A Little Portland Architecture

Believe it or not I still have 2 posts to go before I'm caught up from my trip out to Portland and Seattle.  That short walk I took in downtown Portland I saw more than murals.

I was drawn into Jake's Grill by its Arts and Crafts movement ambiance I mean look at that mosaic by the entrance!

Imagine my delight when I walked inside and discovered a mural going down the length of the restaurant depicting Lewis and Clark's expedition!

If I'm ever in Portland for a meal, this is where I am heading, the menu looked fantastic and what a gorgeous place to dine.

The restaurant is located in the Sentinel Hotel, a boutique hotel that is actually spread between two buildings.  You can walk straight back through the restaurant to the other building, which is a treasure inside and out.

The other side of the building was once the Elks Temple.  At the time of its construction in 1923 it was the largest Elks Lodge in the country.  With an initial membership of almost 4,000 members, it was doomed due to the Stock Market Crash of 1929. 

By 1932 membership had declined to 450 and the charter went bankrupt and moved out of the building.  Interestingly (well, to me anyway) the Works Progress Administration moved in to building in 1939. 

We remember those guys, right?  Ambitious New Deal project putting millions of people to work carrying out public work like new post offices, building bridges and roads, and even art and theater projects were undertaken. 

Full employment was not the goal of the WPA, it tried to provide one paid job for all families in which the breadwinner suffered long-term unemployment due to the Depression.  The idea being to give people work they could be proud of and help them learn or retain skills instead of just handing out welfare checks.

Another building I admired but wasn't able to get inside of was the Portland Telegram.  Built in 1922 it was a Colonial Revival brick and terra cotta building with a charming clock tower.  Bit out of place in such a modern west coast town, which was part of its appeal to me I think.

That's it for Portland!

Cannon Beach Mural

I'm on the road again, so I'll just get down to business here with this very long mural I saw in Cannon Beach.

It was tucked between shops, of which the beach town has its fair share to entice the tourists to spend a few dollars.  If you go, don't forget no sales tax, so feel free to spend a little more than usual!

It went from one scene to another, giving glimpses of local life.

Native symbolism was included.

And of course folks enjoying the beach.

I had my lunch at nearby Sweet Basil's where they make their grilled cheese on raisin bread with Tillamook cheddar, granny smith apples and cinnamon.  Yum!

And I found dessert at the Chocolate Cafe, dark chocolate with strawberries and basil. I was warned traffic is an absolute nightmare here in the summer with tourists, so don't wait for the hottest days to come enjoy what this beach town has to offer!

Linking up to Monday Mural.

Cannon Beach - Camera Ready!

After I drove from Seattle and crossed over to Oregon I ended up in Astoria with the Sea Lions, remember?  That morning I continued onward to the little town of Cannon Beach because Linda had shared a post on her blog before about this spot and I had to see it for myself.

Luckily Linda usually includes a few crucial details, such as "park at Tolovana Beach, located on the south end of Cannon Beach."  This is where she parked on her visit to view Haystack Rock.  When she visited it was at lower tide so check out her post to see the difference!

It was a gorgeous day, I had timed it just right for about half an hour of mostly sun, making for bright spots of blue up above those monstrous rocks on the beach.  I kept that shutter clicking as I walked along, you never know when the sun will disappear in the Pacific Northwest!

An older gentleman was walking along at the same time I was, keeping his expensive looking camera cradled in his hand.  He didn't take it out and start shooting until we got to the rocks, at which point the sun was starting to disappear, not to mention the light wasn't coming from the right direction.  What a shame all the shots he missed out on because he was looking for the right "grouping" of the rocks instead of taking the light into consideration.

Here's an example of the lighting condition he faced when he got to where he was walking. I turned around and shot into the sun which did create an interesting effect especially with the group of people who were taking a selfie with the larger rocks behind them.  I had to change it to black and white and do a lot of work on the haze and highlights to clean it up, but don't forget to get those other shots that take advantage of the warm light spilling onto your subject!

As you can tell by the sudden appearance of a watermark on my photos, I'm finally permanently signed up with Photoshop and am trying to take the time to learn the ins and outs which was especially helpful in all these photos due to the haze created by the moisture in the air.  The photo below in particular required a lot of work to clean up, but was worth it in the end!

Tutorials abound on how to do all the tricks, both on Adobe and YouTube.  A quick Google search will help you narrow down what one you want.  I need to go back and have another try at the photo below, if you look closely you'll notice a halo effect around the rocks where I accidently applied the exposure correction with a brush that was too thick and therefore it bled outside the edge of the rock surface. 

But, hey, let's not turn this into a Photoshop tutorial, let's enjoy those beautiful views of Haystack Rock instead!

That's 235 feet of rock that birds use for nesting and humans use for selfie backdrops.  Not many folks were out on the beach, just enough to make you feel like it was a happy place to share with your fellow man, with the gulls...

...or with a dog carrying a stick!

This is the view the camera toting gentleman settled on, he took multiple shots near this spot including a selfie on a smartphone.  Their shots did not include the upside down driftwood, lack of creativity on their part I say!

Off in the distance I really couldn't see Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, Photoshop truly saved that image so I could get at least a little bit of a look.  An incredible story of how the lighthouse began its journey can be found here, let's just say for now that the individuals who started the endeavor in 1879 had to be the bravest men alive!

The stories of the keepers who stayed there are equally amazing, living through conditions such as these: "Storms often brought flying rock and debris crashing through the lantern room and the dwelling’s iron roof, and the fog signal would clog with pieces of seaweed or rock. There were several occasions when the entire structure was flooded with seawater... The cramped quarters, frequent storms, and fog with the ensuing blasting of the fog sirens, often caused tension among the crew and led to the station earning the nickname “Terrible Tilly.” Enraged keepers were known to pass notes at dinnertime rather than speak to each other. Any keeper causing trouble or showing mental instability was immediately transferred from the rock." 

The Lighthouse was decomissioned in 1957 and has been sold over and over to private individuals since that time.  According to the internet (what would we do without it??) the best land views are found from Ecola State Park, which I will definitely visit when I get a chance to return to this lovely area someday.  The lighthouse and grounds are not open to the public to my knowledge.

View from main road through town

I wandered around town a little bit, I'll share that later.  I walked away knowing I want to go back, there are other areas to explore and things to see.  Check out this post of Linda's where she visited Humbug Point at Acadia Wayside and Hug Point at low tide.  

Always leave wanting to come back for more!

Bridge of the Gods to Pool of the Winds

I know I've hopped back and forth between my day spent hiking with Linda and my other adventures while in Washington and Oregon, but bear with me!  This post is the last stop (unfortunately!) describing my day with her.

We crossed from Portland into Oregon over the Bridge of the Gods.  Those who have read Cheryl Strayed's book "Wild" or seen the movie will recognize this from that story.  The bridge is where she concluded her hiking adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail after 94 days and 1,100 miles.

There is a toll to cross the bridge, and now I am in debt to Linda for her gas, her time, and her toll money because I had no cash on hand!  I told her to come on over to Wisconsin someday and I'll take her to all the hotspots in Door County or wherever she wants to go.  Maybe we could tackle some of those sections of the IAT in the far north that I haven't scoped out yet?

She took me up the Hamilton Mountain Trailhead to Rodney Falls.  It's a nice, wide trail and we even got teased with a little bit of sun - one of the advantages of hiking before the trees leaf out.

Eagle eye that I am, I spotted some lichen.  This one was probably a variety of dog lichen, with super cool rhizines on the underside.

Check out the great views of Bonneville Dam and Hamilton Mountain we got to enjoy on our climb!

It's only a little over a mile to Rodney Falls, but after lots of "up" throughout the day my Flatlander legs were starting to give out and my knees were starting to stiffen up.  But so worth it!

See the little flash of rainbow in the above picture?  Stay on the safe side of the railing and you can go out along the cliff face for a closer look.

Pam gets the Rainbow Shot! Thanks, Linda!

Here the water from Hardy Creek tumbles into a slot where the water plunges and throws up wind and spray.  We lucked out with just enough sun to create a little rainbow!

What I saw inside the Pool of the Winds tunnel

Trying to get a decent photo was tricky with all that moisture being thrown at me.  I took about 6 shots, wiping the lens after each attempt.  This was my best result, I'm pretty happy with it!

Linda's turn!

Of course the water continues its plunge downward, and we had to get shots from multiple locations and angles.

From there you can take a wooden bridge across the middle of the falls and continue on the hike, but my legs were in no condition for that and we were losing day.  So, back to the car where Linda ferried me to the park and ride to retrieve my vehicle.  My reunion with such a great hiking friend was much too brief, perhaps our paths will cross again for more than just a quick day together in the future.

Keep your eyes on Linda's Blog in the weeks to come because she is currently hiking with other bloggers out in Arizona!  She's not posting about it yet, she tends to be behind in getting stuff up just like I am.  I've got a few more to post about my tip to the Pacific Northwest and then it's onward and southward.  Most likely I am leaving the end of this week for a trip with Wayne down to Georgia where I hope to add 2 more State Capitol tours to my list and round up to an even dozen!

Downtown Olympia - Murals and More

Back to the tour of Olympia, capital city of Washington State, Ladies and Gents!  In addition to the current State Capitol building I made my way over to the old State Capitol which now serves as the office of the Superintendent of  Public Instruction.  The Department of Public Instruction in Wisconsin is something I'm familiar with as a "retired" homeschooling Mom!

In case you were wondering, the 10 states whose Capitol buildings I have now visited are Wisconsin, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Nevada, Idaho, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Washington.

Romanesque Revival was very popular at the turn of the century

This old Capitol building was originally the Thurston County Courthouse and was built in 1892 of Chuckanut stone.  The original structure included a 150 foot octagonal clock tower with clock faces on all eight sides that is sadly no longer present.

 the Seal of the State of Washington, etched on flash green and clear glass
installed to commemorate the centennial of the state is shown at top of photo.

When the building was put to use as the Capitol a new wing was added. With this addition in 1905 the building featured three 20-foot-wide domed skylights, 12 conical towers arranged around all sides, and an ornate, wrought-iron elevator, which carried not only passengers but a small "snack bar" as well.

Over the years the building has faced many challenges, besides the usual upgrades and maintenance you would expect it has also survived a fire that gutted the tower and the fourth floor of the West and connecting wings, as well as earthquakes in 1949, 1965 and 2001.

I took to walking in the drizzle that afternoon, poking around a few shops and admiring the local architecture as I am prone to do.

Capitol Theater built in 1924 still in use

There were quite a few small murals, I'll save the big mural for another Monday.

My favorite shop was Hot Toddy, lots of retro reproduction style clothing and cat themed items to buy my daughter Katrina would have loved it!  Linking up to Monday Mural.