GoLiNiel Oregon Page

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Cherry Trees On Willamette River Esplanade

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Riding in to the Mosier Twin Tunnel
One Handed video of a bike ride through the Mosier Twin Tunnel
Riding in to the Mosier Twin Tunnel

 

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Gallery of Oregon buildings

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From the parking lot at White River, snowshoeing up the White River canyon provides great views of Mt. Hood.
From there head southwest, over a ridge and connect to Pacific Crest Trail, Yellow Jacket trail, or hike along Boy Scout Ridge.
Following marked ski trails above White River Canyon leads to an access road on Boy Scout Ridge that provides a clearing with a great view of Mt. Hood for a lunch stop.
snow shoing on Boy Scout Ridge
View of Mt. Hood from Boy Scout Ridge

 

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Snowshoeing along the Yellowjacket trail in the Mt. Hood wilderness.
A view up through the trees on the White-A-Way trail, leading into the Snow Bunny recreation area.
snow shoing on Yellowjacket trail, near WhiteAWay trail
View up through the trees on White-a-Way trail

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From the observation platform at OHSU, you get a great view of the South Willamette River area.
The Portland Tram,is approaching the upper landing area and will then make its return trip to the bottom of Marquam hill.
The OHSU tram is making its final approach into the landing area at the bottom of the hill.
Incoming Portland Tram at OHSU
Final Approach of Portland Tram

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Near OMSI, along the Willamette River, the conveyor system has been finished. I have been watching them build it. It will be used to haul the dirt from the tunnel over the fence, and the Springwater Corridor, and will dump the dredgings on a barge. What tunnel? The Eastside Combined Sewer Overflow project. 6 mile tunnel, 22 feet wide, 150 feet deep. From OMSI area to Swan Island. Cool tunnel to be in if you liked that sort of thing, except for.....well, the sewer part.
January 20, and most all the snow has melted, and the sun has come out. Still in the low 40's but a great day for a bike ride. The geese are still here as we go through the wetlands in the industrial park. I thought they would have gone south for the winter?
conveyor
geese

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Each day, on the way to work, I pass by this rail siding. Sitting quiet and motionless for years are four rail cars from the "Empire Builder" line.
These cars look to have been used in the late 1950's, though I have not confirmed that. When I see them I think of the places they have been,
and the stories that they have been a part of. And wonder, what is next for them.....
From Wikipedia, I have included this entry on the Empire Builder : "The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. Before Amtrak, the Empire Builder was operated by the Great Northern Railway. The train was Great Northern's flagship train. The route runs from Chicago, Illinois toward the Pacific Ocean."

Empire Builder Car
"Ice Lake" Car
Empire builder engine
Empire Builder Passenger Car Empire Builder "Ice Lake" Car Empire Builder Engine
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I grew up in Junction City. A really great small town.

When I was there, they had just one stoplight. Now, they have their own website.

festival

Scandinavian Festival ~ In Junction City, Oregon. To most Festival veterans, it just isn't Festival until you've had your first aebleskiver! You can watch these tasty treats being made at the Faith Lutheran Booth. Dipped in fresh jams, they go great with coffee. Watching them being made while you wait is not only fun, but also seems to add to the anticipation of your first delicious bite.

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sitka Tonight the local news reports that the largest sitka spruce in the country, located just east of Seaside is in trouble. Seems to be rotting and dying. We may lose a large, but to many a seemingly small and insignificant landmark. We are going to the coast tommorrow for a Christmas holiday. We will stop to see it. This 750 foot tree stnad over 52 feet. We will pay it our respects.
We did go see it on Christmas Eve. The walkway up to and around the tree is closed. Not impressively tall for being the tallest tree of its kind in the U.S. But there was a impressive amount of people migrating in and out in order to pay homage.

On memorial day, we re-visited the worlds largest/oldest Sitka Spruce, in Klootchy Creek Park on Highway 26, just east of Seaside/Cannon Beach junction. Fifty years ago, lightning struck the tree, causing a large wound that spirals around the tree about half way up. Then during a large windstorm in December of 2006, a large outer section was ripped off revealing severe rot that has weakened the tree. On Christmas Eve, we went to visit the tree shortly after that storm and the wood deck that encircled the tree had been closed off. Since that time there have been many options considered for saving the tree, from filling the interior with epoxy, to trimming, but since it is impossible to determine the full extent of the damage caused by the rot and fungus, it appears the final decision is to let nature take its course. With the inevitable conclusion, this tree will fall down. Now, the fencing around the perimeter is farther back. Although it doesn't seem to me that the fencing is as far back as the tree is tall, so perhaps the thinking is that the entire tree wont fall, and that it will actually break in half. Either way, that tree is going to make some noise in the forest when it falls, no matter if someone is there to hear it, or not. Anyway, you can only spend so much time looking at one big tree, so we did some more looking around the Kloochy Creek Park. Nearby there is this interesting tree, that you can walk under, as you follow a path that winds out beside the large Sitka Spruce. Opposite the Spruce is this cool spot where an old log has rotted out, creating a Hobbitt Hole as Honey calls it, or perhaps providing a shelter for smaller creatures, as well as a natural home for typical oregon forest vegetation. Then in the front of the park there are these signs. The first one, a marble marker designating this area as Cloutrie Creek. The marker goes on to to describe how in 1899 Antoine Cloutrie, Seasides first postmaster, was leading a group of timber cruisers, and was found dead in this vicinity, possibly due to ptomain poisining from a can of beans. Then the sign explains that the Cloutrie name has been misspelled and mispronounced to the extant that the creek named in his honor has become known by a misnomer. Finally, "Cloutrie Creek will become known by those reading this plaque and perhaps in years to come, the misspelling and the mispronunciation will disappear." Ok, that is great. But then, why the bigger sign directly behind and above it that still pronounces the name of this area as Kloochy Creek?
aspruce.jpg aunder.jpg ahobbit.jpg acloutrie.jpg

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garden snow

In the Oregon Valley, snow is kind of big news.
It seems each year, or maybe every couple of years we get snow that sticks to the ground.
January 16, 2007 was one of those days.
At our home we got little more than 3 inches!
This gives one news channel to bring out their crack weather team on their website: katu
And another news site leads with: "City paralyzed by snow-covered roads"
Everything seems to close, and the news spends the day alarming everyone about the terrible storm.
Denver and Chicago takes this sort of thing in stride, Portland can't seem to do that.

 

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