Highway 26 as a Charm Bracelet

This week's Poetry Potluck theme is Beaches and Mountains
http://jinglepoetry.blogspot.com/2010/10/poetry-potluck-beaches-and-mountains.html

Well- living in Oregon we have 363 miles of coast along Highway 101.

But, that really didn't do too much for me.

Then I thought about Oregon's State Highway 26

that meanders from Astoria all the way to Nyssa, Idaho.

A mere 472 mile drive.

I began to think ( I was awake in the middle of the night) about all the

little towns that Highway 26 passes through

and voila! here's my little poem:

(a small caveat- all photos are from a free photo site.

I will eventually have the time to upload my own of all these places )

I Think of Highway 26 as a Charm Bracelet

Little towns linked together

by silvery rivers and waterways

Astoria has the mighty Columbia

where the Peter Iredale still sleeps

Passing through the Coastal ranges

of Clatsop and Tillamook

Chinook and Salish spirits in the trees

mix with Lewis and Clark

Onto the old city of Portland

Sometimes called Puddletown

Clackamas, Tualatin and Mollala

waters feed into the Willamette

Continuing east towards the Cascades

with sleepy slumbering volcanos

past Rhodedendron and Zig Zag

Mt Hood rises above the timberline

Over the summit, passing Frog Lake

and down into the Warm Springs

where the Deschutes River

meets the Crooked and Metolius

Through Madras and the Grasslands

Through Prineville and the Ochocos

to the Painted Hills, Fossil Beds

Strawberry Mountains and John Day River

I think about the Oregon Trail as

I see a sign for Baker City

But continue to my final stop

Nyssa and the awesome Snake River

Energy and It's Visual Cost

This past weekend we drove over to Central and Eastern Oregon.

Every year we go to the BMW John Day Rally.

I love the drive going up the Columbia Gorge

and then over to John Day via Biggs Junction.

I love winding through this gorgeous part of the world

and until this year I have even enjoyed seeing the windmills.

Slightly reminiscent of surreal art they added an interesting

dimension to the landscape in their own quirky way.

However, this year I wasn't so entertained and was actually

rather taken aback at how many windmills now fill the sky

and cover the land. I am not so sure how

I feel about these windmills and this approach to

alternative energy sources. What do you think? Take a look:

Photo taken at Service Creek Restaurant near Fossil, Oregon.

No windmills here....

On highway 7 going from John Day, Oregon to Baker City, Oregon.
We drove over one day to visit friends while staying in John Day.
No windmills here.

Returning to Lake Oswego we drove back up highway 19 to Biggs Junction.
This is Cathedral Rock, part of the John Day Fossil Beds.
http://johndayfossilbeds.areaparks.com/

Still on Highway 19-lovely curvy road

OOPS.... Approaching Condon Oregon
the plethora of windmaills begins

I do understand the need for alternative energy

plus the boost to this areas economy.

However, I am dismayed by the visual blight.

And this is just the beginning of the hundreds we saw on our way home.

I'd rather see this panorama ...............