Desert Reflections

Newport is my favorite coast town of the Pacific NW.  It owes its existence and success to Yaquina Bay, a sizable natural harbor at the...

Hot or Cold Game One person hid something and the other player(s) had to find it by following the hider’s verbal clues.  For instance, hi...

McMinnville is a regular stop on our alternate year visits to the Pacific NW because my niece, Carina, lives there.  It’s a cool little tow...

Knives Jackknives were popular back then and every farm kid - the boys anyway, probably not the girls - had one.  I didn’t use mine much ...

Trish’s daughter, Teresa, is a speech-language pathologist, specializing in pre-teens.  She’s worked at elementary school and university l...

That’s Francis in French, pronounced france-WAH.  He’s from Quebec, came here to taste and select pinot noir wine for stores back home.  He...

Champoeg: yet another name that defies the rules of  phonetics.  It’s pronounced sham-POO-ee.  Allegedly, it’s a bastardized Kalipuya India...