Meeting a young American

After our fish and chips lunch today we wandered into a cafe for coffee and while I was waiting for Kay to pick up the coffee order, I was greeted by a young man sitting by himself, who wanted to find out where we came from. He had a wholesome appearance, with short hair and wearing battle fatigue clothing that made me cautious initially but I soon realised that he just wanted to talk. He was very polite and began by telling me that he was an ex-Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and had been to Sydney and Brisbane for training (and also Singapore where he bought an iPad).

He quickly but calmly commented that the UMC (US Marine Corp) “should really stand for US misguided children”, taught them to be rough and aggressive, but did little to prepare them for employment outside apart from telling them that they should not behave the same aggressive way. He was given $80,000 worth of retraining support, and he had since worked various minor jobs such as in a supermarket and an oil drilling site in North Dakota.

What I detected was a lack of purpose and aimlessness in his life. While we expect someone of his age to be looking forward to the future, he was instead engaged in reflection on his past with seemingly little idea what he wanted to do next. 

It saddened me to meet a young person with such apparent despair and I fear he could like some engage in self harm or senseless violence against others. It is a side of America that we have read a lot about but it was still very moving when encountered face to face.

When it was time to return for us to our coach we shook his hand and wished him well. That was all we could do.

Coos Bay to Eureka - the other side of the pond

Today we travelled south with the Pacific Ocean to our right.  As another Sydney-sider said, interesting to see the Pacific from the other side of the pond.

Trying to impress Aussies with beaches is a lost cause.  Here is one we saw today

But they did some interesting artwork on it - a labyrinth and people dutifully followed it.

However the trees WERE impressive.  We had our first taste of the redwoods this afternoon.  More tomorrow apparently.

 And we saw some elk.  They are bigger than I expected - the size of a small horse.

This was the last marijuana we could get before leaving Oregon.

And another example of eclipse celebrations...

And just in case you are having a bad day, go for a drive.....

Coos Bay

After a long drive from Bend via Crater Lake through endless pine forests we had an overnight stop at the Coos Bay casino hotel owned by the indigenous Coquille people. Coos Bay is a quiet waterfront resort with access to the Pacific Ocean but is shrouded in fog  this morning. The other claims to fame seem to be a sawmill with a huge pile of wood chip obviously part of the pine forest industry, and a huge caravan park on the other side. The caravans are also huge, probably requiring truck license to move them.

Bend to Crater Lake to Coos Bay

Today was a long day in the bus.  We had an early departure for Crater Lake - a beautiful crater lake apparently - but the smoke from bushfires obscured the view.

According to Kin Mun and Google, this is what we should have seen.

The warning signs were there, with graphics.

This is the unstable edge.

We did see a LOT of pine trees by the side of the road.  And a chip munk.

Then another break in Canyonville.  This was the sort of place where I was waiting for the guns to appear.  You could get one at the shop. As well as ammo.

And the local shop liked their flags.

We had something to eat.  A local recommended the elk rather than the buffalo hamburger. We passed on that but the ice-cream was good.

Eclipse !

We had the good fortune of a perfect weather at Madras (Oregon) and a perfect view of the eclipse. My photos are just like everyone else's and not very different from previous successful eclipses, but of course it's the experience of one of nature's rare beauties that made eclipse chasers go in search of the next again and again.

This one was different in being smack across one of the wealthiest countries. That meant more people made the effort to travel to the 110 km wide or so wide footprint across USA, more hype, and more crowded hotels and campsites. There were traffic gridlocks especially after the event when everyone tried to leave at the same time.  Our coach driver made a shrewd diversion and it still took us more than three times as long to return to Bend where we were based, but we had an unexpected bonus of a drive through Oregon rural country dirt roads, which we would otherwise by pass.

The 2 minute blackout was brief but the clarity remarkable. Venus, which was glared out at sunrise hours before, reappeared in a rarely seen overhead elevation.

We now look forward to the next one - Chile in 2019! 

Equipment being set up.

The Diamond Ring

Prominence erupting from sun's surface (red). Low exposure suppressed the corona.

Eclipse bits and pieces

Kin Mun has given an account of the eclipse - with pics that my camera can only dream of.  So here are the extra bits.

We got up at 3:40am, fell into the bus together with our breakfast boxes, and drove to Madras.  This took an hour (note the time), and there were cars on the road but nothing to hold us up.  TravelQuest had arranged for us to use the Jefferson County Middle School oval, and the school facilities as well as there being a fundraising "concession" (selling tea/coffee, drinks, packet food) to raise money for the school.

I took the chance to see inside a US school. The only US schools I had seen before were on TV reports when there had been a mass shooting.  We were able to use the canteen, with pics of past students, flags of various countries, and messages of inclusion etc around the walls.  It was a generous space, plain and functional. This is the canteen.

I had a nap in the canteen, and later got talking to this lady who was cleaning the tables.  It turned out she was a "math" teacher, she taught 150 Year 8 students over the day, and one advanced maths class, that had 50 students.  It was a small community school, with students from 3 towns as well as a nearby "reservation".

The school had also been made available to a group of Japanese eclipse chasers, some of whom were camped out the back of the school..

By then the moon was beginning to cross the sun, so I went out to join the party. This is Mt Jefferson (I think) as totality approached.

Looking as totality approaches.

And the TravelQuest banner.

Taken with my "point and shoot" in the partial phase.

And at totality.

After the party, there is also the hangover!

Coming back to our hotel, we met traffic.  The journey was now THREE hours. Pic from Kin Mun.

Our unflagging driver, Larry, took as many detours as he could, including over over a rough and dusty dirt road.  The country is dry, and the backyards of farms (mainly agriculture) are just like any backyard of farms anywhere!  For us, it was such a wonderful opportunity.  You would not see any of this unless you were local.

BTW, you can buy cannabis legally in Oregon.  This is a "dispensary".  Not sure of the price.

So that was eclipse 2017!  This trip has turned into a "mystery tour".  We have not seen any of this part of the USA, we have done no research and have no expectations,so everything has been a bonus!  And the weather for the eclipse was perfect.  No doubt Deryn arranged that!

Portland to Bend, via Madras - poetry and eclipses

Today we left Portland to make our way to Bend, where we will stay for 2 nights.  We passed through Madras, which will be our viewing site for the eclipse. 

Our first stop was at Timberline Lodge - another New Deal project to employ workers during the Great depression. 

The Lodge was built right next to Mt Hood, another active volcano.  That is not snow, more like glaciers.

This is the other volcano we saw - Mt Jefferson.

One of the joys of an eclipse tour is that it takes you to places that are not on the main tourist trail.  Places such as Bend.  Coming out of dinner, we saw this young man, sitting on the sidewalk (sorry, footpath) writing poetry as requested.  People told him what they wanted a poem written about, and to whom, and he tapped it our on his typewriter - YES - typewriter.  Then he would read it out - and for a donation.  One of our group requested a poem for a young mother - his daughter.  It was very touching.  (I did wonder where he got his ribbon supply from.  Haven't seen them on sale at Officeworks).

Eclipse fever has hit town.  We went past a huge caravan city - KM has some pics.  Some public services have had to protect their carparks!

Tomorrow is a 4am departure to drive to Madras, our viewing point on the school oval.

Around Portland OR (meaning Oregon),

Today was a tour of Portland.  We saw a big rose garden, a big bookshop, a big dam, and ate a big ice-cream.

The test rose garden:

Powells Bookshop was big - and was selling online before Amazon.  I tried TWICE to hand over money for a book but the queue was also too big. But their "carffee" was good.

The Bonneville Dam was part of the New Deal - where FDR began infrastructure projects during the Great Depression to create employment.  Keynesian economics was in fashion then.

When they build dams on these northwest rivers, they have to think of the salmon who have to get back home to spawn.  So they build fish ladders for the fish to climb back up.

Also saw this from the viewing window that looks underwater at the fish ladders.

They are not cucumber - they are lamprey!  Had to google it.  I had heard of them being used by Heston Blumenthal in his medieval feast.

Called in at Multnomah falls.  Not quite so big!  But it was a lovely place to wander around and eat ice-cream.

And Kin Mun was working on his camera.

 

Why Bend for the eclipse

Map showing the probability of cloud cover, lowest in areas shown in green.

Bits & Pieces

Don't bring your gun to breakfast.

Honey Buckets!  I had seen a sign and wondered what it was.  It is a portable hand-washing station while the toilets are undergoing repairs.

 Chinooks are not just helicopters!