We did not stay in Arizona long enough to miss all the snow in Oregon even if it was April 4th.

Talk about a dark and dreary day, you would never know these were not black and white photos except for the tail lights and the snow markers on the side but it was beautiful.  I am sure I found it prettier then some as I drive a Subaru that handles the snow like it was hardly there.

I was raised in the Central Oregon high desert of sagebrush and juniper flats with the Cascade Mountains on the edge. A big thrill of my life when I was small was when dad would haul a load of hay to Portland area and I got to ride with him. Sometimes my friend went too. In those days this was a big treat and dad would always take a break and let us run through the trees. We usually brought at least one limb back that was covered with a green moss fungus. 

One year we stopped at a service station to get gas and they had these small painted turtles for sale. We were enthralled by them so dad bought each of us one. In these days farmers were pretty broke for cash and we treasured our turtles. They were something we had never seen. We did not have much TV and very rarely went to the movies so I don't think we had ever seen one before.  I loved the turtle and once when I went to California with some relatives for 3 weeks my mom was taking care of my turtle and forgot about him. When I got home and rushed into my room to see the turtle in his little plastic home with a palm tree, a beach and a rock and a pond all that was there was the beach, the palm tree, the rock and the shell of what used to be the home of a turtle. He had dried up and blew away leaving only his little painted shell.  I am 65 and I still remember that turtle.

Another high light of the trip was the Ivy Bear, we would look for it coming and going. Today the sign is there but the bear has long since fallen over and the highway has changed course through that area but in my heart that Ivy Bear still stands tall and proud.

Every time I go over the pass to Portland many memories flood back to me of my dad, the trees, the green of the country.  Remember that to you it might be a boring long drive that has to be done but to your children it can be a memory maker for them. Always try to look through the eyes of a child full of discovery. Take 5 minutes to let them walk down the paths.