Journey Overview

I've been working a lot the past few months and was developing a tech version of "cabin fever". So I wanted to (read "needed to") get away, by myself, for a few weeks. Where to go?

Well, I didn't want to go too far on this trip so Washington & Oregon states seemed like great destinations. Plus, there were certain parts of Oregon that I'd never seen before and decided to incorporate them into an interesting driving trip.

My June 17th departure was timed to coincide with a longtime friend from Chicago, Melissa, visiting her sister's family in Seattle. So I rented a car that afternoon, drove down to the Emerald City and stayed there over the weekend.

Then on Monday, June 22nd, I ventured out on my own southeast on I-90, and then south on Highway 97 through Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon, as far south as Klamath Falls.

The major destination down there was Crater Lake, which I had flown over many times but never visited in person. After that I negotiated a path out to the beautiful Oregon Coast, stopping off at the Oregon Caves National Monument, which I later realized I had last visited almost precisely 25 years ago.

Then I headed up the Oregon Coast and just north of Lincoln City cut inland to McMinnville to see Howard Hughes' infamous Spruce Goose airplane. After that I spent a few days in Metro Portland visiting two sets of friends and finally returned to Seattle before returning home to Vancouver this morning.

Except for cold, foggy weather along much of the Oregon Coast, it was an amazing journey. In total I drove 3,500 km, with 2,000 of that over the 5-day period of June 22 - 26. Not the kind of trip that everyone likes but I enjoyed it immensely, especially the freedom to not be on anyone's schedule but mine, and to see what *I* wanted to see, at the pace that I was comfortable with.

Swine Flu Outbreak Map

A biomedical research group out of Pittsburgh is maintaining a public map of the Swine Flu outbreak. You can view it here. Let's all pray (or hope if you're an atheist) that it doesn't get too "colourful".


View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

Cool Visualizations

Click on the images below to view some pretty cool visualizations:

Growth of Wal-Mart:
Growth of Target:
Taxis in London:

Significant Conservative Support Across Most of Canada

Many people seem not aware of just how much support the Conservatives have won across Canada. Here are the results from the CBC website. Though they're not the final "official" results, the percentage changes in each province will be very tiny. For a 5-party race (where each such party got at least 5% of the vote), the Conservatives won the largest share by far of any party. For historical comparisons, please look here.

Trip Photos: The Site of the JFK Assassination

The shooting of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 was an unforgettable event for anyone alive at the time. Though my mom and I had very little time in Dallas, we both very much wanted to take a look at the actual site of this tragic event.

It's not my intention to trivialize this terrible event but if you're not very familiar with the circumstances of the shooting then you may want to watch the videos here and here.

The actual shooting took place on Elm Street as it winds down a gentle slope, just southwest of North Houston Street.
This a 3D View from Live Maps, looking ENE.



I don't know if it was just this particular day, but the whole area seemed very desolate and almost spooky to me.

It was just down here, to the left of the pedestrians on the right where Kennedy was shot.




I have since learned that the window where the alleged assassin, Oswald, was located is the one on the front face here, right-side, second from the top.

Inside the building is a museum but we were too early and simply didn't have the time to wait for it to open.



The entire area around Dealy Plaza was under heavy renovation.
Walking over to beside where the President's limousine was, this was a view back toward the [former] Book Depository building.

Note the "X' marked on the road.
I do not know if this is an "official" marking of where JFK was when he was shot.

This interesting building is the Old Red Museum. We briefly went inside but didn't have the time to explore it in detail.

Just to the east of the museum and two blocks southeast of the Book Depository building is this unusual Memorial to John F. Kennedy, designed by Philip Johnson in 1970.




Both of these last 2 photos are worth clicking on to read in detail:

Windows Live + Virtual Earth

When it comes to mapping I use both Google Maps and Windows Live. But the latter has the ability to load Virtual Earth. When you do that, you can do some really cool things! Here are some screen shots of "flying" around Seattle: