All I want to do is take pictures: Exploregon

I recently read somewhere, "Good things come to those who go," and I feel like that's a good mantra for me. I have the worst time staying in one place for any length of time, and the only thing that calms my spirit is in discovering every little bit of a place.

I've been visiting Oregon for 5 years now, and I'm still finding new places to take my camera. More often than not, in seeking new places, I find other new places. That's how I stumbled on Golden.

Stop.The.Car.

This newspaper tossed over the railing of the building above was dated 1992.

There were a couple of locals meeting on the side of the road near the site who took the time to chat me up as I was getting ready to leave. They thanked me for taking photos, as one observed some of the buildings were not expected to make it through the winter.... not that they had been expected to make it through last winter either. I wish I had thought to get their email addresses so I could send them what I captured, but my mind was completely blown at having even found this place!

This is what I was actually looking for that day.

It's the covered bridge at Grave Creek.

Morbid name for a place?

Well...

"In the fall of 1846, the first emigrant train from Fort Hall, Idaho, to travel the southern route to the Willamette Valley camped on the north side of this creek, then Woodpile Creek. Martha Leland Crowley, 16 years old, died of Typhoid fever during this encampment and was buried one-hundred-fifty feet north of the creek on the east side of a white oak tree that was later removed for the present roadway, thus the name Grave Creek."

~Historical Site sign, Grave Creek, OR

And there Ms. Crowley still rests.

This adventure was spawned by the discovery of another covered bridge a few days earlier: this one in Wimer, Oregon.

I don't know much about the history of this one, but there was some interesting things around there to photograph.

The cool...

...and the downright creepy.

That's a tire swing on the left, a kiddie pool on the right, and this wooden stag which seemed to have been created to stand guard over this grave. There was a wooden arch built over the walkway into the area, declaring it "May Ellis Park". Was this Ms. Ellis's resting place? I don't know - my hair stood on end just walking around this place, so I didn't stay long enough to find out.

On January 11, I spent the first half of the day fulfilling some obligations I had taken on as house/cat sitter, so it was mid-afternoon by the time I discovered it was absolutely gorgeous outside.

"Wanna go for a drive? It's gorgeous out!"
"No, I overexerted myself today - I'm going to take a nap."

A nap? On a day like this?

Not I!

I hit the highway and drove. I knew I had only about 2 hours before I needed to be back home.

I didn't find Lake Selmac until I had turned around to head back.

I need another visit here, but there is no way I will ever be so lucky as to get this light with this calm and this sun quite like this again.

I spent another afternoon attempting to tackle Rainie Falls Trail, which I've been hearing about for the entire five years I've been visiting Oregon. Unfortunately, I didn't give myself enough time and the fear of losing my way in the dark won out over my sense of wanderlust, so I suppose I'll continue to hear about this trail until I get the chance to actually make my way to the end.

I did get a few nice shots, though.