Sam and I have noticed that spring is coming. It isn’t officially here yet, at least not according to the calendar, but try telling that to the robins earnestly plucking worms out of the warming ground or to the woodpecker rat-a-tat-tatting on a nearby tree or to the (fruitless) flowering pear trees in our yard or to our lawn or to all the weeds suddenly popping up everywhere.
Two sure signs of spring include baseball season about to begin - yay God! - and this urgent need I’m feeling to travel somewhere.
Last night I dreamed I was playing baseball for the New York Yankees (I know, boo, hiss!) and I was about to come up to bat - I was thinking I’d hit a home run - when suddenly I realized I was wearing my street shoes. I had left my cleats somewhere; they weren’t on my feet. How could I hit a home run in street shoes? I franticly tried to think of a solution to my predicament and all I could think of was to run quick to the stadium shoe store (they have those don’t they?) and buy a pair of cleats. I was worried that the store might not have my size, but then my dream ended and I had to get out of bed and see if I could hit the toilet. Good thing I didn’t have a hangover and the toilet wasn’t coming at me like a wicked fastball. I’m sorry to say I’ve had that sort of experience with toilets before.
As far as travel is concerned, going anywhere long distance right now is out of the question. But Kathleen heard something about a town named Scappoose the other day and that darned name intrigued us so much we decided to find the town and check it out. Turns out Scappoose is a little spot in the road next to the Columbia River on Oregon State Highway 30, a few minutes south of Longview, Washington, and about 45 minutes northwest of Portland.
According to no less an authoritative source than Wikipedia, “Scappoose is a city in Columbia County, Oregon. It was named for a nearby stream, which drains the southern part of the county. The name "Scappoose" is of Native American origin, and is said to mean "gravelly plain.” Scappoose has essentially become a "bedroom" community of Portland. Dairies, farming, and logging played an important role in the early years of Scappoose's history. In the more recent past, several factories existed in the community and provided jobs. The town was home to a shoe factory, two candle factories, and a Steinfeld's Sauerkraut factory.”
That bit about the sauerkraut factory had Kathleen and I hoping we could take a factory tour and taste some sauerkraut, but we didn’t see a factory. It’s probably kaput jawhol? We did have a pretty good fish and chips lunch however and took Sam for short walk in the Scappoose city park.
We drove 102 miles one way, took a short walk in the park and ate lunch. We are bona fide touristas baby!
Our country has a lot of little towns bearing weird names. Ever hear of Pe Ell, Washington? We’ve been there. Ever hear of Grand Mound? We tried valiantly to find Grand Mound oe time but never did. It’s supposed to have these big mounts of dirt that may have been put there by aliens or that contain Indian artifacts or whatnot. Nobody knows. We’ll sure never know ‘cause we never found the darned place.
Hey, if you’re interested in towns with weird names, check out our blog posted on August 10, 2012 titled, Is Your City Crapo or Worse, and go visit some places. You’ll be glad you did. No poop.
Two sure signs of spring include baseball season about to begin - yay God! - and this urgent need I’m feeling to travel somewhere.
Last night I dreamed I was playing baseball for the New York Yankees (I know, boo, hiss!) and I was about to come up to bat - I was thinking I’d hit a home run - when suddenly I realized I was wearing my street shoes. I had left my cleats somewhere; they weren’t on my feet. How could I hit a home run in street shoes? I franticly tried to think of a solution to my predicament and all I could think of was to run quick to the stadium shoe store (they have those don’t they?) and buy a pair of cleats. I was worried that the store might not have my size, but then my dream ended and I had to get out of bed and see if I could hit the toilet. Good thing I didn’t have a hangover and the toilet wasn’t coming at me like a wicked fastball. I’m sorry to say I’ve had that sort of experience with toilets before.
As far as travel is concerned, going anywhere long distance right now is out of the question. But Kathleen heard something about a town named Scappoose the other day and that darned name intrigued us so much we decided to find the town and check it out. Turns out Scappoose is a little spot in the road next to the Columbia River on Oregon State Highway 30, a few minutes south of Longview, Washington, and about 45 minutes northwest of Portland.
According to no less an authoritative source than Wikipedia, “Scappoose is a city in Columbia County, Oregon. It was named for a nearby stream, which drains the southern part of the county. The name "Scappoose" is of Native American origin, and is said to mean "gravelly plain.” Scappoose has essentially become a "bedroom" community of Portland. Dairies, farming, and logging played an important role in the early years of Scappoose's history. In the more recent past, several factories existed in the community and provided jobs. The town was home to a shoe factory, two candle factories, and a Steinfeld's Sauerkraut factory.”
That bit about the sauerkraut factory had Kathleen and I hoping we could take a factory tour and taste some sauerkraut, but we didn’t see a factory. It’s probably kaput jawhol? We did have a pretty good fish and chips lunch however and took Sam for short walk in the Scappoose city park.
We drove 102 miles one way, took a short walk in the park and ate lunch. We are bona fide touristas baby!
Our country has a lot of little towns bearing weird names. Ever hear of Pe Ell, Washington? We’ve been there. Ever hear of Grand Mound? We tried valiantly to find Grand Mound oe time but never did. It’s supposed to have these big mounts of dirt that may have been put there by aliens or that contain Indian artifacts or whatnot. Nobody knows. We’ll sure never know ‘cause we never found the darned place.
Hey, if you’re interested in towns with weird names, check out our blog posted on August 10, 2012 titled, Is Your City Crapo or Worse, and go visit some places. You’ll be glad you did. No poop.
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