  If you ever find yourself out this way, it's a great stop over.

On to Seattle.  After arriving we met up with David's cousin & family and attended a Seahawks pre-season game.  The open stadium was great.  Not sure if David noticed with the "Sea Gals" not too far in front of us.

The next day we headed out to Pike Place.  Fresh fruits & veggies, organic meats, and flying fish!!! We picked up a salmon along with sides for dinner and headed out to one of the most disgusting walls in the country.  


The gum wall.  Yeap. Gum.  Really gross.

Over the next few days we made it up the Needle, drank some coffee, shopped at one of the original REI stores, drank coffee, hiked at Mount Rainier, drank more coffee, rode the ferry over to Bainbridge Island, drank wine from local winemakers, ate clam chowder at Ivars, drank coffee with Baily’s, and went on the fantastically funny tour of Seattle’s underground (highly recommended). I love learning the history of how our cities came to be.  These are the stories they don’t want to tell you in the history books at school.  The sinners, the swindlers, and the prostitutes have all played a major part in building Seattle… and New York, and Chicago, and New Orleans, and so on.  I’m reading “Sons of the Profits”, the Seattle Story from 1851-1901, by Bill Speidel.  It is the funny and true account of how Seattle was built and then re-built (on top of itself) after the fire of 1889.  It’s a great book to read while drinking some coffee.  I need to get out of here so I can sleep again.

There are not a lot of pictures from the past two weeks.  Most of the beautiful skylines and scenery have been covered by smoke from fires.  From Missoula, Montana to Olympic National Park, fires always seem to be around us.  None of these fires are anything close to what are friends and family in the Texas Hill Country are dealing with.  Everyday we look at the pictures from Bastrop and continue to receive updates.  You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Here is the link to our pictures on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/e_e_b/sets/72157627511132855/

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In my opinion, Glacier National Park has been the most beautiful place we have visited so far.  The most amazing would have to go to Canyonlands and Arches in Moab.  The most inspiring with all of the hiking and biking in beautiful scenery would have to go to the Grand Tetons.  And the most interesting with all of the wildlife, pools, & geysers would have to go to Yellowstone.

But Glacier wins the beauty contest.  

There is a 50-mile scenic drive through Glacier called the Going-To-The-Sun Road.  Right now the road is going through some construction, which looks to probably be required on a regular basis.   Every few miles you have to be prepared to stop, because it goes to a one-lane road and they have to let traffic in the other direction come through.  

We did not mind the wait. 

In fact, we enjoyed it. 

The glaciers, the mountains, the wildflowers, and the waterfalls are captivating.

I love the waterfalls...

Love, love, love the waterfalls.

The water in the rivers are clear and ice cold.  But after a day of hiking, it is rejuvenating to stick your feet in.  

The dry rocks look mostly white and grey, but stick them in the water and bright colors emerge.  Yes, this place is beautiful.  A treasure.










For more pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/e_e_b/sets/72157627410270901/

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In the Yellowstone Newsletter:

CAMPING WITH WATSON
Sherlock Holmes and Watson went on a camping trip.  After a good meal and a bottle of red wine, they lay down for the night and went to sleep.
Some hours later Holmes woke up, nudged his faithful friend and said, "Watson, I want you to look up at the sky and tell me what you see."  Watson said, "I see millions and millions of stars."  Sherlock said, "And what does that tell you?"

After a minute or so of pondering Watson said, "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.  Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.  Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three in the morning.  Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant.  Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day today.  What does it tell you?"
Holmes was silent for about 30 seconds and said, "Watson, you idiot!  Someone has stolen our tent!"



Pics from the Grand Tetons:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/e_e_b/sets/72157627513251298/

And Yellowstone:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/e_e_b/sets/72157627513330224/

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