travel – Page 6 – Memos for Me

A wild turkey surprise

March 15, 2013

I’ll admit I pass the hour driving to Arkansas’ state capital looking for birds. Typically, I’ll look for hawks, ducks and geese. I just never expected to add a Wild Turkey to the list!

I spotted this Wild Turkey, an adult male southwestern, earlier today near the only section of the trip that’s swampy. He was just walking along in the patch of grass between the road and the swamp like he had business to attend to in the small town that edges the swamp. It was random, but definitely worth the time to stop and take pictures.

Canadians and Mallards

March 11, 2013

Canadian Geese and Mallards were the main birds we saw Sunday and this morning. They basically had the run of our hotel and restaurant parking lots (which surrounded a small pond).

Most of our time was spent with family. My great-aunt lived a full life, and I was surprised to learn that she moved to France with her husband and small son in the late 1940s.

Her husband was stationed near a small village, and her son said the French did not like Americans even at the end of WW2. When his father worked nights, people would come bang on their windows throughout the night to scare them.

My great-aunt would also keep a pistol under her pillow just in case. Still, they weren’t too afraid. Her son said he could remember fetching fresh bread for his mother.

This is the same lady who happened to be in town when I was born. She was my “grandmother” so she could visit my mother and hold me.

We ended up having three hours of free time after the visitation so we visited Fort Harrison State Park.

It was a nice break and the park was fantastic. I could definitely see me using it as often as possible if I lived here.

It also had family history since my great aunt and her family were stationed at Fort Harrison before it became a state park.

On Sunday, the birds and a super fat squirrel greeted us at the cemetery. It was funny to see the geese surround us. I mean literally surround our car while we were leaving. There were even three geese on the roofs watching us.

We’re now heading back to Arkansas. Just counting the hours until I can pick up my dog and be home out of the rain.

Reaching Indiana

March 10, 2013

We finally saw snow – discarded on the side of the road and sidewalks.

It’s 3:14 a.m. We’re finally in Indianapolis after an eight+ hour drive.

A death in the family spurred the last minute trip and, so far, we’ve seen about six deer, a bald eagle and an assortment of other birds.

Here’s some more quick pictures from the drive:

Photo essay: Visiting Mabelville

February 25, 2013

Photo Essay: The Birds of Portland

December 9, 2012

Birds2-dark eyed "oregon" junco — Dark Eyed “Oregon” Junco

Birds3-Black-capped chickadee — Black Capped Chickadee

Birds4-dark-eyed "slate-covered" junco — Dark Eyed “Slate-Covered” Junco

Birds5-herring gull, adult — Adult Herring Gull

Birds6-herring gull, first winter — Juvenile Herring Gull

Festival of Lights

December 9, 2012

My favorite activity in Portland occurred on our last night in town. We attended the Festival of Lights at the Grotto. First of all, we got lost heading to the event so we ended up getting there an hour later than usual. We were still a little lost once we got on the bus, but the driver was super nice and dropped us off right in front of the Grotto.

The Festival of Lights has more than 500,000 lights, nightly choral performances, a petting zoo, carolers, wacky puppet shows and AH-MAZING hot chocolate (this helped since it was rainy and cold).

The Grotto is a Catholic shrine and botanical garden and the lights were woven around the entrance to give you a interesting view as you walked to the sanctuary and Our Lady’s Grotto, which has a life-size marble replica of Michelangelo’s Pieta at the center of a rock cave at the base of a 110-foot cliff.

Here’s some pictures of the event:

Jesuit Father Pierre Jean De Smet used this Marian devotional shrine in his missionary work in Oregon during the early to mid 1800s. It was later passed through religious leaders and their family members until it was donated to the Grotto in 2000.

Created in 1997, the statue of Mother with Christ Child was made from an old Catalpa tree.

Haha, this puppet show was so sad, it was great! It had us rolling with laughter and repeating quotes the whole way back. The show was about a lion who had to learn to be a friend before he could gain friends.

Garden of Solace

December 8, 2012

Our next stop was across from the zoo in the Hoyt Arboretum. The Garden of Solace is dedicated to the 57,000 Oregon men and women who served in Vietnam from 1959 to 1976.

It was a peaceful area and I loved the quote on the memorial — “So long as we are not forgotten we do not die. And thus this garden is a place of life.”

Portland: Day 2

December 8, 2012

We ended up taking a time out mid-Saturday. We stayed at the Mark Spencer Hotel, which turned out to be perfect for us. It was near the public transportation and other sights we wanted to see as well as near plenty of restaurants and shopping.

The hotel offered breakfast, a tea time as well as a wine tasting. It also had spacious rooms so we were able to spread out after spending all day together. That helped. It was also super close to the mobile food vendors — perfecto. We visited this area for lunch, and my only regret was that we didn’t visit sooner. I ate at E-San Thai cuisine. It was perfect.

The lunch was a perfect ending to our morning. In between the garden and lunch, we stopped at the Saturday market. I found plenty of jewelry and other items that I liked, but the only thing to really tempt me was the stained glass windows. Unfortunately, these windows didn’t fit my trip’s budget or my suitcases (at least to make it back safely).

I’ll admit one of the most interesting parts of the market was the Santas. Yes, plural. Apparently there was a Santa pub crawl scheduled. We originally saw all the Santas at 11 a.m. and we continued to run into random Santas from the event 12 hours later across town. But it seemed like fun. And the people were creative.

Photo essay: Oregon Zoo

December 8, 2012

We woke up bright and early today to take the TriMet MAX train to the Oregon Zoo. The zoo’s station was actually an interesting start to our visit. First off, I learned that the station is 260 feet underground and 450 feet above sea level.

It also had a core sample time line (see above) that told a history of the city’s soil.

My main attraction at the zoo was the days-old Asian elephant, Lily. However, Lily wasn’t ready to meet the public yet so we visited the other animals. Here’s a few of the ones that interested me:

A Babirusa, although I personally think it looks like a mini-elephant.

Photo essay: Portland Day 1

December 7, 2012

Day 1-1 — The view from the Portland aerial tram that takes people from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) to OHSU’s hospital.

We began the second leg of our trip today with a tour of downtown Portland. It’s my Aunt’s 50th birthday spent in our 50th state. Here’s some pictures from the day: