Oregon Coast mailboxes

We took a Wednesday drive with tourists from Utah, Nevada, Califoria, South Dakota, Alaska, Alabama and British Columbia to the Pacific Ocean today. Or at least that's where a lot of the license plates were from.  We also saw several bike tourists - two single men and a pair of men.  Three headed south and one east.  Looked like a lot of fun on a beautiful day, lots of traffic though.  What we drove today would've taken us probably a week to ride.  And wouldn't we like to go riding again.  A friend of ours has her son in Europe riding with only 19 lbs of gear.  That's what we will be doing next time!  No more bicycle trailer for this gal, or at least not on the next trip.  ha ha.  I wanna go much lighter.

And even though we were driving I was excited to find some cool mailboxes!
 

We decided to hit the road for the beach because
we're excited about completing the house primping for a new owner and now it's for sale to the right people.

Other excitement this week included a Canadian cyclist, Ryder Hesjedal  winning the tour italia. We'll be watching him closely whatever he decides to do, I guess he really wants to ride in the Olympics but perhaps he'll do the Tour de France this summer.

We also had a really nice couple walks on the beach.  What a delightful day... that was the weather report for the day.  Gotta love it.  Loving our privileged life.

Annular eclipse sequence

Serenity Timeout

Black Rock Annular Eclipse

Minus two days and counting

(Photo credit: Sancho Panza, CCA 2.0 Generic)

Mark and I have planned to head to the path of totality in the United States - we were thinking of near Reno, but perhaps we don't need to go so far if the weather is going to be clear in southern Oregon/Northern California.  He's in charge of that. (The travel plan, not the weather).

It'll be another 5 years to see a solar eclipse in the US - August 17, 2017.  I think I can wait another 2 days, because I'm all for immediate gratification.  If we travel to North Queensland Australia in the fall, we can see a solar eclipse there much sooner than in North America - November 14, 2012 at Cairns.  Job or no job, eclipse or no eclipse.  What will it be?

Nasa put together a nice educational video

Here is an nice animation of where the the full vs partial eclipse path is.

For those people who can't make it National Geographic looks like they might have a live feed on the internet!

We'll try our best to take pictures - we have the solar protective film for the telescope and binoculars.  It'll be a fun experiment.  After looking at the Nasa video, it sounds like to would be great to find some leafy trees instead of just being in a bunch of sagebrush.  Then when we get back, we get back to work putting the finishing touches on the Raven House!

Beautiful backyard

Pretty cherry tree in the backyard

Turkey's are cool birds

Turkey extraordinairre

The deferred maintenance is paying off for the carpentry skill building. We are looking forward to a few down days to go look at the annular eclipse in Nevada.  The weather looks like clear skies.  It's been absolutely CAVU (Clear and Visibility Unlimited) in Corvallis, so we gotta get everything painted outside cause who knows when the rainy Oregon weather is going to return.

Lap Hostage Part II

This speaks for itself...   I didn't rescue him.  Happy Mothers Day - all you mom's out there!

Hummer Love

This bird heard the shutter clicking and turned towards the camera.

Lap Hostage

I relapsed back into photography mode.  Apple tree pre-blossoms

It's looking good  - is serenity paradise for sale?

Burning it out

The reality is that my lap is being held hostage!  (And because of a newer Oregon state law, the woodstove has to go)

Riding high

Mark did a good job motivating me to ride instead of painting, pressure washing, cleaning, fixing, stressing... Way better to just go bike riding and forget about everything. Now the best part! Coasting down!

Iris Parade

Iris are blooming in the Willamette Valley FULL FORCE!

My old hometown through travellers' eye

The Willamette River was a major transportation route before roads.  The local First Nation people burned the oak forest that was indigenous to the valley.  When the European-American immigrants showed up, towns formed along the river, timber was run down it and steamboats plied the water until the road system was built up.

This is a picture of the interior of one of the local hardware store remaining, and they have a facebook page!  Corvallis is a great town to support local business but I think that may also be because it's a pretty well-to-do community.  Since Home Depot arrived, I know that at least one hardware store that was in business since 1928 closed it's doors.  For Robnett's Hardware, it's been in business since 1893 and surviving the economic depressions/recessions because it's a great store and local residents are willing to shop local to prevent the slow death of Americana.

Now is the perfect time to be in Oregon, when the spring has sprung and the rain and sunshine makes rainbows everyday.  The old barns still stand despite the mold, cause they were made out of old growth timber that doesn't exist anymore.  except in small island reserves.  If Oregonians were smart a moratorium on old growth cutting would be initiated similar to what New Zealand citizens did for the Kauri trees and habitats.

Can't have springtime without Daffodils and Tulips

and slugs

and Rufous Hummingbirds

I found a 1948 scrabble game at the thrift store and we used the most amazing words thanks to the modern use of the internet.  Scrabble leads to a better command of the English language.  Who would have known!


Squib n. - Firework consisting of a tube filled with powder (as a broken firecracker) that burns with a fizzing noise

Pseud n. - A person who makes deceitful pretenses
Halcyon –

n. - (Greek mythology) a woman who was turned into a kingfisher

n. - A large kingfisher widely distributed in warmer parts of the Old World

n. - A mythical bird said to breed at the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea and to have the power of calming the winds and waves

adj. - Idyllically calm and peaceful; suggesting happy tranquillity

adj. - Marked by peace and prosperity

Sere – adj. - (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture