Runtime: 4 minutes, 32 seconds.
Soundtrack: Green and Blue by Bailey Jehl.
Day on Magisto, Youtube, or Vimeo.
Wednesday, March 24, 2021:
Pendleton – La Grande – Baker City, Oregon – Buhl, Idaho
Oisin car-camped in the rest area outside of Pendleton, Oregon from 2:30 am until about 8 am. He successfully fled the snowstorm that was on his tail, only experiencing high winds and no snow. He worked on vlogs and blogs, then hit the road to La Grande. Over the mountain pass, he experienced some snow, the tail of that which was chasing him. He pit stopped in LaGrande for a Starbucks breakfast – a free venti Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino and a breakfast burrito, with a venti Ice water. He wanted to visit the Fairy Godmother at Faerie Beads, but it wouldn’t be open for another hour – so continued on his journey. His timing is always off every time he passes through. He was updated with the horrific shooting at the King Soopers in Boulder, the gunman that shot up the store killing many. Listening to NPR and keeping abreast with New York Times morning email newsletter. So much mass violence happening around the world during this pandemic, really disturbing and upsetting to Oisin. He hit more snowstorms crossing the mountains between La Grande and Baker City, Oregon.
Runtime: 5 minutes, 37 seconds.
Soundtrack: Chow Mein by Cushy.
Day on Magisto, Youtube, or Vimeo.
Oisin stopped off at each rest area along the journey, reading about the Oregon Trail as he was going along a leg of the historic route. “Pathway to the Garden of the World”. He hit Baker City and stopped off at his 2nd favorite grocery store (1st is Trader Joes) … Grocery Outlet, stocking up on sundries for the expedition. Then getting gas at the Sinclair … noticing the gasoline price dropping since departing Washington. Only going to get cheaper here onwards to Colorado he thought. Then through Ontario Oregon, across the Snake River, into Idaho. He stopped at the rest area on the border and noticed that Idaho still doesn’t have its indoor bathrooms open yet, using the alternative offering of porta-potties in the parking lot. How is that safer? Oisin pondered.
Runtime: 5 minutes, 39 seconds.
Soundtrack: Beautiful Happy by Diego Martinez.
Day on Magisto, Youtube, or Vimeo.
As driving towards Boise, exiting in Nampa … he passed by the Super 8 where the field crews of Logan Simpson Design (LSD) lodged for an archaeological survey of wildfire evaluations on BLM lands … one of the field crew had cooked whole eggs in the microwave unattended and almost burnt down the Super 8 – everyone had to leave the hotel as the fire department dealt with it. Memories. He grabbed another energy fix at a Starbucks … Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino and venti water. Then onwards to Cleo’s Ferry Museum and Nature Trail. Oisin pondered the definitions of Ferry, Fairy, and Faerie – wordplay. Also on his mind was his upcoming Covid-19 vaccination in Grand Junction on Friday. Nervous and excited all at the same. Dark skies loomed ahead threatening more storms.
Cleo’s Ferry Museum and Nature trail was the definition of “Kitch” as he learned from his old Anthropology advisor Bruce Grindal. The driveway was littered with historical artifacts of old bikes, boats, and junk. Then a free parking lot with a donation box at the entrance of the Museum. He ventured on to the nature trail, stopping at a stinky outhouse that greeted him with a gnome holding its nose. The trail was littered with kitschy statues and monuments, definitely an adventure world for children. Oddities, statues, and inspirational waypost signs. Birdhouses made for fairies everywhere. A Giant rainbow. Jesus shrines. Statues of kids playing. Jungle animals. Just as he passed some statues of deer, a large real deer jolted across the path. The troll under the bridge. Squirrel Hollar. Following the Snake River. Shakespeare and Einstein statues Oisin stopped for selfies with. Oisin couldn’t stop thinking of how much Cian would enjoy this, and missing him all the same.
Runtime: 8 minutes, 01 seconds.
Soundtrack: Colors of our Life by Fairground Lights.
Day on Magisto, Youtube, or Vimeo.
It was a mile hike along with the trail …. passing an Arena of Sports and people in active scenes, hats off, Marching Band, Kids at Play, statues of all kinds. Fairy Forest – gargoyles, gnomes, dwarves, sleeping fairies. Guards on Duty. Meow. Inspirational wayposts. Fairy bramble. “Don’t be afraid”. The 7 Deadly Sins. Fairy birdhouses. Jesus shrines. Giant rainbow. Angels. The Jesus Tomb. Cleo’s family burial plot. Synergy. Kitch. Orbs. Show-off peacock. Birthday garden. Enchanted Forest. Recap – biblical and Christian, mythological and kid-themed statue garden. Just as he was exiting, a real peacock greeted him and other hikers showing off its feathers and colors. Oisin hit the road and headed towards Buhl, Idaho for a soak in Miracle Hotsprings.
Runtime: 5 minutes, 15 seconds.
Soundtrack: A Beautiful Life by Justin James.
Day on Magisto, Youtube, or Vimeo.
Finally coming to the exit for Miracle towards Buhl, Idaho along the Thousand springs scenic route. He pulled into the Miracle springs parking lot to discover it was the most crowded he had ever seen it. No one wearing masks which seemed to be a model of Idaho in general he observed. He had to park in the upper lot. He decided to skip camping there as it was too crowded. There was safe distance though in the springs, so he went ahead and had his morning shower and soak. This was his 2nd favorite commercial hotsprings, but given how crowded it became, it is less so now. He visited the resident Alligator and bid farewell after his swim. He drove on towards Utah realizing his gas tank almost empty. He had to stop off at the Middle of Nowhere where a closed gas station with open pumps lay. Alpacos were in the yard, but not a human to be seen. The gas prices sign said Regular: An Arm, Diesel: A Leg. He made it to Brigham City, Utah pulling over at the rest area there for more car camping. He blogged, vlogged, and tried to watch the most recent episodes of Riverdale on his phone.
In the news according to NPR and New York Times morning edition: Studies have demonstrated that the U.S. Media is painting a completely different picture of the pandemic from science journals or the international media. Last year the news about the pandemic always seemed negative regardless of what the scientific data was dictating. As cases rose in the United States, the news coverage always focused on the increase, when cases fell the coverage focused only on the places where cases were rising. Media then downplayed when the vaccine research began showing positive results according to the Times. Sacerdote, a political scientist began to compare stories and built a database of Covid coverage from every news network, and analyzed it with a social-science technique classifying language as positive, negative, or neutral. The results showed he was right – not just because the pandemic was a grim story. U.S. Publications were cashing in on the negative coverage with a national audience being more negative than coverage by any other source the research determined including scientific journals, major international publications, and regional U.S. media. 87 percent of Covid coverage in 2020 was negative. The media was giving its viewers the news it wanted. The news however has a duty to bypass self promotion and find the truth.
 By The New York Times | Sources: Bruce Sacerdote, Ranjan Sehgal and Molly Cook |
The Boulder shooting also enveloped the news as 10 counts of murder including 7 children, a police officer, and a grocery worker. The 21-year-old shooter had anger issues and had demonstrated signs of his unraveling. President Biden called on Congress to ban assault weapons and strengthen background checks.
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