Meandering on the Way

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.

Saturday, January 20th

We were happy to see that our house and grounds had remained undamaged after the onslaught of ice. There was only one casualty.

Sunday, January 21st

Despite a few patches of ice and a bit of rain, we took a walk in the forest today. It was kind of a long walk. Too long, in fact. What were we thinking? But we made it up to highest shoulder of Mt. Peavy. Back when we lived part way up the hill, we used to scamper to the very top before breakfast. But the effort was worth it today as it was a lovely scene and not too cold.

Monday, January 22nd

Lots more rain today. We took another walk, but a short one, just once around the boardwalk at the Jackson-Frazier wetland.

Tuesday, January 23rd

E called Alaska Airlines today to see if we could get a refund for our cancelled flight from San Diego to Eugene. Altogether, she spent more than two hours on hold, finally getting someone to talk to just at dinnertime. Happily enough, it took only about seven minutes for the representative to agree that a refund was due and to set it in motion. Hoo-definitely-ray! And kudos to Alaska for stepping up.

Thursday, January 25th

Tertulia with R and J this morning. J maintains a rain gauge and reports that she’s been seeing daily totals of a half inch or more for several days now. She notes that a good portion of it comes during the night.

Sunday, January 28th

Well! Finally we had a mostly rainless day. We took a good walk in the forest around noontime, and it didn’t rain on us at all. What a concept.

Monday, January 29th

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the opening of a Gustav Klimt exhibition at the Isetan Museum of Art in Tokyo. The exhibition ran from January 29 to February 24, 1981 and sometime in that period M managed to attend, purchasing a copy of the exhibition poster as a souvenir. The poster painting, Lady with a Fan, was one of Klimt’s last works. It was still mounted on his easel, they say, when he died in 1918. M’s poster is sadly faded and in fact hardly resembles the original that he saw forty-three years ago. (M can’t really complain; his own appearance also differs from what it was forty-three years ago.)

Last June, Lady with a Fan sold at Sotheby’s in London for $108,400,000. Here’s an unfaded image of the painting.

Tuesday, January 30th

E was busy today, with a medical appointment and a Better Bones class in the morning and then a puzzle exchange meeting and a dog walk assignment in the afternoon. She’s also been busy trying to get some estimates for installing solar panels on our roof. What a process that is! She also found a crocus or two next to the driveway.

M has been dealing with water drainage issues in the garage, writing, and making pickles.

Sunday, January 7th

Today marked the start of our trip to San Diego, where we’ll be doing a four day Road Scholar tour. When that ends, we’ll stay over a couple of extra days so M can pick up a ridiculous rental car and drive us around a little.

The whole thing started with a drive to the Eugene airport, just 40 miles away. We took the truck, of course, because E couldn’t bear the thought of her Ioniq 5 sitting outside in the economy lot where who knows what might happen to it. We had a direct flight to San Diego that took about two and a half hours. We flew on Alaska Airlines, but our plane was not a Boeing 737 Max and we didn’t notice any doors flying off. From the airport we caught a shuttle to downtown. That trip was a big surprise. It was so short! We didn’t realize that the San Diego airport is right next to downtown. In a pinch, we could have walked to our hotel. How often does that happen in a big city?

The tour hotel was a Marriott on the bay front. We checked in and had our first meeting of the tour group in a hotel meeting room. We had an orientation session accompanied by a pasta dinner. We started to settle in to the idea of be taken care of for a few days.

Monday, January 8th

Our program started with a tour of the southern part of San Diego Bay. Much of the south bay is lined with U.S. Navy anchorage and shipbuilding facilities.

Tuesday, January 9th

The highlight of today’s activities was a visit to Balboa Park, which is one of the largest parks in America, fifty percent larger than New York’s Central Park. It has a number of lovely buildings that go back to the its origin as the site of the Great San Diego Exhibition of 1915. It also has a host of Eucalyptus trees, including this relatively rare Rainbow variety.

Wednesday, January 10th

Today we toured the Midway and also visited the San Diego Zoo. Both were excellent, but the Midway was the most fascinating. We had a wonderful docent, a retired Navy helicopter pilot who had spent a part of his career serving on the Midway. We saw a large variety of vintage and military aircraft, from prop driven WW2 torpedo bombers to a modern jet fighters.

The Zoo was also impressive in its way, very beautiful. It’s a large park with very spacious animal enclosures and hundreds (or maybe thousands) of trees. The elephant area covers many acres. All the animals have a chance to stay out of sight of the public when they choose. E’s chief goal was to see giraffes, since she had recently read “West with Giraffes.”

Thursday, January 11th

Today we visited the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. We got to walk a couple of miles accompanied by another very knowledgeable volunteer docent. One thing he told us is that pine bark beetles by themselves are not a problem for pine trees. All pines, he told us, have bark beetles living in their outer layers of bark. A pine forest can contain many millions of bark beetles and still be quite healthy. Trouble starts when a tree is water stressed and begins to dry up. At that point bark beetles have to bore farther into the tree to find moisture. If they bore far enough, they destroy the structures that normally move moisture and nutrients up and down the tree. Once the flow of water is interrupted, the tree is doomed–and presumably so are the beetles living on it.

Today was the end of the Road Scholar Tour. We had a nice dinner and said goodbye to our guide and our fellow participants. We were both sad and glad to see it end.

Friday, January 12th

M went out this morning and picked up a rental car, a 2018 Audi R8 coupe with a 532 horsepower V-10 engine mounted just behind the seats. They say the car can go from zero to sixty in 3.5 seconds. Top speed is supposed to be 170 or so. New ones cost between $161,000 and $253,000, but you can get a used one, like the one we rented, for around $135,000. But before you run out and buy one, be aware that it has very limited luggage space.

As M had planned, we drove out to Mt Palomar, 50 miles northwest of San Diego. The Palomar Observatory is on the north east side of the mountain. There are several telescopes at the observatory, including the 200-inch Hale telescope, which was the largest telescope in the world from 1949 to 1975. Quasars were first discovered by astronomers using the Hale. We came close to the observatory but turned back due to snow on the road. There was still plenty of wonderful scenery.

Saturday, January 13th

We took a little coast drive today, going north on Highway 101 up to Carlsbad. Even though we came back on the freeway, somehow we never managed to get our speed up to 170.

We spent our last evening at the Marriott having a light supper on their fifth floor rooftop terrace.

Sunday, January 14th

Okay, time to head home. M returned the Audi and we were just packing up when we got a fatal text. Our Alaska Airlines flight to Eugene was cancelled. Oh dear. Was it because of the weather or because half of their fleet had been grounded after the blown-out door incident? They didn’t say. Instead they offered a partial routing that would have taken us to Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Tuesday and from Seattle to Corvallis on Wednesday. (It seemed that they hadn’t yet figured out how to get us from Colorado to Washington. But probably they were working on it. )

We didn’t like that and decided to rent a car and drive home. (We had just had our coffee and it seemed like a good idea.) We checked out of the hotel and ubered to the airport where we picked up another rental car, one somewhat less crazy than the R8. We were on the road by 11:00, heading north on I-5, a road that would take us all the way to Eugene. The total distance was 978 miles; we thought we could make in two reasonably easy days, which would get us home by Monday night.

The road was flat and straight going up California’s central valley. Traffic moved fast. By 7:30 PM we’d done over 500 miles. That seemed like enough. We stopped at a Hampton Inn in Woodland, a town just outside of Sacramento. We found an Indian restaurant with a sign saying Under New Management and decided to try it. The new owner was a very nice young man. He wore a turban, so we’re thinking he must be a Sikh. The food was good and also plentiful. We took away enough for the next day’s lunch.

Monday, January 15th

We got on the road again by 8:00. On Sunday we’d driven up the bottom two thirds of California; only the top third of CA and half of OR remained. There are some mountains on the border between the two states and the pass there can be treacherous in the winter. But our weather continued fine and we had dry pavement all the way across. We saw just a little snow off to the sides here and there. At a rest stop just past Lake Shasta we had a fine Indian food lunch . And by the way, here’s the car that got us there:

So going over Siskiyou pass was no problem. However, as we were coming down the other side and into Oregon, we started to get warnings about trouble farther ahead. The Eugene and Corvallis area had been hit with a series of ice storms. Rain was falling out of a warm air layer up high. But the temperature down below was in the low twenties, so when a raindrop hit the ground–or anything else–it turned immediately into ice. The more it rained, the thicker the ice layer got. Really, it’s kind of a cool process. But of course it’s not too good for driving and it’s also hard on trees. We learned that all the roads leading north were closed at a point about twenty miles south of Eugene. It seemed clear that we wouldn’t be getting home this day. We drove as far as Roseburg and stopped there for the night.

Tuesday, January 16th

This morning we checked the weather. It was still bad, with freezing rain predicted for both Eugene and Corvallis. But the I-5 was open, at least for the moment. What to do, what to do. Hang around Roseburg for a day or two? Nah. We wanted to be home. We loaded ourselves back into the Seltos and went off to see what we could see.

What we saw was nice dry pavement all the way up to Cottage Grove, a town just twenty-five miles from the Eugene airport. From there on, though, a thick layer of ice covered the road and we began to see lots of jackknifed semis and other stranded vehicles. We could also see where many trees had fallen onto the highway and had been cleared off. Traffic was heavy with lots of trucks. But everyone was being really careful and the average speed was less than twenty miles per hour. Our all-wheel-drive Kia served us well and eventually we made it to the Eugene airport where we could turn it in to Avis and retrieve our truck.

Of course the truck, when we found it, was heavily iced over, having been through several days of ice and snow storms. On the hood we found a layer of ice and snow two and a half inches thick. The windshield had a layer of clear ice about an inch thick. The passenger side had gotten the worst of the weather and was also covered by a thick layer of pure ice. We could see at a glance there was absolutely no chance of opening the passenger door anytime soon. Fortunately, there was less ice on the driver’s side and we managed to open the driver’s door, just by speaking nicely to it for a minute or two. Then we could start the engine. When it warmed up a little, we turned on the defroster. When the windshield glass finally started to get warm, the ice that covered it started to come unstuck from the glass underneath it. So instead of having to scrape the ice off, we were able to pry it off in big chunks. But what about the wipers? We were pretty sure we would need those. It took a while, but we finally got most of the ice off of them too. Just about then, it started to rain and of course those drops pretty much froze as soon as they landed. Oh boy.

But at least we were on the road. From the airport we headed up Highway 99 toward Corvallis, in 4-wheel drive all the time and moving awfully slow. There were a few other vehicles on the road but not all that many. Snow is rare in these parts and we were amazed to see how different everything looked. It was strange to realize that neither of us had ever seen this part of Oregon covered with snow and ice. Here’s what some of the farms and orchards looked like:

We made it home eventually. On the way, the truck shed some of its ice, but when we arrived there was still no way to open that passenger side door.

What a strange trip it was: beginning with an 80 mile per hour cruise up a ten-lane freeway in sunny San Diego and finishing with an 20 mph crawl along an iced over two laner. It was awful but also kind of fun in its way. It’s amazing what you can do if you’re foolish enough to try. And what was our reward? Well, it turns out we didn’t have to worry about getting dinner because H and T invited us for spaghetti. Nice!

Wednesday, January 17th

It was a cold icy morning but by midday the temperature started inching up. We managed to pop open the passenger door of the truck. Later on, when evening came around, the world was still iced over, but we heard some tell-tale dripping sounds as the melting finally began.

Friday, December 29

We’ve just acquired another electric car. Here’s a photo of M charging it up, which is very brave of him considering that a tuxedo-wearing dog the size of Godzilla has stationed itself near the charging station.

Saturday, December 30

E has decided we need to see some movies. Two days ago we went to a real theater and watched The Boy and the Heron, a new film by animator Hayao Miyazaki. About eight years ago Miyazaki, who is now 82, announced his retirement from filmmaking. But clearly he was not able to stop working and the result is awesomely beautiful. If you haven’t seen The Boy and the Heron and aren’t familiar with Miyazaki’s work, you might think from the title that it is a certain kind of movie. But no, it’s a little more complicated than that.

We also watched Maestro on Netflix. Maestro stars Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre, the Costa Rican-Chilean actress he was married to. The film is full of beautiful images in both black and white and color. It has a tremendously high energy level and a some great music. It’s seems choppy at times, but biopics are like that. Did it tell us more about Bernstein than we wanted to know? Possibly.

Next up was Ferrari, with Adam Driver playing Enzo and Penélope Cruz as his wife Laura. The movie is set in 1957, a time when the company was in financial difficulties and the marital relationship had been badly wounded not only by Enzo’s infidelities but also by the recent death their young son from MS. The movie mixes racing drama with private life and includes scenes with both Laura the wife and Lina the long-term mistress, with whom Enzo had another son. Yes, it’s another film about a “great” man who is unfailingly unfaithful. But we liked it anyway. Adam Driver was very good and watching Penélope Cruz work was a joy. In the film, as in real life, Laura Ferrari was not just Enzo’s wife, she was also an equal share owner of the company. So there was some meat to the role. Ferrari also features beautiful vintage race cars and lovely countryside along the route of the famous Mille Miglia, a race that was so dangerous to drivers and spectators that it was banned after 1957.

The film is based on the 1991 book Enzo Ferrari: the Man and the Machine by the inimitable Brock Yates. Yates was an amateur racing driver and a long-time automotive writer, editor, and TV commentator. It was Yates, along with Car & Driver editor Steve Smith, who first conceived of the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash–a race that was never banned because it was never legal in the first place. Yates won the Cannonball in 1972 along with co-driver Dan Gurney. They drove a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona. Gurney later commented: “At no time did we exceed 175 MPH.”

Sunday, New Year’s Eve

Well, we had waffles with maple syrup for breakfast. Lovely. Then we took a long walk in the OSU forest up near where we used to live. It wasn’t raining and it wasn’t too cold. We got around five thousand steps and sixteen floors, or so said the phone. What the phone did not tell us was what that means in terms of tablespoons of maple syrup, which is what we really needed to know. Instead, we had to use the online Steps to Calories Converter. Couldn’t someone just make a Steps to Maple Syrup Converter?

In the afternoon, E had a zoom call with S and Mrs H, two of her friends from the early days. The trio wanted to get together to share their thoughts on this meaningful occasion.

After this we had fondue for dinner and then turned to the vitally important matter of this year’s jigsaw puzzle and its accompanying bottle of champagne.

Monday, January 1st

Progress is slow on the puzzle. After working for several hours last night and continuing for most of today, we’re nowhere near done.

Thursday, January 4th

We had a nice dinner at Koriander with B and B. They had pictures of their neighborhood New Year’s Eve party. Looked like a really great time.

And speaking of New Year’s Eve, we finally finished our puzzle. E says it had way too much snow.

Friday, January 5th

We had our traditional Peppermint Pig evening with B, J, and C. We finished with pig sprinkles over ice cream.

Saturday, January 6th

We’ve been trying to get a few things done before we leave on our trip. We’re flying to San Diego tomorrow, which should be exciting because we’re flying on Alaska Airlines. In the last month they’ve had two incidents, one involving a nutty pilot and another when a door came off during a flight from Portland to Ontario, California. What next?

Friday, December 22nd

E walked over to H’s house this morning. She’s tending to Houdini the cat while H and T are in Portland for a few days. Her route led her past Garfield Park.

Sunday, December 24th

We had a great meal on Christmas Eve, courtesy of BJEM Enterprises, a (very) local catering cooperative. We started with a couple of black cod salad dock boxes from Local Ocean. The boxes provided baby kale, acorn squash, cauliflower, pepitas, green onions, parsley and white balsamic vinegar, plus four pieces of cod. While B tossed and plated the salad portions, M pan seared the fish. J assisted with plating and sliced up a loaf of olive bread that she had baked for the occasion.

For dessert, E provided a baked Alaska and talked M into flambeing it, thus transforming it into bombe Alaska.

Christmas Day

Tuesday, December 26th

The day after Christmas was damp and foggy. In the morning we went up to Basket Slough, planning to walk through the wildlife refuge there. It turns out, though, that at this time of year, only wildlife are allowed into the main area. No humans.

In Salem we went back to Minto-Brown Island Park, located along the south bank of the Willamette just west of downtown. The park covers 1200 low lying acres, an area that was once a Kalapuyan trading center and later became home to a large lumber mill and a number of farms. The park is named for two early immigrant landowners: John Minto and Isaac “Whiskey” Brown . Minto was a prominent sheep farmer and a long-time state legislator. Brown was not. Today much of the area has been restored and only a few traces of its history remain.

Thursday, December 28th

E has been enjoying her social life with various animals. Yesterday she had a delightful walk with her canine friend, Asher, in an oak savannah park on the outskirts of town. Asher even surprised E with a luscious bag of Lindt chocolate balls! He clearly knows her taste.

This morning she paid a visit to Houdini the cat. He grumbled that she was late in serving breakfast, but after eating he purred and rubbed against E’s leg before settling down for a rest on the heated floor of the bathroom. What a life!