Meandering on the Way

Thursday May 16th

Yikes! A distinguished visitor has come to Oregon and is staying with us! What are we going to do? Well, today was tertulia day, so we invited her to come along for morning coffee with J and R. Then, at lunchtime, she accompanied E to a meeting of the Lemon Meringue Pie Society. The meeting was held at Gathering Together Farms, where the food is delicious, but the menu does not include lemon meringue pie. This might seem odd. Our guest, however, whom we will refer to as Mrs. H, had some previous knowledge of the unpredictable and occasionally raucous nature of LMPS, so she was probably not too surprised. After lunch E took Mrs H for her first visit ever to Burst’s chocolate shop.

Friday May 17th

Today we made a trip over to the Coast. For the first leg of the trip we took Highway 34. Our guest was very impressed by the number of sharp curves on our route, remarking that it might be the curviest road she had ever experienced. E was quick to assure her that although the route was slow and tortuous, it had the advantage of leading directly to one of the best bakeries in the area. And sure enough, we eventually reached Waldport and were able to stock up on bread and treats at Pacific Sourdough. In the parking lot we also found a food truck specializing in coffee. This gave Mrs H another new experience. It was the first time she had ever been charged $6.75(!) for a coffee drink. The coffee truck was created from a 1955 Olson Kurbside step van. The chassis and drivetrain were supplied by Chevrolet; the all-aluminum body was made by Grumman-Olson.

From Waldport we drove up the coast and stopped for a two and half mile beach walk on the south side of Yaquina Bay. Mrs H is an inveterate walker and at no point during this activity did she accuse E of trying to kill her. After the walk, we made the short drive over to Local Ocean for lunch. Once fed, we went across the street and walked around the fishing boat docks. There wasn’t too much human activity there at two in the afternoon, but we did run across a bunch of noisy animals.

Saturday May 18th

In the morning E and Mrs H walked over to Le Pattissier, so that our guest could see this important Corvallis institution. It would have been impolite to just drop in and look around, so they felt they really had to buy something, i.e., some pain au chocolate for tomorrow’s breakfast. For today’s lunch we provided a Spanish sort of meal with jamon serrano, manchego cheese, and anchoa-stuffed olives, all accompanied by slices of pepper parmesan bread that we had brought back from the coast. After lunch E and Mrs H went downtown to do some shopping. This included a return visit to Burst’s Chocolate.

In the evening we all watched Episode 1 of The Extraordinary Attorney Woo, a Korean series now showing on Netflix. We all loved it.

Sunday May 19th

Today we took a long walk around the OSU campus. We saw a quite tidy-looking pro-Palestinian “encampment” in one corner of the Memorial union quad. But what we mainly came to see were the very large Rhododendron trees in the oldest parts of the campus. It’s prime season for Rhodie blossoms.

For lunch we ordered a couple of sandwiches to be delivered by robot to the OSU Library main entrance.

Monday May 20th

Today we went up to see the Alsea Falls…

… and also made a quick stop at nearby Hubert McBee Memorial Park. McBee is the site of the oldest local version of the “world’s longest picnic table.” It dates from the 1960’s and is dilapidated now: some of the roof has fallen away, sections of bench are missing, and the many of the concrete supports for the table are leaning and about to fall. But the main table surface is still quite intact. It’s a single piece of fir a hundred feet long, three feet wide, and three inches thick, .

On the way home we stopped and ate our lunch at Bellfountain County Park, where there is a very similar table, this one newer and in excellent condition. It seats 120.

Tuesday May 21st

After a week of very nice Spring weather, it was suddenly cloudy and cool this morning. This was to be Mrs H’s last day in Oregon and our plan was to leave Corvallis before noon and head north to the Portland area, stopping for a picnic lunch along the way. Once there, we’d take Mrs. H for a short excursion up the Columbia Gorge to see the sights. Then we’d go back to Portland and have dinner before dropping her off at the Portland airport to catch her flight home. And that’s what we did, sort of.

We left on schedule, bur after just forty-five minutes on the road, it started raining. And the farther north we got, the harder it rained. We ended up picnicking in the car, stopping in a public park in the town of Hubbard, OR. Hubbard is home to the annual Hops Festival, but is otherwise decidedly unremarkable. (It has a nice park though.)

Once we got to the Gorge, the rain was really coming down so we decided to cut the excursion short and just visit Multnomah falls. Viewing a waterfall in the pouring rain is not ideal, you might say, but the falls didn’t suffer for it and it was still a beautiful scene.

We did not linger but instead headed back toward Portland somewhat earlier than we had planned. That was fortunate as it turned out that traffic was so heavy that it took an hour or so to go twenty miles. But we still made an on-time arrival at the Heathman Lodge where we were meeting the Andees for dinner. After that it was a short hop over to the airport and time to say our goodbyes. It was quite a wonderful visit.

Thursday May 23rd

E had her exercise class in the morning and Laughter Yoga late in the late afternoon. Between times, she drove M to and from his cataract surgery.

Friday May 24th

M had his post-op appointment. The new lens is in the left eye, so we had them pop the left lens out of his primary glasses. M is wondering if he’ll look weird going around with one lens missing from his glasses, but E told him not to worry–he doesn’t look any weirder than he did before.

E had time to go for a forest walk and then make a trip to the nursery. She bought a gaura to replace one that did not survive the winter. She also got two new Japanese anemones–because our old ones are pathetic.

Saturday May 25th

E planted her gaura and weeded the bed that it went into. And then she was tired. But she revived in time for our anniversary dinner at Sybaris.

Sunday May 26th

The celebration continued with almond croissants for breakfast. So buttery! Then E had to plant her new anemones. M has been told not to do any heavy work and, above all, not to bend over to tie his shoes. He is annoyed. But he managed to direct E to perform some simple garden tasks that he is forbidden to do..

Our solar panels have produced 379 kilowatt hours of power so far. As far as we can tell, that’s roughly 33% more than our usage over the same period. But we’ll have to see what our next bill says…

Saturday, April 27th

Up at 4:15 A.M. and out of the house by 4:45. It was still dark of course and we don’t really like to drive at night; but with hardly any traffic, it wasn’t so bad. We were at the Eugene airport by 5:30. American Airlines took us first to Phoenix and thence to Palm Springs. There we picked up a rental car and made the one hour drive to the town of Joshua Tree, which is located near the west entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.

On the way we stopped at a supermarket and got a couple of tamales for lunch. E was pleased to find a vegetarian tamale; M went for chicken. Both were quite good. Later on, we had plenty of time to get into our Vrbo house and visit another grocery store for supplies. The house was in a development just west of the town. The orange circle in the satellite photo below marks the location of our temporary home.

We had dinner at home. E baked a couple of Gorton’s frozen salmon squares and M sautéed a skillet full of potatoes, peppers and squash. After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood and admired the western skyline after the sun went down. A treat for us rain forest dwellers.

Sunday, April 28th

Today we visited two places in the western part of the park: Hidden Valley and Barker Dam. The weather was pretty nice with temperatures in the seventies. On the other hand, The sun beats down all day, the air is very dry, and there is always a breeze, so you need a lot of water. Also, we were at about 4,000 feet, not an altitude we’re used to. We ended up walking only about three miles in all. But what lovely miles they were!

There are also a lot of rocks in this part of the park…and by that we mean one helluva lot of rocks.

For Sunday dinner, we went back to a supermarket deli thinking to get more of those good tamales. But then E saw that they also had chile rellenos, a vegetarian dish and one of her favorite Mexican things. Alas, when we sat down to supper, the relleno turned out to be a little different from the ones in Oregon. This one was very spicy, too hot for her to handle. Fortunately, we had some other stuff around. If memories serve, she fashioned herself a sandwich out of some peanut butter we found in the fridge.

Monday, April 29th

It was time to pack up and say goodbye to the Vrbo place. For the next two days we’d be staying at a Fairfield Inn down the road in the town of Twentynine Palms. But first we had to visit Indian Cove, a relatively small area in the northernmost part of the park. Indian Cove is separated from the rest of the park by some miles of rugged terrain, so it has its own entrance. It turned out to be quite lovely with lots of flowers and a nice self-guided nature trail.

When you first look at Joshua Tree, you know right away you’re in a desert. The whole thing is just really dry, with a hot sun bearing down from an utterly cloudless sky. But in fact there are variations in that dryness that have a powerful effect on plant life. In the photo below you can see that a crease in the rocky hillside collects a bit of extra moisture that is then exploited by certain plant species, species that could not survive in the open areas just a few meters away.

More subtle variations also have a part in determining which plants grow where. There are a surprising number of different plants and lots of them were in bloom.

As for animal life, during our trip we saw one rabbit, several tiny ground squirrels, two giant gray squirrels, lots of birds, and many, many lizards.

After our walk at Indian Cove we went to the park visitor center in Twentynine Palms. Besides maps and t-shirts and puzzles, there was a great deal of information about the native groups that lived in the area prior to the Euro-American invasion. There was also the following, which E found on a subsequent visit to this same center:

At 3:00 we checked into the Twentynine Palms Marriot Fairfield Inn, which is very nice. (Those Vrbo/AirBnB things are all well and good, but for comfort it’s hard to beat a good hotel!) For dinner we went to a restaurant called Thai Cafe. It was unprepossessing, as they used to say, but it was really good.

Tuesday, April 30th

Today we started out by driving into Twentynine Palms and turning south on a road called Utah Trail, which leads to the northeast entrance of the park. Once inside, we turned left on a road that leads to the south. Our first stop was for a hike to Arch Rock.

Next we drove south into the part of the park where the Mojave Desert transitions into the Colorado Desert. There were no Joshua trees in the landscape, but we did reach an area where we found ourselves surrounded by Cholla cactus. They call it Cholla Garden.

And then we made our last expedition, a place where there was little walking involved. We drove to a high place called Keys View.

Wednesday, May 1st

Time to go back to Oregon. Our flight wasn’t scheduled to leave till 1:05, so we had a fairly relaxed morning even though the Palm Springs Airport is airport is an hour and a half away from Twentynine Palms. We got to the airport early, so by the time we turned in the rental car, checked our bags and went through security it was only 11:35 or so. We had a coffee and shared a croissant, then went out to the gate area and sat down to wait. After a bit, we got a text from American Airlines: our 1:05 flight to Phoenix would be delayed until 1:20. So, a fifteen minute delay, hardly worth mentioning, Then we got another text. The flight was now delayed till 1:40. Hmm. Twenty more minutes. Still, that would not be a problem for our connecting flight from Phoenix to Eugene, which didn’t leave till 4:45. Then another text: the flight to Phoenix was now delayed until 9:27 p.m.. 9:27? That can’t be right, said E. I know what you mean, said M, but I think maybe it is.

So we headed back out down the Sonny Bono Concourse, past security and back to the American ticket counter. The line there was short; there were only three people in front of us. But there was only one agent, so it took a while. When we got to the head of the line–when it was almost our turn–we happened to look behind us. Yo! There was a huge mass of people behind us, none of them looking particularly happy.

Eventually a very nice agent was able to reroute us onto Alaska. We would fly from Palm Springs to Seattle and then from Seattle to Eugene. The Seattle plane didn’t leave Palm Springs until 5:55, so we would be arriving very late in Eugene. But we would be arriving.

And so, four hours later, off we flew toward Seattle. We saw some lovely Sierra Nevada Mountains scenery out the window. About halfway through the flight there was an announcement asking if there was a doctor on board. It appeared that one of the passengers “wasn’t feeling well.” A little while later–quite possibly at the very moment that our plane was flying over the town of Eugene on its way north to Seattle–we were informed that the plane would be making a medical emergency landing in Portland. Well. We’d never experienced that before. But now we have. Once we landed, we found two ambulances and a fire engine waiting for us–all with lights aflashing. So, did we ever make to Seattle? Were we in time to make our connection to Eugene? Yes and yes. We were a little tired though.

It had all seemed so simple that morning.

Thursday, May 2nd

We arrived in Eugene around 12:30 A.M. After half an hour spent talking to people about where our two suitcases might be, we went out into the pouring rain, got into the truck and headed home.

On Thursday morning the rain stopped for a few hours, so M went out to cut the lawn, which seemed to have grown an inch a day while we were gone.

Our bags arrived in Corvallis just before dinnertime.

Friday and Saturday, May 3-4

Rain rain rain. On Saturday E did some sorting and decluttering inside. We made some hard decisions about what we could stand to get rid of. E then took a bunch of things to the Humane Society Thrift Shop. Very satisfying.

Sunday and Monday, Mar 5-6

Weatherwise, it was still kind of damp. On Monday E defrosted the garage freezer while M stayed mostly in bed with a cold.

Saturday, April 6th

Today we went on a guided walk at a property owned by the Greenbelt Land Trust. The walk was led by Kendra Callahan, a Greenbelt staffer, and Denise DeLuca, the author of Re-Aligning with Nature. We were encouraged to contemplate the oak trees and other plants on the property and try to imagine what lessons we could learn from them about how to deal with stress. Kendra, the naturalist, told us how the oak trees responded to a stressful period of heat and drought last summer by putting all of their energy into the single task of producing lots of acorns, thus ensuring the survival of their species. Denise led a discussion of how the experience of nature can provide us with new and healthier ways to approach the life challenges we face. Another gem of wisdom contributed by a participant was this guideline, “Don’t spend 20 minutes on a 10 minute problem.”

Sunday, April 7th

We went over to Albany today to get some free juice–the electrical kind. Our electric car, a leased Hyundai Ionic 5, came with two years of free fast charging at any Electrify America charging station. Of course there are no Electrify America charging stations in Corvallis. So that’s annoying. But there is an EA charging station at the Albany Walmart, which is about ten miles away. That’s good, especially since we often go over to Albany anyway for one thing or another. But two of the four EA chargers at Walmart have been out of service for the last three months and having only two chargers in working order usually means having wait in line to charge. So that’s bad.

Of course we can always use our charger at home, which is fine. But it’s not quite the same as getting free charging, which of course is not actually free–but never mind. Today we were celebrating the fact that the two bad chargers have finally been repaired. So off we went and got juiced.

On the way home we stopped for a walk at Albany’s Falling Waters Park, a series of ponds that provide wetland habitat while at the same time helping with wastewater treatment. As you might expect, there are a lot of No Swimming signs at this particular park. Crazy as it may seem, some families just don’t seem to care.

Tuesday, April 9th

E had her Better Bones class in the morning and then a THEPAJ meeting at lunch time. By 2:30 we were done with our responsibilities and headed off for an overnight trip to the coast. Once we got to Newport, we checked in to a unit at Little Creek Cove, then took a bit of a beach walk, followed by dinner at Local Ocean.

Wednesday, April 10th

We had a leisurely 2-mile walk through Mike Miller park, a forested area just south of Newport that we had never visited before. Much of the coastal land south of Yaquina Bay is former dune land. Nearest the shore are the modern dunes which are still shifting and presumably still growing. Just inland from the beach, plants appear and begin to fix the old dunes in place. Mike Miller park is about a mile inland and at first glance doesn’t look like a sand dune at all. The dominant plants on its western edge–the part nearest the sea–are shore pines and rhododendrons. This is also the flattest part of the park and one section of the trail runs north along an old railroad bed. The railroad was built during the first world war in order to transport spruce logs from Yachats to the port of Newport. In that era spruce was much in demand to make airplanes and there were no roads along this part of the coast.

The Mike Miller trail soon leaves the railroad bed and turns eastward and upward. Before you know it, the vegetation changes completely. You get to an area where the layer of soil atop the old dunes is thick enough to support a towering forest of Sitka spruce. Only in the bottoms of the little rills can you see the sand that underlies it all.

After the walk, we went straight back to Corvallis so that E could be ready for her evening activity, a soil science lecture by the Dean of the OSU College of Forestry. Don’t ever call it dirt, said he, it’s soil.

Thursday, April 11th

Tertulia today with J and R at Coffee Culture. R told us something else about Sitka Spruce, the fact that its range is restricted to a narrow band of land near the coast. It grows on the Coast Range slopes that face westward toward the sea, but is not found anywhere east of the first ridge.

Today’s trivia question: What famous World War 2 era airplane was designed by Howard Hughes and what was it really made of?

After tertulia, E kept busy, working with M to plan a trip to Joshua Tree, going to exercise class, meeting with her seamstress, and finally doing Laughter Yoga via Zoom. Good thing it was M’s night to cook.

Monday, April 15th

In the morning we went for a walk in the Finley refuge. We tried to take the Mill Hill trail but were forced to turn back when we encountered a really nasty section of trail. The track itself was all deep-looking mud and the vegetation on both sides included tons of poison oak. Well. We decided to go in a different direction and took the connector trail over to Woodpecker Loop.

Despite some areas of devastation from the ice storm, the forest was lovely at this time of year. We saw a few late trilliums and fawn lilies and also a calypso orchid or two. We also saw wild iris. And we couldn’t help but admire the lovely color of all the new poison oak leaves. They are really an amazing combination of shiny reds and greens. And we saw some camus flowers, which we don’t seem to see at all in the forests nearer home.

We had J and B over for dinner and B’s visiting brother J came along. Brother J lives in Maryland on a rural property where he is in the process of rehabbing and restoring both house and grounds. Challenges include a wooded area where the once dominant ash trees have all succumbed to ash borer. The remaining trees are the aggressively invasive tree of heaven, which in turn are the preferred home of the lantern fly, an even more obnoxious pest. There are of course lots of ash trees in the wetter areas here in Oregon. We’d better enjoy them while we can.

The dinner menu included cookie sheet vegetables and feta served with orzo. E made a salad and also did the veggie feta bake. Due to past trauma, however, she is strongly averse to cooking pasta of any kind, so M helped a little. And J contributed a lemon merengue pie for dessert. A very nice evening.

Tuesday, March 26th

E noticed today that a flicker has made a couple of largish holes in our back fence power pole. She wondered if the damage would compromise the pole’s structural integrity, so she called Pacific Power. Within half an hour a fellow turned up to assess the damage.

After taking a look, the technician’s first response was that the easiest solution would be a BB gun. E was not impressed. His next move was to say that the pole was not immediately at risk but that he would report it, adding that “They will probably put it on the B list.”

Wednesday, March 27th

We’ve had lots of rain lately, especially today. But E had an appointment to walk with her friend Asher, so off we went to the OSU forest and hiked up to Cronemiller Lake. Here’s what that looked like:

Thursday, March 28th

Better weather today, cloudy in the morning but clearing by noon. While M stayed home and did garden work, E went back to the forest and found this pretty little Calypso lily.

Friday, March 29th

The clear skies continue. Beautiful moon last night.

Around midday we listened to the game between Oregon State and Notre Dame in the NCAA round of sixteen. In a hard fought struggle, the OSU women defeated the Irish 70-65 and will advance to the Elite Eight. In their next game they will have the dubious honor of playing South Carolina, who are undefeated and heavily favored by almost everyone to win it all this year. So that should be fun.

For dinner we went to the Bombs Away Cafe, which has been part of the Corvallis restaurant scene since 1991. The original owner identified it as a “funky taqueria” featuring Southwestern cuisine. Once, in the mid nineties, M went for lunch and ordered the chef’s infamous “chicken wings chupacabra.” He said it was incredibly delicious and also the spiciest dish he ever had in his life, calling it a “life-changing experience.” He never forgot it and never ordered it again.

In the late 1990’s we went there a number of times for lunch or dinner, but then it changed hands, gradually morphing into a place that focused a little more on live music and drinks and a little less on food. It had been maybe twenty years since we’d been there. How did we like it? Well, for one thing, it seemed smaller. How did that happen? We found a few of the old recipes still on the menu. We tried the wet burritos and they were very good. These days Bombs Away claims to have the largest selection of tequilas in Corvallis, which may be true; but E’s pickle margarita was pretty bad–way too sweet, even for E. It’s interesting how sameness and difference collide when you go back like this.

Saturday, March 30th

Shutterfly sent us a reminder that 5 years ago today was the ANDEES’s wedding day. They must be mistaken. Surely it was only 2 or 3 years ago.

Sunday, March 31st

Playing in Albany, NY, the OSU women’s basketball team fell to #1 seed South Carolina, ending their NCAA Tournament run. The Beavers played well and trailed by only four points in the middle of the fourth quarter. But from then on SC made their shots and OSU didn’t. The final was 70-58.

On the happier side of things, we went over to Albany, OR and had a wonderful Easter dinner with B and B.

Tuesday, April 2nd

We’ve had several days of good weather and made use of it to get things done in the yard. E has expanded her front yard iris patch by digging up and moving some plants from out back. She’s also been weeding and making sure that the invasive blue flower things don’t choke out her Russian sage. M helped a little in the front, but put most of his effort into the rebuilding of Hummock #0, which had slowly been going to ruin over the last few years.

We didn’t have to do much work on Hummock #1; things just popped up by themselves like they’re supposed to. Flowering currant, dwarf iris and tulips are the early bloomers.

Tuesday, March 5th

We just watched The Holdovers, which is nominated for a best picture Oscar. It’s probably too low key for that, but still very good. It stars Paul Giametti, Dominic Sessa, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph and is set in a remote New England prep school over the Christmas holidays. Wonderful acting and scenery, and an interesting plot.

Wednesday, March 6th

We did a short hike on Vineyard Mountain. The trailhead is just a couple of hundred feet higher in elevation than the city; but whereas in the town last week’s snow melted almost immediately, up there it was lying around everywhere. It was like a different season.

In the afternoon, M finished doing this year’s taxes.

We’ve almost got the house cleaned up after the various parties, but we do have a challenge remaining. There is chocolate everywhere. Where are we supposed to put it all?

Thursday, March 7th

M tested negative and off we went to Tertulia. We’re still trying to get the house back to normal. That includes not only party pick-up, but also disassembling the COVID ward and returning to communal living.

E went to her in-person exercise class and was glad to be back.

Sunday, March 10th

Da’Vine Joy Randolph has won best supporting actress Oscar for her role in The Holdovers.

Wednesday, March 13th to Wednesday, March 20

After a week of rain as well as some snow earlier in the month, we just got a whole week of sunny days with temps in the 60’s. Wow. Lots of garden work got done: bed maintenance, irrigation rebuilding, and a start on a major revamp of what we call Hummock Zero. More on that later.

Thursday, March 21st

Cloudy today with rain on the way. But today’s big news is that E managed to have three meals out! First it was morning tertulia at Coffee Culture, then lunch with a friend at Ants on a Log, and finally a meeting of the Lemon Meringue Pie Society at Shari’s restaurant. Somewhere in there, we also found time for a walk in the forest to see what we could find in the way of flora and fauna.

Sunday, March 24th

It’s the start of spring break for OSU and normally the town would have been quieting down. But the Oregon State women’s basketball team has done well this year and has just finished hosting two NCAA tournament games. OSU won both their games, beating Eastern Washington in the first round on Thursday and then eliminating Nebraska in the round of thirty-two on Sunday, earning themselves a place in the Sweet Sixteen. Later this week they will travel to Albany, NY and take on Notre Dame.

We got a mysterious gift bouquet today! M heard the doorbell ring and when he got there he saw no one but did notice a lovely little bouquet on the mat. E found a vase for it.

In other news, Meandering on the Way–via our vast network of contacts–has obtained a copy of a document that we hope will shine some light on the mysterious goings on at LMPS. A redacted version follows.

A meeting of the Lemon Meringue Pie Society was held on March 21 at Shari’s restaurant in Corvallis. Members present were XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX, and XXXXX. Members absent and sorely missed were XXXXX and XXXXX. While they were sorely missed, their portions of pie did not go to waste, as members present took on the burden of consuming the extra rations. 

The next meeting of LMPS will take place at the residence of XXXXX, who will endeavor to produce a cherry pie for a belated celebration of the 292nd birthday of George Washington. The party will be held at 5:00 pm on Thursday, April 25th. 

At the March 21st meeting, a resolution was passed to declare the 3rd Thursday of every month as LMPS meeting day. Time and place may vary. 

Respectfully submitted,

Friday, February 23rd

We had beautiful weather for our flight to Salt Lake City. As the plane started its descent, we had a great view of Ogden–M’s old home town–where it lies stretched out along the base of the Wasatch Mountain Range. On a bright day in winter, that long line of snow-covered peaks is quite a sight. The SLC airport is a big one these days. We got 3,000 steps just by walking from our arrival gate to baggage claim. But we were out of the airport quite quickly and the traffic in Salt Lake–even at 5:00 PM on a Friday–was running very fast and very smooth. We had enough time to check in to our room and relax for a few minutes before heading out to the rehearsal dinner.

Saturday, February 24th

The wedding was at the Millcreek Inn, which is located in just a few miles up Millcreek Canyon. There are no ski resorts or other developments there, just a narrow old road that leads up into the mountains. A much younger M often went hiking in that canyon while he was in college. It is still lovely.

Sunday, February 25th

On Sunday we met D and L at a place called Taggart’s Grill. Taggart’s is located in Weber Canyon just a few miles from the town of Morgan, Utah. Before lunch we walked for an hour or two along the river.

After a longish stroll along the river, we were ready for lunch and Taggart’s is definitely a good place for that. We started off with some “creamy chicken mushroom artichoke, spicy black bean soup.” That’s a pretty long name for a soup, but it’s a pretty awesome soup. Wow. Then a couple of us had jalapeño burgers. Wow again. As you see, it has cream cheese and sliced jalapeños at the top. But there is also some goopity stuff at the bottom–house made apricot-jalapeño jelly.

Taggart’s has only been around since 1938, but Weber Canyon has been a national transportation route since the late 1860’s when it was chosen to be part of the route of the first transcontinental railway. As part of that project, the Union Pacific Railroad built 1,085 miles of track, starting at Council Bluffs, Iowa and ending at Promontory Point, Utah. There, they met up with the Central Pacific Railroad, who had built 690 miles of track from their starting point in Sacramento, California. For the Union Pacific, crossing the Wasatch Mountains and descending Weber Canyon was their most challenging stretch of track. The grade was steep, the canyon was narrow, and a number of tunnels had to be built. And in fact, on May 10, 1869, when Leland Stanford drove the golden spike at Promontory Point and the great cross-country route was officially opened, the tunnel at Taggart was only partially completed. Yes, the line was technically open, but only if you dared take your train onto a temporary curved wooden trestle perched next to the river. Ironically enough, several high Union Pacific officials on their way to attend the opening ceremony in Promontory were stranded in Taggart when this temporary trestle partially collapsed beneath their train, causing them a two day delay. E comments that it’s really too bad they were 150 years too soon to sample the current Taggart’s menu.

This bit of Union Pacific track is part of one of the steepest railroad grades in the United States. From Ogden at 4,298 feet, the line runs 65 miles up to the town of Wahsatch, at 6,799 feet, a climb that averages 38.47 feet per mile. Pulling long freight trains up such a grade requires a lot of power and for many years the Union Pacific had to use a helper system, whereby extra locomotives were temporarily added to the trains just to get them up the hill. Then, in 1941, wanting a single locomotive powerful enough not to need a helper on this route, the Union Pacific commissioned the largest steam locomotives ever made. Built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO), these engines were originally meant to be named the Wasatch series. But after an unknown ALCO worker in Schenectady scrawled “Big Boy” in chalk on the front the first one, that was the name that stuck. Historical note: E’s father and her uncle were both working at that ALCO factory in 1941.

In 2024 the tracks shown here continue to be part of the Union Pacific main line connecting the West Coast to the Midwest. And that line is busy. During our walk, three long freights went by, climbing the grade with their diesel engines roaring. Since modern diesel electric locomotives produce only about one third the power of a Big Boy, modern trains typically have three to four engines.

Monday, February 26th

We had an uneventful flight back to Eugene. But by late afternoon M was sneezing.

Tuesday, February 27th

M tested positive in the morning and so we set up a COVID ward so he could isolate. The main concern was whether E would get it. Besides the issue of her own well-being, there was a family dinner planned for Friday and a major birthday party planned for Saturday, with many guests coming from far away. Today she tested negative.

Wednesday, February 28th

M still ill but slightly less dead. E still negative.

Thursday, February 29th

A lot like Wednesday. We started feeling a little optimistic that E might be fine for the party.

Friday, March 1st

M improving little by little. E still negative. Yay!

The dinner went on as planned–though some extra precautions were taken. The party was held in the garage, far away from M’s COVID ward in the house. Andy brought the food truck down and put together dinner and dessert for twenty. Amazing!

Saturday, March 2nd

E again tested negative, so that was a relief. M was feeling…not good exactly…but much better. He had to skip the big birthday party, though, as he was still positive and coughing a lot.

And what a party it was! The cake topper was made from a photo of E.

Sunday, March 3rd

Today E had a final brunch at Odd Bird’s with family members who were still in town. It was a wonderful weekend.

Tuesday, February 13th

Lots of dull, damp days this week, neither cold nor warm. In the morning E went out and did a little garden work in the drizzle while M went to the eye doctor to discuss whether cataract surgery might make things brighter. Eye doc seems to think so.

In the evening we went up to Salem to have dinner with K and J. K made a great salad with fried chickpeas, kale and spinach. We brought a chocolate pie for dessert. And it turned out that chocolate pie is one of K’s favorites.

Wednesday, February 14th

E went down to Eugene today to meet S for coffee and to go shopping. She went to Nordstrom’s in the Oakway Mall and was pleasantly surprised to see that they carried quite a collection of shoes in her size.

For Valentine’s dinner we had Brazilian fish stew from a Local Ocean dock box. Out of this world delicious in E’s opinion. For dessert we had a bonbon or two. Also delicious.

Thursday, February 15th

Our friend P came to lunch. We had take-out sandwiches from the Vietnamese Baguette. We also finished off a bag of Kettle chips, but it was only one of the really small bags.

Friday, February 16th

We’ve been looking into getting some solar panels, which at first seemed pretty complicated. By now, though, we’ve gotten three estimates and narrowed it down to one. A technician came this morning to take final measurements and to inspect our roof and electrical panel. Everything seems fine, so it looks like the project will proceed.

Mostly cloudy today but not raining and the roads were dry. M took the Jaguar out for some exercise. What a noisy and bumpy car that is! Clearly, you must put it into Dynamic Mode and ride around in the foothills raising a ruckus. (In a suitably restrained sort of way.) Nice.

Saturday, February 17th

Another soggy day. The yard is like a wetland. It could really use some attention, but it won’t be getting it today.

Sunday, February 18th

E has been doing a lot of preparation for the upcoming birthday celebrations. For one thing, she’s planning a dinner for the extended family on the day before the main party. She’s looking forward to having as many family members as possible seated around her grandmother’s oak dining table. Complicating matters is the fact that we also need to prepare for a trip to Salt Lake City this upcoming weekend. We’ll be attending a wedding, so we should probably think about what we will wear…

We did manage to get in an afternoon walk on the Calloway Creek trail. It didn’t rain on us right then, but there was a coldish wind and the southern portion of the loop was a mucky mess.

Monday, February 19th

More rain early this morning. We passed that time doing our grocery shopping. As usual E went to the Co-op and M searched the vastness of Winco. Then, in late morning, the sun came out. Wow! That drew us both outside, where we accomplished quite a bit. The yard was soaked and the grass was squishy, but it made for easier weeding. M planted a new little blueberry bush, continuing his quixotic quest to replace an old one that mysteriously dwindled and died. Last’s year’s replacement plant did not thrive either. But hope springs eternal.

Saturday, February 3rd

We finished one of the puzzles that E got from her puzzle exchange with her yoga teacher. Just 500 pieces and very entertaining.

Sunday, February 4th

We went up to the Washington Square mall today. E took this photo on the way. That’s Mt. Hood in the background.

Wednesday, February 7th

We packed a bunch of winter stuff and drove over to Bend today, planning on doing something in the snow, either snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, depending on conditions. We stayed at a hotel that was handy to the slopes but was also in the middle of redecorating. Some of the parking lot was stacked with dozens of old couches, partly covered by a tarp. Another corner held a couple of shipping containers from which people were unloading new couches and carrying them inside. We had dinner at Hola in the Old Mill District. Hola is still good and still kind of expensive. Later in the evening we were happy to see some snow falling. It was a lot nicer than watching ice rain falling.

Thursday, February 8th

We woke to a dusting of snow covering the world. Very pretty and not very serious, so the roads were fine. In Bend it was overcast, but as we drove south up the Mt. Bachelor highway, we saw more and more blue sky. It turned out that conditions were nearly perfect at Swampy Lakes sno-park: soft new snow, little wind, and lots of sunshine. Such a contrast to our last visit, when the snow was icy, the sky was dark, and the wind never stopped. We did the main loop and had a great time, especially on the way down.

Friday, February 9th

We got up early and were on the road in time to pick up some donuts and scones at Sisters Bakery as we passed by. We arrived in Corvallis around 12:00, early enough for E to get prepared for her Smart Reading at Lincoln School in the afternoon. We put the scones in the freezer.

Saturday, February 10th

February, such a beautiful time of year in the garden:

Sunday, February 11th

For Sunday breakfast, we had marionberry scones from Sisters Bakery! Awesome.

Monday, February 12th

Mostly cloudy today, just a little damp. Nighttime temperatures are in the thirties, but daytimes are more fiftyish. For some of the early plants that’s quite acceptable.