Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Evergreens, Beavers & Cornhuskers

We have a lot of ground to cover today on the Taste of USA cruise starting in Washington. I'm just going to get us started... you chime in any time!

Welcome to the Evergreen State.

I would think that hiking Mt. Rainier is probably on some of the more adventurous types. But I will have to just view it from afar.



Ocean Shores
might be more my pace with whale watching and horse back riding. This shark pictured below was caught out of its normal territory in 2007 off of Damon Point where they usually fly kites.




And there's no way we can leave Washington without stopping in Seattle... birthplace of Starbucks! One of the Top 10 Must See & Do things in Seattle is Pikes Place Market and that would be one of my favorites. We know Treye and Tera are headed to the Zoo. Check out there list. Where would you go?




Next stop, the Beaver State. Welcome to
Oregon.

We bloggers can appreciate this... they blog at the Oregon State site. There are a lot of great tips on there.

As we recently celebrated all things 100 and then Claudia went even further to celebrate 101 Dalmatian cookies... Florence, Oregon just celebrated their 101st Annual Rhododendron Festival in May. Maybe we can make the 102nd!



One of my favorite childhood memories is of crabbing in Texas. I wonder what it's like to go crabbing in Oregon. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! It sounds like a great adventure.



Mt. Hood Territory
is in the midst of celebrating festivals galore but when winter hits, pull out your ski gear and hit the slopes!



Last stop for the day, Nebraska. Welcome to the
Cornhuskers State.



I was starting to type about how Chimney Rock was the geographical center of the US... does that sound familiar to anyone else? Yes? Well, because we talked about the geographical center already in Kansas! Chimney Rock was one of the many stops of my moms tour this summer with my aunts and uncles. Chimney Rock is a landmark on the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail and others. Can you imagine the maps and descriptions? Go past the Rock with a Chimney...



I am being so completely random in Nebraska but this picture of windmills caught my eye. I like the thought of windmills. They seem stoic and strong to me. They quietly do their work and in their own quiet way are completely beautiful. So, let's go to the Windmill Festival in Comstock! We must have missed 2008's because I can't find a date but let's keep an eye out for 2009's. Or we can just head over to the Musicfest they're having in July.



The last random place I'm going to take you today is Alliance and Carhenge because I think it's funny! Jim Reinders, with the help of family and friends, created a replica of Stonehenge using 38 cars to be a sort of memorial to Jim's dad, Herman. It's kind or wacky... I wish it was Wednesday. :)



Fun facts for all three states on today's tour are:

State Flowers: WA- Rhododendron, OR- Oregon Grape, NE- Goldenrod
State Birds: WA- American Goldfinch, OR & NE - Western Meadowlark
State Animal: WA- Orca, OR- Beaver, NE- Whitetail Deer



All Washingtonians report to the Rhododendron deck, all Oregonians report to the Beaver deck and all Cornhuskers report to the Windmill deck on THURSDAY, July 3rd to tell us what makes Washington, Oregon or Nebraska the Taste of USA!
(HC! I put the Whitetail Deer in Washington and the Orca in Nebraska! The Whitetail Deer might be okay in Washington but the Orca in Nebraska- no way!)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

alright, so here i am again!

so you now know that i was born in california (and still go back to visit my dad often), live in indiana, and have a grandpa from Utah. i missed kentucky- which is where i go to school (bellarmine university; about 25 min drive from my house in indiana. yes, i cross states every day!)
BUT im here for another state shout-out! when i was 5 years old, my mom and i moved to oregon from california. i live in OR for 9 years of my life, so i basically grew up there. we moved from there to here in IN half-way through my frosh yr in high school. WHOO! i'm all over the place, huh?! well, oregon is a beautiful place; but sorry to say i dont ever want to move back there. mostly the weather...rains too much. well, it doesnt rain more than here in IN per year, but in OR it will rain for a week(s) at a time, and you never see the sun- so depressing! anyways, i have a special place in my heart for oregon!