roadtrip rehash: day 5 (portland sucks, breitenbush hot springs, clear lake)

After a weird night of weird bars and weird beers (and one tasty sour beer), we checked out of our weird hotel in weird downtown Portland.

I could go into detail about why Portland was weird (BAD weird, to be clear) but I'll spare you and just say the city is lacking....

Anyway. While waiting for the car to be brought around, I ordered a breakfast sandwich from the cafe downstairs of the hotel, and this sandwich would be the one redeeming aspect of Portland. This sandwich was by far, the most delicious breakfast sandwich I've ever eaten in my entire life. Called the PDXWT (from Portland Penny Diner) , it featured duck bologna, sauerkraut, coffee mayo, egg and cheese. And it was insane. 

Obviously, to balance out all the savory, our next stop was an international tourist attraction known for sweets.



We decided to get two "real" choices (donuts we thought we'd actually like) as well as two "experimental" choices (donuts this place is known for that are more gimmicky than delicious.)



Our two "real" choices; the bacon maple bar (self explanatory) and the "Memphis mafia" (fried dough with peanut butter, chocolate, and bananas) were pretty great.

Our two "experiment" choices; the "Captain my captain" (captain crunch topping) and bubblegum donut (vanilla frosting, bubblegum "dust", and a piece of bubble gum) were interesting but nothing we could eat more than a bite of.

With our newly acquired sugar high, we drove off through the Oregon Cascades toward our next destination; Breitenbush Hot Springs. On our way, we passed signs for the Detroit Dam, and decided to stop and check it out. It was very cool and well worth the stop.





We eventually made it to the hot springs. Breitenbush required advanced reservations, and when we were planning this stop on the trip, we had a lot of hesitation about the resort. Their website makes it look like a commune of naked hippies, hanging out in hot springs, doing yoga, and eating vegan food all day --- which sounds perfectly wonderful --- but also hygienically questionable. Fortunately, Breitenbush is completely legit, with impeccable, spotless facilities (they empty and clean the tubs several times a day, and were vacuuming the library in the main lodge when we arrived.) We spent the late morning soaking in the 109º mineral springs overlooking the Cascades, rinsing in freezing cold mountain water, and steaming in a hot house, followed by a really great vegetarian lunch on the deck of the resort's main lodge.



After Breitenbush, we headed further south and east to Clear Lake. As of May 2010, there are actually 11 bodies of water in Oregon referred to as "Clear Lake, " but this specific one is the one nestled 3,000 ft above sea level in the Cascades of Linn County. Clear Lake gets its name from the crystal clear, almost transparent water that fills its basin. The water here is particularly clear for several reasons, mainly because it is spring fed, but also because its bottom is covered in ash from a volcanic eruption roughly 3,000 years ago (limiting the number of algae, etc that will grow in it.)

It's these same conditions that allow a stand of tree trunks to be preserved in their upright position, submerged under 100+ ft of water. These trunks are the remains of ancient trees that were inundated by the volcanic explosion. As you can see in the next few photos, the water is so clear, that even in the deepest parts, where the water measure 175 ft deep, you can still see straight down to the bottom.



Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have two great fears in life (1) spiders and (2) things in water that wouldn't be there naturally (usually manmade things like pool lights, docks, shipwrecks, drains, etc) this fear gets multiplied exponentially in deeper water. While the spider thing has a pretty obvious explanation (they're gross, fast, and unpredictable), the water thing is something I've never been able to understand. I love water (I love scuba diving and snorkeling!! I'm a strong swimmer!!!), I love creepy things, and I love exploring... so why when those things are combined, am I rendered into a useless blob of pure fear? Who knows.

Anyway, I only mention this fear because the next few photos show Jay patiently rowing me around the lake in between my bouts of extreme fear and irrationality. I'm not exaggerating when I say I was completely out of my mind for the majority of this experience. I gave Jay unintelligible directions about where to row the boat, I couldn't make any decisions or form complete thoughts (Jay:"Allison, do you want to go back to solid land?" Me:"Ummm, I dunno? Coffee grounds?") 





After these two shots, my photos got progressively blurrier as I basically closed my eyes and pointed my phone blindly at the water hoping I'd at least be able to see what I was sitting on top of at a later point in time when I wasn't so paralyzed with fear.





(Come on, you have to admit it's a little creepy to see the semi-recognizable outlines of trees and realize they're ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE feet down below the surface of the water.)

When we finally decided we'd had enough (me of the fear, and Jay of me complaining about my fear), we got back in the car and headed towards Bend.

We passed through some beautiful forests in the Cascades, including a section that looked to have been involved in a fire in the relatively recent past.





We also caught some great views of Mt.Washington and the surrounding peaks.





We made it to Bend a little later, and had an incredibly delicious (and affordable!) meal of duck fries (fries cooked in duck fat, served with truffle aioli), baby back ribs with truffled mac and cheese, and cocktails. 

cabo rojo salt flats, cabo rojo, puerto rico

natural salt marsh in the cabo rojo reserve


the salt mines in cabo rojo are possibly the oldest industry in the new world. salt has been mined in this location since the time of the tainos (native pr people), in the 15th century.


the flats are flooded with water from the natural salt marsh, then slowly evaporated. once they are completely dried, the salt is left behind and harvested.

cross florida barge canal

florida isn't exactly known for awesome progressive acts, but one of the few cool things to happen there  was the cancelation of a cross-state barge canal (canceled for environmental reasons!) the canal was to run from the atlantic coast to the gulf coast, across the north-central part of the state, to cut travel costs and time for barges. it was funded in the 1930s and construction began, only to be stopped and restarted many times until the project was officially canceled in 1991. 

the best part is, the entire length of the route is now a protected greenway that spans a mile across almost the entire way.

several of the supports for a bridge over the canal are located just outside my hometown, in santos. these particular supports date back to the original go-ahead in 1935.

bridges of cheshire county

covered bridges in cheshire county, new hampshire

sutro tower, san francisco, ca

a 977 ft television antenna tower built in 1973 in san francisco, ca.

golden gate bridge, san francisco, ca

happy 75th, old lady!


(a great way to get vertigo is to look up and watch the fog roll past the towers. holy crap.)

new croton dam

constructed between 1892 and 1906, the masonry new croton dam measures 266 ft broad at its base and 297 feet high. the dam, plus the spillway pictured below, measures a total length of 2,188 feet.

old croton culvert

ossining weir and croton aqueduct tunnel tour

friends of old croton aqueduct hosts several walking tours of parts of the old aqueduct. this particular tour was of the old ossining weir and a portion of the adjacent tunnel, which dates back to 1845.

abandoned north shore lirr tracks at snug harbor, staten island

old bmx ramp near the tracks.


memorial to a local fisherman.




c.s.o.

bayonne bridge, new jersey - staten island

views from the bridge:




abandoned north shore lirr station, as seen from the bridge

Freedom Tunnel, NYC, NY

norman j levy park and preserve

fourth of july

Orchard Beach and Pelham Bay Park

Once referred to as "The Riviera of the Bronx," Orchard Beach is a 1.1 mile long stretch of public beach located in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. Although the beach is surrounded by acres and acres of natural forest, marshlands and coastline, the beach is actually man-made.

Freshkills Park

At over 2200 acres, Freshkills Park is the site of what was formerly the world's largest landfill. Named after Fresh Kills landfill (from the middle dutch word "kille" meaning riverbed or water-channel), the park sits in a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the NYC borough of Staten Island.

Opened in 1948, the contents of twenty barges, each carrying 650 TONS of garbage, were added to Fresh Kills Landfill each day during its peak years of operation. When the landfill site was shut down in March of 2001, its highest point was 82 feet taller than the statue of liberty. After the September 11th attacks, Freshkills was temporarily in use as a sorting ground for roughly one third of the rubble from Ground Zero.

Many of the surrounding neighborhoods were in existence before the landfill opened.


In 2001, the Dept of City Planning held an RFP which led to a design contest won by the firm Field Operations in 2003. In 2006, NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation became the lead agency overseeing the implementation process. The Draft Master Plan for Freshkills Park envisions the site as five parks in one, each with a distinct character and programming approach. It amended Field Operations' original design proposal with input gathered in meetings and workshops between the project team and local Staten Islanders, nonprofit groups, and government officials.


When the park is fully developed, it will be NYC's second largest park and the largest park developed within the past 100 yrs. The park has been designed with five major sections that accommodate a range of uses, including cultural, athletic, and educational programs. Sections of the park will be connected by a circulation system for vehicles in addition to a network of paths for bicyclists, pedestrians, and equestrians.


Two of the four mounds at the site—the mounds located in North and South Parks—were capped in the late 1990s with an impermeable cover separating waste from the environment. Capping of the East Mound, which will become East Park, began in 2007 and is expected to be complete in 2011. Capping of the West Mound will begin in 2011 and proceed until 2018. DSNY works with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to meet regulations for environmentally sound landfill closure. DSNY will also maintain operating responsibility for on–site environmental monitoring and control systems for a minimum of 30 years after capping. The NYC Department of Parks & Recreation must also meet NYSDEC’s regulations--no area of the park is permitted to open to public access until it meets state standards for public access.


In addition to methane recovery, there are talks of planting solar cells which could potentially be sold to Con Ed, which conveniently runs a plant outside the edge of the park.


Staten Island Transfer Station is located on the site as well. The transfer station is expected to process an average of 900 tons per day of Staten Island-generated residential and municipal waste. The waste is compacted inside the 79,000-square-foot facility into sealed 12-foot high by 20-foot long intermodal shipping containers (seen below in orange), which are then loaded, four containers each car, onto flatbed rail cars to be hauled by rail to a landfill in South Carolina. The eight mile Staten Island Railway freight service which connects the facility to the national rail freight network via the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge was reactivated in April 2007, after it had been closed in 1991.


To the Northeast of the park sits William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is named for an American naturalist, entomologist and historian who urged the Audubon Society and NYC Parks Dept to create the refuge and whose family history on Staten Island dates back to the 17th century.


Some of the excavator equipment stored on the site.


The Parks Department operates free tours of the Freshkills Park site from April through November of each year. Tours are conducted by bus, guided by Parks employees or NYC Urban Park Rangers and last approximately an hour and a half. You must sign up for the tour by going to the NYCP website here, clicking the green link halfway down for "Tours and Programs" and following the directions from there.