Hello Everyone,
It’s been a lovely week here on the road, spent mostly in Greater Portland. The roses are in bloom here in “Rose City” and the weather has been lovely. Despite this part of Oregon’s omnipresent overcast mornings, the days have generally been cool and sunny. I’ve spent much of the week catching up with old friends and taking a little bit of a breather from the journey, but I’ve also gotten out and seen some great new things in Portland which has been nice. I had planned to be heading east from here, but a minor van issue has kept me from moving on for the moment. I’m hoping it’s fixed and that I can get going in another day or two. It’s been a great few weeks here in Oregon, but it’s definitely time to be moving on down the highway. I’ll hopefully be eastbound before the weekend.
After finishing up this post last week, I headed back to Salem to catch up with my friend, Erin. We met for a lovely dinner at a little downtown spot called Venti’s. After dinner we just carried on our conversation and it was a fun and wonderful night. I took the day off on Thursday to spend with Erin, who had just recently moved to Salem. She didn’t have any favorite spots to show me but we had a fun day anyway, mostly just hanging around her place and chatting.
On Friday I said my goodbyes and headed back to downtown Salem for the morning. I wanted to make a quick visit to the Willamette Heritage Center which preserves some of the area’s oldest buildings. The centerpiece is the old 1889 Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, which is a marvelous industrial brick building. Also at the Center are the houses of some of the Methodist missionaries who came to Oregon long before anyone set off down the Oregon Trail.
Hello Everyone!
It’s been a beautiful week of spring weather here in north-central Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The days have been warm and sunny and the evenings cool and pleasant. It’s the kind of weather where I don’t really want to do anything but sit outside and read my book and enjoy the day. Thankfully the days are long so there seems to be time for that and to keep exploring. Oregon is such a pleasant and relaxed state, making it a wonderful place to enjoy such fine spring weather. Cherries and strawberries are coming back into season which makes me happy and flowers are blooming like crazy everywhere I look. I’ve spent the week chasing waterfalls, exploring small towns, finally making it to the end of the Oregon Trail and exploring the state’s capital city of Salem. My camera has been busy and I’ve really been enjoying my week so let me get right into it.
After finishing up this post last week I went out to have a look around downtown Lebanon. It’s a quaint and quiet little town but it didn’t have much to offer. I stopped into a little bar called Sam’s Place for a beer and then called it an early night.
On Thursday I took off first thing and headed out to see the Hoffman covered bridge out near Scio. This was a great, fully functional bridge with a 10 ton weight limit still in daily use. It was quiet enough out there when I visited to take a few photos on the bridge, which was pretty cool. From there I made my way into Albany for the day. Albany is a cute little city of about 56,000 people situated on the Willamette River and founded back in 1848.
I am always up to try new things, especially when it comes to food. One of the places I was most looking forward to trying as I traveled around North Carolina was the Tavern in Old Salem, which offers a traditional Moravian menu. When I finally got to that part of the state and made it to the tavern, I was not disappointed.
The Moravians are an interesting group which trace their history back to Moravia and Bohemia in what is today the Czech Republic. Their beliefs stem from the teachings of John Hus, a professor of philosophy and a rector at the University of Prague, who protested certain aspects of the Catholic Church. He would be tried as a heretic and burned at the stake in 1415. His ideas did not die with him and in 1457 in the town of Kunvald, The Moravian Church or Unitas Fratrum (Unity of Brethren) was founded. Seeing as this was 60 years before Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Catholic church in Wittenburg, the Moravians are considered one of, if not the earliest Protestant group...
