Turkey Vultures having a sun bath

An Oregon blogger who quilts wrote a fascinating post about the turkey vultures perching on their cow pasture fence posts  in the Oregon Coast Range.  You can see her post here.

Painted Hills

This photo is from an Oregon Hikers Painted Hills trip report.  It's an amazing place.

source

Trip to Beaverton

I took the Max train to meet my friend Barb at Powells in Beaverton.  We went to see Ruth Reichl whose books I have so enjoyed.

This is on the walk to the Hollywood station.

I got there just as the train pulled in...

View out the train window crossing the Willamette on the Steel Bridge.

The Broadway Bridge in the distance.

Inside the train

The trip there was pleasant and uneventful.  However, I got off at the wrong stop and Barb and I had trouble finding each other.  After the Powells event, I took the bus home.  Waiting for the bus in Beaverton was harrowing.  I had to wait on a narrow strip of concrete with 8 lanes of traffic rushing by only a few feet away.  I kept thinking of all those pedestrians that get hit by cars in such situations.  Trimet should have safer bus stops.

I didn't buy Ruth's new book, which is a cookbook.  I seldom buy cookbooks anymore.  I have enough cookbooks and I prefer to look online for recipes.  I did put the book on hold at the library.  If I love it enough, then I will buy it.

A bit of Oregon

Be sure you click on the link and read the story.... this makes me want to go for a drive out that way.  Been more than a while since we did.

Oregon flower farm

Second spring

We have a "second spring" in our area.  The summers are very dry with hardly any rain.  In the fall, when it begins to rain again, the mosses and ferns and lichens all green up and it seems like a second spring.

Some might call it the start of the rainy season but it feels like second spring to me.  It started raining yesterday and everyone seems ready for the rain.  It won't be long till everything greens up.  I can't wait!

Update... It is early November and we are in our second spring now.  We've had more than a bit of rain and the mosses and ferns are very green.  At the same time, the deciduous trees and bushes are turning fall colors and losing their leaves.

The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail fascinates me.  How did women pack up their lives and walk into the unknown like that?  They had so little information to go on and the journey was difficult.  How did those women manage day to day?  They wore long skirts.  They had to keep house in the dust and the dirt under very primitive conditions.  They had children to take care of, often including a baby.  They were usually pregnant.  They walked all day and then had to set up camp, make dinner and clean up after the dinner.  There were clothes to wash.  Illnesses to tend.  Firewood to gather.

Much of the time the women didn't choose to go.  Their husbands would announce that they were going.

The Oregon Trail makes walking the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail seem like a piece of cake.  On the Oregon Trail they couldn't ship things to pick up along the way.  If they were sick, they couldn't get off the trail for help.  All the wonderful lightweight watertight modern materials weren't available.  There were no convenience foods.  No water filters.  There were no good accurate guide books.  It was easy to get lost.  I could go on, but you get the picture.

My fascination with the Oregon Trail is long standing.  Recently I got a book that answers so many of my questions about how it was to travel that trail.   The book is called Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail by Susan G Butruille.

Here's a link to the book with some information about it.

Women's Voice from the Oregon Trail

And here is an Amazon link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0963483986