OREGON COAST September 2017 – Part 3—Barns, School, Beach

The final part of my drive to the Pacific took me past Newberg and on by scenic farms and vineyards then along Highway 6 through Tillamook State Forest. I stopped several times to take photos.

I later made a painting of this barn. I call this one “Transition.” The changes of time gives old barns so much character. Also you can see the transition from near to far by the shade of the hills in the background.

This huge building has a sign on it which says, “The Christmas Barn.”

Here is my portrait of the place. Both these paintings are for sale at my Etsy Site: Watercolors by Leenie. 

When I came through the forest into the valley near the town of Tillamook, Oregon I looked up the Maple Leaf School.

It has been restored from an empty building with blackberry bushes growing through the floors to what is now the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center.

In 1924-26 my father attended school there. This is a painting I made from old photos for him while he was still alive.

His mother saved most of his report cards. This is one from his second grade. He was a pretty good student!

Here is a photo of him in first grade. This was not at the Tillamook School but from farther north along the Oregon coast in Warrenton. Dad is third from the left in the middle row.

Now, on the stage where he may have sung in programs with his classmates, was a display of textile art.

And the room where my dad practiced arithmetic and spelling was filled with looms and spinning wheels.

That evening I reached my destination and was finally out of the heavy smoke from the surrounding wildfires. Air quality had gone from unhealthy to hazardous over Oregon as the huge fire just east of Portland spread causing evacuations of towns along the Columbia. Even with all the efforts of the fire fighters, the forests continued to burn for weeks. The month was dubbed, “Smoketember” by the Oregon news reporters.