Pictures of the Week 2010-14
Hello
All,
Portland, OR, is where Barb’s high school 50-year class reunion took place. She had a wonderful time seeing and visiting with her classmates. After the affair was over it was time for us to start working our way home.
Oregon is such a beautiful state--probably in our top five for sheer natural beauty and diversity. It encompasses snow capped mountains, evergreen forests, crystal clear rivers and streams, a national park like no other, and an absolutely gorgeous coastline. Having grown up in Oregon it was high on our list of places that we might relocate to someday. However, after this visit we removed it from our list. High property taxes combined with the fact that Oregon is overrun with beggars were the two deciding factors.
The panhandler/beggar situation is out of control in the state. We’ve never seen anything like it in all our travels and we have traveled in all fifty states. In Portland we saw intersections where all four corners had beggars. Of course most have new Nike’ shoes on, are smoking cigarettes, with a dog or two chained to the lamp pole beside them. It is not just a city problem either. We saw rest areas on the Interstates that had two or three groups of them working. People had to walk off the sidewalks to get to the restrooms to avoid them and their dogs. Many times they were rude and forceful toward single women. In some cases there were entire families, including small children, working travelers stopping to use the facilities. We sat in the car and watched one such family work. It was absolutely amazing the amount of money they were taking in. It is such a shame that a state so beautiful is so tarnished by this situation. However, they wouldn’t be there if people weren’t giving them money. Enough said about a bad situation.
Departing Portland we followed I-84 east to Boise, ID where we stopped for the night. Leaving Boise we followed the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway, ID-21 east through the Sawtooth Mountain Range till we came to the little town of Stanley. At Stanley we turned south on the Sawtooth Scenic Byway, ID-75 and followed it through the beautiful mountain town of Sun Valley. At US-20 we turned east and followed it to Idaho Falls.
These two scenic byways took us through some amazing country. It was a beautiful day’s ride. We made many stops along the way just to try and take it all in. Below are a few shots of the South Fork of the Payette River along the Ponderosa Scenic Byway.
Portland, OR, is where Barb’s high school 50-year class reunion took place. She had a wonderful time seeing and visiting with her classmates. After the affair was over it was time for us to start working our way home.
Oregon is such a beautiful state--probably in our top five for sheer natural beauty and diversity. It encompasses snow capped mountains, evergreen forests, crystal clear rivers and streams, a national park like no other, and an absolutely gorgeous coastline. Having grown up in Oregon it was high on our list of places that we might relocate to someday. However, after this visit we removed it from our list. High property taxes combined with the fact that Oregon is overrun with beggars were the two deciding factors.
The panhandler/beggar situation is out of control in the state. We’ve never seen anything like it in all our travels and we have traveled in all fifty states. In Portland we saw intersections where all four corners had beggars. Of course most have new Nike’ shoes on, are smoking cigarettes, with a dog or two chained to the lamp pole beside them. It is not just a city problem either. We saw rest areas on the Interstates that had two or three groups of them working. People had to walk off the sidewalks to get to the restrooms to avoid them and their dogs. Many times they were rude and forceful toward single women. In some cases there were entire families, including small children, working travelers stopping to use the facilities. We sat in the car and watched one such family work. It was absolutely amazing the amount of money they were taking in. It is such a shame that a state so beautiful is so tarnished by this situation. However, they wouldn’t be there if people weren’t giving them money. Enough said about a bad situation.
Departing Portland we followed I-84 east to Boise, ID where we stopped for the night. Leaving Boise we followed the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway, ID-21 east through the Sawtooth Mountain Range till we came to the little town of Stanley. At Stanley we turned south on the Sawtooth Scenic Byway, ID-75 and followed it through the beautiful mountain town of Sun Valley. At US-20 we turned east and followed it to Idaho Falls.
These two scenic byways took us through some amazing country. It was a beautiful day’s ride. We made many stops along the way just to try and take it all in. Below are a few shots of the South Fork of the Payette River along the Ponderosa Scenic Byway.
We
always enjoy the ponderosa pine forests because they generally have little or
no underbrush.
Once
we reached Stanley we had moved from the west to the east side of the Sawtooth
Range. We then turned south following the Sawtooth Scenic Byway. Our next stop
was Redfish Lake. Here is a photo of the lodge at the lake.
This
photo was taken from near the lodge looking across Redfish Lake with the Sawtooth
Mountains in the background.
Here’s
another photo of the Sawtooth Mountains. Pretty easy to see how they got their
name.
Continuing
south from Redfish Lake on the Sawtooth Scenic Byway we traveled through a
valley that paralleled the headwaters of the Salmon River.
The Salmon River winds 420 miles across Idaho before flowing into the Snake River. Discovered in 1805 by Lewis and Clark, and explored with great difficulty by fur traders and prospectors, this river drains a vast tangle of rugged mountains and deep canyons. Until 1950 boats were unable to ascend the main canyon of the river so it became known as the “river of no return.” Large tracks of untamed wilderness are still found in the mountains surrounding the river. At the southern end of the valley our road started climbing again. Here are a few shots as we climbed up out of the valley.
The Salmon River winds 420 miles across Idaho before flowing into the Snake River. Discovered in 1805 by Lewis and Clark, and explored with great difficulty by fur traders and prospectors, this river drains a vast tangle of rugged mountains and deep canyons. Until 1950 boats were unable to ascend the main canyon of the river so it became known as the “river of no return.” Large tracks of untamed wilderness are still found in the mountains surrounding the river. At the southern end of the valley our road started climbing again. Here are a few shots as we climbed up out of the valley.
Continuing
south on the scenic byway took us through the beautiful town of Sun Valley. It
was easy to see why the rich and famous hang out in the area. It was awe
inspiring. Upon reaching US-20 we turned east heading for Idaho Falls. This
route takes you through Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve.
It was starting to get dark, and since we had visited the national monument a
couple of years ago we continued towards our destination for the night.
However, as twilight turned to darkness we were treated to a fantastic fire red
sunset. With the mountains silhouetted in the background it was absolutely
beautiful.
It
was a spectacular conclusion to a wonderful day.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns