With locations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines is filled with vintage arcade machines that date back to the Soviet era. They also have a museum of smells, old phone booth and mail boxes, and soda machines. Go along with Real Russia to check it out.
Interesting video on strange, unwritten work rules of Japanese companies.
Here’s the list:
I wrote about a few remote and very primitive winter shelters in a previous post; but Travel Oregon seems to have come up with their own posting with a few new ones. I’ve collected those and also added a few others in this post.
As with all things, definitely call the ranger stations BEFORE planning a trip or you risk finding yourself at the end of a long day of travel only to be unable to access a shelter far, far from any accommodation. Forest fires, vandalism (very sadly), maintenance, and other reasons may have closed these particular shelters at any time. Calling the ranger stations before you go is mandatory as they can usually give you an update on conditions, risks in the area, etc. I know that Clear Lake Butte was closed for almost all of 2022 due to maintenance and damage. Some places have regular blacked-out days for volunteer work parties as well. Know before you go!
Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area, about 25 miles east of Pendleton, offers travelers a much warmer way to spend the night. Each of the six rustic log cabins — equipped with bunk beds, a table and an outdoor propane stove — can sleep from three to five people. Spend your days sledding or cross-country skiing at Meacham Divide Sno-Park a few miles east, one of the larger Nordic skiing areas, featuring more over 12 miles of groomed trails. Book here.
Clear Lake Butte Lookout – accessible from the Skyline Road Sno-Park. Book here.
Silcox Hut, is at 6,900 feet above Mt. Hood’s Timberline Lodge on the Palmer Snowfield. The hut sleeps up to two dozen people in six small bunk rooms. A fireplace warms a large room with hand-carved tables, where you’ll find buffet-style suppers of belly-warming fare and breakfasts with fruit and pastries. A special snow-going SUV or a snowcat can ferry you and your gear up to the hut, and groups must rent the entire building. Down in the main lodge, guests are free to use the sauna, spa and showers, too. Book here. The hut can sleep up to 24 people. Reservations can be made more than a year in advance.
Gold Lake Shelter, Bechtel, Westview and Maiden Peak shelters. Head to the Gold Lake Patrol Cabin at Gold Lake Sno-Park near the Willamette Pass resort and pop up to the cabin. It’s office and overnight quarters for the Willamette Backcountry Ski Patrol volunteers, where you can pick up maps as well as a hot drink (but not spend the night). From there you can make your way 2 miles to the Gold Lake Shelter, a three-sided warming hut with a sleeping loft, a wood stove and a picnic table. Other shelters in the area with sleeping lofts include the Bechtel, Westview and Maiden Peak shelters.
All of the huts are first-come, first-serve, although anyone wishing to spend the night must be accommodated. Open for overnight stays November 15 to April 30. Huts can comfortably sleep anywhere from four to a dozen or so people, and there’s no fee.
Here’s a hike/snowshoe route that hits a few of them.
There’s also a few other shelters listed here (South Waldo Shelter, Fuji Shelter) that can only really be reached by snowshoe or cross-country skiing in the winter.
Santiam pass area also has some warming huts/shelters – Mountain View Shelter and South Maxwell Snow Shelter are accessible from the Maxwell Sno-park.
Here’s a hike that hits both the Mountain View and South Maxwell shelters.
McCoy Snow Shelter is accessible via the McCoy Snowmobile Area.
Cornucopia Lodge & Packstation in the southern part of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Book here. Reservations can be made more than a year in advance. Units sleep up to six people. Open year-round.
The Associated Press reports that lighthouses in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Pennsylvania, and other states are being auctioned off by the General Services Administration (GSA), which aims to put the structures in the hands of individuals or nonprofit entities that can preserve them. This isn’t new – it’s been happening since 2000. Held annually, the 2023 auctions are offering a record 10 lighthouses—six for free, and four for public auction. Some of them come with their own islands.
The program is a result of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. Since its start, about 150 lighthouses have been transferred, 80 or so given away and another 70 auctioned, raising more than $10 million. The GSA is first offering them at no cost to federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofits, educational agencies and community development organizations. If none of those wish to own the land, it may be auctioned to the general public. To be eligible, interested buyers must be able to demonstrate they can afford to maintain the historic property, present a plan on how it will be managed and preserved, and often allow the public to access it. See more about the process here (the brochure is really good).
Besides the above mentioned items, in most cases there are other big stipulations that make these properties a unique challenge. Commercial activities are almost always prohibited. Most have very stringent rules about how the property can be modified and require strict governmental adherence to historical preservation and environmental code. Many have government easements which allow Coast Guard, state agencies, etc to enter, maintain, change, or upgrade the lighting and other equipment as an official Aid to Navigation. Most have strict requirements on how they will be made available and maintained properly for educational, park, recreational, cultural, or historic preservation purposes. So in almost no cases can you renovate them to live in (unless they were that way already), make them an AirBnB, nor make money off of them.
Also note that some are very isolated or only reachable by boat. Many of these particularly isolated ones do not have electricity, water, or sewage that may require EPA reviews. If you read the descriptions, many also note the likely presence of lead based paints, asbestos, or other harmful products in and around the sites. Others need some substantial repair work. All of which will require historical and environmental reviews before work can begin.
Still, if you’re up for owning your own island or getaway and want to maintain a lighthouse, this might be your day! Read a sample lease here to learn what you’re getting yourself into.
You can see the listing of lighthouses here.
Or, go to the actual auction site:
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced they are looking for a new manager for an eight room historic hotel in the far southeast corner of Oregon after current concessionaires announced their retirement. Originally built in 1917, the eight-room hotel has earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The property also includes the four-room Drover’s Inn and a caretaker’s house.
I visited Frenchglen a few years back while staying at a cool ranch as well as spending time in the Steens Mountains, Alvord Desert, and visited Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (Go a little farther and you can also see Pueblo Mountains or Crane Hot Springs).
Saying it is remote and isolated is an understatement. The next city is almost an hour away. The ‘town’ of Frenchglen has a population of 12. It was absolutely beautiful open country though. It reminded me a lot of New Mexico. I even bought the mug. 😀
Officials said they’re looking for applicants with a business background who have experience in hotels and restaurants. They’re also looking for someone who can give the old hotel a modern touch, specifically with online reservations. The parks department is accepting proposals online until 2 p.m. on June 2, 2023.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department said it is seeking 5% of revenue and $2,400 a month to maintain the property. Last year, the hotel brought in $418,770 in revenue, officials said.
The Sagamihara Used Tire Mart and Vending Machine Corner in Kanagawa, Japan has an amazing collection of very old vending machines. The staff maintains them and even cooks the meals for them. See old mechanical hot and cold serve coffee/tea machines, hamburgers, potstickers, squeezed orange juice, candied apples, Kodak film vending machine, ice cream machines, an ultra rare hot curry machine that worked before microwave technology, popcorn machines, machines with old nixie tube displays, and some old pachinko and video game machines.
At Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale California there is a largely unknown gem. The largest religious painting ever made – a staggering 195 feet long and 45 feet high. It’s so large it has it’s own auditorium style seating.
The story behind it is almost equally amazing. It was commissioned in 1894 and painted by Polish painter Jan Styka. To make the painting, he traveled to Jerusalem to prepare sketches and even had his palette blessed by Pope Leo XIII. The gigantic mural was unveiled in Warsaw in 1897, traveled many European cities, then joined the 1904 St Louis Exposition. It was seized when the partners failed to pay custom taxes and was considered lost for 40 years. It was found in 1944 rolled around a telephone pole and badly damaged in the basement of the Chicago Civic Opera Company. It was restored and then displayed in Forest Lawn by American businessman Hubert Eaton.
It’s hard to find detailed images of the massive painting, but the pieces I have seen are really astounding. Read more about it here.
Also check out some of Jan Styka’s other paintings such as St Peter preaching the gospel in the catacombs.
Twitch has some great channels – especially if you like watching things from other countries.
One of my early favorites was Game Center CX ゲームセンターCX. The Game Center CX Twitch channel ran about 19 seasons of the TV show. GameCenter CX was a Japanese TV show that featured comedian Shinya Arino (a member of comedy duo Yowiko). He plays old home console video games from previous decades (his own childhood) and usually attempts to get the game’s ending within a single day. It’s made more entertaining by the fact he’s not a very good player and the attempts consist of marathon sessions in which he is clearly past exhaustion. He picked up quite a following and he would do adventures playing at local game centers (arcades) in different parts of Japan – many in mom and pop candy stores. While the Twitch gccxstream channel is rarely live these days, you can always watch the archived seasons anytime you want.
A more recent favorites is the Midnight Sumo Twitch channel that broadcasts live competitions and replays of the previous matches in the current season. Sumo runs all year, but in several distinct tournaments that happen ever 2 months. They live broadcast (usually late evening US time) whenever there is a tournament.
During the live broadcasts, there is lots of commenting and folks helping the casual viewer know more about the sport, the reason behind the little rituals they use, see the between match vignettes, as well as getting to watch great Japanese commercials that happen during the normal commercial breaks. Excellent and fun way to watch with others.
Other fun tidbits are how people explain things like the ring announcer (yobidashi) in his unique outfit. The outfit is based on an old style Japanese workman’s outfit, with leggings and split-toed tabi-like boots. In keeping with that workman theme, he does many odd jobs around the arena.
If you’ve ever traveled, you’ve probably noticed that pilots, and a lot of seasoned flight attendants, all seem to use the same luggage. LuggageWorks makes the luggage that they use.
You’ve undoubtedly seen this bag, the Executive 22″ Rolling Bag. At $299, they aren’t cheap – but apparently the are THE word in travel bags.
Flight prices aren’t as cheap as they used to be anymore. In fact, if you’re about to fly your family and friends of 5-7 people somewhere, you might consider picking up a private jet. It might actually be in the same ballpark for price.
How much? Charter companies like XO specialize in these sorts of chartered trips. If you have flexibility, they sometimes even offer discounts and special deals for one-way trips to get their planes back/to the next pickup.
Here’s a list of recent prices
