The State of Jefferson

After spending the night in Southern Oregon, we started the long
trek to the Bay Area to see Lynn's sister, Lenlee. On the way, there
is an interesting little quirk of both history and geography. The
State of Jefferson. What? You've never heard of the State of
Jefferson? Most people haven't. It does exist however in the
states of mind of many citizens of Northern California and Southern
Oregon.

It almost became reality in December, 1941. Many citizens of the
area were fed up with a lack of roads and support from the state
capitals in Salem and Sacramento. The people of the area needed
help getting their wealth of timber and minerals out of the area and
felt they weren't being supported. After several weeks of planning
and proceeding, Independence ceremonies for the 49th State (before
Alaska and Hawaii joined the union) were to commence the week of
December 8th, 1941. A governor was elected and the town of Yreka
was to be the capital. As we now know, the world, and this part of
the country as well, changed on December 7th, 1941 with the
bombing of Pearl Harbor. Folks tended to focus on the war effort,
roads into the area improved and the State of Jefferson never
became reality.

We found out about the State of Jefferson and Yreka only several
weeks before by watching the great television show, "How the States
Got Their Shapes". I saw that we would be going through Yreka on
this trip, so it became a must-stop spot for our trip.


Wini owns and runs the Tasty Q Ice Cream and Lunch Counter,
located in the Yreka Chamber of Commerce building. She's a
really nice lady, but she'll definitely let you know how she feels
about the local, state and national governments if you give her
an ear. She's a good representative of the rebellious spirit that
still exists in the area that would have been the State of Jefferson.


Even though it's in beautiful country, Yreka is a slightly depressed
area. Folks are a bit down on their luck. However, everyone we
met were very friendly and somewhat optimistic about the future.
They want what most Americans want. To be happy and healthy
and have a nice life.


Although this has nothing to do with the rest of this post, I really
enjoyed this sign. it's really old-timey and quaint. It just made
me feel good.

Portland's Chinatown

Today, after Lynn's last class at the Sock Summit, we were headed out of
town, on our way south. First though, we wanted to check out Portland's
Chinatown. At one time it was the second largest Chinatown in the country
(after San Francisco's). It's not very big though now, and there isn't a lot
to see except some interesting architecture, but we were able to get our
Dim Sum fix for lunch! The highlight of the whole area though, is the
Lan Su Chinese Garden. It's an entire city block, wall enclosed, that holds
beautiful gardens, lily ponds and delicate Chinese architecture. It was
very soothing and relaxing and it gave us a calm feeling after a busy weekend
in the city. I'd recommend anyone visiting Portland to take an afternoon or
morning and check out the Garden.

TriMet MAX

Any city worth its salt has a good transportation system, and Portland's
TriMet provides that to the city. TriMet provides Bus, Commuter Rail, Light Rail
and Streetcar service. I tried out the MAX Light Rail service and was pretty
impressed. I'm a transit geek (yes, among other geeky hobbies) so I like to
try out the different rail systems in cities we visit. I only rode MAX from
the Convention Center to Downtown, but it did a great job of doing what it's
supposed to do. Moving someone from Point A to Point B.


The several times I rode, the cars were never over-full. I don't know if that's
a good thing or not, since it might be a reflection of popularity. However, I
never rode during the rush hours so it probably wasn't a fair evaluation.
Regardless, the trains were always clean and people pretty much minded
their own business and weren't annoying. That can't be said of some rail
systems I've ridden on.


Inside the downtown zone, there's no cost to ride. Great for tourists like
me who don't want to make a long term investment in the city's transportation
system. However, there is a reasonably fair charge if you want to go outside
this zone, such as to the airport.


My route took me over the Willamette River on the Steel Bridge. Portland is
known for its bridges and they did a good job of utilizing the Steel Bridge
for multipurpose functions. While I was crossing, I also saw people walking,
driving and riding their bikes across the bridge. Why build a bridge for just
one purpose when you can utilize an existing bridge for all purposes!


I was impressed by MAX, but Portland is not a perfect city for transportation.
Several times while driving we either saw or were involved in huge backups
on the Freeway. Usually it turned out to be something that could have easily
been avoided, if we discovered the reason at all. However, the side artery
streets seemed to move really well and people seem to like the Light Rail.
A good solution to keep a pretty city looking nice and moving people
quickly and efficiently.

Powell's City of Books

I don't have enough superlatives to describe Powell's City of Books
in Portland. It takes up a whole city block in the Pearl District, and is
is the largest independent bookstore in the world. It covers 1.6 acres
and they have over four million new, used and rare books in their
inventory. It's also my favorite bookstore...ANYWHERE!


You can literally (ha) get lost in this place. Each section of the

store is color coded (like a subway system) and stairways go

everywhere (visualize Escher architecture)

I could spend days in the travel section alone. While most stores
have the typical titles, Powell's has some pretty obscure stuff as

well.


World Cup Roasters is their coffee supplier and their cafe is a fun
place to be amongst other readers, enjoying a good cup of caffeine.


Yes...I am a geek. I bought a Powell's T-Shirt. Who else would
wear a T-Shirt advertising their favorite bookstore besides me?

Yum...Tillamook Cheese!

We couldn't spend all of our time today at the Sock Summit.
Even knitting gurus like Lynn need a break. Ok, maybe I needed
the break. Regardless, we headed toward the Pacific coast for the
short drive to the small town of Tillamook. I LOVE Tillamook.
Not the town...the cheese! I'm not even sure if you can get it
in the Eastern U.S. or even in the Midwest. I never remember
seeing it growing up, but now I think it's the best commercial-type
cheese you can get in a grocery store. (of course that's just my
opinion, but this is my blog).


The best part (besides tasting) of the tour is watching the production
of the cheese itself. This is the room where they cut the cheese (no
not that!) and wrap it. Today, they were processing my favorites,
Medium Cheddar and Pepper Jack. I don't think that I would like this
job. Having tourists gawk at you all day would be unnerving. I guess
one would get used to it after a while. For some reason, I'm drawn to
factory tours. I think it's because we used to go on them when I was
young. Usually breweries and distilleries for some reason! Funny,
because neither of my parents were drinkers. I think we went to those
because the tours were plentiful, and usually free. Plus, we visited
places like Wisconsin and Kentucky.


Of course, the main reason these factory tours are in existence is to
promote the product and Tillimook Cheese is no exception. A large
room of cheese and cheese related products was easily made available.
Kind of like selling Bibles at the Vatican I suppose. Of course we bit
(pun intended) and bought some to take home. It was on average a
couple bucks cheaper than home and there was a much bigger selection
than at our local Safeway.


Last, but certainly not least of the tour highlights was the fact that
Cheese Curds were available for purchase! I found out later that they

are only for purchase at the factory and not available in stores. I've
never seen curds available outside the Midwest...and now I have! Of
course, they made their way into our cooler as well. After a great
afternoon of cheese, we drove back to Portland, visions of Cheese
Curds dancing in our heads!

Sock Summit

The main purpose of this trip is so that Lynn can attend the Sock Summit.
This is a large convention of knitters with a sock emphasis. If you'd like to
know more about it, Lynn will have more details on her knitting blog.
I've never seen more knitters in one place. It's estimated that there will be
6000 knitters attending. I'm sure there will be others here like me though.
Interested parties that are here to support the knitters, and as in my case,
act as sherpa for all the yarn and goodies that Lynn will be picking up. I've
been to a lot of yarn stores with Lynn, but this is the largest amount of
yarn, knitting supplies, etc. that I've ever seen in one place. These folks
take it very seriously. It was fun to watch Lynn have such a good time
amongst her peers. We have three days here and besides visiting the
marketplace (in the photos below), Lynn will be taking several classes.
I'm sure she'll have a great time!

The Columbia River

The Columbia River is the fourth largest river in the United States by
volume and is the largest river in North America that flows into the
Pacific Ocean. It also forms much of the border between Oregon and
Washington, and we followed most of this border today on Interstate 84
on our way to Portland. It's a really pretty drive. Many people think
Oregon is very wooded and damp, but the western and northern parts
of the state are very dry. This makes the Columbia a very wet spot in
a pretty dry area. Along it are several large dams that provide the
region with a great deal of hydroelectric power.


It's definitely a working river, as we saw lots of barges moving up
and downstream carrying all varieties of cargo. This particular tug
was towing a barge of logs, presumably to a lumber mill.


Several areas of the river were quite wide and gave the perception
of the entire river being a very large lake.


The whole area is a bastion of energy development. Besides the
multiple dams, wind farms populated the entire stretch of the river.


Although the river valley is sparsely populated, we did go through
several small towns such as The Dalles and Hood River. The closer
we got to Portland, the busier the river and the highway became.
We were also treated with a great view of nearby Mount Hood. It
was a bit hazy, but there weren't any clouds and it was nice to see
this Cascade mountain up close!