Oregon, located in the northwest area of the United States, is a dramatic and varied land. From the Pacific Ocean, to the Cascade Mountains, from the Columbia River Gorge to the High Desert, from the Siskiyou Mountains in the south to the Blue Mountains in the northeast, the Alvord desert to the Oregon Dunes, from small towns to Portland. There actually is something for everybody here.
Aside from my website and other locations on the Internet, you can see Oregon in many movies. A few of the pictures shot entirely, or partially in Oregon are: ‘The Hunted’, ‘A River Runs Through It’, ‘Kindergarten Cop’, ‘The Postman’, ‘The Goonies’, ‘The Shining’, ‘Free Willy’, ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’, ‘Animal House’, ‘Wild’, ‘Swordfish’, ‘Overboard’, and many MANY others…
You may be familiar with several Oregon businesses. Some of the more notable include: ‘Nike’, ‘FLIR’ (the helicopter and military stable video cameras and forward looking radar systems), ‘Leatherman’, ‘WARN’ winches, ‘Columbia Sportswear’, ‘Freightliner Trucks’, ‘Morrow Snowboards’, ‘Gerber Knives’, ‘Marqui Spas’ and more. Oregon’s largest employer is ‘Intel’ (with five manufacturing facilities).
If you come to Portland, no trip is complete without a trip to the largest new and used bookstore in the world, Powell’s Books. 1.5 million books in 43,000 square feet of retail store over I don’t know how many city blocks total. It is very impressive and a lot better than almost all of the libraries in the country.
Official Oregon Items:
State Animal: The American Beaver
Beverage: Milk was selected in 1997 as the state beverage.
Bird: Selected by Oregon students at the state bird in 1927 was the Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta).
Fish: In 1961 the state legislature selected the Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as the state fish. Also known as spring, king and tyee salmon. Chinook Salmon up to 53 inches (134 cm) in length and 126 pounds (57 kg) in weight have been recorded.
Flower: The Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) is the Oregon state flower.
Fruit: The pear (Pyrus communis) is the state fruit.
Insect: The butterfly Oregon Swallowtail (Papilio oregonius) is the state insect.
Mushroom: The Pacific golden chanterelle (Cantharellus formosus) is the official mushroom of the State of Oregon. Yumm…
Nut: With 99% of the U.S. production, the hazelnut (Corylus avellana) is the state nut of Oregon. Also called the ‘Filbert’ by locals, the nut is close, in my opinion, to the Macadamia nut. Another Yumm…. Hazelnuts are featured in Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, and many other sweets.
Tree: The Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) was declared the state tree in 1939. Heights up to 325 feet (99 meter) and diameters up to 15 feet (4.5 meter) with an average of 200 feet (61 meter) make the tree profitable and remarkable.