Tag: Oregon

Journeying between Astoria and Portland, listening to jazz 

Carl Setzer

Listening to jazz, remembering a house between Astoria and Portland. A turn of the century home, from the early 1900s. The owners were playing jazz from the 50s: bebop, cool jazz man! This place sticks in my memory. It was dark, evening, and our journey was taking us to Portland. But that was later. At this moment we sat there, talking, listening, and drinking coffee. None of had lots of money, but there was enough. Humble, and beautiful. 

I’ve lost all connection to that place. My travelling companion lost his battle with cancer over a decade ago. I don’t remember which of the small towns it was. They all blur into each other. 

Perhaps it’s better that way. Blended together, my connection spreads all along the river. Any of the towns could be “it”.Perhaps they all area. 

Travelling to Oregon for the #eclipse?

Carl Setzer

Thinking of heading to Oregon for good viewing of the upcoming eclipse? Well, you’re running behind. Hotels are booked, and traffic is expected to horrible down there. It’s important to note: this kind of traffic would be incredibly hard to predict. It’s far outside normal, so the area infrastructure isn’t set up to handle it. So, no reservations and firmed up plans? You have a serious challenge before you. I never say never, but you best be ready for compromise. 

With that, the Washington Department Of Transportation has activated their AM radio network. That’s the yellow signs you see in the freeway, with flashing yellow lights, directing you to turn your radio to 510, or 1610 AM, where you can listen to a mumbling voice (good ol AM distortion). This morning we were directed to expect heavy traffic in Oregon, and to avoid trying to observe the eclipse from your car or stopping on the side of the road. Oh, and turn your headlights on when it’s dark. 

I came across a couple articles about the eclipse and how it’s impacting the region: 

    The first looks at the expected traffic issues for Oregon (including the region’s fires right now). And the second is more good science nerdware. Which delights me but, really, isn’t too nerdy for the general population. 

    I’ll keep digging around to see what other info I can dig up. There’s got to be some other great science articles being created right now. I’ll keep my eyes peeled, as the adage goes. 

    Follow up thoughts on Travel Dreams

    Carl Setzer

    Yesterday’s post on my old Travel Dreams, and then a comment by JoanJet (probably not the rock star…) reminded me of another piece of this: it’s evolution.

    JoanJet wrote about her plans to throw an iKamper (check out it’s Kickstarter campaign) on the top of her Navigator and hit the road. That’s very close to what I picture myself doing….eventually.

    Looking at the iKamper campaign reminded me of this film by Zangs Films: Our Land – Traversing Oregon.  (They had a similar camper set up on their Landcruiser in the film). It reminds me of what’s great about the Pacific Northwest, our current policies around public lands and how important they are to maintain.

    Anyway, check out the film. It’s worth your (just over) 15 minutes.

    (*if you liked the film, check out the behind the scenes blog post from the folks at Zangs)