Tag / oregon

by kritterspaw

Oregon Coast

We just got back from the Oregon Coast, a trip we have made now multiple times in the last few years.

There is something special about the scenery and the seafood. We took the opportunity to get a much needed respite for some relaxing views, and amazing seafood.

We saw deer, elk, turkey, and even sheep along the way, along with rock spires, docks, and ocean views. This time of year, the weather was windy and cool with occasion rain…. a bit chilly. But we got some nice walks in and visited some great seafood spots for some amazing fresh seafood.

We camped in mostly state parks which offered some terrific walking trails filled with wonderful vistas and colorful plants. We were especially enamored with the western skunk cabbage which we coined the more affectionate name, ‘sea lilies’, with great bright yellow lily looking flowers, amidst large green leaves.

We enjoyed fresh oysters and clams, cooked and raw; fresh fish (ling cod, rock fish, and petrole sole); and fantastic Dungeness crab. The 2021 dungeness crab season isn’t the best, but we did manage to get a few tastes in of some terrific crab, as we picked up fresh fish at the docks and markets, caught that day, and enjoyed that night in our camper every day.

The drive home was a sad one as we enjoyed the redwoods of Northern CA, and headed back home, ending our sabbatical too soon. I’m ready to do it again already.

See more photos here … https://kritterspix.com/2021/04/21/oregon/

Advertisement
by kritterspaw

Oregon Waterfalls

watson path_LR_IR.jpg

This is the second time we have been to Oregon in the last 8 months, who’d a thunk?  Not us, but circumstances were such that we had to take our big road trip back to Washington state and travel back down through Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada to Arizona.  This time though, unlike the torrential rains we had in November, we had plenty of sunshine.

watson falls flowers_LR_IR.jpg

We took this opportunity to do the waterfalls around Hood River, and Klamath Falls.  That’s one thing about the Washington / Oregon area… they do have an abundance of waterfalls, something we don’t see too much in AZ, particularly of this size.

waterfall cascade hort_LR_IR.jpg

Highway 138 between Roseburg and Diamond Lake is actually called the Highway of Waterfalls, with nearly 2 dozen falls along the North Umpqua River in this short stretch of road.

xfalls_LR_IR.jpg In Oregon, they come in all different shapes, sizes and types.  They call them Thundering Waters and class them as Cascade, Segmented, Tiered, Horsetail, Punchbowl, Plunge, Block or Fan.

totetee singltree hort2_LR_IR.jpg

punch1_LR_IR.jpg

I’m not sure how many we saw, but we did quite a few, and each cool in its own right.

 

by kritterspaw

Best of 2016: Honorable Mentions

I wrote about my Best of 2016 photos here.  What a fun and enlightening experience going through all my 2016 photos was.  I feel super fortunate that I had enough good photos that I can do another Top 10 via this Honorable Mentions post… these were the ones that DIDN’T make the cut.. and a lot left that didn’t make Honorable Mentions.  Must mean it was a great year.. and it was.

So here are the second Top 10 photos of 2016… check it out.

fallsprayPSi.JPG1.  South Oregon Coast

moonboatPSi.JPG2. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

powell rvr closPSi.JPG3. Lake Powell,  Utah 

rok-treerefltni.jpg4. Mogollon Rim,  Northern Arizona

twinsnowtreesPSi.JPG5.  Happy Jack, Arizona

j beam lookPS.jpg6. Canyon X, Page  AZ

fencegrassPS.jpg7. Lockett Meadow, Arizona

3purpsPSi.JPG

8. Baddeck,  Nova Scotia

fogreflctnPSi.JPG9. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

startrees vert_Ssi.JPG

10. Happy Jack, AZ

Check out the Best of 2016…. here.

What do you think?

by kritterspaw

Oregon Coast

harris beach ltPSi.JPG

Oregon does it right.  With about 362 miles of coast land, they celebrate it at every turn.  I counted over 70 State Parks along the way… on the coast alone (no mention of inland Parks).  These parks offer Day Use & Camping (for hikers, bikers, campers, and RV’ers).  They are full of scenic trails, picnic tables, fire pits, and nature walks.  I so respect and admire their preservation of this absolute beauty and their embracing and sharing of it to their own and other communities.

kentuckyfallstrail copyPSi.JPG

There are wooded rainforest lands, lighthouses along the way, and rock outcroppings in the sea afar.  It’s diverse, stunning, and gorgeous.

heteralthsPSi.JPG

kiwanasurfPSi.JPG

by kritterspaw

Pendleton Woolen Mill

When I was in grade school I hated history… it was my least favorite subject… that and geography.  Now that I am older, I find history and geography fascinating.  We tour places around the world and seek out museums and tours to heighten our knowledge, whether it’s home or abroad.  Education gives one new perspective and insight.

We recently had the opportunity to tour the Pendleton Woolen Mill in Pendleton, Oregon.  Not something I would have normally took a great deal of interest in, but given the opportunity all knowledge and education is good right?

Well, I was fascinated by the vast work and manipulation that goes into the simple task of not just making a Pendleton blanket… but the YARN, that goes into the Pendleton blanket.

sheep furi.JPG

It starts from the ‘fur’ from the sheep.  It begins as coarse clumps of fur, which is picked through by large rollers with fine comb brushes to pick it apart.  This fur goes through the rollers several times before it starts to resemble cotton.

wooli.JPG

These woolen fibers are then layers like puff pastry and kneaded through a series of rollers to press it into fine layers of strands until it can be funneled into a fine singular strand of fibrous wool, then twisted into individual strands of woolen yarn.

threadi.JPG

The yarn it then threaded onto individual bobbins that can be loaded into looms to weave Pendleton products.

loomi.JPG

It takes 2-1/2 sheep to make one blanket, and about 2 months of work and process.  It’s a fascinating process to watch as this dying art comes to life.  Only 5 woolen mills still exist in this country, and 2 are owned and operated by Pendleton.