Picnik fun with the Fremont Bridge, across the Willamette River

Effects available on Picnik--fun for me. How about y'all?


HDR-ish. That's the name for this effect.


This is Boost.

For me, these effects enhance the bridge's beauty.

Vacation, Day 7, 10/27/2009, Part 4

Tinkerbell watches the entire process of parking and leveling the trailer.


Parking the trailer involves making it level.


Milton slowly backed up, putting the wheels onto those orange plastic squares that have Lego-looking bumps on them.


Then you put down the jacks, often onto a piece of a 4x4 post.


You let the slide-outs out. You see that the window looks like half of it is gone? That's because the slide-out is half way out.


Then you unload the back end of the trailer, the section of it that gives this type of trailer its nickname, toy hauler. Believe it or not, my bed is in the ceiling; it lowers to just below the windows you see on each wall.

Honestly, I slept very well that night, very well indeed.

Lownsdale Square, for the Eighth Floor of a Parking Garage

I took this photo on Feb. 25, 2010. Look at the street at the top of the photo. See the circle in the center of the street? The Thompson Elk is in there, behind the tree trunk.

Here's some info on the square, from the Internet: Lownsdale Square, SW 4th Ave. & Main St.
Historical Information

Lownsdale is one of two courthouse squares that comprise the Plaza Blocks which are bounded by Third and Fourth Avenues and Salmon and Madison Streets. The north square is named for Kentuckian Daniel H. Lownsdale, who settled in Portland in 1845 when there were fewer than 800 people living in the city. The south square is named for former Iowa territorial legislator and native Virginian William Williams Chapman (1808-1892) who arrived in Portland in 1850.

The Plaza Blocks were lively places where orators held forth and citizens assembled. They are characterized in part by several large old elms and gingko trees. Chapman Square, originally designed for the exclusive use of women and children, features all female gingko trees. Lownsdale Square was to be the "gentlemen's gathering place." Today the Plaza Blocks are still a busy gathering place, although men and women can now safely coexist in either of them.

In the center of Lownsdale Square stands the Soldiers' Monument, Douglas Tilden’s monument to the Oregonians killed in the Spanish-American War. Dedicated on May 31, 1906, the tall granite obelisk is topped with a bronze replica of an infantryman of the Second Oregon U.S. Volunteer Infantry, part of the first large American fighting force ever sent overseas. At the base of this monument are two small cannons from Fort Sumter (misspelled on the plaque) brought here by Colonel Henry E. Dosch. Because the cannons were used by both Union and Confederate troops, it was Dosch's idea to face one north and one south.

Another war memorial, dedicated to the men killed in service in the Philippines, is found in Lownsdale Square. Fountain for Company H, installed in 1914, was donated by the mothers, sisters, and wives of Company H of the Second Oregon Volunteers. John H. Beaver, an architectural draftsman, won the honor of designing the limestone fountain and a $50 prize in a citywide contest.

Between the two Plaza Blocks, Main Street curves around a huge elk fountain given to the city by David P. Thompson. Thompson arrived in Portland driving sheep over the Oregon Trail. He served as Portland's mayor from 1879-1882. One day looked out of the office window in his New Market Building at the Skidmore Fountain and decided that he wanted to dedicate a fountain to the city as well. Thompson commissioned Roland Hinton Perry, whose work adorns the Library of Congress and the dome of the Pennsylvania state capitol, and in 1900, he presented the city with a bronze elk fountain to commemorate elk that once grazed nearby. Local architect H.G. Wright designed the stone base of eastern granite, which included drinking troughs for horses and dogs. The Exalted Order of Elks refused to dedicate it because they considered the statue "a monstrosity of art." Many have tried to have Thompson's elk removed because it can be considered a traffic obstacle, but the elk statue remains. In 1974, after a debate about disturbing the blocks in order to complement the then-new General Services Building, Thompson's elk and the Plaza Blocks were designated as Historic Landmarks.

Vacation, Day 7, 10/27/2009, Part 3

Boosted colors at Picnik.


Somewhere along I-20 we stopped for fuel. I took this photo mainly because I couldn't figure out what the heck it was. Does anyone know? I'm guessing some sort of air conditioning that goes to the truck's cab through those giant yellow tubes.


I should have stepped out of the truck and asked these two men, right?


A surprising sight. It's on I 459, a bypass at Birmingham. I found this on the Internet: " ... in Liberty Park ... the Birmingham Area Boy Scout headquarters as its neighbor, the statue shines, literally. Its torch, powered by Alabama gas, has only gone out twice in its history." I couldn't tell if the flame was lit, but after reading this, I'm assuming it was.


Caught the windshield wiper as we drove by TNT Fireworks Supercenter. Southerners do enjoy their fireworks!


I like this view of I-20, about 25-30 miles or so from Talladega Superspeedway.


Whoopee! Almost there!


Off the interstate, headed for the campground, I noticed this ice dispensing station. Look at that man, loading his cooler at a chute, sort of like going to that ice/snack room so essential to a hotel stay. Ice proves to be even more essential when you're at a campground with gigantic coolers full of food to be cooked, grilled, and/or fried. It won't all fit in those small refrigerators in campers.


Another campground essential, free beads! Oops, I meant to say firewood.


And finally, the most essential element to a campground, portable toilets! I do not jest. If you happen to be tent camping or some such, without your own toilet, then you will go into one of these--I guarantee it.


Milton's been in the office at our campground, checking on this and that, I'm sure. Now he's talking with some of the guys, about this and that, I'm sure. Oh, by the way, another campground essential is barely visible on the right side of the photo--the golf cart. Each camping rig, be it a truck and trailer like us or a motor home, is led to the camping site by one of these men on a golf cart or a four-wheeler. One more by the way, take note of the orange tractor in the background. Depending upon the weather, it can become a campground essential, too.


From the truck window, Milton looks at the ground--it rained on us off and on all the way east, and it's easy to tell that it's been raining in Talladega, too. Milton and Kay always have two camping sites reserved, one that they will use, one that friends end up paying for and using. The one that friends use is higher on the slight slope in that section of the campground, and no friends were due this race, plus it might rain some more during the night, so we parked on that one. More on that in the next vacation post.

Sidewalk Shot

Taken in front of The Heathman Hotel and Restaurant on SW Broadway. The street you can see in the background is SW Salmon. I couldn't resist the regal-looking dog and the straightforward message on the sign.

Vacation, Day 7, 10/27/2009, Part 2

I have heard that standard poodles are way smart. These two certainly look it, perched as they are in the driver's seat. Their people must have been buying gas for the motor home. I can't remember for sure--I just know I couldn't resist taking the photo.


There is no telling, absolutely no telling, what Mama's saying here. She's a hoot, so I'll wager it was funny!

Kay, Mama, Milton, Aunt Baker.

As we made our way towards Alabama, I decided to take photos here and there as I noticed something or other that grabbed my attention. Here you go--some won't need much explanation, some might, some will. I took these photos from the truck, through the windows, so I've decided to boost the color on each of them.

Almost to the Alabama, Mississippi line.


Just over the line. Who'd ever guess there'd be another way to spell Utah?


They make Mercedes Benz just off I 20, between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.


Kudzu, the bane of the South. Here are some nicknames I found for it on Wikipedia: "foot-a-night vine," "mile-a-minute vine," and "the vine that ate the South" (of the United States).

Historic Belmont Firehouse

On a big time rainy Saturday several months ago, the Architectural Heritage Center hosted an hour and a half lecture on Portland's Firehouses, complete with a superb PowerPoint and two experts to talk in support of the photos we saw. Afterwards we had the opportunity to visit the Historic Belmont Firehouse in Southeast Portland on the corner of SE Belmont and SE 35th. I bundled up, caught the bus and made it there before the fireman came to open the doors. So much rain meant no outdoors photos, but I took lots of them inside. A couple for you are right here.

From the sign nearby: This 1860 hand-drawn hose cart was built in Portland by John Honeyman & Co. Hoses were brought to the fire on a separate hand- or horse-drawn card. Different size and types of hose served different purposes. Hard-sided (always round) could draw water from the source. Soft-sided (flat when empty) was carried by firefighters to attack the fire.


Members of the Sellwood Volunteer Company pose with their hand-pulled hose cart and ladder truck.


From the signs nearby: An 1860 Jeffers hand pumper was ordered for volunteer Columbian Engine Company #3 on August 19, 1859, and received on October 14, 1860. Public subscription raised $1,500 for the engine. The final cost, with shipping from New York by sea, was $3,099.91. Portland's Jeffers side-stroke hand pumper was purchased by the City of Portland for the Columbian Engine Company #3 in 1860. This simple engine used manually operated piston pumps to force water through a nozzle. It took about 30 people to pump 160 gallons per minute.

Vacation, Day 7, 10/27/2009, Part 1

The day has dawned! The day I join Milton and Kay again, along with their grandson Ian, for our trip to Talladega. So here we have photos of goings on at Aunt Baker and Uncle JL's before we got in her car for the ride to meet them at the Pelahatchie exit on I-20 East.

On the left, Raphael. On the right, Squirt, the turtle who joined the family when "Finding Nemo" had come out. See the Squirt toy in Raphael's box? That's where I got the name for him.


Ginger in her favorite spot on the back porch. My Daddy made that seat, and two more like it, from VW bucket seats attached to plastic milk crates.


Isn't their home lovely?


On the way out of town, we passed Puckett's hamburger joint--it wasn't open that early in the day.


Pretty countryside, from Aunt Baker's car.


My lunch, while we waited for their arrival in the parking lot of the truck stop.


Here they are! Kay's truck pulls the "toy hauler." You will not believe what is inside that we will eventually unload outside, then move a day later!

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California Building, 1924

On the corner of SW 6th and SW Stark, stands another of my favorite downtown Portland buildings. I'm partial to Portland's prolific architect of yesteryear, A. E. Doyle.

Huge windows. Tiny pedestrians, in relation to the huge windows. Notice the public art? It's part of the Transit Mall's collection.


Notice the Benson bubbler, to the right between the public art and the tree?


The Z marks the transit stop near that corner.


You'll see this same intricate light fixture on a different Doyle building.


From Wikipedia, but I need to add that the sign on the building is not for The Bidwell & Company. It says Three Kings. I couldn't find anything about Three Kings, Portland, at that address. Anyone know anything?

The Bank of California Building or also The Bidwell & Company Building, is a historic two-story building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Since 1978, it has been on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is currently vacant.

This location was the site of the first Portland Central Library, which moved to its present site in the early 1920s. The Bank of California saw the lot as fit to build a Portland branch and hired local notable architect A.E. Doyle to design it. Doyle's chief designer Charles K. Green had traveled abroad to study Greco-roman architectural forms in the 1910s. The result of his research resulted in three Italianate buildings, of which the Bank of California Building was the first. The others were the Chicago/Italianate Pacific Building and the Public Service Building, an early skyscraper. The exterior lights on the Public Services Building are of the same design of those on the Bank of California Building.

The Bank of California remained at this site for 50 years until moving a couple of blocks west to the Union Bank of California Tower. The building underwent an intensive renovation in 2000.

Vacation, Day 6, 10/26/2009, Part 3

Aunt Baker is my Daddy's baby sister. Since I can remember, she's been beyond special to me. For Mama, she's the sister she never had. Visiting with her and Uncle JL was a highlight of our vacation. Our plan was for Mama to stay there from 10/26 until I returned from Talladega and the NASCAR race a week later--we'd both continue to experience Southern hospitality at its best during the coming days.

Here's Aunt Baker, on the house phone.--she's got a cell phone and is on a family plan with us which allows us to talk daily. We're at their kitchen table, our usual spot for sitting, visiting with each other, sharing memories, a truly wonderful time together, just as we always experienced when there.


The delicious supper Aunt Baker prepared--chicken dumplings, green beans with potatoes, rolls, iced tea.


Meet Raphael, quite the old turtle, who has been with Aunt Baker since the days of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. You see, back then she got three turtles, one for each grandson. They lived on the kitchen counter in a 9x13 glass baking dish. The other two met their demise at some point, I don't know when or how or what their names were. How did she know Raphael was the sole survivor? I'm not sure. But survive he did, graduating over the years to ever larger containers for his home.


When Aunt Baker gets him out of his home, he walks the linoleum and the carpet, often sitting in sunlight that hits the carpet inside the patio doors. I can't count the number of times I've come through the back door and been greeted by Raphael coming toward me. Or been followed down the hall to the bathroom. He goes right in and stops, waiting until I'm done, then follows me back into the kitchen. I always say, "Hi, Raphael" and "Raphael, you want to go to the bathroom with me?" One time, years ago, Aunt Baker had put a pair of one grandson's just-washed shoes into the dryer. Naturally, they clunked. I looked towards the dryer after a few minutes and saw Raphael in front it, looking up! I guess he wondered what all the commotion was.


Their other special, lovely pet is Ginger, the Golden Retriever.


Uncle JL had worked hard all day at the grocery store, so I didn't stick the camera in his face. You'll see him soon.

Vacation, Day 6, 10/26/2009, Part 2

On this particular Monday Mama and I planned to head for Puckett, to visit Aunt Baker and Uncle JL. After that good lunch and spending some time with those good friends, I stopped to take a few photos on the way south.

My absolute, all-time favorite independent bookstore in the whole, entire world is Lemuria Books upstairs in Banner Hall on I-55 North in Jackson. If you've been to Lemuria, you'll realize that I have not overdone the hyperbole.

I vividly remember my first time inside those shelf-lined walls that you can see through the doors and windows. At first content to merely stand in awe of their numbers, I slowly toured each nook and cranny, thinking, "Oh, my. look at all of these books I could get my hands on!"

Here, in fact, is a close-up of the hand holding an open book, the massive sculpture above the upstairs main door.

If you're looking for a specific book, be sure to contact Lemuria by phone or go click on the link I provided--at that link be sure to take a look at About and the FAQ for some great insight into the store, the staff, and the man behind it all, John. Back to your search for a particular book, the hey'll try really hard to find it for you and then will ship it to you, beautifully wrapped in brown paper. For me, it's a totally special way to get a desired book.

This is not a giant igloo. It's Jerry’s Catfish House on Highway 49 South near Florence, Mississippi. We didn't get to stop this time, but in the past we've enjoyed ourselves there.


Also near Florence, the white fences of The Piney Woods School.


We're getting close to Aunt Baker's and Uncle JL's!