Spielberg Marathon: Lincoln

“Trust? Gentlemen, you seem to have forgotten that our chosen career is politics.”

“I can’t listen to this anymore. I can’t accomplish a g-ddamn thing of any worth until we cure ourselves of slavery and end this pestilential war! I wonder if any of you or anyone else knows it. I know! I need this! This amendment is that cure! We’ve stepped out upon the world stage now. Now! With the fate of human dignity in our hands. Blood’s been spilled to afford us this moment now! Now! Now! And you grouse so and heckle and dodge about like pettifogging Tammany Hall hucksters!

“The greatest measure of the Nineteenth Century. Passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.”

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Many historians and common people rate Abraham Lincoln as America’s greatest president. The mythos and legend surrounding America’s 16th president from the humble log cabin in Illinois to the heights of the powerful office of the presidency to his tragic murder reveals a towering figure over the 240 plus years of our nation’s history.

“Lincoln”, as a movie, chips away at the pretense of a larger than life Lincoln. This is the humanized Lincoln who is quiet, reflective and even tortured in some senses by the loss of his son Willie three years before and by the turbulent times he faces as commander in chief. Historically, Lincoln suffered bouts of clinical depression and the audience can see that in the film as the president privately works to keep his family together and strives to use whatever political chips he can access to pass the 13th Amendment.

Wisely, Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner choose not to tell a sweeping birth to the grave biopic but focus on the last 4 months of Lincoln’s life. He has been re-elected and the bloody civil war rages on. The only war scene the audience actually views is at the very beginning, a solemn and brutal reminder of how divided the country was at that time.

I thought about the real and extremely serious divisions in our country at this given moment while rewatching “Lincoln”. America, having never fully atoned for the racist chattel slavery industry inflicted upon fellow image bearers of God, is still divided as a result of the white supremacy that is so horrifically interwoven through many of our institutions. Perhaps as a country we are still not divided as much as we were in the years leading up to the civil war in the 1850s but we may well be headed that direction. Only God knows at this point.

In Spielberg’s film, Lincoln declares to his team of rival cabinet members (the book “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin is a partial basis for the script) that he wants to pass the 13th Amendment by the end of the month of January 1865 to, as he puts it, abolish slavery forever. Some of his cabinet members try and talk him out of pursuing this course. They believe that a peace should first be made between north and south and that they should work to that end. Lincoln knows that abolishing slavery would not get done if a peace deal was brokered. The south would never agree to the terms. An illustration to all of us that being a white moderate- as Lincoln’s cabinet was- is a hindrance to progress on foundational issues of human rights and ending racism. A radical, like Lincoln and many others throughout history, inspire us by strong and courageous stands that they took and still take against an insidious evil.

Lincoln’s team sets out to influence the House of Representatives to get a vote on the amendment. Here we see President Lincoln’s shrewd political skill. He is not above buying votes, offering jobs, and pork barrel spending to win people to his side. Politics is a crafty game and Lincoln was a masterful player.

The president is aided in his quest by Thaddeus Stevens, played by a boisterous Tommy Lee Jones (in my mind, one of the badasses of cinema), who was one of the most powerful abolitionists in the House and a radical Republican. Stevens offers his own threats by arm-twisting various members to “encourage” them to vote for the amendment. He has some secrets of his own that are unveiled later.

The cast of the movie are all top-notch: Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln is the woman still feeling the grieving burden of losing her son and is concerned about the president’s legacy. David Strathairn is Secretary of State William Seward who helps guide Lincoln through the perilous passage of the 13th Amendment. Joseph Gordon Leavitt, in a really solid performance, plays Robert Lincoln who wants to join the Union fight. His dad is opposed as to not bring another loss on the family. Robert Lincoln refuses the family privilege. The cast is rounded out by John Hawkes, an excellent James Spader and Jackie Earle Haley.

And what can possibly be said about the greatest actor in the world, Daniel Day Lewis. He has won the best acting Oscar three times and has apparently retired from acting. Lewis embodies Lincoln using a higher pitched voice which contemporaries of Lincoln say that he had. Lewis’ Lincoln is witty and sometimes funny while displaying sad eyes as he stalks around the White House like a haunted ghost with a specific walk. He stares out of his office, lonely, contemplating the weight of his decisions and is tortured by his own personal pain.

Imagine trying to stay a course during the most violent and bloody conflict America has ever faced. Contemplate going against the wishes of top advisers which involved brokering the peace deal in order to be firmly committed to the end goal, abolishing slavery forever. We lionize Abraham Lincoln in our history but he was just a depressed man, shouldering a crushing national burden. A broken human who used his brilliance and conviction to end an immoral and sickening industry. Spielberg, Kushner and Lewis keep this raw and real portrait of Lincoln at the forefront of the movie.

Toward the end of the film, Lincoln is walking down a long hallway in the White House to his waiting carriage outside. As he dons his trademark black top hat, we know he is on his way to the Ford Theater on April 15, 1865. I wish that Spielberg would have ended the film at this moment with the main protagonist walking away from the camera and eventually out of sight. The lore around Lincoln is so well known in our national psyche that it would be powerful for the audience to fill in the rest of the gaps on their own. The story does go on from that point but seems unnecessary to what Spielberg and Kushner were wanting to accomplish.

Spielberg has shown that he can do the fun popcorn thrillers, arresting science fiction pictures, and genuinely inspiring historical dramas. “Lincoln” continues Spielberg’s interest in real life figures, grounded in a fallen reality and, like Oskar Schindler, fighting against their own demons while trying to act righteously for a great many people. “Lincoln” is in the top tier of Spielberg films.

Lester Lauding Level: 4 (out of 5)

Ranking of Spielberg Movie (so far):

Schindler’s List (Review here)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Review here)

Jaws (Review here)

Saving Private Ryan (Review here)

Jurassic Park (Review here)

Munich (Review here)

Minority Report (Review here)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Review here)

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Review here)

Lincoln

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Review here)

Catch Me If You Can (Review here)

The Adventures of Tintin (Review here)

Empire of the Sun (Review here)

War Horse (Review here)

Amistad (Review here)

The Color Purple (Review here)

Duel (Review here)

War of the Worlds (Review here)

The Terminal (Review here)

The Post (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Review here)

Hook (Review here)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Review here)

The Sugarland Express (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Review here)

Always (Review here)

1941 (Review here)

Spielberg Marathon: War Horse

“We’ll be alright Joey. We’re the lucky ones, you and me. Lucky since the day I met you.”

“Some days are best forgotten. Today ain’t one of them.”

“I promise you, that I’ll look after him as closely as you’ve done, I’ll respect him and all the care that you’ve taken with him. And if I can, I’ll return him to your care.”

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Bringing a friendly animal movie to screen was probably inevitable for Steven Spielberg. He had made us afraid to go into the water where there was a deadly shark, shown us majestic aliens around Devil’s Tower and also a friendly alien to a lonely boy. Spielberg’s first time working with Walt Disney Pictures (through Touchstone Pictures) would be a horse trying to survive the cataclysm that was World War I.

In 2011, the legendary cinematic personality went back to his format of two movies a year. This works out to be a fun adventure-type movie and then a more serious drama that plays for awards season. 1989 saw “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” with “Always” which may have been intentioned for Oscar glory but was a complete flub. 1993 brought us “Jurassic Park” paired with a Spielberg great “Schindler’s List” which rightfully won 7 Oscars including best picture. 1997 saw “The Lost World” and “Amistad”. Entering the aughts, the famed director brought us “Minority Report” and “Catch Me If You Can” in 2002. The popcorn sci-fi thriller of 2005 was the remake “War of the Worlds” matched with the controversial but brilliant “Munich”.

Entering the second decade of the 21st century, moviegoers would see the underrated “The Adventures of Tintin” and “War Horse”.

The World War I drama was first a book that I never read written by Michael Morpurgo in 1982. Eventually this became a stage play in 2007 which was adapted for the theater by Nick Stafford prior to Spielberg’s team acquiring the rights.

Now, the bloody and brutal conflict of the first great war would be seen the eyes of an innocent animal. “War Horse”, as a project, is a perfect fit for Spielberg and as a film shows his greatest strengths and profound weaknesses. The movie, as per usual, is impeccably made centering on the title character, a horse named Joey. Film critic Roger Ebert saw “War Horse” before he passed away and commented, “Surely some of the best footage Spielberg has ever directed involves Joey and other horses running wild outside the trenches, galloping in a panic through barbed wire lines and dragging wire and posts after them as their flesh is cruelly torn. There’s one of those scenes of temporary truce when soldiers from both sides meet in No Man’s Land to share wire-cutters and set the horses free.” Indeed, this is a horrific scene, showing the all-time truth of war being absolute hell through an animal’s eyes. The scene of Joey running through the trenches is cruelly horrific and unforgettable as an image that Spielberg wants the audience to keep in their minds.

While the skill to craft this World War I drama is considerable, the third act gives in to Spielberg’s penchant for sentimentality. Part of the episodic story that we have experienced up to this point involves Joey moving from the care of British soldiers and citizens to German ones. Both sides of this conflict, as we see, could be capable of loving kindness and brutality. Near the end, the story turns away from a rational approach to almost giving in to a fairy tale charm. This doesn’t fit with the rest of the material. Spielberg moves to finish the movie, as Ebert observed, with a homage to John Ford and other traditional westerns.

The solid cast does not contain many superstars other than Benedict Cumberbatch who does not have a big part. Tom Hiddleston also appears just as he was launching his career with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other than that, excellent work is turned in by Jeremy Irvine (as Albert Narracott), Emily Watson (as Rose Narracott), David Thewlis (as Lyons), Peter Mullan (as Ted Narracott) and Niels Arestrup (as grandfather).

Historians tell us we don’t have World World II without the first one. Spielberg had spent a good deal of his career focused on World War II or stories adjacent to that global conflict. Outside of directing Saving Private Ryan or Schindler’s List, he produced the excellent “Band of Brothers” mini-series for HBO with Tom Hanks. Here he dives into the trench warfare and violent combat of no man’s land. A wretched, depraved conflict which destroyed millions of lives and crushed a generation across countries.

Even as Spielberg dramatizes World War I, emotions are still wrung out of us at the end with that old Spielberg magic. While the tears may be happy ones, it felt disjointed from the horror that had gone on before.

Lester Lauding Level: 3.5 (out of 5)

Ranking of Spielberg Movie (so far):

Schindler’s List (Review here)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Review here)

Jaws (Review here)

Saving Private Ryan (Review here)

Jurassic Park (Review here)

Munich (Review here)

Minority Report (Review here)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Review here)

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Review here)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Review here)

Catch Me If You Can (Review here)

The Adventures of Tintin (Review here)

Empire of the Sun (Review here)

War Horse

Amistad (Review here)

The Color Purple (Review here)

Duel (Review here)

War of the Worlds (Review here)

The Terminal (Review here)

The Post (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Review here)

Hook (Review here)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Review here)

The Sugarland Express (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Review here)

Always (Review here)

1941 (Review here)

Spielberg Marathon: The Adventures of Tintin

“10,000 Thundering Typhoons! Come here you pilfering parakeet!”

“Blistering treasure! It’s Red Rackham’s barnacles!”

“Failed. There are plenty of others willing to call you a failure. A fool. A loser. A hopeless souse. Don’t you ever say it of yourself. You send out the wrong signal, that is what people pick up. Don’t you understand? You care about something, you fight for it. You hit a wall, you push through it. There’s something you need to know about failure, Tintin. You can never let it defeat you.”

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Steven Spielberg’s initial foray into animation as a director, “The Adventures of Tintin”, was the first time that I did not see one of his films in a theater since 2004’s “The Terminal”.  I don’t remember why I did not venture out to the movie house to see this wonderful adventure based on a Belgian cartoonist’s comic book.  The 3D computer animated film is delightful to watch and would have been fun to experience on the big screen.  I missed out.

Created by one of Europe’s most popular comic artists, Georges Remi (who wrote under the pen name Herge) crafted a comic album of 24 adventures of Tintin prior to his death in 1983.  Spielberg first acquired the rights at that time and nearly three decades later, the movie finally arrived in multiplexes.

The film opens with Tintin, a youthful journalist, browsing an outdoor market featuring a bunch of different artists.  By his side is his loyal dog Snowy and they discover an old miniature model ship called the Unicorn.  There are loud arguments with other men upon Tintin’s attempts to acquire the artifact but he eventually takes the model ship home where the mast gets broken.  A small metal tube is revealed that was hidden inside the ship and it rolls under TinTin’s apartment furniture unbeknownst to him or his dog.  This gradual opening sets up what will become an exhilarating childhood type adventure.

The spirit of “The Adventures of TinTin” is exactly what “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” should have been.  Spielberg, with his readily apparent deep love of Saturday afternoon serials, harkens back to the joy he brought audiences with “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1981.  “Tintin” is not as good as that movie of course (very few movies could be) however Spielberg, with the producing help of The Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy, is firmly back in his wheelhouse.  The boyhood adventurous spirit still resides in our most famous film director’s heart and when he can adequately channel it, the world can collectively experience smart entertainment that contains the innocence and the vivid imagination of childhood.

The comic adventures includes motorcycles with side cars racing along European streets, pirate ships and sword fights, biplanes flying over desert sands and an old salty boat captain named Haddock (played by Andy Serkis who has to be the undisputed king of stop motion animation at this point).

The antagonist, Sakharine (played by James Bond himself Daniel Craig), is eventually introduced into the story. Spielberg called him a “champagne villain” and Tintin (portrayed by Jamie Bell) will accuse Sakharine of stealing the Unicorn ship after discovering the model missing from his ransacked apartment.

The film looks exceptional for Spielberg’s launch into animation as he worked with the wizards at Weta Workshop. “Tintin” also marks another brilliant score from Spielberg’s long term composer, John Williams, who was nominated for an Oscar for his work here. We should not forget about the entertainingly funny FBI duo of Thompson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost respectively) who add another touch that this film does not take itself too seriously.

“The Adventures of Tintin” is a Spielberg film that may be his most underrated. The project took a long time to complete, reportedly being in development for 7 years, and this marked the most famous of directors reaching out for something different in his career. I have never read the Tintin comics and after seeing this movie, I would like to explore them. This is also a rare movie where I would like to see a sequel to explore more of this world whether or not that include’s Spielberg’s involvement.

Truly, I do wish the 4th Indiana Jones was this much fun.

Lester Lauding Level: 4 (out of 5)

Ranking of Spielberg Movie (so far):

Schindler’s List (Review here)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Review here)

Jaws (Review here)

Saving Private Ryan (Review here)

Jurassic Park (Review here)

Munich (Review here)

Minority Report (Review here)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Review here)

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Review here)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Review here)

Catch Me If You Can (Review here)

The Adventures of Tintin

Empire of the Sun (Review here)

Amistad (Review here)

The Color Purple (Review here)

Duel (Review here)

War of the Worlds (Review here)

The Terminal (Review here)

The Post (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Review here)

Hook (Review here)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Review here)

The Sugarland Express (Review here)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Review here)

Always (Review here)

1941 (Review here)

The Post-COVID Oregon Road Trip (Gold Beach, OR)

As sunbeams shined through the second story house that we were staying in, Michelle and I awoke with excitement at the day ahead. From the windows of our rental, we could see the mouth of the Rogue River draining into the endless Puget Sound. Fishing boats were already out early looking for a catch of Chinook Salmon or other fish.

Today, we would take a jet boat tour 40 miles up the Rogue River. The kids seemed to greatly look forward to this ride as well.

This specific trip meant a lot to Michelle and I within our respective family histories. Both of us had taken the jet boat trips up this river with our parents. The adventure I had first experienced growing up I would now get to experience with my kids.

The touring company we chose was Jerry’s Rogue Jets which has claims to delivering mail up the Rogue River since 1895. Growing up, my family experienced this tour with the “Mail Boats” and upon arriving at their office (situated within a log cabin close to the river), I read that “Jerry’s Rogue Jets” and “Mail Boats” merged their businesses in 2010. An empire now apparently.

We boarded the boats for our 8:45am tour and met our guide, Brandon, who told us he was the youngest tour boat operator for the company. As we pulled out of the harbor, we saw a bunch of tan colored seals sun-bathing on the shore. Not much activity from them prior to a day which would climb up to 80 something degrees.

Our blue boat (much like the color of the boats that I rode as a kid with “Mail Boats”) turned upriver and went under the Rogue River Bridge. Fancy houses and mansions were built into the hillside rising above us as our driver did a slow wake through this area because of more fishing boats that were joining the others.

As we continued up the Rogue River, people were out playing on small river beaches with inner-tubes, kayaks, floatation devices and other water toys. As we crossed under Lobster Creek bridge which our guide dutifully told us about a flood that brought waters so deep that the flood spilled over the road high above us. It was a little hard to believe. Past Lobster Creek bridge, there were far less houses. Brandon announced to us that Congress passed an Act in 1968 which limited development beyond the bridge. Basically, someone had to already have an existing house or foundation in order to legally build.

This is when the Rogue River became especially scenic. Osprey nests including Osprey birds flying overhead. A rare Peregrine falcon fluttered between trees and I’m not even sure how our guide initially spotted the bird in order to alert us. We also saw bald eagles and their nests. One nest, high up beside the river, appeared to have a baby bald eagle sitting on the side of the nest.

With our driver spinning the jet boat around in wider parts of the river and suddenly braking causing water to shoot over the bow and drench us all (refreshing on a day that was growing hotter), we reached the point in the river where everyone would have to don a life jacket as bigger rapids were ahead.

Naomi, at one point, exclaimed rather loudly, “Well, he is not a very good driver!” Apparently, she was not impressed with the watery spins and shooting the cold river over the front of the boat to soak us all.

Sadly, I had booked only booked the 80 mile trip (40 miles upriver and then back). There was a 104 mile tour available but Michelle and I wondered if that would be too much for the kids. Turns out, the kids had a great time and we likely could have done the longer trip.

While only doing the 80 mile trip, we didn’t get into a lot of the gnarly rapids for which the Rogue River is known. Past the Cougar Lane Lodge (where we would later backtrack and stop for a BBQ rib lunch), Foster’s Bar rapids awaited. This area was where most rafting tours got pulled out of the river after starting up near Grave Creek.

Of course, even class III rapids like Foster’s Bar don’t feel like much against a powered jet boat but a bumpy ride through is guaranteed. Our final rapid was Illahe which upon making it through, the boat was turned around to head back to the harbor near the mouth of the Rogue.

As we neared the Rogue River Bridge, the monument of Gold Beach, the Seahawks hat on my head blew off and was pushed along by the wind into the waters of the Rogue. Our driver, Brandon, was nice enough to back the boat up and let me fetch the hat from the cold waters. Before setting off on the tour, he had remarked, jokingly, that any hat that is blown overboard into the river would have to be worn by the person for the rest of the trip. As I held the soaking wet hat in my hands, Naomi looked at me and I could see in her eyes she remembered the early speech. I put the drenched cap on my head. Cold river water flowed down my cheeks.

Once back at the dock, I wished the trip were longer but I knew as long as my mind was functioning properly, this would be a moment I would recall with joy for the rest of my days. I hope that Naomi and Reuben would as well.

The special day did not end there. Michelle had the idea of driving the short distance down to the actual beach of Gold Beach and watching the sunset as a family. This would violate the children’s usual bedtime but seemed a fitting epitaph for the end of our trip as we would start heading home the next day.

Not many people were around when we parked our white minivan and walked on gravel mixed with sand to head toward the gentle blue waves of the Pacific Ocean. To our left were rocks stacked on top of each other, forming a wall which marked the jetty that defined the mouth of the Rogue River. That water that we felt with our hands and was splashed into our faces made its way to the sea at this spot becoming one with Earth’s largest body of water.

Our family walked along the beach, staring down the wind which was blowing north to south. Small lines of sand whipped up at our ankles as we walked, dancing along as the crash of the waves provided the background sound.

Choosing a spot up toward where longer grass ran into the beach sand, we sat down and looked at the spectacle of creation before us. The illusion as old as time: the sun lowering itself through the sky causing a bright glow with all the light that was left. As the yellow orb dropped, it fell behind a veneer of clouds causing colors of red and orange to paint the sky. The remaining light highlighted the big boulders that were out in the sea from Gold Beach. One of the highlights of the Oregon Coast were the famous natural boulders and this beach had them like many others. This was all a wonderous sight to experience and a fitting end to vacation.

The next morning we would be road tripping again in our trusty minivan, angling toward I-5 and going back to what we would describe as our normal lives.

The Post-COVID Oregon Roadtrip (Part Three: Newport and the Drive to Gold Beach)

Day 6: Waking up at the old beach house we were staying, one could see the salt water that has been blown about over time wearing on the siding and especially the garage door as it slowly wore away the wood. There was excitement because today was beach day.

The first thing we did in the morning was visit Yaquina Head Lighthouse which featured absolutely gorgeous views of the coast. Our family parked and got out of the minivan walking toward the trailhead. Being up on a ridge, we could see for miles down the beach where the waves moved in and out while resorts and other hotels were nestled in among the trees as far as the eye could see.

Continuing along the path, we saw giant boulders down in the surf below. The waves continuously pounded these volcanic rocks washing up to a shore covered in black, basalt rocks.

The lighthouse was fairly standard. A tall white structure where we snapped some pictures and then headed down a side trail to the beach below. In the ocean water, were at least 4 seals playing in the surf. The creatures bobbed along during the considerable wave action. The roar of the ocean echoed around the high cliff walls as Naomi and Reuben climbed on boulders lining the beach and enjoyed the features of igneous rock.

Getting hungry for lunch, we drove back into Newport to dine at the Pacific Kitchen at Nye Beach. I had a delicious grass fed burger, Naomi had her staple mac n cheese, Reuben had a pair of sliders with french fries and Michelle had crab mixed in with noodles.

Upon filling our bellies, we ventured down to the beach which was a block away or so. After a good deal of driving the day before, Naomi and Reuben ran around the beach and through the really shallow tide waters that kept reaching further and further up the beach sand. They dug holes that were quickly covered up by the encroaching tide. The energy being expounded was endless. Reuben felt the Pacific Ocean water and announced that it was “scalding cold”.

On the way back to our temporary home for the night, Reuben requested wanting to hear “The Beach Boys”. Literal music to my ears as I was haunted (and not in a good way) by the 2016 Ghostbusters movie soundtrack that the kids kept requesting. So we played a little bit of “Pet Sounds”. All the memories of myself being a kid and traveling the Oregon Coast with my mom and dad as we played “The Beach Boys” cassette tapes came flooding back to me. Now I was making new memories upon the cherished old with Michelle and my own kids in a place that has always meant a lot to me.

Day 7: Upon packing up our stuff from the beach house, the windy coastal road of Highway 101 awaited us. For long stretches of the drive, the road seemed to veer away from the coast and take away the sites of the beach and surf. We passed through the small towns of Bandon, OR and entered Port Orford, a charming town with history. Port Orford was the oldest town on the Oregon Coast and also the most westerly town in the continental United States. They boast that their artistic community and fishing village is where the forest meets the ocean. I could have sworn I saw a white porcelain toilet attached to the sign of a business that was a fountain, spraying water up into the air which fell along the sides of the crapper and down to the ground.

The highway started delivering more beach sites too in Port Orford. Wide sandy beaches were below the road and giant boulders were out in the ocean, continually being shaped and formed by the raucous ocean waves. One of the boulders was named Battle Rock and was actually a more impressive site than Haystock Rock on Cannon Beach further north.

Another long day of driving as we arrived in Gold Beach, OR. A place where Michelle and I have made many memories in the past.

The Post-COVID Oregon Roadtrip (Part Two- Bend and Newport)

Day 4: Eventually with the constant decline of the highway, the unending trees of Mt Hood National Forest gave way to flatter land and prairies full of dry grass. There were farms and surrounding this space where the scenery changed were the mountainous peaks of the Cascades constantly hovering above. Mt. Hood was in our rearview mirror. Visible peaks were Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Washington, the three Sisters (South, Middle and North) and others.

The temperature today was supposed to be near 100 degrees at our destination of Bend, OR. We felt the dry heat especially as we stopped to observe a canyon where a couple of hundred feet below, the Crooked River wound its way out of the mountains. Reuben instantly found the sprinkler at this rest area nestled among some of the only greener grass around. He and I stood still as the droplets of water pelted us and provided an immediate relief as the sun beat down.

Feeling ambitious and trying to strive toward the slogan of “carpe diem” on our vacation, we decided to visit Lava Butte even though this Tuesday was scheduled as a driving day. Located off of US Route 97, Lava Butte is a cinder cone volcano that is a part of a larger network of smaller cinder cones that are around Newberry Volcano. Lava Butte last erupted approximately 7,000 years ago. There is a road going to the ridge of the volcano up on top so that is where we found ourselves. In fairly hot weather for Pacific Northwesterners (93 degrees at this point), we were walking the circular ridge of a volcano. Extending from the base of the butte was volcanic rock which off into the distance ran into forests. The remaining evidence of the approximately 7,000 year old eruption.

Before checking in for the night, we traveled through downtown Bend to visit Cravin’s Candy Emporium. Michelle and I allowed the kids a modest bag of candy. I marveled while inside this store as I’m pretty confident they had every kind of candy known to man. Toward the back, a flat screen TV played “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” continuously.

As we planned, our family next stopped at the last Blockbuster Video store located in Bend. The amazing thing about this store is that it looked exactly how I remembered it. The store even had a familiar smell. Naomi and Reuben were charged with choosing the movie and they selected “The Neverending Story” which they had never seen before. They initially realized this movie existed while seeing a brief clip prior to us watching “Jumanji” at an air-conditioned theater by our house when the temperature climbed to a record 108 degrees. Naomi asked me what the movie was called. “The Neverending Story,” I replied. Her eyes got really big, “It’s a movie that doesn’t end?”

The fourth day was a big day of travel, new experiences and something that felt like visiting an old friend by walking into a video rental store.

Day 5: All of us were a little late hitting the road to drive to the Oregon Coast as I decided we needed an oil change for the minivan. I should have done this before we left but nonetheless, I judged that we needed it now. I ventured out while the family stayed behind for another round of “The Neverending Story”.

When all was ready, we set out on Highway 20 through the lovely old Town of Sisters (Obviously named after the three mountain peaks) and into the foothills of the mountains. This was a windy, mountain-type road that featured scenic views as we experienced the Willamette National Forest. At one point, as we engaged a consistent incline, off to our left was the blue-green water of Suttle Lake which looked quiet and remote. The beautiful picture in my mind seemed like a quintessential northwest postcard scene.

Today’s travel would take us to near Albany, OR where a good friend of Michelle’s lived with her family. Vara and Adam live with their kids on a little bit of land with 2 horses, a pony, a cat, three dogs and some chickens. They were gracious enough to let us all play in their rectangle shaped backyard that extended to horse stables, a small circular riding area and a generous spot of space for the horses.

Naomi, of course, had to say hello to the chickens and she quickly scooped one up in her arms. Her fascination and love of animals is a cool thing to witness. Shortly after that, we donned our swimming gear as Vara and Adam had a 3 foot deep circular pool. All of us jumped in as this was another hot day. Naomi declared she was a great white shark and started chasing around the other kids while practicing her swimming. There was a whole lot of splashing and laughter. I was not in my swim trunks and repeatedly got splashed by the kids but I was grateful. Especially with the hot weather.

By the time we said our goodbyes to our friends and started out on the road again, it was later in the day and we had to complete the trek to the Oregon Coast. We joined the highway again through Corvallis while audio books and Ben Folds played over the car speakers. That’s right. As we drove across central OR in our mini-van, we played Ben Folds Rockin the Suburbs album. I relived my mid-20s which is a time I vowed I would never drive a minivan.

Eventually, highway 20 started a straight decline on the road still lined with trees. At the bottom of this decline we saw the buildings of a town (Newport) and beyond the buildings, the Pacific Ocean glittered in the fading sun and seemed to stretch on forever. We were all delighted as this was a welcome sight after a fairly long day of travel. By this time, The Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up” was playing as we entered the ocean side town.

Our minivan turned to go south on Highway 101 toward Waldport where we were staying. We were on the Oregon Coast.

The Post-COVID Oregon Roadtrip (Part One)

Day 1: Somewhere around when our family crossed into Oregon (or perhaps a little before) over the Columbia River in the middle of the bridge, the fact dawned on us that we had not been out of Washington State since 2018. The COVID lockdowns made dormant the times of wanting to venture beyond the borders of our statehood territory. With Naomi and Reuben behaving wonderfully in the back seat as we listened to children’s audio books and the 2016 Ghostbusters soundtrack, our minivan continued its quest east to the Mt.Hood National Forest.

Cheap fast food was the clarion call for lunch and Carls Jr answered. With burgers and fries in hand, we stopped at a neighborhood park in which the surrounding houses looked like a slightly upscale version from Tim Burton’s imagination in his 1990s film Edward Scissorhands. There was a picnic table, green grass and a playground so we absolutely did not complain. Past the playground was a foot traffic only covered bridge over a small creek. A small hike on the concrete path lined with trees gave us a reprieve from sitting in the car and the ability to stretch our legs. After a couple of hours of driving, this was Gresham and we were getting closer to our destination.

Mt. Hood eventually became a more towering figure in the deep blue sky as we drove. Highway 26 began a perpetual incline and out our car window was the national forest. The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed album played for awhile before the kids wanted to go back to Ghostbuster soundtrack music. I kept randomly thinking about how many Martin Scorsese films featured the song “Gimme Shelter” in some capacity (the answer is 3: Goodfellas, Casino and The Departed).

Eventually we stopped just to get out of a moving vehicle again. Taking a short hike on a trail to Mirror Lake, we never made it to the water as we turned back anxious to get our key and relax into our temporary quarters after 4 hours of traveling.

Our place, near the lower summit ski slope and a Chevron gas station with prices at $4.11 per gallon, was an older wood frame building but fairly nice inside. It included a massive bedroom upstairs with three sets of bunk beds and a completely separate bedroom. One can tell that this is a place where skiers like to crash during the months of snow. Reuben jumped at the chance to stay in the big bedroom and to make his rest for the night on the top bunk near the door.

Michelle and I experienced heavy eyelids as we cruised through a few episodes of Barry season 2. As my mind was shutting down for the evening, I thought about how much I loved the concept of an unsatisfied professional hitman trying to change his life through taking theater classes.

Day 2: Michelle was gracious enough to make pancakes and bacon for all of us in the morning of inaugural stay near Mt. Hood. I once had a scandal ridden pastor comment on lifespan longevity depending on what one did with bacon but this morning, I didn’t care.

Not far from where we were staying was the trailhead that we had planned for the first forested venture of the day. Siri had led us, just off of Highway 26, to what was supposed to be the path to Little ZigZag Falls. We paid the fee to park near closed gates as mountain bikers raced by in the woods. The path we set out on beyond the gate was concrete and a tad overgrown. Shrubs and bushes were crowding into the trail space. Oddly enough, we happened upon a small skateboard park that was on this path in the Mt. Hood National Forest. They even had a quarter pipe ramp out. As we continued on down this concrete path, the realization started to dawn on us that this was not the right way to the waterfall even though Siri’s artificial voice was speaking as if it was correct.

“Go home Siri!” I exclaimed without saying the full common statement.

“Daddy!” yelled Roo. “She’s not real!” This is why we definitely need 4 year olds around.

Ski trails ran off to the side every once in awhile that now lay bare in the July sun. We kept journeying on until we came to a bluff that was covered by trees that were mostly blocking the sun that was rapidly warming the day. The bluff was a view….not of a waterfall…but the winding Highway 26 which provided a soundtrack of the consistent zoom of cars as they traveled up and down the mountain. Not exactly a pristine waterfall.

Traveling back the path we had trodden, we made out way back to our minivan and finally found the right spot down a bunch of camping sites including a Christian Camp named Paradise Trail. How many Christian camps located in wilderness areas across the United States are named “Paradise”?

At the trail parking lot, signs talking about ZigZag Waterfalls indicated we were in the right place this time. There was a high granite wall on one side of the parking lot extending hundreds of feet into the air. Trees struggled to grow out of the clefts of this rock wall near the top. Our small expedition began along a relatively flat path running along a raging stream. The glacier water was, of course, ice cold my children reported to me. As we walked, the tree canopy above provided a sort of high contrast lighting at this particular time of day. We could have been in a Steven Spielberg movie. The light shined in spots along the stream, highlighting moss growth and mini-waterfalls which were created by the natural rock that was there but also by downed trees which, in certain places, had dammed up the water. The beauty was so simple but stunning.

Eventually, a divergent path welcomed hikers to venture to the bottom of the waterfall or climb to the top of a ridge where anyone could get an overview of the drops of the waterfall. To no one’s surprise, we took lots of pictures. At the bottom of the falls, standing on land in front of the falling water brought an exhilarating mist to cover one’s body on a day that was getting warmer.

The mid-afternoon took us up high on the Cascade Mountain. The peak of Mt. Hood is 11,250 feet above sea level. Timberline Lodge, where we were headed, was at roughly 6,000 feet. There were still some snow fields including longer ones in which we witnessed a dozen skiers and snowboarders sailing down the mountain. I kept remembering that this was on July 4th on a fairly warm day.

Timberline Lodge itself is an aging building but featured fascinating architecture. The front of the lodge looked off across mountain ranges extending out in the distance. Mt Jefferson could be seen clearly to the south and some peaks of the Sisters were out there on this day without a cloud in the sky.

The Lodge is famous for being used for exterior filming for Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror masterpiece “The Shining”. The interior shooting was mostly done at Elstree Film Studios in England. We explored a little bit of the lodge which stuck out to me for the high arched wood ceilings and empty large banquet rooms we walked around in. The layout of the massive building was certainly unique. Walking in the front entrance seemed to be where people were milling about and ahead within somewhat tight hallways was a stone fireplace in the shape of a cylinder in an open center space.

When we moved on from the Lodge, the day was getting into the later afternoon and the temperature had climbed. Our last stop of the day was at Trillium Lake. The spot was not far from the Timberline Lodge and we were just looking for a place where we could cool off and the kids could do some swimming. We didn’t know much else about the lake. What we stumbled upon was a popular spot as the parking lot was full and rangers were guiding people to park along the road. It was a long line of parked vehicles.

The lake featured swimmers, kayakers and various people floating around. There was a picturesque and jaw-dropping view of Mt. Hood that was framed perfectly overlooking the lake.

Naomi and Reuben both swam in the lake and observed a mama duck with several babies enjoying the cool mountain lake water and diving below the surface every so often.

This was a good first full vacation day. I felt gratitude to be in this place. After the kids went to sleep that night, I became the cliche of cliches while convincing Michelle to watch Independence Day with Will Smith on the 4th of July.

Day 3: On Monday, the time arrived that Reuben had been anticipating the entire weekend (and I was too). It was time for Mt. Hood Ski Bowl- a business that had a bunch of attractions and amusement rides that included sliding down the side of a mountain on a cart with a lever that either had you going faster or braking. The Alpine Slide (as it was called) was within a plastic half-tube that was surprisingly long and it meandered down a mountainous slope. Our passes allowed 5 rides down the mountain on the Alpine Slide.

Going up to the top of the mountain slope where the slide started would require riding the ski lift. This was Naomi and Reuben’s first time on a ski lift and they handled it really well. On our first ride up, Naomi called to me from a ski lift behind Reuben and I where she sat with Michelle. “Daddy!” she called out, “I’m afraid of heights.” I shouted back, “I am too! And right now, we are conquering our fear.”

One of the incredible, natural features of this slide is that as we started out toward the top of the slope, we were in a grove of tall trees. After rounding a bend a little further down, the majesty of Mt. Hood came into view which on a warm summer day like this one with no clouds in the sky was an incredible sight.

Reuben had a blast riding with me 5 times down the mountain slope on the Alpine Slide. On a later trip on the ski lift, he declared, “I LOVE this! I want to live here!” He may be a man made for the mountains.

As we finished up the Alpine Slide, Naomi rode one by herself on our last trip. Unfortunately, she was stuck behind a “slow driving boy” but she was really proud of herself for going solo. We were proud of her.

After using up our pass for the 5 trips on the Alpine Slide, we drove about 5 minutes to the other part of the Adventure Park which featured more attractions. These included going down an astro turf type slide on an innertube, jumping on trampolines, riding a kiddie go cart and me desperately searching for a place that sold bottled water.

They also had a bungee tower where people would jump off the white structure that looked like a construction crane over a huge inflatable cushion. The kids watched in fascination.

Both Naomi and Reuben took their turns on a plastic rock climbing wall as well while I looked on. Michelle challenged herself to go all the way up the rock wall and she succeeded on one side while trying to ring a bell at the top that emitted no sound.

A day of play was capped by Naomi and Reuben riding a pony around under a circular tent. The horse’s was named Cricket. While Reuben was riding, Naomi snuck off behind us grabbing hand fulls of hay and shoveling the food to another adult horse who was in a pen all by herself. This was Shasta and I’m quite sure Naomi made a new animal friend this day.

Finally, while the kids took many turns sliding down the astro turf on on innertube again, I went over to the batting cages. It had been years since I had swung a bat and other than my left shoulder (which had been acting up prior) it felt pretty good.

Our time in the Mt. Hood National Forest was coming to an end. It was a stunningly beautiful start to our summer vacation.