Champoeg State Park

State Park Number 2 of my 2010 State Parks Challenge.
I had only been to Champoeg one other time - for a concert, so it is not really the same. I was impressed by the Visitor Center / Museum. The displays were very informative and engaging and the selection of books available to purchase, particularly the ones about Oregon, were excellent. I found several that I wanted to buy but decided to save them for another day.

The park is located on with Willamette River with lots of picnic areas and trails. At one time there was a town of Champoeg, but it was washed away when the river flooded in 1891 (I think - the dates are off the top of my head and I am not going to google it). The park was the first land purchased by the state specifically for a state park. There is an obelisk monument to the early government and a shelter that was dedicated in 1918.

I look forward to going back to visit on a day that is not quite so rainy.

Mary S. Young State Park

Mary S. Young Trail Map

Here is a link to the trail map for Mary S. Young State Park. We went from the parking lot to the Riverside Loop Trail with small detours to the viewpoint and along part of the dotted line in the off-leash pet exercise area. All told it was a little over 1/2 a mile.

Now clearly I need to go to another park so that I have something else to write about.

2010 State Park Challenge

For Christmas I gave N, J, M and IR a challenge and a book. The book is a list of all of the state parks in Oregon. With names and maps culled from the state parks website and printed out zine style on a single piece of 11x17 paper. This makes for a nice pocket size reference list of all of the parks in Oregon. The challenge is to visit in calendar year 2010 as many state parks as possible. Proof is provided by a photo of the person with the state park sign (or a sign in the park that has the park name). At the end of the year the person with the most parks visited will get a prize (prize still tbd).

To get the year off to the right start, today N, J and I went to Mary S. Young State Park in West Linn. It was raining like crazy, but it is a beautiful park.

Here is my photo from the outing

Photos - Best of 2009

I made a set on flickr of my personal best / favorite photos of 2009.

The set is here Personal Best of 2009

I am posting more detailed information about why I picked each picture here photos by monquee

Hopefully I will be posting more at this blog this year. We shall see.

Sissyneck

Version #1

Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc. on shuffle.
For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
Put the artist after a dash following the song name.
Put any comments in brackets.



How would you describe yourself?
Everything's Gotta Be Right - Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

How do you feel today?
Which Way - The Leaders

What is your life’s purpose?
Stuck with Me - Green Day

What is your motto?
(What's Your) Angle? - Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire

What do you think about very often?
In the Satellite Rides a Star - Old 97s

What is your life story?
Cheap Wine - What Made Milwaukee Famous

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Coda - The Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

What will you dance to at your wedding?
This Is Not a Love Song - Nouvelle Vague

What will they play at your funeral?
Everybody Knows - The Decemberists

What is your hobby/interest?
Light Saber - Ballboy

If you could do anything right now, what would it be?
Two Kinds of People - The Magnetic Fields

What do you want most of all?
Jesus of Suburbia/City of the Damned/I Don't Care/Dearly Beloved/Tales of Another Broken Home - Green Day
[Wow! apparently I don't know what I want!]

What is your greatest fear?
Take Back - Green Day

What is your darkest secret?
Too Drunk to Fuck - Nouvelle Vague

What is your favorite thing in the world?
Only to Other People - The Detroit Cobras

If you could have one wish, what would you wish for?
Letters - Marching Band

What is your theme song?
She Said She Said - The Beatles

The next time you hear this song (aside from now, that is), you must dance:
Sky Fits Heaven - Madonna

What will you post this as?
Sissyneck - Beck

Version #2 [from Interactive Reader.]:
What would best describe your personality?
Maria - Green Day

What do you like in a guy/girl?
Alice - Cocteau Twims

What is your life’s purpose?
Again & Again - The Bird and the Bee

What is your motto?
Intuition - Feist

What do your friends think of you?
Save a Prayer - Eve's Plum

What do you think about very often
Crash on the Barrelhead - Old 97's

What is 2+2?
Roly Poly - Pine Valley Cosmonauts

What do you think of your best friend?
Hey Boy - The Blow

What do you think of the person you like?
Freedom for my People - U2

What is your life story?
Already Dead - Beck
[OK that is kinda creepy, given my name and all - but it is a pretty song]

What do you want to be when you grow up?
La Saison Des Pluies - Francoise Hardy

What do you think when you see the person you like?
Look at Miss Ohio - Gillian Welch

What do your parents think of you?
Diamond Meadows - T. Rex

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Fernando - ABBA

What will they play at your funeral?
Place in the Country - Adam Ant

What is your hobby/interest?
Loser - Beck

What is your biggest secret?
Heart Full of Soul - Chris Isaak

What do you think of your friends?
Little Bird - The White Stripes

What’s the worst thing that could happen?
Just a Ride - Jem

How will you die?
Desmayarse - Pepe and the Bottle Blondes
[fainting apparently]

What is the one thing you regret?
Blinding Sheets of Rain - Old 97's

What makes you laugh?
The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkle

What makes you cry?
Day Tripper - The Beatles

Will you ever get married?
Jumble Jumble - The White Stripes

If someone says “Is this okay” you say?
(I Wanna Know) What's Going On? - The Detroit Cobras

What scares you the most?
Zurui Ouni - Sharon Q

Does anyone like you?
If My Heart Was a Car - Old 97's

If you could go back in time, what would you change?
Let the Idiot Speak - Old 97's

What hurts right now?
Punk - Gorillaz

What will you post this as?
Jump With Me Baby - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
[Sissyneck Wins]


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Yesterday

Wordle

Me too, me too!

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