Cloud Hands: Travel

Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts

Friday, May 29, 2026

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

The West Edge Tour 2026

The West Edge Tour

2026

Highway 101 & 1

California & Oregon

San Diego to Astoria

Karen and Mike Garofalo

Old Cruisers in one Old SUV

Talking about What We See

Industry, Ag, Fish, Trees, Us

Leaving the City by the Bay

On the

Golden Gate Bridge

Where

Highway

101 & 1

Are One

Golden Gate Bridge 1937-

Where Highway 101 & 1 Meet
At the Golden Gate Bridge

Blog Posts about The West Edge Tour 2026

Target Date: April 1st to April 21st, 2026

Day 1:

Vancouver, Portland, Longview,
Astoria, Seaside, Cannon Beach,
Nehalem, Rockaway, Tillamook,
Lincoln City, Depot Bay, Newport,
Waldport, Yachats, Florence.

Day 2:

Florence, Reedsport, Coos Bay,
Bandon, Port Orford, Gold's Beach,
Brookings, Crescent City, Orick,
Patrick's Point, McKinleyville, Eureka.

At the Edges of the West

Thursday, January 08, 2026

Living in America - James Brown

James Brown (1933-2006)

I Live in America: San Fran, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, WA!

'Somewhere along the Way, You must find out who you are!'

Watch and listen to James Brown, "Living in America"

Flag Up for Fourth of July!

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and Museum, Pendleton, Oregon

On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Karen and I enjoyed visiting the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and Museum, near Pendleton, Oregon. The museum was quite large with fascinating exhibits and artwork. It featured the history, culture, and artifacts of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes of northeast Oregon.

We stayed at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino, eight miles west of Pendleton. There are also hundreds of new motel rooms off of Interstate 84 on a high bluff above the city of Pendleton.

On our first day, we ate breakfast at the old Hood River Hotel Cafe. It featured Scandinavian style breakfast foods. For lunch, we ate at Mazatlán Mexican Restaurant immediately adjacent to the main large Pendleton Stadium for all kinds of large events, powwows, Pendleton Round Up, races, concerts, etc.

The drive from the Wildhorse Resort's golf course out to the Tamastslikt Museum gave us some great views of the Blue Mountains rising up immediately to the west. Interstate 84 from Pendleton 46 miles southeast to La Grande (2,700 feet), up and through the Blue Mountains has some steep grade, and gets closed in winter storms.

We intend to visit La Grande, Baker City, Boise and Walla Walla in a future four day trip.

The City of Pendleton, Oregon (population 17,900) sits in a narrow valley along the Umatilla River at the eastern edge of the Blue Mountains.

The Blue Mountains and the wide gentle rolling valleys filled with very Spring Green upcoming grains were a spectacular sight. Cattle grazing in many places along Interstate 84. The bright green fields covered with 6" plants were spectacular.

As is always the case, the MAIN FEATURE of our trips to the East of Portland, is the drive along the Columbia River along US Interstate 84 from Troutdale-Gresham, Oregon, to Boardman, Oregon. This is the famous Scenic Columbia River Gorge Area, preserved in various ways. This is a spectacular 147 mile drive! You drive by three Dams: Bonneville, Dalles, and John Day. The views were very good as we drove twice through this scenic Interstate highway along the Columbia River with the steep basalt canyon walls to the south of the highway.

I was impressed with the very large Amazon Data Super-Computer Centers in The Dalles and at Boardman. Hermiston and Prineville are other locations. They draw electrical power from The Dalles Dam and the John Day Dam.

I purchased one book at the Tamastslikt Museum gift shop:

"Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country. Compiled and edited by Jarold Ramsey. Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1977, 295 pages. Numerous illustrations. VSCL, Paperback.

"Beyond the literature of other regions in Oregon, these stories [from the northeast Oregon Coastal Tribes like the Tillamook or Nehalem] persistently dwell on the possibility of other worlds, other mediums of life, and strange travels and transformation from one world to another. The imagination of the coastal Indian, living on the brink of the great unknown element of the Pacific, must have been deeply attuned to such possibilities ... Behind such weird episodes, there is always the compelling presence of the sea, both familiar and alien, indifferent giver of life, another, alternative medium of being, limitless - "the river with one bank," the Indians called it - the source of all change."
- Jarold Ramsey, Coyote Was Going There, p. 127.

I sat for a long time in the Museum under a reconstructed Tule Mat longhouse. I listened to recordings of Indian storytellers. I thought of practicing my string figures at home in Vancouver. I thought about the difference between communicating verbally and through printed text.

"This modern long tent community structure is a cotton canvas-covered version of the original Tule Mat Lodge or Longhouse, which is a shelter or house that was constructed using mats made of tule (a type of bullrush or reed) that was abundant along rivers and marshes in the Plateau region of North America and Canada. The reeds were first dried and then woven into mats and used as coverings for pyramid shaped lodges like tepees. Tules were perfect for building temporary, portable structures as the mats could be rolled up and carried away. Tepees were covered with animal skins but the tule-mat lodge was covered with mats of strong, durable, tule reeds. While the Long Tent you see on Whitman College campus has a canvas covering, it still carries the original practices of the Tule Mat Lodge engineering."

A reconstructed Tule Mat Longhouse
Tamastslikt Museum, Pendleton, OR

Cowboys and Ranchers and Farmers and Workers
Rodeos, Round Ups, Powwows
Anglos, Indians, Mexicans, Tourists

Roundup Rodeo is BIG

Wildhorse Resort and Casino
Golf Course

Cabbage Hill
Deadman's Pass
Interstate 84 from Pendleton to La Grand

Friday, May 09, 2025

Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 26

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 26

"The Place of Peace ...
The heavy is foundation for the light;
So quietness is master of the deed.
The Wise Man, though he travel all the day,
Will not be separated from his goods.
So even if the scene is glorious to view,
He keeps his place, at peace, above it all.
For how can one who rules
Ten thousand chariots
Give up to lighter moods
As all the world may do?
If he is trivial,
His ministers are lost;
If he is strenuous,
There is no master then."
- Translated by Raymond Blackney, 1955, Chapter 26

"As the heavy must be the foundation of the light,
So quietness is lord and master of activity.
Truly, “A man of consequence though he travels all day
Will not let himself be separated from his baggage-wagon,
However magnificent the view, he sits quiet and dispassionate”.
How much less, then, must be the lord of ten thousand chariots
Allow himself to be lighter than these he rules!
If he is light, the foundation is lost;
If he is active, the lord and master is lost."
- Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 26

"The weighty is the source of the light; stillness dominates disquietude.
Wherefore, while the Sage proceeds the whole day according to Tao, he never departs from either calmness or gravity.
Although there may be spectacles of worldly glory to attract him he sits quietly alone, far above the common crowd.
How is that a Prince of Ten Thousand Studs of Horses can regard his own person as of less importance than his regal dignity?
This lightness on the part of the Prince loses him his Ministers, while restlessness on the part of the Ministers loses them their Prince."
- Translated by Frederic H. Balfour, 1884, Chapter 26

"The Solid is the root of the light;
The Quiescent is the master of the Hasty.
Therefore the Sage travels all day
Yet never leaves his provision-cart.
In the midst of honor and glory,
He lives leisurely, undisturbed.
How can the ruler of a great country
Make light of his body in the empire by rushing about?
In light frivolity, the Center is lost;
In hasty action, self-mastery is lost."
- Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 26

重為輕根.
靜為躁君.
是以君子終日行, 不離輜重.
雖有榮觀.
燕處超然.
奈何以萬乘之主, 而身輕天下.
輕則失臣.
躁則失君.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 26

zhong wei qing gen.
jing wei zao jun.
shi yi sheng ren zhong ri xing, bu li zi zhong.
sui you rong guan.
yan chu chao ran.
nai he wan sheng zhi zhu, er yi shen qing tian xia.
qing ze shi gen.
zao ze shi jun.
-  Hanyu Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 26

"Gravity is the source of lightness,
Calm, the master of haste.
A lone traveller will journey all day, watching over his belongings;
Yet once safe in his bed he will lose them in sleep.
The captain of a great vessel will not act lightly or hastily.
Acting lightly, he loses sight of the world,
Acting hastily, he loses control of himself.
A captain can not treat his great ship as a small boat;
Rather than glitter like jade
He must stand like stone."
- Translated by Peter Merel, Chapter 26

"Heaviness is the basis of lightness.
Stillness is the standard of activity.
Thus the Master travels all day
without ever leaving her wagon.
Even though she has much to see,
she is at peace in her indifference.
Why should the lord of a thousand chariots
be amused at the foolishness of the world?
If you abandon yourself to foolishness,
you lose touch with your beginnings.
If you let yourself become distracted,
you will lose the basis of your power."
- Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 26

"Lo pesado es la raíz de lo ligero.
La calma somete a lo agitado.
Así, el sabio cuando viaja
no se aleja de la caravana.
Aunque pudiera divagar por los paisajes más excelsos,
conserva su paz y se hace superior.
¡Cuanta más atención debería poner el señor
del imperio en la esfera terrestre de su persona,
en vez de ocuparse de sus diez mil carruajes!
Quien se comporta superficialmente
pierde la raíz de su poder.
Quien se ofusca,
se pierde a sí mismo."
- Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 26

"Weight is the root of lightness, stillness the master of motion,

And the daily way of the sage departs not from his base,

Although he have brilliant prospects, he is unconcerned and quiet,

Should the lord of ten thousand chariots be too light for his place?

Then he will lose not supporters alone,

But, being too restless, loses his throne."
- Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 26

Chapter 26 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching

English Language Translators' Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo on a Chapter of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes at least 16 different translations or interpolations of the Chapter in English, two Spanish translations, the Chinese characters for the Chapter, a Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin Romanization of the Mandarin Chinese words for the Chapter, recommended reading lists, a detailed bibliography; indexing by key words and terms for the Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization; some commentary, and other resources for the Chapter.

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Walkways and Bridges in the Northwest

Bridges and Walkways in the Northwest

Here are some photographs available on the Internet:

Astoria-Ilwaco Bridge, OR

Tacoma Bridge and Mount Ranier, WA

Sunday, May 12, 2024

Rock Me Mamma

I think the lyrics for the country western song titled Wagon Wheel was written by Ketch Secor of the Old Crow Medicine Show Band and Bob Dylan.

Here is an campy adult version of Wagon Wheel by the Old Crow Medicine Show.

Here is a version of Wagon Wheel by Darious Rucker:

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Yurt Camping in the Coastal Pacific Northwest

Yurt Campsites on the Pacific Northwest Coast

Pacific Beach State Park, Pacific Beach, Washington
Bay View State Park, Padilla Bay, Mt. Vernon, Washington
Dosewallips State Park, Hood Canal, Brinnon, Washington
Twin Harbors State Park, Westport, Washington
Grayland Beach State Park, Grayland, Washington
Bay Center KOA, Bay Center, Washington
Cape Disappointment State Park, Ilwaco, Washington

Fort Stevens State Park, Astoria, Oregon
Nehalem Bay State Park, Manzanita, Oregon
Cape Lookout State Park, Netarts Bay, Tillamook, Oregon
Beverly Beach State Park, Depot Bay, Oregon
South Beach State Park, Newport, Oregon
William M. Tugman State Park, Eel Lake, Florence, Oregon
Sunset Bay State Park, Charleston/Coos Bay, Oregon
Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon
Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, Oregon

Parks in Oregon with Yurts or Cabins

Each month, I reserve a Yurt Campsite on the Pacific Coast six months in advance.
I choose between one of the Yurt locations listed above. I reserve the Yurt for three nights (Monday to Wednesday. This gives me four days at the beach.

Here is a collection of webpages that provide detailed information on my Yurt Camping travels from 2022:

Four Days in Grayland Travel directions, city information, camping tips, yurt camping considerations, destinations, activities, crafts, seasonal info, natural history, good reads, bibliography, observations, poetry, Native Americans ...

Yurt Camping on the Pacific Northwest Coast