Introducing "The Map of All Known Palm Trees in Portland, Oregon"....A Passion Project

Everyone has a list of things they dislike, distrust, and has a general disdain for in life. With pathological fervor, we rant about such things and make out contempt publicly known. The internet and the "blog format" has become a safe place for people with such vitriol to openly share their views with a marginal segment of the population.

I have my list of things I disliked and distrusted things. In no particular order, I present the following.

• Fans of the band Everclear

• People who ride unicycles

• Carrots

• Butterflies

• Sushi sold in Midwestern States

The list could, and does, go on ad infinitum. But today, I present a more concrete thing that I dislike and have a pathological loathing of...Palm Trees growing in the city of Portland, Oregon.
put: I hate seeing palm trees in the city of Portland.

For a few years now I have said that I plan to map out every known Palm Tree location in this city. Now with the power of Google Maps, I can actually plot out every one of these invasive trees just to show how ridiculous these plants are in our land of cedar and Douglas fir.

Image from http://www.palmsmotel.com

So the question must be asked, "Dude...I mean really, dude. What's your beef with palm trees?" And that is a damned good question. I actually love palm trees. When I would visit California as a kid, I was always wanted to see palm trees. Driving down the wide streets of Sacramento, nearing the capital building, seeing palms brought me simple joy and wonder that only a child could experience. I loved the fibrous trunks, the mighty fronds, and the through there may be coconuts near by. Even as a college student many years ago, I drew a comic titled, "Fun in Getting to Vallejo," which was a short piece about mailing myself to California so I could see palm trees. 

But here in Oregon...Nope.

Nope...Nope...and thousand times Nope to palm trees. 

Is this a rational dislike? No. Is any ranting, rambling, screed ever rational? No. 

Thus I present: The Map of All Known Palm Trees in Portland, Oregon. This will be an ongoing compilation to concretely mark where every palm tree in this city is located. I have one location mapped out at this point. One can simply click on the above link or they can venture over to the corner of NE 16th and East Burnside to experience these palm trees themselves. The map shall be ever evolving and new updates will be made as new observations are made. 

The Trip Back Home...

Today, is a day of introspection for me. I am back in Bozeman, safe and sound. And I really couldn't have been more eager to return to a town even though I generally mock this place at every instance.

In tribute to my automobile crash, the fact that I am here, and that today is my birthday of all things, I decided to post the following photo set of the trip back home. You will soon notice there is a theme...

Taking inspiration from the amazing signage art on the business right next door to the motel I ended up stranded at for two nights, I decided to pay tribute to the life of my old vehicle. 

This is the hospital that took care of me once I realized I had a concussion. Great people and great nurses at this facility in Browning. 

In Bynum, Montana, we stopped and met the world's largest dinosaur. In fact, we met quite a few dinosaurs.

In Choteau, many more ancient reptilian thunder beasts anticipated my trip homeward.

And yes, the salvaged plate is upside-down in many of these. I blame the mild traumatic brain injury...

Until finally, I reached home base. 

I want to thank Amy for taking these amazing pictures and for being an amazing person for picking me up in the middle of nowhere.

How to Catch a Fish

A quick note and shout out to goes to Lost Oregon for the mention on Twitter. Check out the site and his Twitter feed.

If you make it to the Deschutes River at certain times of the year, you are likely to see a number of rafters floating the river and fly anglers fishing the banks.

But further along the river, somewhat further out from Maupin, you may happen upon members of the Warm Springs Tribe fishing for salmon the traditional way on wooden planks built into the rapids of this river.

The image is a bit difficult to make out, but the man on the plan is using a long pole and net to dip for salmon. By no means an easy feat to accomplish even in calm waters. 

The fisherman support their local economy and keep tradition alive. Watching their movements, the arching arms and sways of the back as they hoist and dip, is amazing and tiring. This isn't the typical sit with a six-pack and get away trip fishing for a lot of people entails.

Every once in a while, I happen across pictures of Celilio Falls, the great fishing grounds now lost to damns wonder what it must have been like to see the planks rigged and the men working all day for their catch.

Glorious 99E

99E is probably my favorite highway in Oregon. It just takes you to so many interesting places. Friday, I decided as part of my birthday weekend, I would do a little road excursion and head south.

The first stop on my little trek was the lovely town of Hubbard, Oregon. Hubbard isn't really known for much as far as I can tell. However, it is home to Voget's Smoked Meats. Voget's has the best beef jerky in the entire world and they make damned mean hams. Hams not injected with water or other filler, just damned good meaty goodness.

Hubbard also has a pleasant water tower with a permanent star affixed to its top. 

Besides a few shops, a Mexican restaurant, and a some farm equipment here and there, that is pretty much all that Hubbard has to offer. In fact, if you look at the Wikipedia page for Hubbard, which I have failed to link to, you will find it is spectacularly boring. 

My next stop was Mount Angel. About half-an-hour south of Hubbard, this town is much more interesting. Why? Well, because they had garage sales and yard sales happening on almost every block of this tiny burg. And given my love of things Reno, I had to take this picture. 

Mount Angel is home of a Benedictine Abbey, founded at the early part of the 1900s by German immigrants. Thus the town has a thin Bavarian sheen to it, making it kind of pleasantly pseudo-European, but not really. 

And in Mount Angel, they have weird Sasquatch-like monsters, probably of Germanic heritage. There are more interesting things about this town. Like the massive Catholic Church, the Nunnery for the Benedictine Sisters, who accompany the Benedictine Monks in separate but not quite equal quarters. 

Next post has more German fun. 

Weekend Drive Society: The Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum

Located about an hour outside of Portland, on the Washington side of the Colombia River, is a small but very nice museum exploring the varied history of the Pacific Northwest's greatest waterway and the small towns and industries that dotted its shores. Admission to the Colombia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum may seem a little steep, but when you enter the first exhibit hall and begin to wander it becomes clear that a lot of effort was put into this institution.

Of particular highlight for me was the replica of a fish wheel which once dotted the river trapping salmon in a massive series of interlocking cages. Another exhibit that I felt was interesting, was a display of artifacts from the numerous Japanese immigrants to the area.

The following sideways video, trouble with using a cell phone to shoot a film, shows the view from the top of the "wheel."




My only complaint with the museum is the how some artifacts were handled in their display cases. One case filled with older books was is full view of sunlight which is very damaging to the integrity of paper products. In another display, the humidity and temperature sensors were placed directly on certain objects meant to be preserved, obscuring the view of the artifacts displayed. These mistakes are kind of big deals in my opinion.