Oregon Fast Facts, like 750 vineyards produce 70 wine grapes varietals

Discover Oregon and attend a Friendship Rally (www.countrycoachfriendsincorporated.com)! Over the next few months, I'll be sharing some of the great reasons to travel to Oregon for leisure and recreation time. Not only is it the mother lode in terms of exceptional RV technicians, dealers, and RV related service providers, it is an AMAZING STATE!

Oregon Fast Facts! from www.traveloregon.com

Whether it is your first or tenth trip to Oregon, here are some quick tidbits to help you get to know this spectacular state.

Did you know:

• Oregon has no sales tax.
• Oregon’s birthday is Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1859.
• Oregon is the 10^th largest state in the union, covering 97,073 square miles.
• Oregon is bordered by Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California and the Pacific Ocean.

A State of (Natural) Wonder (a.k.a largest, deepest, richest):

• Crater Lake, at 1,932 feet deep, is the deepest lake in the United States.
• Hells Canyon is the deepest river-carved gorge in North America. At 7,900 feet, it’s deeper than the Grand Canyon.
• The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is one of the richest fossil sites in the world. You would need to travel to Pakistan to find a fossil bed that rivals this one.
• The largest concentration of wintering bald eagles can be found in Klamath Forest National Wildlife Refuge.
• The Malheur Wildlife Refuge is home to the largest freshwater marsh in the U.S.

History and Heritage

• Oregon has four National Historic Trails and 14 National Historic Districts, including our namesake trail that pioneered Western expansion and urged dreamers to “Go West.”
• Oregon has more than 7,000 bridges, including 53 covered bridges.
• Nine historic lighthouses and one light ship dot the Oregon Coast.
• Oregon is home to 10 Native American tribes.

Quirky Tidbits

• Oregon is pronounced OR-UH-GUN, never OR-EE-GONE.
• The Oregon hazelnut is the state’s official nut, and Oregon grows 99 percent of the entire U.S. commercial crop.
• The pear is Oregon’s state fruit, ranking as the top-selling tree fruit crop.
• There are more than 750 vineyards in Oregon, producing more than 70 different varietals of wine grapes.
• Letting an attendant pump your gas is mandatory; you may not pump your own in the state of Oregon.

Geography

Oregon is a state of contrasts, with snow-dusted mountains, dramatic river canyons, lush valleys, rugged coast, arid plains and fertile fields. In fact, Oregon offers some example of every geographic terrain on the planet within its borders.

• The highest elevation point is Mt. Hood at 11,239 feet, and the lowest is at sea level.
• There are more than 6,000 lakes and 112,000 miles of rivers and streams.
• Oregon contains more than 5,900 registered campsites along with 230 state parks and 13 national forests.
• Nearly half of Oregon’s total area is forested – close to 30 million acres.
• There are 16 known hot springs in Oregon.

Oregon Pop Culture

• Portlandia. Put a bird on it.
• Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood served as the scenic backdrop for the movie, The Shining.
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was based and filmed in Salem, Ore., where now stands the Museum of Mental Health.
• The Goonies was filmed mostly in Astoria, Ore., with scenic cameo shots from other coastal towns.
• Audience-favorite, Grimm, plays off the natural scenery in Oregon to produce its picturesque, cinematic appeal.
• Portland first gained national attention for its music scene in the 1960s, when The Kingsmen and Paul Revere & the Raiders helped establish the city as a Northwest center for frat and garage pop. Today, all sorts of great local bands are making waves here, including M. Ward, The Decemberists, Horse Feathers, Laura Veirs, Portugal. The Man and Blind Pilot.
• Ken Kesey’s masterful “Sometimes a Great Notion” explores the relationship between Oregon’s landscapes and its psyche.
• Portland’s artists are varied and inspiring: Gus Van Sant, Matt Groening, Chuck Palahniuk, Beverly Cleary, Stephen Malkmus.