Walked 3.23 Miles - Ladd's Addition

Today I walked with a purpose. Ever since I saw the small lending library less than a mile from my house on Clinton, I've wanted to leave some books there. Today I finally rounded up some books and headed that way. It was a very cool morning and I almost brought a jacket. I'm glad I didn't, because after a few minutes of walking I was plenty warm. It was kind of awkward walking with a bag of books and I didn't take any pictures before reaching my destination.

I left 10 books and I'm so glad I did. There were only a few books here when I arrived and one was by Ross Perot. I want to bring more books the  next time I head this direction. I think this is such a brilliant idea and I want to help it grow.








I spent some time in the South and East rose gardens in Ladd's Addition. I love seeing this many roses in bloom. What a wonderful asset to the community. Some of these roses were planted in the late 1970's.





These benches are so peaceful and I see them in use a lot. 





Underneath the bench was this plaque. "Find courage, gaiety and the quiet mind." 














I was walking down an alley and heard some squawking. I turned and these chickens were staring at me. They have a window to the outside world. I peeked into their space and they had luxurious digs.











This cat ran down her front porch steps to greet me. I didn't think I'd get a picture, because she wouldn't stop pacing in front of my feet. Finally she stopped for a few seconds. Such a beauty.





The Gideon pedestrian bridge looked festive today.

A Stroll Along Moolack Beach

Greg and I spent the weekend in Newport. On Friday, we walked along Nye Beach and watched the sunset. On Sunday before heading for home, we stopped at Moolack Beach and walked for a couple of hours. 

The day was just gorgeous. We couldn't have asked for better weather. I'm not exactly sure how far we walked, but it was probably about 3 miles. We headed towards the Yaquina Head lighthouse. This beautiful lighthouse has been in operation since 1873 and is the most visited lighthouse in Oregon. Everyone should visit the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. That title is no exaggeration. 





I like this beach, because you can find fossils. They seem to be everywhere you look. There is something new to see with every step.





Tide pools are spread out along the beach making it very easy to walk around the rocks to see all the different sea life. 








We are blessed that all of the beaches (383 miles) in Oregon are public land. This was established in 1913 when legislature declared the beaches from Washington to California a state highway. This saved the land from privatization and allowed communities to grow. Challenged in 1966 by a motel owner who started fencing the beach, Tom McCall advocated for and voters passed the landmark Beach Bill which keeps Oregon beaches open to the pubic still today. I am grateful for our progressive Oregon forefathers. Folk also had the foresight to buy public land along highway 101 when it was being built. Because of this, there are 36 state parks - an average of 1 every 10 miles - showcasing the extreme coastal beauty of our state. Oregon never ceases to amaze me.

 

A Stroll with Greg on Mt. Tabor

I wanted to walk somewhere different on my birthday and decided on Mt. Tabor. The base of this mountain is 4 miles from my house, so it's too far for my normal walks. Greg and I drove and parked about halfway up this cinder cone at the visitor center. From there, we strolled to the top, took time to sit and look at beautiful downtown Portland, and just had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect (in the shade) and the park was filled with folks. 

Some of the bathrooms here are truly beautiful.








Mt. Hood looks amazing in the distance.








I think this is some type of beetle, but I'm not exactly sure.





As we were getting ready to leave, we decided to check out the bulletin board posted with notices. Underneath was a squirrel munching on sunflower seeds. I kept sneaking closer and closer to him, but he didn't care. He was solely focused on the food. Getting some squirrel time made the day more special. I also saw a hummingbird as we were walking down the mountain. I always feel lucky when I see a hummingbird. It was really a wonderful walk and a perfect day.

Montana Farmers' Market

 

 

The morning of the wedding, we had time to check out the local Farmer's Market.  It was good sized and had lots of amazing produce.  I love taking pictures at farmer's market.  Everything is just so pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Photo by Chris Linn

 

There were also many other foods for sale.  I bought some salmon candy for myself and it was amazing.  Friends also bought cheese curds, empanadas and the best mini doughnuts I've ever tasted.  I love the idea of pie in a jar.  I think I might have to attempt that some day.  Yum!

Strolling in Missoula

 

 

The day before the wedding, we had time to meander around Missoula.  I really liked this town a lot.  I always play the game of 'could I live here' when ever I visit a new place.  I could definitely live in Missoula.  Yes, it's in a land locked state, but there is so much water around that I would do fine.  The town is filled with quirky folks and art is everywhere.  I found it easy to get the lay of the land and I could easily find any place we needed to go.

 

 

 

 

One of our first stops was this second hand store.  They truly did have everything.  I was tempted to take home an adorable red typewriter, but it was a bit too steep for me.  I was disheartened at the expensive price tags on everything.  I was hoping to find some real deals.

 

 

 

 

This was next to the old train station.  My husband liked climbing up the big red Xs.

 

 

 

 

We ended up parking next to the courthouse (it made finding the car easy) and happened upon Occupy Missoula. 

 

 

 

 

There were about 20-25 tents total on the courthouse lawn.  The following day, we saw a parade of protesters march through town. 

 

 

 

 

We all noticed the big M for Missoula when we rolled into town on Thursday.  On Friday morning, the M had been turned into MT 99%.  It's hard to see it in this picture.  It was pulled down by the end of the day.  Apparently tampering with the M is a felony.

 

 

 

 

 

The Clark Fork travels through town.  Missoula has a great waterfront park.   I was very impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

We walked through the park until we stumbled upon a carousel.  The kids in our group were super excited.  I, on the other hand, was a bit leery.  The next thing I knew, I was strapped a top this beauty and on a fast paced ride.  I was surprised at how fast it went.  I hadn't been on a carousel for at least 20 years. 

 

 

 

 

We did get reprimanded by a 15 year old boy for not belting ourselvesto the horse.   It is the law after all. 

 

 

 

 

I saw several of these play structures around town.  They were big and really nicely built.  Several of the adults got lost inside.

 

 

 

 

 My husband quickly found the local record store and scooped up some great deals.  He was very happy.

 

 

 

 

 

I started to notice that everything around town has googly eyes on it.  From posters to these lights.  Nothing was safe from getting googly eyes.  I think this would be fun to do around Portland.

 

 

 

We only stopped into a few stores.  I always love a fisherman's store.  They have the coolest stuff.  I wish I could have spent more time in here taking pictures.  

 

 

 

 

I would love to return and check out more of the architure around town.  It seemed like every street has something of interest on it.  I'd love to bring my big camera to see what I could capture.

 

 

 

 

 

Neighborly Horses

 

 

These three horses lived right next to the house we were renting.  Their field was large enough that they were often very far away from us.  But one morning, I saw they had wandered over to our side of the fence and I jumped at the chance to spend a little time with these fellas in the rain.

 

 

 

 

This is the only horse that let me pet him.  I thought that he was falling in love with me (I have a way with horses), but I quickly realized that he was eyeing my bamboo iphone case.

 

 

 

 

It turned out to be a blessing, because the only reason I got to hang out with him is because he thought he was going to get a tasty treat.  Although, he came close,  he never actually got a taste of my phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They held a meeting and decided it was time to shove off.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Clark Fork River, Missoula

 

 

Once in Missoula, we rented a house 13 miles east of town on the Clark Fork River.  At first, we were kind of bummed that we'd be staying so far out of town and away from the festivities.  The second we pulled into the driveway to see this river and nothing but forrest surrounding it, all of those feelings vanished.  3 Whitetail Deer bounded out of the yard into the woods as we got close to the house.   I couldn't have wished for a better spot.

 

 

 

 

The house itself is 5 bedrooms and huge.  Seriously, huge.  The place was well stocked we lived in luxury.  It was great.

 

 

 

 

We were all very excited about the fire pit.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't hold so we ended up having a every small fire in the rain.  Still, it was fun to stand around and watch it until it started pouring and we decided that the gas fire would suffice. 

 

 

 

 

I spent some time playing with my 360panorama app.  I love this app, but many times I forget that I have it since I use the Hipsta so heavilty.   I didn't take my real camera (I seem to be leaving it at home more often) because with 4 people in my car, space was going to be tight.  I also didn't want to have to worry about it during the heavy festivities.  My iphone does a fine job for these sorts of vacations. 

 

 

 

 

The Road to Montana

 

 

Last Thursday, I was up at 5am and was on the road at 6am to Missoula with my husband and two other friends.  A high school friend was getting married on Saturday and we wouldn't have missed it for anything.  I drove all the way up and home.  I don't mind driving and my Blue Parrot (my car) is a mighty steed.  We stopped a few times along the way and I snapped a few pictures of our travels.

 

 

 

 

The groom always stops at Dick's in Spokane when he travels to Portland.  It became a running joke, for obvious reasons.  We all knew we had to stop here for lunch.  This was a throw back to the 60's where you walked up to the outside counter to order and eat on picnic tables or in your car. The fries were amazing.  

 

 

 

We opted for a picnic table because we'd been driving all morning.  The extremely tame birds were diving for fries.  I spent more time trying to snap pictures of the birds than actually eating.

 

 

 

 

 

Due to a missed rest area stop, we found ourselves in a tiny town which consisted of this one motel with store and a few houses.  We bought buy beef jerky to use their bathroom.  They also had 2 walls of VHS movies for rent.  

 

 

 

 

This river was directly behind the motel.  It was a perfectly beautiful day and it was nice to spend even just a few moments enjoying the views.

 

 

 

 

I even got a shoe picture with Aspen leaves.  The trees were everywhere and they really did seem to glow. 

 

 

Central Oregon Recap Hipsta Style

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smith Rock

 

For me, Smith Rock represents childhood.  As a child, I lived on a cinder butte about 15 miles from this incredible rock formation.  I looked at it every day.  It encompassed everything thing I loved about the high desert.  My family spent lots of time exploring these trails.  This was back before Smith Rock was discovered by world class mountain climbers.  Often we would have the entire park to ourselves.  I'm glad we got the chance to spend a few hours here hiking and revisiting the area.  It was a perfect sunny day and lots of climbers were out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remember climbing up to this hanging rock as a child.  My dad took my sis and I up one evening and we straddled the ledge under the hanging rock.  We could see for miles in every direction.  It's one of my very favorite childhood memories.  Now I look at the trek up to this spot and I wonder how I ever did it.  It's kind of scary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A favorite family tradition was to stop at Juniper Junction for Huckleberry ice cream.  Sadly, they were closed when we visited.

 

Cascade Lakes Scenic Hwy - Lava Lake

 

We decided to check the other end of the Cascade Scenic Highway to see how far we could travel and hopefully get to see some lakes along the way.  We headed south and had a cheap hearty breakfast in La Pine.  We ended up visiting 4 lakes and 2 reservoirs before the road was closed just past Lava Lake.  It was a wonderful adventure and I always love checking out lakes.  They are my favorite body of water.  The mountains stayed hidden pretty much the entire day, but we still saw some beautiful sights on this trip.

 

 

North Twin Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Twin Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wickiup Reservoir

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crane Prarie Reservoir

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cultus Lake

 

 

 

Lava Lake

 

 

 

 

Lava Lake was definitely my favorite.  It has lovely views of multiple mountains which would have been stunning without the stormy weather we experienced.  Still it was a beautiful day full of adventure.  

 

 

Cascade Lakes Scenic Hwy - Mt Bachelor

 

 

We set out on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway for a day drive in the country.  We wanted to check out Sparks Lakes and other sights along the way.  We were only able to make it to Mt. Bachelor where the road was closed due to snow.  In fact, there was so much snow, we had trouble making out where the highway past Mt. Bachelor was.  It was a beautiful drive and we climbed a huge berm of snow in an attempt to get better pictures of Mt. Bachelor and Broken Top.  Sadly, the gray overcast sky wasn't helping our photography any.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the return trip, we stopped at this viewpoint to check out the incredible landscape created by volcanoes.  I really love this part of the world.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tumalo Falls

 

 

Tumalo Falls is 10 miles west of Bend.  I don't remember ever going here as a child, but I'm sure I must have.  Waterfalls aren't all that common in Central Oregon.  The falls must have been at their fullest with the snow melting from the mountains.   I was blown away by how big and beautiful the falls are - definitely something to check out if you are in Bend.  The last couple of miles to the falls is a dirt road and there is a 5 dollar park fee.  It's definitely worth the price of admission because the 1/4 mile hike to the top of the falls provided stunning views of the area.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ogden State Park - Central Oregon

 

My husband and I stopped at the Ogden State Park on the way to Sunriver for a vacation.  I remember coming here as a kid.  The views of the gorge and the Crooked River are just breathtaking.  We could also see several of the Cascade Mountains, but my camera had a hard time picking them up.

 

 

It was really cool to walk across this bridge built back in 1926.  It is no longer open to traffic and a new bridge was built just to the east of it.  It allowed for stunning views of the Oregon Railroad Trunk Bridge built in 1911 and the first structure to cross this gorge.

 

 

When we arrived at the park, there were maybe 5 other people there.  Then a bus arrived and a huge crowd of people got off to check out the bridge.  All of a sudden, there was a murmur among the crowd that a train was coming.  Everyone became every excited and found their position to take a picture.  It turns out that the bus load of people were on a railroad sightseeing trip.  The organizers stated that they had never been here when a train actually crossed the gorge, so this was a really big deal.  It made their whole day and I thought it was pretty darn cool too.

 

 

The Trunk bridge is stunning and it was great to stand next to very old men as they talked about all they knew of this historical treasure.

 

 

 

Oregon Garden

Last Saturday, after visiting my newest nephew, my husband and I went walking in the Oregon Garden.  It's a shame that I haven't been there in about 6 years.  I went when it first opened and much  has changed since then.  It was a beautiful sunny day, the first really nice day this year in Portland, and it was wonderful to stroll along the garden and see how much it's grown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am quickly realizing that I need a new lens for  my camera.  I have the 18-55mm lens that the camera came with and works great, but I want a bigger lens that will let me zoom in much, much more.  I did a lot of cropping to this set of photos.  I won't need to do that as much once I get a different lens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An amazing feature just outside of the garden is the Gorden House, the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oregon.  It was going to be demolished, but luckily it was saved and moved to it's new home at the Oregon Garden.