The sky cleared overnight and the temperature dropped, bottoming out at 26 about at the time I stepped out for breakfast. By eleven though it had warmed up enough that we were ready to brave it, and we started out for Thompson’s Mills State Heritage Site. We biked out here twice (here and here) in our month-long stay in Corvallis two years ago, so I won’t say more about it this time. It’s one of our favorite picnic stops in the region though. It’s interesting, it’s in a beautiful setting, it has convenient facilities, but we especially enjoy watching the Cayuga ducks and colorful chickens that are invariably scratching and waddling about.
The Oakville Church, established in 1850. It claims to be “ the first psalm-singing congregation to have continuous existence in the Western United States.”
Conducting the choir. There’s an attractive, friendly flock of Cayuga ducks resident at the park. Today they waddled up to our picnic bench for a brief visit.
I think this is probably a Cayuga duck, but maybe it’s a hybrid. They’re nearly all black with green heads when they’re young but can whiten as they age.
The chickens were all scratching around in the shade under a tree and hard to photograph today, but it was different the last time we were here when they were all huddled beneath our picnic table and one hopped up to join us.
It’s only 15 miles from Corvallis to Thompson’s Mills. On such a fine day as this we wanted a few more miles than the mere 30 we’d get if we turned back directly, so we added on by riding south along the Calipooia River for a few miles before turning back. And actually, these were the most enjoyable miles of the ride with some interesting farms and sights along the stream-like Calipooia.
Nothing new here though - these are all roads we explored well on our last stay, so we’re just dropping in on old friends again. Just a peaceful ride in the country on a beautiful winter’s day.
Bruce LellmanI don't think it's a white pine because they have five needles in a cluster. This one looks like a cluster of two, if that's possible for a cluster. There is another term that I'm not coming up with. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Scott AndersonBundle is the descriptor you’re looking for, I think. And if you’re right that this is a twoper then it’s likely a lodgepole pine. The other possibility is the ponderosa, which has three per bundle and might be more likely in the Willamette Valley. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Yes, baby goats are very cute too. This one ducked under the fence and started running across the field toward us until he apparently concluded this was unwise. He stopped, looked around and bleated for a minute, and then sheepishly retreated.
