Maybe I should just shut up.

I was just reading a story in the newspaper about  how internet bloggers and their postings are threatening the real news gathering infrastructure.  It is a serious problem and having worked with a few newspapers, I understand that fewer and fewer people are getting their news from reputable sources. Of course, some of that can be laid at the feet of the industry because they allow subjective opinions to creep into their reporting.

This is a quote taken from the Sacramento Bee.

“Bloggers – the ones who comment about and post news, not the pajama-wearing navel gazers talking about themselves – can post their amateurish creations  at will and no one is being paid to check their credentials or evaluate their material. ”   

I am a blogger, of sorts, and I do comment on the news on occasion. I also talk about myself at times but never when wearing pajamas or contemplating my navel. Actually, I don’t even own a pair of pajamas and I haven’t seen my navel since I started drinking a little beer. I know it’s in there somewhere but until my latest diet kicks in with some results, I also know there’s not a prayer of seeing it. 

I try to keep it light on this page and I hope you read it from that viewpoint. Don’t take anything I say seriously unless it’s about Paris Hilton or that idiot who wanted 54 million dollars for his pants.

Oh yeah, go out and buy a newspaper.

They make pretty good cars too.

The Japanese Garden in Portland is another place that needs to be visited. The serenity of the place should drop your blood pressure 10 or 20 points with little or no effort.

I just happened to catch these guys as they hit the water.

I normally don’t take pictures of flowers, Susie being much better at it but I couldn’t resist this one.

Portland’s rose garden

The next post down tells of our trip to Portland to meet up with my brother. Since this is turning into a travelogue of sorts for the next couple of weeks, I’ll tell you a bit about Portland. It’s only a bit because that’s all I know.

If you’re horticulturally inclined, a visit to the Portland Rose Garden is in order. 

I was going to include a picture of Susie beside this rose but she threatened me with bodily harm if I even considered it.

Stranded in Seattle?

Our travel plans after we left Seattle included a trip to Newport, Oregon where we would spend some time with my brother, Ron and his wife, Julie. ,  I didn’t plan very well on how we would get from Seattle to Newport. As a matter of fact, I didn’t plan at all. There was some talk of our son, Joe driving us and there was also some talk of my brother coming to Seattle to pick us up.

Neither scenario made much sense.  A six hour trip or more depending on traffic was too much to ask either of them to do. The traffic in both Portland, Oregon and Seattle is like that of many American cities; impossible at times to negotiate.

Amtrak came to the rescue when we found out that a senior citizen ticket from downtown Seattle to downtown Portland was only 23 dollars and change for the 4 hour trip. It was also a nice way to travel. Nice roomy seats with plenty of leg room and a good view of the country side. I got a ground level view of Mount Rainier from the obversation car and I never cease to be amazed at how that mountain dominates the landscape.  

 

A last look at some attractions from Seattle.

One of the more unusual sights around Seattle is this cold war refugee. If anyone from the government is perusing this picture, the three folks on the left of the picture are not Communists, as far as I know. The little girl on the right I’m not so sure about. 

 Another place to visit is the shoreline of Lake Union where you can park your sailboat and order fish tacos at Aqua Verde, a mexican menu restaurant and kayak rental place. 

 

While you’re sitting there, you can watch the houseboat occupants across the lake if you  happened to bring your binoculars.  These boats, I’m told, are ‘grandfathered’ in.

We’re off to see the wizard.

Just 7 days after we landed in Seattle, it was already time to go. We have a lot to see on this trip and a short while to get it all in. I’m leaving with a heavy heart because We didn’t get to see anywhere near the stuff we wanted to see. I guess we’ll have to come back.

In the meantime, we’re on our way to Newport, Oregon to see my brother and his wife.  One last picture of Joe and Susie on his front porch before he took us to the train station.

Joe’s house is one of those bungalows that are just about the right size for comfortable living. I was going to use this observation to segue into one of my rants about all the Mcmansions being built around the country but it’s too nice a day. Not to worry, however. I will revisit that subject at a more opportune time. 

Yet another Seattle eatery.

If you like fish…….

The atmosphere can’t be beat although Susie felt that the chips in the fish and chips were a bit on the greasy side.

Me??? I don’t eat that stuff cause ‘I got the sugar’.

Maybe we’re not doomed after all.

I notice that a judge has ruled against that idiot who wanted 54 million dollars from the dry cleaning establishment that lost the pants he took in have cleaned. Naturally, the asshole was another one of those lawyers who thinks the world is his own personal oyster. Why they call people in the law game ‘honorable’ is beyond me.

This piece of crap ought to be made to pay for all trouble he caused the court system and the couple who run the cleaning business and then he ought to be run out of town on a rail. Out of town, hell. He ought to be deported. 

Thank God the Justice system shows a little sense now and then. Of course, on the other hand, I hear Paris Hilton is about to be released from jail and is ready to be paid to talk about her excruciating experience.   Jean Val Jean, she’s not.

2-4-6-0-1!!!!!!        Ga-aaaaa-aaaah.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it.

If you’re not yet sick of reading about our adventures, there’s more in the newspaper. 

The Pacific Crest Trail.

The day that Susie and I went up into the Cascades, we got to the summit and stopped to take some pictures. A sign pointing to an entrance to the Pacific Crest trail  caught my eye.

Friends of ours, Mike and Amy Scott, spent a summer a couple of years ago hiking the entire 2700 miles of this trail and I was envious of their accomplishment. I figured maybe we should hike a piece of the trail so I could at least say that I had done some of it.

We walked up the path through these beautiful Pine Trees for a half mile or so and we began to encounter small piles of snow. 

Susie had these dorky little flip flops on and there was no way she could walk in the snow so she stopped but I trudged on for another 200 yards or so.

The snow began to get deeper but no matter. I vowed to trudge for another hundred miles or so until it occurred to me that we were in a wild place where we could get lost and freeze to death or get eaten by a wild animal.

Wild Animals??? Good God, there were probably bears all around us and I didn’t have so much as a bell to ring and frighten them away. I wasn’t too worried about being eaten; I figured I could outrun Susie in those flip flop things but still and all, she had the car keys.

We turned around and skee-daddled down the hill.