Sunday, December 31, 2017

Book Reading List - 2017

  • Thunder in the Mountains - Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War - Author: Daniel J. Sharfstein
  • Vacationland - True Stories from Painful Beaches - Author: John Hodgman
  • You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me – A Memoir - Author: Sherman Alexie
  • Sailing Around the World - Author: Joshua Slocum
  • The Shepherd’s Life - Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape - Author: James Rebanks
  • Do No Harm - Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery - Author: Henry Marsh
  • Al Franken, Giant of the Senate - Author Al Franken
  • Ready Player One - Author: Ernest Cline
  • The Heart of Everything That Is - The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend - Author: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
  • The True Flag - Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire - Author: Stephen Kinzer
  • Founding Brothers - The Revolutionary Generation - Author: Joseph J. Ellis
  • The Journey of Crazy Horse - A Lakota History - Author: Joseph M. Marshall III
  • Heart of Darkness - Author: Kenneth Branagh
  • Brave Companions - Portraits in History - Author: David McCullough
  • Year Zero - Author: Rob Reid
  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Author: Junot Diaz
  • Abraham Lincoln - The Prairie Years and The War Years - Author: Carl Sandburg
  • Astoria - John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival - Author: Peter Stark
  • Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World - Author: Jack Weatherford
  • Trevor Noah – Born A Crime - Author: Trevor Noah
  • Born to Run - Author: Bruce Springstein


Thursday, December 21, 2017

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Road Trip - Kam Wah Chung National Historic Landmark

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Kam Wah Chung National Historic Landmark
Kam Wah Chung National Historic Landmark
If you haven’t seen this place, you need to go. Originally a Chinese medical clinic, general store, community center and residence, Kam Wah Chung gives you an incomparable glimpse into the past. This remarkable site, a National Historic Landmark, is located in the town of John Day, and includes a museum and a separate interpretive center. The museum was built in the 1870s, possibly as a trading post. This tiny, unassuming building became home to two Chinese immigrants, Ing “Doc” Hay and Lung On. Both became locally famous: Lung On as a general store proprietor and businessman, and “Doc” Hay as a practitioner of herbal medicine. For 50-some years, the building was a social, medical and religious center for the Oregon’s Chinese community. (Source: Oregon State Parks: Kam Wah Chung website)






 

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Hike - Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge, Washington

Looking towards Columbia River Gorge and Mt Hood
Looking south towards Columbia River Gorge and Mt Hood
It’s springtime and Carol and I decided we needed to find someplace where we could see wildflowers. So, after a little searching, we discovered the Catherine Creek Arch loop trail in the Columbia River Gorge. According to sources, Catherine Creek Recreation Area is one of the best places to see spring wildflowers in the Columbia River Gorge. On top of wildflowers, Catherine Creek is also known for its spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge. The trailhead is about 90 minutes east of Vancouver, WA between Bingen and Lyle on old Highway 8. According to our guidebook, there is a paved trail below the road that is accessible to wheelchairs. There’s also a longer unpaved trail above the road. 
Abandoned cattle corrals along Catherine Creek trail
Abandoned cattle corrals 
We opted for the unpaved trail which paralleled Catherine Creek and passed the Catherine Creek Arch and some abandoned cattle corrals. The trail continued north and crossed Catherine Creek on a makeshift wooden plank. It then looped towards the east and up onto a lava plateau.
Columbia River Gorge & Mt Hood
Columbia River Gorge & Mt Hood
The view of the gorge from the plateau was spectacular with Mt. Hood in the distance. The wildflowers were also spectacular and included bitterroot, balsamroot, large flowered triteleia, Nuttall’s larkspur, lupine, lomatium, chocolate lily and others. 
Catherine Creek Arch
Catherine Creek Arch
On the negative side, there were a few ticks and poison oak but all-in-all, Catherine Creek is likely destined to be one of my favorite springtime wildflower hikes.


Chocolate lily (Fritillaria affinis)
Chocolate lily (Fritillaria affinis)

Delphinium (Delphinium nuttallii)
Delphinium (Delphinium nuttallii)

Lomatium (Lomatium sp)
Lomatium (Lomatium sp)

Large flowered triteleia (Triteleia grandiflora)
Large flowered triteleia (Triteleia grandiflora)




Saturday, April 22, 2017

Sunday, January 1, 2017