Oregon150

Destination: Home

Heather Wales
Portland

by Heather Wales
Portland, OR
I moved to Oregon when I was 16 to live with my older sister. I had come from the hot, pitiless streets of L.A. County, a place of flat, concrete buildings and endless roads where nature had been beaten back mercilessly. In Hillsboro, I [...]

Life long Oregonian ……

Leeza Lanson
All Oregon

by Leeza Lanson
Tigard, OR
I have lived in Oregon my entire life of 41 years. I was adopted through the State of Oregon as a newborn. When I found my birth parents at age 27, they both still lived in Oregon as well. I have camped and traveled through most of Oregon (thanks to my adopted [...]

Jo Davis’ Oregon Story

Jo Davis
Salem

Listen to Jo Davis’ Oregon Story, as told to Jill Severson on Statehood Day, February 14th, 2009.

A Glimpse of Elk City

Alexis Steenkolk
Elk City

by Alexis Steenkolk
Toledo, OR

I live clear on the outskirts of Toledo where the pavement meets a one way gravel road. Elk City is a small jewel I treasure that lies 15 miles off the Newport ocean shore. Out towards the countryside a sturdy house built on love is where I was raised. My name is [...]

My Friend, My Love, My Joseph

Emiko Koike
Joseph

by Emiko Koike
Newport, OR
I fell in love with Joseph. It’s hard to believe that one can find love within forty-eight hours, but it happened to me. Excitement and adrenaline buzzed rapidly through my veins as black clouds shrouded the sky and waltzed with the roaring thunder. I’m not sure what took my breath away, the [...]

Mighty

Anna Zekan
Interstate 84 along the Columbia River Gorge

by Anna Zekan
Newport, OR
“So is this what you kids listen to these days?” asked my father in attempts to connect with his moody teenage daughter. I didn’t answer and only glanced at the clock. Only six more hours, I thought. I didn’t try to hide my boredom as I sat beside my gruff father on [...]

Monet Landscape

Sara Fox
Painted Hills

by Sara Fox
Toledo, OR
Before me lie sprawling sets of multicolor hills. Reds, oranges, yellows, purples, and blues, making up the swirling patterns of color in the rock, my eyes were astonished. Even though the weather around me soared at a blistering 115 degrees, inside I sensed a feeling of cool tranquility as I [...]

What lies beyond

Jon Dean
Logsden

by Jon Dean
Newport, OR
None of us knew why we turned left at the road to Beaver Creek. Maybe it was because I yelled “left!” and of course Joe obliged my request with great enthusiasm. Maybe though, it was calling to us, an irresistible magical spell that none of our futile minds and weak willpower could [...]

Watercolor Sunrise

Dave Hayes
Bald Peak

by Dave Hayes
Gaston, OR
Shortly after starting our morning trip to my son’s school, we experienced a view that exemplifies why I have kept my “Heart In Oregon”.
As we rounded the turn at the summit of Bald Peak, we beheld the scene that mother nature had concealed with her curtain of clouds for most of the [...]

Wamic, Oregon

Shelby
Wamic, Oregon

by Shelby
Oregon City, OR
My grandma lives by The Dalles in Wamic, Oregon. There is nothing but rolling hills and flat horizons. In the winter the cold nips at your nose and in the summer the sun warms your body. In the fall the trees are a mixture of golden browns, yellows and [...]

ACROSS THE COUNTRY

SANDY MARIE ROSE
WOODBURN

by SANDY MARIE ROSE
Woodburn, OR
MY NAME IS SANDY & MY FAMILY MOVED ACROSS COUNTRY BY CAR IN 1978 FROM NEW YORK CITY. WE MOVED FROM SKYSCRAPERS TO SNOW COVERED MOUNTAINS,BLUE SKIES,AND BEAUTIFUL VINEYARDS. I WILL BE A PIONEER ONE DAY & AM VERY PROUD TO BE HERE. OREGON IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO LIVE & [...]