Vermont [3/50]

What better to follow Oregon than the Oregon of the East Coast? Les and I have only been to Vermont once, but we did our best to get the entire Vermont experience in on that trip. We stayed at a cabin on Lake Champlain owned by my friend Mary, it had quite a view (and a ton of rain).

 And what says Vermont more than old covered bridges? We passed several since we decided to take the scenic way home.

This was the longest one we saw. It was also the only one no longer in use. The sign said the river had flooded and floated the bridge downstream from its original location. It also had the best windows. Les is waving from the middle one to give some perspective on the size of this thing.

Zoomed way in on Les waving from the middle window.

 We also visited the most famous food related thing in Vermont, the Ben & Jerry's factory.

 We also visited the Cabot Creamery which is the equivalent to Tillamook on the East Coast.

All that milk for awesome ice cream and cheese has to come from somewhere.

 Les has this thing about visiting capitol buildings when we visit a new state, so we did.

While at the capitol we mocked the statues (notice the guy in the background who looks like he is going to jump out and rob you) and Les rode a revolutionary war cannon.

 And thinking about it I may have overestimated Ben and Jerry's as the most famous food from Vermont, there is also maple syrup. And, luckily for us, there is a museum for it!

A really, REALLY, full museum that had real historic equipment, murals, taxidermied animals mixed with plush, interactive exhibits, a movie, syrup tasting and a massive gift shop. It was equal parts cool and creepy.

The entry to the museum portion starts with a startling animatronic farmer on a 7 or 8 foot ladder who moves and tells a whole story about sugaring as soon as you set off the motion sensor underneath him.   

The tasting table with different grades of syrup.

Oregon [2/50]

The view from a scenic overlook in eastern Oregon on I-84 after a storm. Not much to it.

Les and I have been through eastern Oregon several times on our trips between Utah and Washington, but let's be honest, eastern Oregon kinda sucks. I have two pictures that I think represent the eastern part of the state fairly well. Add some creepy old buildings from Pendelton or Baker City and that is really all there is to see.

But when most people think Oregon, especially those whose minds go to Cabot before Tillamook when it comes to cheese, they think Portland. And with good reason, Portland is a unique experience.

Les and I have only been there together once, for the wedding reception of his high school friend, Claire. Before attending the reception, Les and I accompanied Claire and her partner Alex around Portland on a few pre-wedding errands, including lunch at a vegan pizza parlor and a stop at a gluten-free bakery. Then we attended the reception at a wine bar in downtown Portland, on the waterfront of the Willamette River. Not much says Portland more than a vegan reception for a lesbian wedding in a wine bar. It was awesome, we were tired, but it was worth the drive.

On the way home from that trip we drove up through Astoria and happened to come across a giant party for the 25th anniversary of the movie, The Goonies. We saw a few sights and then took the long way home back to Ardenvoir.

Of all the signs I've ever photographed (and I had a thing going for a while), this is my absolute favorite. And it's perfectly Oregon.

The Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia, connecting Oregon and Washington. Not really a representative photo of the state but definitely of that trip. But it is on the Oregon side, and I really love this photo.