A Living Magazine - Day 48 - The Willamette River Creature

I woke up at 5:15 am in my beachfront campsite, well rested. I even turned back over and slept another hour! I knew this day would be a little rough, since I'd only be able to eat once. I made it through the day before with only a coffee. So, I was looking forward to having something.

I got to McDonald's and checked for my package online. Waiting for it was why I stayed in Salem for the past week. UPS said it was delivering it to the post office. I was psyched! Maybe I could get it on this day and then start my trek to Portland a day early. I set out for the post office, which was about five miles away in the eastern part of Salem, on 25th Street.

The simplest way I could see on the map (only looking for a moment before leaving) seemed to be Route 22. It was both the routes of the bridges - one bridge being eastbound and the other west bound - between West Salem and Salem, as well as the major road to the eastern part of the city. Much of it was a matter of taking Mission Street, which I already knew quite well. Still, this seemed to be a long 5 miles. And, now the heat was returning after three days of cool, dry weather.

After much more sweating than I had planned, I reached the post office and checked in with the clerk. He very kindly told me that there were no packages. He suggested that UPS might have brought it to another branch that might have been closer to them, in which case it would then be transported to the main branch the next day--Saturday. 

This is the same thing that happened in Redding. From now on if I am to receive mail by General Delivery, I'm going to wait for the actual word, "delivered", before going in to check for it. It is my fault that I'm disappointed when things don't come earlier than they are expected. Another valuable lesson learned.

I was contemplating just staying in that part of town by finding a sleeping spot there. But I would have had bout 7 hours to kill, and southern Salem is just not that interesting or comfortable. So, I headed back to West Salem for the night, planning to go back to the post office very early the next day, to simply wait and make damn SURE they have the package.

I piggybacked Wi-Fi outside of a Carl Jr's restaurant, and saw that a much more direct route back to West Salem would be State Street, through the middle of town, to Commercial, then Marion (which led to the bridges). Along the way I took some shots...

In October, all dispensaries will be legally allowed to sell to adults,

even for recreational use. I'll be long gone before then. 

I thought it was neat that the Governor of Oregon (Kate Brown) fast-tracked the retail process, saving six months of waiting. This was probably due to the amount of tax money that could be made in that interim, judging by Colorado's and Washington's success with such legalization ventures.

I walked by Willamette University. Whenever I see campus buildings I always get the urge to go back to college...

Right before turning on to Commercial Street I was struck by just how nice the embellishment of the exterior of this bank was...

Along the sidewalk were these interesting and old panels. If I hadn't been told about these by my friend David Sixsmith I would have no idea what they were. He showed me pictures of the same things from Portland (OR)--or it might have been Seattle? the purple glass lets light down into the sewer. If one were to explore such nether regions, one would see a neat illumination under, and all the way down, the street...

Natural sewer lighting.

I got to the bridges more quickly than I had anticipated, which was great! And this time I wanted to walk over the pedestrian bridge - what I had been erroneously calling "the trestle bridge". Upon starting over it, I learned its real name: The Union Street Railroad Bridge... 

I was taken off-guard by a sudden sentimentality for the city and especially for my time in West Salem. It was like I'd been living there for years--but knew I would soon be gone, possibly forever. I wanted to capture the spirit of what the river means to the people there...

I found these locks all over the railing of the bridge.

I thought at first it was for keeping a bike up there.

But they are actually just left as little offerings.

The one above being particularly cute.

Looking down a column. "Might as well jump!" - the Van Halen lyrics  - popped into my head.

Algae colors the water green.

A pigeon egg, fallen from a nest in the bridge supports above me.

Not only was this bridge free of traffic, but also a lot shorter, and ended up leading me to a direct staircase to the beach below.

I walked around, knowing that I had already taken shots of what I considered to be the most interesting things. But this was cool...

These webs are difficult to photograph, the my camera wants to see the objects behind.

I sat down at my favorite picnic table and transferred pictures from my camera...

An ant carries away the body of a dead May fly.

Ha, ha! The photo of the spider web made my screen look cracked...

This is how I pick up passengers!

A large Oregon Ash tree.

I went back to McDonald's to write out the day's post. It took quite a while, but I was finally done around 5:30 pm, and left.

There were people around, down by the area where I slept the night before. so I went in between the bridges to hang out and also see if I could use the first place there that I'd found after sunset.

That's when I saw an animal I'd seen the night before, swimming almost completely submerged. The last night, I observed a creature approximately 5 feet long (from head to tail tip), slipping through the water, then diving down and not resurfacing. At first I thought it was a muskrat. But they don't stay under that long. Then, I thought it was a large turtle, but there was no shell. Even a giant catfish would not troll the the surface of the water like that. I tried to take pictures the night before, but they didn't come out.

This time, the light was much brighter in the sky, so I took some shots hoping for a better idea about the shape. I walked down to the shore and got the only pictures I could...

Personally, I think it looked like a small alligator!

I scoured the internet looking for any mention of a strange creature and found nothing. So far, this year I'd seen "UFO" that no one else could recognize in the video I took of it, and now a river "monster" that fits the cliche of: "Oh, OK! Just another grainy picture, huh? Better luck next time." At this point I'm thinking that all I need to do is catch a glimpse of Big Foot on my way north, and I will have completed the paranormal triad of most popular myths!

A picture of Minto Island, where I spent the very first night in Salem,

but you "can't get there from here".

It was an easy transition after the sky grew dark, back to my sleeping spot between the bridges--where I had slept after crossing that bridge two days before...

Salem Sleeping Place 4, and Now 6