Monday, December 20, 2010

Oregon 08/2009 Jason - Part I

On the eve of Jason having to return to high school for the start of his Junior year (Aug., 2009), he makes an unplanned solo trip across the country. The plan was for his Dad to drop him off at the Memphis airport, where I would arrive on my flight from Hattiesburg, and we would be on the same flight to Portland. We would arrive in Portland, then make our way over to the train station and take the 9 pm Amtrak down to Eugene. Well, my flight was late, and I missed the connection. Jason was a trooper and made the solo flight just fine. I was re-booked through Los Angeles on in to Portland, but I would not arrive until after 10 pm, at which time we would miss our train. Well, Jason's Dad got us a hotel, and to my great surprise, they let a 16 year old check in without an adult. I made it in, late of an evening, and crashed. We could sleep in, as the 1st train to Eugene did not leave until just after noon. So we hop the airport train into town and explore. We stumbled unto the Portland Farmers Market.

The Portland Farmers Market was established in 1992 by three founders – Craig Mosbaek, Ted Snider and Richard Hagan. These three local activists worked with local farmers who wanted to supply fresh produce, meats, and prepared goods to the people of Portland. Marketing costs for classified ads, posters and flyers were a mere $30 that first year. The original market – held in a parking lot at Albers Mill – had 13 vendors on opening day, then grew to 22 that first year. Soon thereafter, the main Saturday market moved to the PSU campus, and a second market was added on Wednesdays in 1997.

The Portland area has the strongest regional food system in the world — a place where: Local food growers and producers prosper by finding local marketplaces for their products.

Every resident has access to high quality, nutritious, locally grown food. Residents understand the value of strengthening the local economy by purchasing locally grown food.

Sustainable farming and local food production expand as more people choose to enter these professions. Farmers markets grow, nourish and inspire community. Portland Farmers Market is playing a central role in creating this food system and in fostering an economically, ecologically and socially sustainable community. We enjoyed a nice Farmers Market lunch here.

We do a little shopping and looking around, very little buying, before heading back to the train station. Did I mention the Pacific Northwest and Portland were in the throws of a heat wave - 100+ temps? Well, it was hot, but if you could stay out of the sun and not move around too much, it was not too bad.

We get our bags checked and start waiting: the train was late due to the heat, seems the excessive heat was feared to cause the tracks to warp if the trains traveled to fast, so all trains were literally moving at a snails pace.

We make the best of it as we wait for our train, and begin asking if we will ever get to Eugene. Lesson learned: don't book the train in advance, so you can use the Greyhound bus as an alternative. As I came to better appreciate the bus service too and from Eugene, I really became a fan of Greyhound.

The Observation Car was pretty neat though.

As we were going through Salem, we saw this strange sight, really can't figure it out.

We finally arrive in Eugene, exhausted. Parker picks us up at the train station and the Jeep has her new lift and new tires. She really looks good.

We crash at the Parkers, and the next day, do the tour of Eugene thing.

The UofO is a stop, where we hit the remaining Animal House venues.

No Eugene tour is complete without a stop at the track at Hayward Field.

And no Oregon Track experience is complete without a stop at Pre's Rock. It is named for Steve Roland "Pre" Prefontaine (b. January 25, 1951 Coos Bay, Oregon – May 30, 1975), who was an American middle and long-distance runner at the UofO. Prefontaine once held the American record in the seven distance track events from the 2,000 meters to the 10,000 meters. Prefontaine died at the age of 24 in a car accident. This rock is the location of that accident. Prefontaine, Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers generated considerable media coverage which helped inspire the 1970's "running boom".
Here is Parker, doing what he does.

Jack and I clowning for the camera.

You always see some out of the ordinary things:

Bumper stickers

Advertisements for local agricultural products.

Strange things for sale, and of course, the Duck Shop, where you pick up your Duck Gear.

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