Shallow Patriotism

While Lisa and I made an effort to stock up on things at Bi-Mart in Klamath Falls yesterday (cheaper prices and no sales tax), I ran across yet another item that to me shows the shallowness of the "patriotism" some of my fellow American have.

( Treating patriotism as if it were your favorite sporting team's uniform )

Caring about your country is more than just shouting "USA! USA! USA!"

Merrill Oregon Train Collection

Driving south from Klamath Falls, the last town in Oregon along OR-39 is Merrill. As we passed through, we saw off to our right a bunch of railroad equipment. We've seen this before but this time we decided to go see what was actually out there, if we could get to it.

( A Rather Sad Collection, Actually )

There are more photos on my Flickr feed; click through the photos above to see them.

From a placard attached to a locomotive and former passenger car on display in Klamath Falls near our hotel on the Oregon Pacific & Eastern trail (former railroad line that led from K-Falls into the logging country, now a public trail), this equipment appears to be part of a projected museum; however, it's obvious that there would be a ton of work before this collection of rusting parts could be much of an attraction for anyone except dedicated enthusiasts like Lisa and me.

You Can't Go Home Again (In This Case, Literally)

After making a rest stop at the Honey Lake rest area on US-395, I decided to have a look at a place I lived for six months in 1977 when my father was stationed there with the US Forest Service.

( It's Not There Anymore )

This was a rather somber visit, even though I don't have great memories of this period of my life. It was strange to see it all razed and the land reverting to forest.