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July 14, 2016

Where “old” displays stunning beauty and tells the stories of our world.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under Oregon, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: John Day Fossil Beds, Mt. Ranier, Oregon, Painted Hills, Shaniko, travel |
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I think this is Mt. Ranier with windmills turning from the heavy winds blowing across the fields.

On my second day in Oregon, I got up from the wonderful home where I was staying in Hood River and headed east along the Columbia River. The scene was gorgeous and soon I was starting to see more desert landscape. The scenery was magnificent and changed continuously as I drove east and south. At one point as I was driving through low rolling hills and endless fields with wind generators dotting the horizon, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a huge snow-capped mountain. I pulled off the side of the road to get a good look and then scanned to the left and saw another mountain in the distance. I’m pretty sure the one was Mt. Rainier in Washington. I don’t think any other mountain that far away could have been as huge as the tallest peak in America. I saw it once from a plane and now viewed it from land.

While I normally dislike the journey and am more of a destination kind of person, I fully enjoyed the drive and stopped to take photos as the landscape called to me. Oregon has a natural history filled with geological turbulence and regrowth. Ice ages, volcanoes, water, weather patterns, storms, and more formed the beauty we see today. Fields and prairies, hills and low bushes, tall beautiful trees, mountains in the distance, and windy rivers all captured my attention and made me relaxed and happy.

The stage coach station in the old west town of Shaniko.

I stopped at a ghost town called Shaniko. In the old west, it was a thriving place but when the railroad passed it by, it became desolate. So the locals now make some cash from selling antiques in the old stagecoach station and from people like me who stop off to see a little tiny old west town.

The Clarno Unit of John Day Fossil Beds.

After my short visit, I continued on a somewhat deserted road that turned sharply up and down the hills of central Oregon toward one of the locations of John Day Fossil Beds Parks. There are three sites that make up this park. I first went to the Clarno Unit, where I hiked about a mile and a half through in the high sun and along rough paths through ancient rocks. The scene of the tall rock monuments changed as I wound my way around the paths. These rock cliffs were formed from volcanic mudflows that swept through the area 44 million years ago and preserved a diverse assortment of plants and animals that inhabited a near-tropical forest. My heart was palpitating when I got to the top of a 450 foot elevation on a small rough path ending under an arch and a fossil of a tree embedded in the cliff.

I was in want of ice cream when I finally made it back to my pickup truck—the so called “economy rental”, but alas, no civilization was nearby so I continued along the windy roads to the next park, the Painted Hills. These colorful hills were beautiful. Reds, yellows, and spots of black flowed through the rolling hills as a result of ancient volcanic flows.

The Painted Hills

The Painted Hills is one of those places where the view keeps getting better and different as you move along the paths. The hills look like sand but when you see it up close, it’s more like very dry, crumbly rock that has been colored. As I was making my way down from the top of one path, I noticed many people with dogs—they are allowed on leashes. And then, my eye caught one woman walking her little goat. He was on a leash, so I guess that works! One of the cool things about traveling is seeing all kinds of people who make it interesting enough to write about.

With my Fitbit buzzing at 10,000 steps, I called it a day and drove the final leg down to Bend where I would get to see my niece and her friend. More mountains dotted the landscape as I reached hippie town, USA. Seriously, it is a lovely town, about to burst at the seams as more and more people (and students) add to the 80,000 population. More on Bend and my fun with “Grasshopper” on my next post, but once again, I will say I thoroughly enjoyed the drive through this gorgeous state with seemingly vast resources and open land.

July 11, 2016

The Best of Bohemia: Oregon the land of beauty and wonder.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under Oregon, travel | Tags: Fruit Loop, Hood River, Mount Hood, Oregon, travel, US states, vacation |
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My 2016 trip was a domestic experience that has reminded me how unbelievably lucky I am to live in this gloriously beautiful country. I have now found a new favorite state—Oregon. The word WOW came out of my mouth often as I drove around the state and saw different landscapes, each just as wonderful as the other. And the people! They were so pleasant, friendly, and nice, it made my time there so relaxed. I met a number of people who had lived in my area of Washington, DC and each time I said, “And so now you moved to have your real life start out in paradise.”

But the best part of the trip was spending time with my niece and her girlfriend. The girls were perfect hosts, showing me their home town and entertaining me in wonderful ways. If it wasn’t so far from my roots, I think I would easily transplant to this wonderful state. Two thumbs up for Oregon and I can’t wait to go back during the winter to see it in its winter splendor.

The trip started out not so great with United having troubles with planes and crews timing out. After waiting for about five hours, the crew they finally gave us said they were going “illegal” and working overtime. Praise to those great FAs who delivered us to Portland that night instead of cancelling. I finally made it to my Airbnb rental in Hood River and hit the pillow at 5 a.m. ET. The place where I stayed was wonderful and the bed was SO soft and comfortable. They were close to the downtown but in quiet place. They had a horse and the friendliest three-legged cat I’ve ever met which gave me a good feeling of home.

Day One: Hood River Cruise

When I drove in, it was dark so as I woke up and drove to the Cascade Locks where the Sternwheeler cruise was located, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. The river to my right was white-capped and surrounded on both sides by tall green trees covering towering mountains. I decided to take this paddle boat cruise up and down the Columbia River Gorge to see the sights from the water and a great decision that was. Not only was the boat fun, but we sailed up toward Hood River to see some windsurfers and the geological wonders that created the valley and then back down again under the Bridge of the Gods and past tons of docks along the river where the local Indian tribes people would fish. They throw out their nets and make a living from the river’s fish. And then we turned back at the Dam where several years ago, Lewis and Clarke took out their boats to go around the rapids that would have killed them if they kept on.

Bad Local Advice

After the cruise I grabbed a sandwich from a small local deli and listened to the owner chat away. It was nice to meet with so many people but unfortunately he convinced me to go way down the road to see some touristy places that ended up catching me in traffic that makes the DC commuter routes look like a walk in the park. So three hours later, after seeing a nice view from the top of the mountain (but not worth the traffic headache) I went back to what I wanted to do—just at a faster and condensed pace. I drove over the Bridge of the Gods because it looked cool and it was in that movie, Wild. And it took me into Washington—another state to check off the list! So I drove up the river coast on the Washington side getting cools views and then back over the bridge at Hood River where I got an incredible view of Mount Hood—so tall and snow covered.

Fruit Loop and Farms

I then sped on to a couple places listed on the Fruit Loop. First was an Alpaca farm where I thought there would be some cool things to buy. The cool things were super expensive so I just spent 25 cents on kibble and went to feed the funny looking guys in the barn. It was a quick stop and then I had time to stop at one fruit stand. The jams looked yummy but I ended up just getting some peaches that I ate later on my trip—so much like candy! I decided to stop in town at an upscale pizza place that was packed. After walking the river path to see the last remnant of windsurfers (Hood River is the windsurfing capital) I then went to try out a glass of local wine and eat an overpriced personal pizza. But it was relaxing and nice way to end the day before heading to my rental place.

I had a wonderful relaxing evening on this mini farm, talking to my host, petting the horse and the kitty who meowed loudly at me as he crossed the paddock, and later gazing at the stars (no light noise makes the sky burn bright).

I could have stayed in Hood River longer but I got up early to head out for a long drive through the high desert and on to Bend, which I’ll discuss in the next post.

The Oregon Experience

Some things I saw a lot in Oregon were conservation efforts that put the rest of us to shame. They not just recycle but also compost, use solar and wind power, and act in lots of ways to protect our environment. I wish we could all make the effort they do to use natural resources but when you live in a swamp like D.C., it’s hard to see what you are protecting.

Also, in Oregon, drivers stop to let pedestrians pass everywhere—even in non-crossing places. In northern VA you are hard pressed to get cars to stop for people in walk ways. But you also get obnoxious pedestrians crossing against lights, so it’s lose-lose.

And then there were the marijuana dispensaries. It was interesting to see businesses that sold pot and to smell it around you, and it was all legal. But it really seemed to be a natural part of the culture in Oregon, which was pretty hippy but not in any weird or bad way—it all worked and seemed right.

Other observations to come, so read on if you want to hear about awesome Oregon!

March 20, 2016

More art, dancing, and culture in Cuba.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under Cuba, travel | Tags: Cienfuegos, Cuba, Maria la Gorda, People to People |
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After our wonderful two days in Havana, we continued to sail west then around the tip of Cuba to a southern inlet on a beautiful beach at Maria la Gorda. It was a relaxing day that started with a short motor boat ride to a coral reef off the beach where we snorkeled for an hour or so. Not the best snorkeling I’ve seen but we had fun and then went back to the beach and found some chairs to soak in the sun. It was nice break and allowed us some rest.

Cienfuegos

Our final port of call on the island of Cuba was Cienfuegos. Once again we got our temperature taken before leaving the ship and went through an immigration office where we surrendered our temporary visas. We picked bus #6 again for our group tour and had a nice guide who on several occasions asked us what we wanted to do—indicating a very flexible agenda. This is why I think the Cubans will need to figure out some more formal and researched tours for future American audiences. They may have been feeling their way with us to see what we were interested in.

Our first stop was the center of town—where we walked around the town square and learned a bit about some of the local buildings including a beautiful and magnificent theater. We went inside and were amazed at the restoration of this 1880s vintage theater with gorgeous paintings on the ceiling, old school chairs, and just the quaintest and classic setting I’ve seen. It was delightful. We weren’t allowed to take photographs but I googled one here and they don’t do it justice—it was one of those places where you had to soak in the ambiance in person.

We then made our way to an art gallery, the Sociedad Grafica de Cienfuegos. The gallery supported local artists and they share their talents with the neighborhood kids. The art was very interesting and I bought a small piece and got to meet the artist. Outside the gallery some of my fellow travelers were giving treats to some local kids who were loving the attention. One kid got some soap and had a broad smile when showing his mom his new gift. It was very sweet.

The sign in the window is an ad to sell the house.

Along the way our guide told us some interesting cultural facts. Very few people in Cuba are allowed to own and sell their homes. He pointed out a sign on a house indicating the lucky owners who were trying to sell their abode.

We were very lucky as it turns out because our tour guide had some connections to a local artist who lived on a street of artists who were having a festival on the day we were there. So in a sense we got to hang out with locals who were having a block party. A banner across the street welcomed us to the creative zone. We were the only bus who got to go there, so this was a very special treat for us.

The locals were playing music, singing, dancing, creating works of art, and playing dominoes on a table in the street. One woman was working hard cleaning vegetables and potatoes that were going into the community stew pot. It was a huge black pot sitting on some burning logs right in the street. The guy behind her showed me a skull of some animal (a sheep maybe) with some meat still on it that was going to be put into the pot later.

There was also an interesting structure (for lack of better words) they created out of some kind of husks—maybe sugar cane since that is what the city is known for. It had a kind of a bulb like shape and was hanging on some poles. There were headphones attached and you could listen to music that was playing inside of it. There was some significance to this but unfortunately I could not hear our guide explain it. We shopped and explored several studios on the street that were basically the front rooms of the artists’ homes. It was a fantastic afternoon.

We asked our guide to skip a part of the tour that seemed boring—just a walk around of some tourist hotel and restaurant and instead opted to go back to the center of town to do some last minute shopping and explore the area. We had to get rid of the last of our converted pesos, so we helped the economy and bought some handmade jewelry, t-shirts, and dominoes games.

Final Thoughts

The Cuban people were interesting and friendly. We loved just walking around and exploring towns. The people have had to live through a lot of challenges through the last century—getting support from the Soviet Union and being in the middle of a fight between two super powers. They were living the good life for a while when supported by Moscow but have had to figure out how to survive living under an oppressive regime without financial support when communism failed in the Soviet Union. Change is coming (very slow to be sure but coming) and many of the people will probably be up to the challenges of living in a more socialistic society as opposed to a communist one. They are getting rid of some old policies but still are afraid of a government who maintains control and suppresses freedom.

Dominoes is a very popular game and the neighbors here are playing in the street.

Their infrastructure gets updated slowly—one building is about to fall down next to another that has been restored beautifully. The people have great education and health care but are very poor and have to work a lot to get any extra money for luxuries. They gather in public places to get Wi-Fi and as we all know, the Internet provides people with information and opportunities they need to become free. I felt very blessed to be able to see this country and visit with the people there. My hope is that someday their society will change enough to allow freedom for the people to seek God and worship Him openly, to find employment at will that allows for more comfortable lives, and to feel free enough to get rid of the Che Guevara postcards and express their opinions without fear of retribution.

With President Obama’s visit and the new policies to open relations with Cuba, we’ll wait and see if some of our democratic values will take hold in our southern neighbors. In the meantime, I would encourage Americans to visit now under the People to People program. And one note of interest, the Cubans also refer to themselves as Americans, which makes sense—so when there, you may want to be more specific when explaining where you are from.