Entries by TATIANA

The McKenzie Highway (OR 242) opened up a few days ago, parts of it is closed for the winter. It was a rainy day but as we say in Sweden, "det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder", so we decided to go anyways. It was actually pretty cool because not only was it raining cats and dogs it was also thundering and lightning. And I love thunderstorms. Saw some impressive flashes of lightning that were very close.
Here are the gates that opened up on June 19 to allow access through the McKenzie Highway.





The very impressive lava fields, a large area of black lava rock.



Traveling companion.





This is a very scenic area.....lots to see and explore.
The heavy rain caused a mud slide and a car got stuck.



And speaking of Volvo.....besides being a Swedish company originally (not sure if Volvo is now owned by a Chinese company?) anyhow...the word volvo is conjugated from a latin word, volvere and means "I roll". Back in the day when I used to go to a lot of raves you would see people wearing t-shirts at raves with VOLVO printed on them.

A couple of days ago while driving a dog ran past the car. I was waiting at a stop sign about to get on the freeway when that happened. I got out of the car and called the dog but she didn't stop and continued towards the freeway. I got really worried that she would run out on the freeway and get hit by a car so I followed her, passed her up and stopped at the next exit ramp. The dog ran on the sidewalk next to the freeway and I was hoping she would continue on the path, coming towards me which she did. When I saw her approaching in the mirror I got out of the car with Chhaya's leash in hand, crouched down and called for her to come to me. She hesitated for a second but then she came to me and I secured her. Other cars slowed down and one girl rolled down the window asking if I needed help but at that point I felt that we (me & my company) had the situation under control. I always travel with a spare leash and a bowl for water and offered her water that she lapped up. She was scared and tired but she waited patiently next to me. Thankfully she had a tag on her collar with some numbers and we managed to get a hold of the pet sitter.....So the dog's owner was out of town and had hired a pet sitter through a rather well known pet sitting company, I guess the dog ran outside when the front door was opened. It took about 30 minutes and the pet sitter, a very frazzled lady arrived. She was so relieved that the dog was safe and I was relieved that nothing bad happened to the dog. Hugs were exchanged and the dog was taken back home.



Then I found out that Winnie (the dog's name) was rescued from South Korea! Here is part of the text message that I got from Winnie's owner.
"Thank you so very much for calling the Humane Society about Winnie and also capturing her. I'm so happy she came to you. Winnie means a ton to me. She's one of the pups from South Korea. I've had her since she was 4 months old. She's a wonderful dog. Again I thank you so much."
WOW! It made me emotional thinking that Winnie was going to get slaughtered for meat. I am so happy that we happened to be at the right place at the right time. There was no question when we spotted the dog running loose - we were going to do what we could to capture her.
And speaking of meat.....yes it is awful that dogs are consumed as food in some countries and also treated horrible while waiting for slaughter. But other animals are also slaughtered for their meat and treated badly. Plus used to entertain us.....circus animals and animal parks. Being kind to animals is the right thing to do and not eating meat is what's right for me.

Summer Solstice is June 21 and today is also the global celebration and a day of gratitude for Larry Harvey.
Larry is the founder of Burning Man. Today is the anniversary of the first Burning Man ever, it happened in San Francisco in 1986. Larry passed away recently. But for all the people that go or have been to Burning Man.....he will always be appreciated. I never met Larry but I am extremely grateful that I made Burning Man a part of my life.
#thankslarry #larryharvey #burningsolstice

❤️





I went to Crater Lake today and I brought part of Burning Man with me there.

Today I went to Lava River Cave......it was 80 something degrees outside and sunshine but the temperature inside the cave is 42 degrees F. I realized that I forgot my tennis shoes and socks at home when almost at the destination, so I schlepped down into the underworld in my flip flops. It is about one mile to walk until you are not allowed to continue and my poor feet got numb from the cold on the way back. And I didn't see any bats although they live in the cave but are seldom seen because they are shy. We walked all the way to the end and it is a cool experience, make sure you check it out if you are ever around Central Oregon.
And here are some pics from today's trip......











I have two more trips planned this week that I am looking forward to!

Today I got some fresh basil out of my little garden. Quite exciting actually to eat what you plant.....! I got all kinds of veggies growing and thriving, the weather has been great for growing.





I put the basil on flatbread, drizzle olive oil, cut up some cheese and tomato and sprinkle with oregano. 350 degrees in the oven and comes out yummy.





Last night I started watching The Handmaid's Tale. I am eight episodes in, it's good.
Watching it makes me think about possible ways for others to control your whole existence. What is developing in China with the people there getting a social credit score is very frightening.
Besides that, I am following the build up to the summit in Singapore. I hope this meeting between Trump and Kim will lead to only positive changes for all of humanity.
Perhaps Dennis Rodman will make an appearance since he is chummy with both of them?
It's time for the people of North Korea to feel freedom. I still feel bad for what happened to Otto Warmbier and everybody else that suffered from treatment of the North Korean regime.

Yesterday we hiked to Chush Falls, about five miles roundtrip (according to online descriptions). The hike itself is easy and very scenic. The waterfall is strong. Although the trail ends where you overlook the waterfall through the trees and from a distance I recommend going down (scrambling down) the hill to get closer to the waterfall because it is quite spectacular. So worth it. You can also continue the path up past the "end of trail" sign to get an overlook of the waterfall.
This is a very nice hike.













I ❤️ Oregon!