Oregon remains a trail blazer in recycling
On this Fourth of July, I feel grateful to have recently visited three places in our country that I'd never seen before -- the beautiful states of Georgia and Tennessee and the great city of Chicago.
The trip also reminded me about something we take for granted in Oregon: recycling.
Chicago
Thursday evening is a good time to be in downtown Chicago in the summer. Plenty of free things to do.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
What amazed me most during a six-hour visit last week to Great Smoky Mountains National Park was that it was free.
It is the most frequented national park in the county, with more than 9 million annual visitors, and the National Parks Service doesn't charge a daily admission fee.
Grits at the Buckhorn
For me, life went on without grits for more than 57 years. But that streak ended last week at the Buckhorn Landing restaurant in Morgantown (pronounced Morgan-ton), Ga.
Southern hospitality
It’s 6:30 on Tuesday morning, the second day of summer. Dorothy Alsobrook has just opened for customers at the Crossroads Country Store in Morgantown, Ga.
Only a few early birds have stopped in for coffee and cigarettes, so Dorothy is passing the time watching “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” the 1965 movie about Jesus Christ starring...
A welcome addition — cheap flights out of Eugene
Twenty years ago, the Eugene Airport completed a major transformation. Jetways, new tickets counters and a baggage carousel were added, and a friendly wood exterior greeted arriving travelers. The entire terminal was renovated and expanded.
It became a modern airport, and for a few years it was relatively cheap to fly from Eugene to many...
Well-deserved weekend weather
It rained just an hour ago, but that didn't matter because we got something we deserved in western Oregon -- a spring weekend that was actually sunny and warm.
Sundial Bridge a must see in Redding
Our group of 11 high school students and four adults from Albany First Christian Church spent spring break week in Northern California doing service projects, hearing from "wise voices" and having a good time.
The most stunning thing I saw in those seven days was not in San Francisco or the Bay Area, where we spent...
Thinking about the proud Vancouver motorcyclists
In July 2003, we stopped for a night at the Wildhorse Resort east of Pendleton on our way to a week of camping in the Wallowas. We were riding our bikes that evening near the resort when I noticed a group of four motorcylists from Canada. ...
Disney museum a must see in San Francisco
Dec. 15, 1966, was a sad day for millions of us who grew up watching Disney movies and "The Wonderful World of Color" on Sunday nights. Walt Disney died that morning at age 65, and the news quickly spread at my school.
Don’t overlook Amtrak
Plane tickets were too much and we didn't want to drive, so we bought round-trip Amtrak tickets from Albany to San Francisco for a vacation last week. (It cost $120 per ticket, which was less than half the cost of the cheapest airline ticket I could find from Portland to San Francisco)
Great job, Ryan Krabill
I hope the next book about the Pacific Crest Trail will be by 31-year-old Albany native Ryan Krabill, who completed his PCT trek last week.