Oregon Books

A rousing tale of the overwhelming power of the yellow metal and it's effects on the human spirit. An excellent, fast read tied together with quirky, believable characters. Mr. Hodgson's background in mining shines through and his research is impeccable. I would highly recommend this book to all. The author just keeps getting better and better.

Ellen Moore takes the Latin-dominated scientific world of technical writing right down to the neighborhood rock shop with this book. Written in a near conversational tone, the book is full of solid information on the region's geology and it's rich paleo resources.

Excellent pictures of some easily-accessible sites as well as clear images of many of the fossil specimens found on the sand and in the rock cobble piles along the Oregon Coast.

This is a great reference for invert collectors from the Miocene as well as the youngster who wants to expand their knowledge of what sits on Oregon's beaches.

Many shops carrying the book include Dr Moore's autograph - an added benefit for the expanding fossil or paleo library.

If your home waters are in Oregon/Washington or if you are planning a future trip to the Pacific Northwest, this book is a must-read. I enjoyed the author's style of writing and am impressed with his knowledge of freshwater species. Enjoy!

I took a trip with my family to Oregon a few months ago and we used this book as our guide, and it ended up becoming our Oregon Bible. We stayed for about a week and stopped in many locations: Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood, Bend, Eugene, and all the way up the coast from Florence to Cannon Beach (and we still barely scratched the surface, it seems).

We did the recommended restaurants, attractions, parks, hikes, and lodgings and found the descriptions for each were spot-on and detailed. We mostly ate and stayed at the no-star/one-star places and even those were excellent. Of course, the 3-star system that Frommer's Guides use is subjective but we ended up mostly agreeing with them (one exception was the Oregon Aquarium - it was good, but I'd say 2 stars rather than 3).

We're first-timers and our trip was a bit of a whirlwind driving tour, so we learned a few things about Oregon and road-tripping in general:

- Driving, especially in vast places like Oregon, can take a lot out of you. By the time you get to your next location, you may be too tired to do much or it may be too late, etc. To fully appreciate a given locale, try to spend at least one FULL day in the same spot. We wanted to do a lot of hiking throughout the trip, but only ended up doing one excursion (although it was mind blowing!) due to time constraints/exhaustedness.

- Although Frommer's is good about giving you hours of operation and such for various locations, you should still call ahead to make sure it's open. And be careful - not all locations in the guide have the hours listed, especially if it's only mentioned in the middle of a paragraph (as opposed to having it's own separate entry). The Newberry Volcanic Monument south of Bend is an example... it ended up being closed on the day we were there. You never know when something will be closed for unforeseen reasons, out-of-order (ie. the elevator to Sea Lion Caves, rendering it inaccessible), or booked-up early (ie. Columbia River Gorge riverboat cruise). Also, when visiting any mountainous region, make sure the roads aren't closed due to snow (even in May or June!).

- And a short mention about the Portland Metro Tram: it's a good way to see some of the city and is cheap, but it takes a _long_ time to get where you're going, especially if it's somewhere outside of Downtown (like, say, Forest Park). A trip can take an hour on the tram as opposed to 15 minutes or less by car. We don't have public transportation like that where we live, so we were not aware of this fact.

- Don't rely on this guide (or any guide) to be your sole road map. I highly recommend buying a large, detailed map separately.

All in all, we found this guide to be enormously informative, accurate, and indispensable, really. The author really knows his stuff.

Seattle is like Portlands bigger little brother. it is a younger city but it grew larger quicker than Portland. It has the space needle and some really nice landmarks. Portland in contrast is a bit smaller and has no nationally reconized landmarks.

I have spent a great deal of time in both cities and I find that Portland is my favorite. Hence I there. This guide will take you to most the best places in both cities, but if I where you I would also get a guide dedicated to each city individually. Oh, and take it from someone who knows. Do not try to drive in rushhour in Seattle, infact dont drive at all in Seattle, stay across the straight and take te fairy over.

In Portland just take Trimet. Do not get on C-tran it will take you to Vancouver WA which is boring and out of the way.

Overall good book

"Frontier Doctor" edges out Arthur Hertzler's "Horse and Buggy Doctor" and "The Life of Chevalier Jackson" as the most interesting of the physician autobiographies that were so popular about 75 years ago. In the thirties, doctors who'd lived through a revolution in medical care, found that readers and publishers were interested in the doctors' personal accounts of how medical practice had changed since the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Many wrote their stories. Later a few stragglers added their accounts and still later the university presses published more. "Frontier Doctor" is the best of the genre because of Urling Coe's writing skill. He has a knack for describing people and telling about events that makes his book most readable, interesting, and memorable. It's been more than a decade since I've read the book but I still remember so many episodes vividly. The story of Bend's fishing for the 1905 Fourth of July celebration, many buggy trips to isolated patients, and those people and their medical problems make up one enthralling story about life in the (not so) good old days in Bend, Oregon a century ago.

Alice Joyce has the rare gift of capturing a garden's essence and special beauty. Reading her descriptions is the next best thing to going there.

The book reflects the Orrs' respective roles in geology and paleontology at the University of Oregon that began back in 1967. This is a subject they obviously know well but, more importantly, have made clear and interesting. Brisk text and outstanding diagrams, photos, maps and drawings provide a 'visual' understanding of geologic processes in a familiar context. The reader gets a look at how accretion, subduction, extension, vulcanism, etc., shaped Oregon. The 'suggested reading' at the end of the chapters and the bibliography in the back are invaluable to anyone wanting to know more.

I am a judoka at Seattle Dojo [...] , featured in the book, the first Judo dojo in North America and was curious about Seattle Dojo's history. I own a signed-copy of the book. The author, Joseph Svinth, has painstakingly chronicled the history of Judo and has done many interviews and should be awarded a Phd. for his work (thesis) preserving the history of Judo in the United States, as well as, Japanese-American history.

Washington State & Seattle Dojo played a crucial role & stepping stone to the spread of Judo throughout North America and this book details how Judo passed through Washington State to eventually Annapolis & West Point due to Pres. Theodore Roosevelt's interest.

Unfortunately, the book is not available through Amazon [...]

for the armchair scientist and/or the knowledgable tourist.

A couple of years ago I basically followed the same route covered on this 1989 field trip and was greatly rewarded by having the book at the ready.