Thursday we drove up the Columbia Gorge. We drove past Multnomah Falls, past Hood River, saw smoke rising as we approached The Dalles, drove through the smoke as we got close to TheDalles. As we exited I-84 to visit the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, we noticed that the west-bound Interstate was closed, to allow fire fighting equipment more room to fight the grass fire that was right next to the highway.
The museum was very interesting, well worth the $7 admission fee. ($6 for seniors) The is a theater showing several videos on the history and ecology of the area. Three separate areas highlight different themes. As we entered we stopped to enjoy a rapter program conducted by a volunteer. I learned many new things about the great horned owl and red-tailed hawk.
After several hours we left the museum and noticed that the smoke was gone, but the west bound traffic was still being routed on Hwy 30, backing traffic up several miles because of the bottle neck. We drove on east and then turned north on Hwy 97, crossing the Columbia River and up the hill through the fields of wind generator towers. It is impossible to know, but I swear there are more now than last year. The area looks the same, the town of Goldendale looks the same. We checked into our motel, grabbed a short nap before driving downtown to "The Luau" for some terriaki chicken. Yumm.
Following a short drive around town, before going up the hill to the observatory. At the observatory gate we were exposed to the new Washington State Park user fee. There now is a $10 fee to visit Washington State Parks. Oregon's fee is $5.
Steve, the park's only employee, was surprised to see us, but we got a big smile from him anyway.
After everyone at the gate was checked in, we were allowed into the parking are and the program began. Actually a few minutes after we all sat down in the auditorium, we found out that the ISS, the International Space Station, was passing over soon and so we went back outside to view it. It showed up, as promised, right where it was supposed to be. After the passage, it was back inside for the program. Steve did introduce us as past volunteers to the rest of the group. After the Power Point program we ajourned to the telescope room for the evening viewing. Things haven't changed there. The asrrangement that I put up in the display case is as it weas when we left. It was fun being a tourist for a change.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Moving
Should I move? My boys think that it is time for us to move to the Portland area. We are comfortable in our home in Eugene, but our kids think we would be closer to our grandkids and a lot of our old friends if we moved up to the big city. There are many advantages and disadvantages to moving.
We like Eugene. It has all the needed things; shopping, hospitals, a swimming/excercise facilities. Our home is paid for. So why would we want to move? To be closer to friends and family? There are several old friends who live in the Porltand area. It wohld be fun to be more frequent visitors with them.
Living in the Portland area would put us closer to our grandchildren which is good. However, they have their own lives and finding time for us seems to be difficult. We have been here in Portland for more than two months and they have yet come to see where we are parked.
In the old days families used to call to talk, to tell one another about their day. They used to call when they got home from vacation, or from a trip, to share experiences. Or they would call just to say "Hi".
Now you have to look at their blogs or facebook pages to find out what is going on in their lives. I guess that is the new society. I kinda liked the old one.
So should we move? We have to think about what WE want to do and what is best for US and not listen to others.
We like Eugene. It has all the needed things; shopping, hospitals, a swimming/excercise facilities. Our home is paid for. So why would we want to move? To be closer to friends and family? There are several old friends who live in the Porltand area. It wohld be fun to be more frequent visitors with them.
Living in the Portland area would put us closer to our grandchildren which is good. However, they have their own lives and finding time for us seems to be difficult. We have been here in Portland for more than two months and they have yet come to see where we are parked.
In the old days families used to call to talk, to tell one another about their day. They used to call when they got home from vacation, or from a trip, to share experiences. Or they would call just to say "Hi".
Now you have to look at their blogs or facebook pages to find out what is going on in their lives. I guess that is the new society. I kinda liked the old one.
So should we move? We have to think about what WE want to do and what is best for US and not listen to others.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Leaf
A couple of days ago a friend and I stopped to check out the new Nissan Leaf, the all electric car. The first thing you notice are don't notice is that it looks just like any other car.
Remember the Honda Insight?
Well this car, while not beautiful, does not look odd. It bears a very strong resemblance to the Nissan Versa. In fact, it share the same, what the car manufacturers call, platform; the layout, brakes, etc.
So the salesman told us about the unusual way to order it. It is done almost entirely on the computer. You first pay a $500 deposit to get the ball rolling, then you hire a Nissan approved electrician to wire a charging station at your house. Then Nissan starts to build your car. The sales person told us that the price had recently risen from $34k to $37k because of demand. (Leave it to car makers to make a buck; or three thousand bucks ) when they can. Order time is about 9 months.
Details: 100 miles between charges, if you don't use A/C or heater. Less if you do. There is a reading on the dashboard that tells you how many miles are left on your battery. A Leaf was recently driven from Gresham, Or up to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood and back on one charge. The battery was nearly used up going up the mountain, but the braking coming back down recharged it enough to get the car back to Gresham with "2 miles" left on the meter. It would be the right car for a town car. The batteries are going to get batter as time goes on.
An Observation>>>>>> Car dealers do not recognize the recession. They continue to try to wring as much moned as they possibly can out of the individual. The sales guy told us that a certain 2009 Civic on the lot had gone up (according to the book) $2500 in a month so they raised their asking price that much. He said, My boss says there's an "A__ For Every Seat" so we will evidentially sell it. HMMMM............. No wonder I hate car dealers.
Remember the Honda Insight?
Well this car, while not beautiful, does not look odd. It bears a very strong resemblance to the Nissan Versa. In fact, it share the same, what the car manufacturers call, platform; the layout, brakes, etc.
So the salesman told us about the unusual way to order it. It is done almost entirely on the computer. You first pay a $500 deposit to get the ball rolling, then you hire a Nissan approved electrician to wire a charging station at your house. Then Nissan starts to build your car. The sales person told us that the price had recently risen from $34k to $37k because of demand. (Leave it to car makers to make a buck; or three thousand bucks ) when they can. Order time is about 9 months.
Details: 100 miles between charges, if you don't use A/C or heater. Less if you do. There is a reading on the dashboard that tells you how many miles are left on your battery. A Leaf was recently driven from Gresham, Or up to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood and back on one charge. The battery was nearly used up going up the mountain, but the braking coming back down recharged it enough to get the car back to Gresham with "2 miles" left on the meter. It would be the right car for a town car. The batteries are going to get batter as time goes on.An Observation>>>>>> Car dealers do not recognize the recession. They continue to try to wring as much moned as they possibly can out of the individual. The sales guy told us that a certain 2009 Civic on the lot had gone up (according to the book) $2500 in a month so they raised their asking price that much. He said, My boss says there's an "A__ For Every Seat" so we will evidentially sell it. HMMMM............. No wonder I hate car dealers.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Bonneville Dam
Well we finally made it to Bonneville Dam. It is located about 40 miles east of Portland on I-84. We walked around the grounds of the fish hatchery, fed the large rainbow trout in one of the holding ponds, found Herman the Sturgeon in another pond. The area is nicely landscaped and also has a large gift shop to accomodate the 500,000 annual visitors to the dam. The dam itself is a mile from the first area and drive is intersting because the roadway travels through a guarded gate, across a narrow bridge just below the locks and then along the dam itself. The visitor center at the dam has four levels. The greeting area and gift shop is actually the third floor. It is staffed by several volunteers who live in their RVs nearby on one of the islands created for the facilities. The top level is for an overall view of the area. The second level has two theaters, and the bottom level has the viewing windows for the fish ladders. The fish ladders are provided to give the salmon a way to swim upstream around the dam. How well they work is a question, but they are better than having no ladder at all. The viewing level also contained the room that contained the person who counted every fish that swam up the ladder. Imagine having that job! Not the most exciting job in the world!
2pm brought a tour complete with a ranger wearing the tradition green and gray uniform and smoky bear hat. She, however, and the other rangers here, are employed by the Army Corp of Engineers so they have the "castle" emblem on their sleeves instead of the NPS emblem. The talk was mostly about how the system of dams works, but we did get to walk over to the historic power house where there are eight huge turbines generating the electricity that is powering this computer as I write this.
After finishing the tour we stopped to visit with one of the volunteers to find out information on volunteering at Bonneville. On our way back we detoured to the picnic ground which is adjacent to the volunteer campground. The area aeems very nice but I'm sure that it is always windy because we noticed that several folks had put up some sort of wind breaks around their picnic tables to slow it down. Kinda like being at the coast. The volunteer we talked to did tell us that there is also a vistor center on the Washington side as well and the power house tour there actually takes you right on top of the turbines and you can feel their vibrations. Another time perhaps.
2pm brought a tour complete with a ranger wearing the tradition green and gray uniform and smoky bear hat. She, however, and the other rangers here, are employed by the Army Corp of Engineers so they have the "castle" emblem on their sleeves instead of the NPS emblem. The talk was mostly about how the system of dams works, but we did get to walk over to the historic power house where there are eight huge turbines generating the electricity that is powering this computer as I write this.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Camas / Wasougal
"Let's drive east on Hwy 14 and check out Bonneville Dam. We've never gone on the tour before."
So we ended up in Wasougal before we knew it. We saw a sign for a museum and found it right across the street from the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store. The sign stated, "No Tours today", but we went inside to see what was there. The store was full of anything and everything Pendleton from shirts to coats to handbags none of which seemed to be any kind of bargain.
Then it was across the street to see what was inside the small-town museum. The couple that were working, Joe and Dorthy, moved to Wasougal in 1947 so they were very familiar with the stories of the area. We spent over an hour talking to these nice people.
It was after 1:30 and past "time to eat" and we ended up in downtown Callas, a very cute tree-lined downtown area. Lunch at Natasia's ( Russian Goulash for R, Chicken and Mushroom Lasanga for me).
Good choice followed by two antique stores made a great day.
So we ended up in Wasougal before we knew it. We saw a sign for a museum and found it right across the street from the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store. The sign stated, "No Tours today", but we went inside to see what was there. The store was full of anything and everything Pendleton from shirts to coats to handbags none of which seemed to be any kind of bargain.
Then it was across the street to see what was inside the small-town museum. The couple that were working, Joe and Dorthy, moved to Wasougal in 1947 so they were very familiar with the stories of the area. We spent over an hour talking to these nice people.
It was after 1:30 and past "time to eat" and we ended up in downtown Callas, a very cute tree-lined downtown area. Lunch at Natasia's ( Russian Goulash for R, Chicken and Mushroom Lasanga for me).
Good choice followed by two antique stores made a great day.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Yesterday Sunday 8/7/11
Busy day at FOVA. A wedding on a grassy area with nearby evergreens. The area was set up when I got to work at 9am. The ceremony was at 2pm and the area was back to its original state by 5pm. The transformations in this park are amazing.
Sunday, a Concourse de Elegance ( which means a fancy car show) was staged on the grass of Officers Row. Officers Row is a row of about fifteen homes that were built in the 1880s by the Army for their officers. They have been restored and belong to the city of Vancouver. Most of them are rented out to businesses, but one (the Grant House) is a restaurant and the other (the Marshall House) is open for tours week-days and used for parties and weddings on weekends.
As I walked the girls early sunday morning, cars were arriving and concessions were being set up. All day long folks came and went to view the beautiful automobles and by 6pm the visitors were gone, the cars were gone, the concessionaires were gone, and just a few folks remained to complete the final clean up. This morning, the only trace of the event was some pressed down grass in certain areas. Another successful event came and went.
Sunday, a Concourse de Elegance ( which means a fancy car show) was staged on the grass of Officers Row. Officers Row is a row of about fifteen homes that were built in the 1880s by the Army for their officers. They have been restored and belong to the city of Vancouver. Most of them are rented out to businesses, but one (the Grant House) is a restaurant and the other (the Marshall House) is open for tours week-days and used for parties and weddings on weekends.
As I walked the girls early sunday morning, cars were arriving and concessions were being set up. All day long folks came and went to view the beautiful automobles and by 6pm the visitors were gone, the cars were gone, the concessionaires were gone, and just a few folks remained to complete the final clean up. This morning, the only trace of the event was some pressed down grass in certain areas. Another successful event came and went.
Being Near the Airport
We are about 1/2 hour from the Portland Airport. It is convenient if you fly often, but it does have it's drawbacks. Large commercial jets take off and climb into the skies over the Columbia River which is just south of us. This is especially frequent in the early morning. The flights seem to leave PDX every 10 minutes from six to eight am and then several an hour all day long. If I lived here I would get used to it, but after a month here, I still stop to look. I am usually walking the dogs and have been checking the departure of a plane with Southwest markings. Six days a week it passes by at 6:45am give of take 5 minutes.
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