From: ganthony@gmail.net   
      
   Technobarbarian  wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   >       My wife and I have been out flinging ourselves through time and   
   > space again. We made another wild dash through Eastern Oregon. Four days   
   > and roughly a thousand miles. I could easily spend four days in many of   
   > the places we passed through in under 4 hours. We collected some nice   
   > leaf and pine fossils from Fossil OR, from millions of years ago. Back   
   > when that area was wetter and had more vegetation. We collected some   
   > nice Oolitic agates, or Fish egg agates from BLM land near the Malhuer   
   > Wildlife reserve. They aren?t really ?agates? and they are not fossils.   
   > They are formed by rapid wave action in shallow seas over a long period   
   > of time. Some of the best specimens look like clusters of fish eggs.   
   > This was back in the days when the Cascade mountains hadn?t arrived in   
   > Oregon yet and the wind patterns were a lot wilder. The experts say that   
   > ?agates? have bands of color because they are formed by mineral rich hot   
   > water flowing through volcanoes over a long period of time. That area is   
   > a beautiful mix of desert and wetlands now. We did find a few agates and   
   > a lot of other pretty rocks around the John Day river and the Columbia   
   > river. We found a few fossils in those places too.   
   >   
   >       As you would expect there hasn?t been a lot of change out there   
   > since our visit last year. We did have an opportunity to see some of the   
   > things we had to skip last summer. The maga restaurant in John Day is up   
   > for sale now. The owner wants to retire. It?s only open for 4 days, for   
   > the dinner hours now. I highly recommend the Wheeler county Historic   
   > museum in John Day. The historic jail at the museum was stolen from   
   > another county out there. The museum proudly admits this. It?s a hoot. I   
   > also recommend the museum/cultural center for the indigenous tribes in   
   > that area near Pendelton. It?s behind their casino, which we didn?t   
   > visit.   
   >   
   >        An online friend of my wife?s mentioned that if she drove that   
   > many miles from Britain she would be in a different country. Well yeah.   
   > We barely left Oregon for side trip to the Saint James Monastery?s   
   > Bakery, on the other side of the river. The food and coffee draw us in   
   > every  time. They have a lot of Greek food that you generally don?t find   
   > anywhere, out in the middle of nowhere. It looks like it?s working for   
   > them. The bakery is obviously successful.   
   >   
   >       We looked at the Columbia river where the Celilo falls had been   
   > before the dams were built. There is more than one old town under water   
   > out there now. I remember having lunch in one of them a long time ago.   
   > We found some pretty rocks there and one or two fossils.   
   >   
   >        The folks out there speak a slightly different version of my   
   > native language,   
      
   What is it, Venusian?   
      
      
   and it is a lot like visiting a different country.   
   >   
   > TB   
   >   
      
      
      
   --   
   Biden doesn’t need a cognitive test… his voters do.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)