Featured image: Today's Shaniko, Oregon (photo by Cheryl Landes) Updated February 18, 2018 Unlike many Old West towns, Shaniko, Oregon didn’t spring into existence from a vast gold strike. Wool was its lifeblood. In the mid-1800s, the high desert of southern Wasco County was a vast, quiet land full of bunchgrass, sagebrush, and rocks. A gold … Continue reading Shaniko: From wool capital of the world to ghost town
The voodoo dahlia variety at Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Oregon Photos by Cheryl Landes It’s dahlia season. These beautiful flowers come in all shapes and sizes, from four-inch pom poms to starbursts exceeding 10 inches in diameter. Some look soft and spongy with layers of curled rounded petals, while others are spiky like a … Continue reading Celebrate dahlia season at Swan Island Dahlias
For well over a century, Pendleton, Oregon, has been best known for its annual Pendleton Roundup, which is among the top 10 rodeos in the world. Spectators flock here for one week every September to enjoy the pageantry, parades, live music, and intense competition from the steer ropers, barrel racers, and bronc riders. Now another … Continue reading Drone Rodeo to wrangle crop data points August 18-19 in Pendleton, Oregon
Featured image: One of the swimming holes on the Deschutes River at Cline Falls Scenic Viewpoint (photo by Cheryl Landes) Reconnect with nature, family, and friends for a day by packing a lunch, blankets, towels, and an inner tube and heading to Cline Falls Scenic Viewpoint near Redmond, Oregon. Choose a picnic table under the shade trees … Continue reading Nature therapy with family and friends at Cline Falls Scenic Viewpoint
Featured image: Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine (photo by Cheryl Landes) If you recently walked past the Joan B. Burns Garden at the Portland Museum of Art on High Street in downtown Portland, Maine, you’re probably wondering why it’s closed. On Friday, the PMA announced that next summer, the garden will reopen as the … Continue reading New sculpture park to open summer 2017 in Maine’s largest city
Featured image: The Captain's Lady III awaits passengers for the Newburyport BluesCruise. (photo by Cheryl Landes) Chillin’ on a hot summer night can’t get any cooler than a ride on the Newburyport BluesCruise. Hop aboard in historic Newburyport, MA, for a three-hour sunset tour along the Merrimack River, accompanied by live music from some of … Continue reading Singin’ the blues while crusin’ in Newburyport
Featured image: A close-up of downtown Seattle at dusk from Kerry Park on Queen Anne hill. (photo by Cheryl Landes) Take advantage of the clear, dry summer days in Seattle by savoring the vistas from five of the city’s prime viewpoints. Even on days less clear, the fog and cloud formations create some beautiful effects. … Continue reading Five spots for super Seattle views
Don’t miss one of the most star-studded shows in the Northern Hemisphere, when the annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak. From 10:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. on August 11 and 12, you can see a steady stream of shooting stars (meteors) without binoculars. This year’s show will be even more spectacular, because the meteor … Continue reading Perseid meteor shower a star-studded event
Featured image: Sea lions sleep on the rocks at Cape Arago, south of Charleston, Oregon. (photo by Cheryl Landes) The rushing and crashing sounds of the waves on the beach and rocks and gull calls aren’t the only sounds you can hear from Shore Acres State Park, south of Charleston, Oregon. Even in the sheltered … Continue reading Watch the sea lions at Simpson Reef and Cape Arago
In the 1930s, the Great Depression hit the nation hard, and Coos County, Oregon, wasn’t immune to the effects. During that decade, the State Highway Department used state and federal funds to build bridges over the Oregon Coast’s major rivers and bays. The Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge was completed over Coos Bay in 1936 … Continue reading Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge: Engineering as art
Tabby Cat's Pawprints 