A Bad Fashion Statement; The Trans-Alaska Pipeline; Two Blenders? A Keynote Speaker

Thankfully, the Bad Fashion Statement alluded to in the title of this blog was not my error, but it is definitely noteworthy. I have never been accused of being a fashion plate, and am normally outfitted in casual wear appropriate to the outdoor activity in which I am currently engaged. On this day, however, I was totally appalled by this campground patron walking back from the office to his RV. C'mon, dude, let your wife dress you in the morning before you go out in public!















You meet some very interesting people in campgrounds. I met this younger guy yesterday wearing an Alyeska Pipeline tee-shirt. Alyeska is the company that operates and maintains the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. His job is building ice highways (in the winter) across permafrost and maintaining heavy equipment year-round. He normally works 3 weeks on and 3 off, but if equipment breaks, it could be 5 weeks on and one off. His family, including three young daughters, lives in Oregon, so he loses a few days per cycle commuting. 



I have always been impressed by the Trans-Alaska Pipeline's amazing engineering accomplishments, safety record, minimal environmental impact, and contribution to our national security. I may get some flack from my readers who are Sierra Club anti-pipeliners, but that's life. In fact, I used to be a member of the Sierra Club when it was still a hiker/backpacker organization, and quit when they became too radical. As Sgt Joe Friday used to say on Dragnet, "Just the facts, Ma'am, just the facts." So here are a few quick facts about the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and Alyeska:
- since 1977, it has safely and successfully moved almost 17 billion barrels (42 gallons per barrel) of crude oil through the Trans Alaska Pipeline system
- air temperature along the pipeline ranges from minus 80 degrees F to plus 95 degrees F
- their reliability factor for 2014: 99.78%
- amount of oil spilled in 2012: 6 barrels
- total area covered by pipeline: 16.3 square miles
- river and stream crossings: 34 major rivers, 500 streams total
- mountain ranges crossed: three (Brooks, Alaska, and Chucach)
- pipeline length: 800 miles
- right-of-way widths: federal land: 54 to 64 feet; state land 100 feet; private land 54-300 feet max
- Caribou: the Sierra Club predicted that the 6,000 caribou in the central Alaska herd would become extinct because of the pipeline. The herd has actually grown to over 27,000. Anecdotal reports indicate that some caribou even lean against the pipeline to stay warm in winter. Snicker.... 



I don't have a real photo for the next vignette, but I assure you it happened exactly like I'll tell it... My Lovely Bride and I were walking the puppies in our campground, and she said, "Ty, look at that camper being unloaded. They have two blenders. They must really like margaritas and pina coladas!" I glanced that direction, smiled, and replied, "Sweetheart, those are Coleman lanterns." A brief silence ensued, and she said, "Oh." 






 

I am now in an Army campground at Fort Lewis, Washington, taking care of Rudy and Gretchen while Suzanne is in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is a keynote speaker at the 38th Annual Conference of the Academy for Spiritual and Consciousness Studies. The title of this year's event is New Developments in Afterlife Communications. The conference just began Thursday afternoon, and she has already seen many friends there. You can follow Suzanne on her web site and blog at www.LoveAtTheCenter.com. 

Smack! Into the Woods; Trail 3507; Blue Pool; Lava; Whoopsie! Why we do this...

I will undoubtedly get in trouble with My Lovely Bride for this photo, which could be construed as her having laid an egg. Actually, she is sitting on this uncomfortable rock under our campground's office window because the Wi-Fi signal in the coach was too weak to send out her daily Sanaya post.  The bedhead and attire is evidence of the fact that NOTHING comes ahead of Sanaya!










Okay, now I will get to the primary reason that we are here in McKenzie Bridge, Oregon; it is the terminus of the nation's #1 rated mountain bike trail, the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail (USFS Trail #3507) in the high Cascade Mountains. This 26 mile long trail parallels (kinda-sorta) the spectacular whitewater river from Clear Lake to Paradise in Oregon campground in the Willamette National Forest, dropping about 3,000 feet over our ride. (Thanks, Brad, for the USFS' great work!) We asked Jim, our campground host, for help in arranging a shuttle to the top of the trail. Lonnie, one of his other guests, then drove us up the mountain, dropped us off, and returned our car to the campground. This topographic trail map shows our route. Beginner map readers will note that the squiggly lines that are closely spaced indicate mountains and steep cliffs...

The trail started out only moderately difficult, and became harder/more technical in places. I'll get to the hard part later. The trail is very twisty and narrow in most places, and you have to duck and weave under some of the branches... that keeps you alert!.

On much of the trail, you are riding through 600 year old Douglas fir groves that blow your mind with their beauty.You have to stop now and then (1) to catch your breath, because it's not all downhill, and (2) to take in the magnificence of the forest.

This area is called the dry riverbed section, because the McKenzie goes underground for 3 miles, due to the porous nature of the volcanic basalt rock. There are several smaller streams and ravines to cross on narrow log bridges. I'm sure there are some teenagers that will ride across these bridges on their bikes, but our good friend Prudence suggested we carry our bikes here....









How does the question go, "If a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one there to hear it, is there any noise?" I can almost guarantee you that when this tree fell, it made a bunch of noise!

Shortly later, we arrived at one of the very special sights on this trail, where the river reappears - crystal clear Blue Pool, also known as Tamolich Falls, one of Oregon's hidden treasures. You can hike to the pool, but it's at least an hour in from the trailhead. From the trail where we're standing, it's about a 100 foot drop to the water below, and the turquoise color rivals that of Crater Lake. The falls, fed by snowmelt from higher elevations, are dry in summer, but in early spring could be seen on the lower left side of the cliff below me.

After Blue Pool, you get to the lava flows. Lava flows? Yes, this area has numerous signs of the widespread volcanic activity that marks Oregon and Washington as part of the Ring of Fire that runs around the Pacific Ocean from South America through the US, Canada, Japan, the Philippines, the South Pacific and down to New Zealand. This photo shows us carrying our bikes through a steep lava flow; it is much safer than riding down, because a fall here could have grave consequences. Local riders call falls on lava like landing on a cheese grader. Oooohhh, that sounds nasty!







Speaking of falls, I am still trying to figure out what happened in the next section of the trail, which featured an off-camber turn (i.e., it sloped away from the turn). My Lovely Bride thinks I may have been "going too fast for conditions" or riding too close to the edge of this drop-off... I think it may have been a late season dry avalanche. I've heard of them. Really. Or maybe it was a very localized earthquake. In any case, one moment I was riding along thinking about the beauty of the river several hundred feet below, and the next moment I felt the ground move under me, and my trusty steed and I were sliding down the hillside toward the river. A very thoughtful fir tree intervened and provided a gentle resting place for a few moments while I regained my composure before climbing back up to the trail. Fortunately, Suzanne was able to document my adventure for future generations to ponder and laugh about. She couldn't have done a thing to help me, because I had the situation completely under control. If nothing else, it made a great photo op, with only minor scrapes and bruises to remind me of the event.


Did I mention that there are lots of really BIG trees up here in Oregon? There were several spots like this where you rode under or between fallen fir trees...















There was also more lava; this must have been a fairly recent event, because it was not overgrown with ferns. I don't think we'd want to be here when the lava was actually flowing... tires don't like that kind of heat.











We arrived at our final bridge crossing, and MLB decided to relax for a few and enjoy the cool breeze blowing over the river. It had been a hard ride, almost five hours of pedaling, carrying and occasionally walking our bikes. But the beautiful scenery had been worth the effort, and even my fall(s) had provided amusement and valuable lessons learned. (Note to self: avoid unintentional, rapid changes in elevation while riding along cliffs!) 

To Suzanne's many mothers out there reading this blog, we seem to do some crazy stuff, risking sprains and fractures on mountain bikes, but to us, it's worth the occasional bruise or three to experience the beauty of the wilderness close-up and personal. You can see by these pictures why we are drawn to do these things...

Shattered! A Portland Connection; Powell's; A Thirsty Hydra? Pioneer Square; Portlandia; Reflections; Daniel from Oz

One of the road hazards we have encountered while driving out west is that of flying rocks. I had not encountered rocks with wings back east, but west of the Mississippi, they are very common. Our Honda CR-V took a bad one recently while driving through a construction area - not only did we get a chip in the windshield, but it quickly developed into a three foot long crack. We had to schedule a Safelite mobile glass repairman to replace the windshield; fortunately, he came to our campground to do the job while Suzanne was giving a reading. Stacey did a superb job, pulling and replacing the glass in less than an hour.










After the glass repair and reading, we drove to Portland to meet Suzanne's nephew John and his lovely girlfriend Beth. After getting a tour of their house and fabulous garden, we adjourned to Bollywood, an Indian restaurant, for a delicious meal. Although we harbored some misgivings about ordering fried okra, it proved to be as good as the rest of the meal; what amazes me about Indian food is that it is yummy and healthy. Very cool...







Beth had to work that afternoon, but John graciously took us on a tour of downtown Portland. When he asked, "Have you been to Powell's?" We responded with deer in the headlights looks... and he was astounded that we didn't know about one of the largest bookstores in the world. My Lovely Bride and I both have a weakness for books, and you might suspect from this photo that her weakness is just a bit "over the top"... after an hour or two, we left with seven books between us.










While grabbing a coffee and cookies at Powell's cafe, we noticed these paper flowers that an unknown patron/artist had created from paper napkins. They were beautiful, and for the 20 minutes we sat there, he/she never returned...















While walking through downtown Portland, we came upon this water fountain. It's perfect for two couples walking around together, or a thirsty four-headed Hydra... the last reference is for fellow Classics scholars.

Another tourist attraction was Pioneer Square, also known as Portland's Living Room, where we found Weather Machine, a bronze sculpture that has a weather beacon and prediction device. This day was clear, so it showed a golden sun (helia). Misty days are indicated with a blue heron, and rainy/stormy days with a dragon. Temperature is shown with a row of vertical lights. At noon daily, the Weather Machine starts its day with a two minute fanfare of Aaron Copland's Theme for the Common Man, accompanied by spraying mist. An engineer named Dick Ponzi designed the device. It is not believed that he also invented the Ponzi Scheme... 





Speaking of bronze sculptures, this one will take your breath away. Portlandia by Raymond Kaskey is the second largest copper repousse statue in the US, after the Statue of Liberty. Unless you have visited Portland, you have never seen Portlandia, unless in a photo. The artist maintains all rights to his intellectual property, so there are no commercial reproductions of Portlandia, much to the chagrin of local souvenir stores. She resides in front of the Portland Building, appropriately enough.














I've always liked mirrors. Especially large mirrors. Like those on buildings. But you can't find them in small towns or back in The Villages. But in cities... well, sometimes cities have their positive aspects.

I first saw rickshaws and pedicabs in Hong Kong back in 1970. Now you find them in almost every major city in the world, operated by healthy young men and women, often students looking to pay their outrageous college tuition. This pedicab was parked outside a cafe, the operator enjoying a few minutes of rest before his next fare arrived. Sports aficionados will recognize the logo as the mascot of the University of Oregon Ducks superimposed over flowers identifying the Portland Rose Festival.














Portland was a great stop, and we appreciated John and Beth's making us feel at home. But our time there had drawn to a close, and we packed up our tent (figuratively) and moved south to McKenzie Bridge, Oregon, where we hope to do some extreme mountain biking. (More on that tomorrow, although My Lovely Bride has let the cat out of the bag via Facebook before I could explain what really happened via this blog.)



I will finish today's blog with a brief story of a very interesting traveler we met on our arrival at our new campground. Daniel Baxter is a thoroughly charming Australian who is biking across the US. He is only two weeks into his adventure, and just happened to be staying in our campground. Suzanne met him on the way to the office, and we invited him to dinner in The Coach. It was a tough choice, because Daniel said he had just bought dinner at the grocery, but we convinced him that Suzanne's Thai chicken fried rice and a Magnum bar were preferable to his planned can of refried beans heated over a Sterno tab. Here you see Daniel fully loaded and ready to ride. Unlike commercial bike tours and professional bike racers who have a "sag wagon" to carry spare bikes, parts, tools, food and clothing, he carries all his gear in panniers and handlebar bag.







Daniel is a physical therapist in a small town near Adelaide, and has three months for this bike trip. His girlfriend Katie supports him completely, even researching his route on the Internet back in Australia. Daniel's next day's ride would be 50-60 miles with a 4,000 foot elevation gain over the Cascade Mountains. He plans on riding to Maine, and said that if we would like to volunteer The Coach as his sag wagon, he wouldn't mind... 

Gallery Treats; Beer on the Beach; Space Cadets; Artsy Portland; A New Tux? My Chilly Bride

Our good friend and spiritual artist Barry Mack gave us a tour of his gallery in Portland the other day. Here is Barry greeting us, with one of his stunning pieces of art showcased on the landing above him.
















My Lovely Bride was admiring this fabulous painting, wondering where in The Coach she might hang it...(For more of Barry's work, see www.BarryMackArt.com)




















During our visit, Suzanne shot a short promotional video with Thubten, who is a social media consultant who has advised her on new media like Twitter and Facebook.










After the video shoot, Barry took us to Stickmen Brewery & Skewery, the only commercial establishment on the shores of beautiful Lake Oswego. It happens to be a craft beer establishment, so I felt compelled to order the flight of 5 beers to sample their extensive inventory... while everyone else drank cranberry juice! (In the photo Suzanne is saying, "That's five beers.  Count 'em:  five!")











During our respite on the shore, we taught Thubten and Barry how to do our "Space Cadets" impersonation; after a few false starts, they were catching on...











The next day found us at the Portland Art Museum (PAM) for a special tour with Barry (shown here) and his sister Sandy. Barry explained that this sculpture by Joel Shapiro was titled "Portland". We tried to determine why, but as with many modern sculptures, it was hard to figure out.










My Lovely Bride had her own title for this work: "Portland in Ruins"... 















The museum also had some interesting Pacific Northwest Indian artifacts; I'll be ordering a copy of this outfit for our next formal dinner out. I think it's much more cool than a tux.
















Okay, back to modern abstract art, which is Barry's specialty. Suzanne and I both liked this piece, entitled "On/Off", but it wasn't for sale, at least not at any price I could afford. It was a real treat having an artist give us a museum tour, and I was able to pass the pop quiz that I had worried about for weeks after Barry sent me a book about modern art in anticipation of our visit ...

There was also a special exhibit of art brought over from the Louvre in Paris, including Bosio's more traditional sculpture of Hercules fighting the River God Achelous. Bosio is also famous for his four horse chariot (quadriga) which adorns the top of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Following our museum tour, we adjourned to the Charthouse restaurant high on a hillside overlooking the Willamette River and Portland for an exceptional seafood dinner, made even more special by Sandy and Barry's wonderful company. Sandy is very spiritual as well, and is very interested in astrology, a subject I am woefully ignorant of. It was delightful sharing their company for the day, and we look forward to getting together again soon, perhaps back in Florida. 

Finally, I regret to admit that I am in The Doghouse. While we were away at the museum and dinner, I had turned off the hot water heater, both to conserve fuel and as a safety precaution. After we returned home, we went for runs separately so as not to leave the puppies alone for an even longer time. I forgot to turn the hot water heater back on, and when MLB went to shower, she had to bathe in rather cold water... needless to say, she was not amused. As I was cooling down, she was drawing my bath... with a cupful of ice cubes. "Isn't that interesting!"

An Anniversary Treat; Willamette River; Nutria; A Greek Reunion; Elmer's; Portland Insiders

Sunday evening found us celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary. I had called Five Guys for a reservation, but it got lost in the ether, so I had to call friends and ask for a recommendation. When I looked at the on-line menu, I groaned... this was going to cost more than $6.95 per person! Oh well, you only have one 18th anniversary, right? We wound up going to Recipe, "A neighborhood kitchen - thoughtfully prepared wine country cuisine showcasing a seasonally adapted menu". Sliders weren't even on the menu, so we had to have something a bit more sophisticated; Suzanne had the duck breast with yogurt spaetzele, baby bok choi, rhubarb conserva and hazelnut aillade; Your Faithful Correspondent opted for the flatiron steak, yellow finn potatoes, preserved tomato tapenade and feta creamed kale. (The food was delicious, but identification and/or pronunciation of most of the side dishes was beyond me.) All in all, it was a romantic evening, and perhaps I even regained some points with MLB after the disaster mentioned in yesterday's blog...




The last day of June was glorious here in Oregon; sunny and warm, but with a nice breeze. We decided to take the opportunity while camped at Champoeg State Heritage Area near Newberg to launch our kayaks on the Willamette River, which borders the campground. Here we see My Lovely Bride sponging out a bit of water from her 45 lb red kayak. (Well, what other color would you expect her to have? Mine is Kermit the Frog green... hmmm... is there more than one analogy here?)












This section of the Willamette (pronounced to rhyme with "dammit") is remarkably undeveloped, with forested shores and vineyards set back from the river. Urban sprawl is not an issue here, although closer to Portland it gets much more populated. For most of our trip, there were only the sounds of nature, birds, wind and an occasional fish jumping to break the silence... until some goombah in a ski boat came by with rap music blaring at an obnoxiously loud level... "Hey, Suzanne, where is my grenade launcher?"







We saw red-tailed hawks, kingfishers and swallows, and one big splash alongside a tree was probably made by a nutria (Myocastor coypus), a furry rodent known in South America as a coypu. They were brought to North America by fur ranchers, but the little beasts are simply pests today. They are also found back in Louisiana, where they are a popular menu item for alligators. The only alligators to be found on Oregon's rivers are those who are here on vacation to avoid Southern heat and humidity...









The Willamette is known for some serious flooding. There used to be a town of 200 people on the site of our campground at Champoeg (pronounced "Shampooey"), but it was literally washed away in the great flood of 1861. As we finished our paddle, we noticed the tiny blue sign on the top of the piling to the right of the guy with the kayak, about 40 feet above today's water level. It read "1996 Flood Level"... that would not have been a good day for a paddling trip!








Monday evening found us visiting friends - Anne and Mark, from Newberg, Oregon, who had attended Suzanne's events in Greece last summer. Like us, they had lost a child, whom Suzanne had brought through during a reading last year. They graciously invited us to their beautiful home on a hillside overlooking the Willamette Valley. Anne prepared a fabulous Greek meal of moussaka, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), stuffed mushrooms, fresh asparagus, a fresh salad of hand-picked greens and a scrumptious fruit cobbler, also hand-picked from their garden. It was a feast, and was complimented by a very nice Hafner Cabernet, from a small boutique vineyard owned by Anne's uncle. (Am I too old to be adopted by a vintner?)

My Lovely Bride surprised me the other day when I asked her what she would like for breakfast. Normally I serve up a solid batch of gruel or porridge, but she insisted on a waffle. Since we do not carry a waffle iron aboard The Coach, and considering that the nearest Waffle House is in Colorado, I had to search for a suitable restaurant... fortunately, a local Elmer's Restaurant filled the bill. MLB got her waffle and I got a fantastic German pancake, one of the best I've ever had...








This photo requires an explanation. When I drink coffee in a restaurant, I carefully place the empty Splenda packets in the empty cream containers, so that by the end of the meal, I have a sensibly compact unit of trash, rather than a disorganized pile of rubbish scattered about the table. Suzanne was giving me a hard time about what she called my neurotic behavior. I was somewhat offended by her cavalier comment, until she admitted (under pressure) that she would probably have done the same... 










While driving around the countryside near Portland on a clear day (that actually happens once or twice a year), you can't help but notice Mount Hood - at 11,249 feet, it is the highest peak in Oregon and the fourth highest peak in the Cascades. Its 12 named glaciers and snowfields make it a challenge for climbers, and it won't be on our assault list this year. I forgot to pack my crampons and ice axe, darned the bad luck.








We have also had a chance to visit with Portland spiritual artist Barry Mack and his lovely sister Sandy. They took us out for coffee and berries (it's the height of berry season here in the Willamette Valley) at the South Store Cafe, a quaint little place near where they grew up in Scholls, Oregon. Sandy looks like a cheerleader, and coincidentally is married to a former Los Angeles Rams quarterback. They will also be taking us on a guided tour of the Portland Art Museum this week. (I have been studying up on my art history so I don't come across as a total Philistine... I hope Barry doesn't give me a pop quiz!)