Day 4 Grand Tour Heading North Again

There was only a little time to visit with everyone else busy on farm schedule. Still, we've had a great time and this was the right way to start the trip with family and familiar surroundings. We just had time for a quick and early goodbye to Rowan who was grinning and packing a massive lunch of pizza and more to get him through the day. Katie was already in the field so we mugged a bit with Ella and grandmother Kathy before loading for the short drive to the Max station at the end of the line in Gresham. Laurie caught up with Katie for a hug as she now had Ella strapped on her back in a field of kale being harvested. I had to settle for waves as we headed out.

A quick hug to Kathy who of course had a list of chores to do while off the farm. We caught a Max train within a minute and were off to the Portland Union Station again. We got off in Chinatown for a short walk to the station. Our train left just after noon with a switch to an Amtrak bus in Seattle (or so we thought). We were able to check our bags and make a food run into the Pearl district before leaving. We also learned our trip up from Sacramento was lucky compared to the one yesterday where both directions were delayed for hours due to a freight train hitting a bear with damage to brake lines and of course worst results for the bear. Ouch! Note, these are some of the best train routes and schedules for longer travel on the west coast but they are mere skeletons of what we rode in Great Britain and Scandinavia last fall. We'll see if Canada or the east coast can do any better.

Luckily, I was able to call my mom and wish her a happy 85th birthday today while we waited at the station. After we arrive our communications will be sketchy until we can get our phones on a Canadian service. Email should work at least in each city we spend time in.

We boarded an Amtrak Cascades train for the first time on this next leg to Vancouver and this really makes the trip feel real. Next up, several days with family and some wandering in Vancouver before the long journey to Toronto. Hopefully we will get local SIM cards and have our phones working to keep in touch along the way. Meanwhile, the ride up to Seattle was relaxed even sitting facing backward as the green countryside rolled by under an overcast sky. We haven't seen much of either for a long while. Wireless on the train distracted us as the train made frequent stops for small stations and other trains.

We arrived in Seattle right on time and picked up our bags to wait for a bus connection to Vancouver. This was easier than taking a later train straight through. It turned out we missed the bus boarding location and any announcement. The Amtrak staff person we notified hooked us quickly with train tickets and we ended up on the very same train.we had time to pick up dinner and spent a little more time in Seattle than planned. The train started ahead off schedule but was slowed by construction so it was nearly midnight when we arrived and briefly stopped at customs. We took a taxi and our AirBNB host had left light and some snacks in the fridge. A good welcome to Canada!

About to board the Amtrak Cascade for our trip

to Seattle and Vancouver,

Day 3 Grand Tour

Today was one of those days on the farm to remember and we will. We got up slowly although Rowan, Katie, and Ella were outside before the sun came up. We worked on chores around the house and got ready for leaving tomorrow. Laurie even managed to work on a remote work problem and hel brother Jon adjust to things back home. 

We left about noon to do some shopping and pick up sandwiches for lunch with Rowan at Headwaters Farm, his day job. He has many projects underway he is trying to finish before the rains come which could be soon. He will also be hosting a national conference of incubator farms like his soon. We enjoyed a fun but brief lunch in his busy day and picked up pizzas to feed everyone dinner later to help out. Trips from the farm are mainly very efficient and this was no exception.

In the afternoon Laurie babysat so Katie could spend more time on the tractor and with her field crew. Meanwhile I continued my Canada thistle eradication project. Now that the thistle is flowering they have to be cut and bagged to keep them from spreading farther and faster across the farm. There was some nice quiet time outside in the evening catching up with the activities of today and sharing time with the baby. We had a big dinner and all helped with chores before a quiet evening.

Tomorrow we spend the morning in Portland and then catch a train to Seattle briefly and then on to Vancouver. The trip will really be on then but this has been a great start.

Katie mult-tasks with Ella's help and Charlie's watchful eye

Tailgate lunch with Rowan in the shade at Headwater Farm

Dinner with Ella is always a fun experience as she enjoys squash and her favorite farm animal book

 

 

 

Day 2 Grand Tour On the Farm

Most days on the farm start early and this one did too. Just enough time to wolf down a bagel from the train ride covered in brother John's gift of homemade marmalade and coffee.

The main chore today was processing chickens which I haven't done before. Rowan and I gathered up all 50 of the young chickens that have been raised as meat birds. Now they are grown a few were trying to crow this morning. We took them to a nearby farm where Mike and Linda specialize in raising goats, chickens, and pigs they process for others. They have all the tools and special equipment needed to process chickens and make them available in exchange for farm produce, in-kind trade or cash and they provide that service to Rowan and Katie once a year when they need it. Fiddlehead worker Thane joined in on the processing for some of the meat for personal use.

The entire job took about three hours for the four of us with expert help from Linda. They have a clean and humane operation and special equipment that makes it easier to pluck and clean and store the birds until it's time to take them home. I've worked with game animals before but there are steps in an operation like this that were new to me. I should mention these are range fed, non-GMO birds. We had the remaining one from last year as part of a delicious meal this evening.

We spent time relaxing in the afternoon with baby Ella and lunch from yesterday's dinner leftovers and even got in a short nap before evening chores including picking up the processed chickens for bagging and home storage. Bagging and freezing the chickens went smoothly later in the dark and there will be more feasts ahead.

It is very dry here too at the end of summer and the cars collected ash from a nearby fire. We also watched planes pass overhead that are being used to control that fire. Another reminder of our rapidly changing climate. I can't help but think Rowan, Katie, Ella, Joe, Kathy and Charlie are in the best place and doing the right things for us all. We've picked out a possible location for the tiny house we might move into some day on a part time basis.

 

Baby Ella showing Nama her new kissing skills

Day 1 Train to Portland

Quiet night on the train after an hour late start. We got good seats in the front of a car near the back of the train. That means extra legroom and less foot traffic at night after dining and snack cars close. In the morning we were awake before the sun came over the Cascades and saw a little snow on the north slope of Mt. Shasta. It's dry every where in the middle of what has become a year round fire season. It's hazy in the distance near the town of Weed as one would expect with a name like that.

Farther north I can recognize the Klamath valley by the large green irrigated fields, wrecked vehicles and trailers. Nice to enjoy a little LTE cell phone coverage while passengers pile out for the "fresh air" break. The next one won't come until Eugene on the other side of the mountains in the Willamette valley. The air was way too smokey to be considered fresh though, especially around the small community of Oakridge we passed through.

Train time gives one time to relax and think. If I was hanging on to a steering wheel there would be little time to look around. From high over head in a plane the view below would be limited to cloud cover, smoke, and specks on the ground. No way then to get a feel for the terrain and things altering the landscape mostly in view at all times.

Right now I'm thinking about a wolf named OR-7 or "Journey" who made history by trekking into California several years back for a return that was nearly 100 years in the making. We are passing through the same part of Oregon where that wolf spent a lot of time. Wandering in and out of California while logging thousands of miles in search of a mate, this wolf got international attention while hardly ever being seen or detected and yet doing what wolves do. Back in Oregon last year another surprise happened in the general area we are now. A mystery wolf turned up and they produced at least 3 young pups and started a pack that could repopulate California too. Those of us who worked on wolf conservation and management saw this coming but not so fast. Nature is full of surprises. The mystery wolf wasn't known in Oregon where wolves in the few established packs are tracked by radio collars. She may have fled the heavy hunting pressure in nearby Idaho where there is a very different approach to wildlife conservation.

We were soon beyond the large range of mountains that separates Oregon from California in many ways. We next got a close look at the agriculture and range lands that are the heart of the Willamette valley and Oregon. As we stopped for fresh air in Eugene I remembered getting off here with bikes and baby Lennon a few years back on a 600 mile fall ride through the same valley up to Portland to visit Rowan & Katie and then over to Astoria and down the coast to Florence before heading back inland to Eugene. What a trip that was and eye-opening how families with young children could travel and camp by bike. Elle and family have since raised that bar significantly.

Right now we are traveling a very familiar path at the beginning of this trip. Hey, what happened?

"Tunnel!"One always shouts that when it suddenly goes dark on a train. Try that on a plane sometime. It can work in a car but only when you are traveling with friends. Otherwise the drivers around you may swerve unsafely.

Where was I? Oh yes this part of the trip is familiar and so are our thoughts. As we continue on there will be a lot more questions and quickly scribbled bits of information.

We arrived just in time for Rowan to pick us up after their farmers market ended. Back on the farm, baby Ella has grown and changed some since our last visit a month and a half ago and we could see many new projects and additions elsewhere too. Playing with Ella while we help with chores came back naturally and we were soon enjoying a dinner of tamales and farm salad with everyone. Of course tomorrow starts early with tasks to do for all so it quiets down quickly afterwards. We are on a farm you know.

A "new"60+ year old dozer to grade around the barn for a new grant and lots more

Day 0 Grand Tour

        We are starting the trip a day early now to squeeze in a little more time with Rowan and family on the farm outside of Portland. Rumor has it that I'll be asked to dust off my chicken whisperer skills and help with the final processing of the flock of over 50 young "meat" birds I took care of on our recent visit in early August. I'm looking forward to more time with baby Ella and wandering about the farm again.

We started the last day before leaving at a local coffee shop to go over final lists and finish our tasks by bike before it got too hot. Not sure that worked but we did get everything done by early afternoon in two trips. That left mainly final packing and house chores. We are using different luggage and packing techniques for this trip and spent extra time going over, ok fiddling, with everything before we finally zipped the bags up and went back to generating more emails. If nothing else we seem to have captured that elusive "Rick Steves" look that is so popular now.

The final rush before declaring the trip on saw us in front of our computers pumping out emails to those we work with. I had general plan update deadlines, ongoing parkway fire problems and other issues, duck pond fish kill drama and more to pass along. The idea is that these and our other many important activities will stay behind in the capable hands of others while we explore and learn more about the bigger world around us and hopefully bring some fresh ideas and solutions home afterwards. Right now we'll probably settle for the break and sometimes restful distraction that comes with our travels.

Our friends Russ and Martha kindly offered to give us a late night lift to the station so we've started this multimodal public transportation adventure in an EV. That fits well with our intent. We're hanging out in the station which is still under renovation to restore historic features and become a more complete multimodal facility. Our midnight train is running about 45 minutes late so it will actually be tomorrow when we actually board for this next adventure. Maybe this counts as day 0 and 1 then?

Check out those clean color coordinated bags & we'll see how they hold up to baggage handlers.

The Grand Tour Indeed is about to start

We have been talking about and planning to plan a trip to the east coast timed to see the fall colors and explore some of the diverse areas of the east coast for a very long time. Well, we’ve finally done it. We leave, by train of course, in less than a week. Along the way we will stop to visit family in Portland, Oregon before heading on to Vancouver, BC for a few days of exploring and visiting. That will be the theme for the rest of this long journey by trains. As always, we expect to take lots of photos and notes and keep a running blog of our adventures along the way. From Vancouver we will take a train across Canada to Toronto. A few days later we’ll be off again for Montreal. From there we head off to have our very own “tango” in Halifax! All told we will spend about three weeks in Canada.

Next we will head south taking a ferry to Portland, Maine. We’ll be there for a few days and then head briefly to Boston and then up to Burlington, Vermont. We expect to be in the heart of fall colors conditions on most of this trip including during this stop. A few days later, we head south and will spend some time including my first visit to the Big Apple. A few days are set aside to explore the nonstop energy of New York before we take yet another train to Washington, DC. We have a long list of things to do at each of these stops and of course that means parks, museums, bike rides, sampling all sorts of food, lots of walking, more food, cozy places to stay and much more. We are going to take advantage of sleepers for the longer train rides. No one said we would be roughing it! After DC, it will be time to starting heading back. But first, there is still one more important stop to make. What would a grand tour be without a stop in the Big Easy! We have several days set aside in New Orleans and expect to enjoy every minute of it. When we finish there, we will crawl back on board and head back west across the gulf states and southwest before we arrive in Los Angeles for a whistle stop and train change. We will take the Coast Starlight back up the coast and arrive in Sacramento before Halloween.

All Aboard!