Yeah, yeah, I still haven't left Oregon.  Actually, I've been pretty busy during the last few weeks getting ready for my trip.  Believe me, a trip like this takes a LOT of preparation, especially for an overly-obsessive person like myself (I was going to say "anal-retentive," but that's a little harsh).  However, on June 1, I will be moving out of my apartment and will finally hit the road for my U.S. trip.  I've had to pare the U.S. trip down to about 2 months, but that should still be enough time to drive completely around the country at a (semi-) leisurely pace.

Speaking of road trips, I put together a new web page this past week that includes a map of all of the road trips that I've taken around North America during the last 20 years.  The page is called Previous Roadtrips, and as you can tell from the map I posted there, I really enjoy driving!  I've also included photos of some interesting places in North America. 

And speaking of photos, the big project these past few weeks was scanning in my favorite slides.  I've shot about 20,000 slides of North America since college and I recently selected my favorite 4,000 slides and just finished scanning them in.  You can never have enough .jpgs -- that's what I say. 

I recently spent a few days at my sister's house in Lincoln City, over on the Oregon coast.  Doti moved to Lincoln City in 1984 but moved to Bellingham, Washington about two years ago to stay with my Dad, after my Mom passed away.  Doti recently decided to sell her house, so I went over to Lincoln City in early May to go through my high school and college stuff, which I've stored there for the past 15 years.  And guess what?  After storing all my "precious" stuff there for 15 years, I ended up throwing almost all of it away!  

Above left:  My sister's house in Lincoln City.

Above center:  Going through my high school and college stuff at Doti's house.  20 years of memories...

Above right:  ... equals one trip to the dump!

Above left:  I took a break yesterday and went to Portland Community College for the annual Draft Horse Plowing Exhibition.  Of course, these days they use tractors to plow the ground instead of horses, but it's fun to see how they used to till the land.

Above center:  A three-horse team and riding plow.  Draft horses are huge, descendants of the horses used in battle during the days of King Arthur.  Each horse weighs about 2,000 pounds and eats around 20 pounds of hay every day.   

Above right:  Both the farmers and the horses really enjoyed getting out and doing it the old-fashioned way.

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Home > Travels (2001-02) > U.S. Trip > May 19, 2001