Oregon150

By Ted Kulongoski, Oregon Governor

I love the idea of an Imagine Oregon blog - because our 150th birthday party should be as much about figuring out where we’re heading as it is remembering where we’ve been. So in a future blog, I’m going to write about some of things I imagine for Oregon’s future. But I won’t necessarily be looking for you to agree with me. Some of my favorite comments are certain to start: “Governor - You can’t be serious!” That’s what blogging should be - a dialogue, not a monologue.

But today I want to do something a little different. I want to talk about the unimagined Oregon. Or to be more precise - some of the extraordinary places my family and I have traveled that I simply can’t imagine Oregon being without. Our connection to Oregon’s natural environment defines us as a people. It is who we are. Or as I said on Saturday during Family Day at the Capitol in Salem, we rejoice that of all the places on earth, we get to live here.

I know that many people, when they think of taking a great trip - imagine a week in Paris or a ten-day cruise. Not me. We realized long ago that our best family vacations were camping trips in Oregon. That would have been true even if Mary and I could afford to fly or drive our five-member family, pay for a hotel, and enjoy restaurant food. Like most young families - we couldn’t. So for over 30 years, we’ve been discovering Oregon’s landscapes, state parks, campgrounds, and people. Our children have long since grown up but we can’t break our habit. And we don’t want to.

One place that we visit often is Crater Lake National Park. We’ve been there in all seasons and that blue, blue water is always breath-taking - unless the lake is shrouded in low clouds or fog, and impossible to see. The view from any point on the rim, spanning the crater and spanning the sky, always gives me a spiritual feeling of respect for nature’s beauty. The blue sky above seems within closer reach than the blue water below. The view from the lake surface, up, up to the surrounding peaks, gives me a feeling of humility. And any view-even a fog-impaired view - gives me a moment of head-shaking amazement thinking about the geologic forces that created the lake.

Another landscape that we frequent is the Steens Mountain area, including the Diamond Craters and the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. On one visit, we sat at the top of Steens Mountain eating our sack lunches. Clouds came down and blocked our view. Then a breeze parted the clouds. This pattern repeated itself like an enormous stage curtain opening and closing - each time revealing a slightly different glimpse of the Alvord Desert. It was a stage play only nature could perform.

Although we’re often drawn to Oregon’s mighty vistas, we also look for Oregon’s history. That’s how we discovered the Sumpter Valley Dredge (now a State Heritage Area, thank goodness) and Granite. We first visited Granite because the buildings visible from the road looked irresistibly like a ghost town. As we wandered around the buildings and lingered in the cemetery, parsing the carvings on the grave stones, a living person - not a ghost - appeared to show us around. That unplanned moment began a friendship that has lasted many years.

These are just three of our favorite places in Oregon. We like to re-visit them - but we also like to discover new places. So write in and tell your fellow Oregonians your favorite places in our state - and the special memories these places hold for you.