O is for Oregon or Ory-gun, not Ory-gone

When I was 7 years old, my family moved to The Dalles, Oregon and Oregon has been my home ever since.

The Dalles was supposedly the end of the Oregon Trail, but for some reason Oregon City also claims that title.  Honestly, I'm not sure why the Oregon trail doesn't end at the coast.  Seems like that's were Lewis and Clark finally stopped.  Anyway, The Dalles (pronounced The Dals (like pals)) is supposedly a French-Canadian name meaning "sluice".  Something to do with the way the Columbia River flowed through the high cliffs.  This area was a major Indian trading community for, some say, thousands of years.  A really good book about this area is River of the West, by Robert Clark.


I lived in The Dalles until I was 18 and went away to college at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Eugene is named after Eugene Skinner who built the first cabin in the area in 1846.  In 1872, the University of Oregon was founded.


I wasn't all that hip on moving to Eugene as I was a small town girl and not too interested in the big city.  I learned a lot that first year.  I remember wondering why two girls were holding hands and why a couple of guys I knew were smoking tobacco out of that funny little pipe and why they were being so secretive about it.  It took several months for me to realize that it wasn't tobacco and that the two girls weren't just friends.

My lack of desire to live in the "big city" waned and I stayed there for 12 years.  Eugene is a beautiful place.  There are miles and miles of trails and paths for walking and biking.  The coast is an hour away.  It only rains from September through April...The only thing I didn't like about living in the Willamette Valley was the allergies.  I had never had them until I moved to Eugene.  The pollen hangs over the valley like a cloud all spring and early summer.

The last place I lived there was a cabin-ish house out on the Willamette (Will - a (like the a in cabinet) - Met (like vette) river out near Jasper.  Daisy and I lived there with the Worst Man in the Entire World.  Daisy and I loved the place.  I couldn't keep her out of the river.  The fishermen would laugh as she carried rocks up onto our deck, pushed them off into the water with her nose, ran down and dove for them and then repeated the whole process.  We used to see some huge fish caught right in front of the house.  The daughters of the Worst Man in the Entire World and I would catch and release.  They loved to fish. There were deer across the river in the mornings and afternoons and we had blue herons that would land on our deck and fish from the rail.  We also had an osprey nest right above the house.  She had two very loud babies that she had to feed and it was neat to watch her fish in the river.

In 2000 I moved to St. Helens to live with my brother, his wife and their son, who was 6 months old.  I had left the Worst Man in the Entire World and needed a place to live.  They needed someone to share the rent.  We only stayed in that house for a short time and then moved into a nice big house in Scappoose.  I used this picture rather than any others because it is taken from almost the same spot as the house Tim & Julie bought.  After they moved to Echo, I stayed there for a few months by myself.  I used to take the best pictures of Mt. Hood in the mornings.  The sun would rise behind it and just glow all around.  The mountain in the left of the photos is Mt. St. Helens, obviously before the eruption.  It's flat on top now.


Scappoose was also a beautiful place, close to duck hunting, fishing, and hiking.  I never really got to know anyone besides my neighbors there.  It was a weird town in that there was not logical center.  It was one long strip along Highway 30.  They did have a great Sauerkraut Fesitval every summer and while I don't care for sauerkraut, I could always get a giant pickle on a stick.  Yum!  One of my favorite parts of living in Scappoose was it's proximity to Sauvie Island.  A beautiful place with farms and shops.  We would occasionally go watch dog field trials out there or visit a pumpkin patch.  It's one of the places The Brown Eyed Man and I went on our first date.

In 2003, I moved back into the Willamette Valley for a new job and to be near The Brown Eyed Man.  We live in Stayton.  Again, another old photo because there really is no scenic view of this little town.  This is third street and except the the dirt road, the right side of this street looks the same then as it does today.  The left side has "newer" buildings for City Hall and the Police Station now.  The Star Theater is still there and it's the best place to see a movie.  Cheap tickets, small theater and close to home.


One of the things I have always loved about living in Oregon is that within 2 hours, you can be on the top of Mt. Hood, at the coast, in the woods, or in the high desert.  We don't have tornadoes.  We don't have hurricanes.  We rarely have an earthquake, although they say a big one is coming.  We just have rain and lots of it.  I don't mind it though.  With the exception of the politics, this is a wonderful place to live.

j