Google Sightseeing » Oregon

Wow! That’s a LOT of cars!

Chris Hannigan — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:57:26 +0000

Check out all of these white cars parked on an airfield in Green Cove Springs, Florida! GSS reader Jon who sent us this sight thought the all-white cars might be hidden UN vehicles stashed behind trees at a US airbase.

The cars are actually a shipment of new imported Kias being stored at a unused section of an old Naval Air Station, and the white colour is due to the protective plastic wrap the cars are covered with on their way to the retailers. Despite the rational explanation, that’s still a LOT of cars to cover two 5,000 ft runways!

In some places, the cars are parked in very neat and tidy rows, and in other locations you’ll find gaps and holes in the formation. How do you think they got the middle car out?

The facility itself was once called Naval Air Station Green Cove Springs (Lee Field). The base was decommissioned in 1960, and today aviation sectional charts mark the site as a private field called Reynolds Airpark. Only one of the original naval base runways remains in use.

It’s pretty cool to see thousands and thousands of cars lined up somewhere, so here are a couple of other places that do this as well. Outside of Portland, Oregon you’ll find a storage yard for imported vehicles, and outside of Warwick, Rhode Island a large group of cars can be seen stacked by the ports.

Previously on Google Sightseeing: The World’s Largest Car Parks.

Thanks again to Jon for the link!

Locations: Florida, Oregon, Rhode Island / Categories: Aircraft, Other Vehicles

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Mystery Forest Art

Chris Hannigan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:57:57 +0000

It’s not uncommon to stumble across some interesting sights and shapes when you browse through Google Maps, but there’s something special about stumbling across forest clearings that surely must be man-made, but there’s no obvious reason for the recognisable shapes!

In southern Poland, outside the town of Bokowno, we find the shape of a north arrow carved out of the nearby woods. It measures close to a massive 525 metres from one end to the other, and appears to be lined-up perfectly in a north direction. There are two sand production facilities nearby, so perhaps the arrow is used by one of these companies?

Outside of Pensaukee, Wisconsin you will find the word FOWL grown into the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Is this perhaps a warning to passing planes that there may be geese and ducks around?

In Oregon’s Umpqua National Forest, there appear to be two dice cut into the trees. Could this be tied into a local environmental project? Or perhaps it’s something to whet the appetites of air travellers en-route to Las Vegas, which is almost exactly 1,000 km to the south east.

Can anyone shed any light on these bizarre forest formations?

Also see our previous forest art posts on sharks, fonts and very large writing!

Thanks to Gabor Doka, Kendall, Mastboy, Mark, local_gurl, Derek, Denny, Mr. P, and Max.

Locations: Oregon, Poland, Wisconsin / Categories: Crop Circles, Weirdness

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Newberry Volcano (Volcano Week 4)

Ian Brown — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:49:11 +0000

It’s Volcano Week 4 here at GSS. Volcanoes, about a week. You know the drill!

Newberry Volcano is an immense shield volcano located in central Oregon. In addition to a main volcanic caldera, the system is composed of many domes, cones, craters and lava flows across an area more than 32km in width in addition to two large fissures which extend outwards a considerable distance.

The central caldera, known as Paulina Peak, was created over hundreds of thousands of years and many eruptions; it now contains a pair of lakes fed by hot springs – Paulina Lake and East Lake. Extreme temperatures have been recorded beneath the caldera, leading to exploration with a view to creating geothermal power. The lava flow to the south of the lakes is known as Big Obsidian Flow.

Newberry Volcano is noted for creating many different types of lava, with a corresponding variety of landscape features being created as a result. The entire system is protected as the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Apollo-era astronauts trained in areas of the volcano that resemble the moon’s surface.

Some of the most prominent features are buttes – tall cinder cones which result from a single eruption, including this cluster north of the lakes.

One of the most prominent is Lava Butte, which is approximately 150m tall, and has the Lava Lands Visitor Center at its base. Lava Butte is visible in a quite scenic Street View image from nearby Highway 97 … though it appears to have been so cold that one of the camera lenses froze over!

There are three large lava fields (mostly flat areas of volcanic rock) to the southest of the caldera – Devil’s Garden, Squaw Ridge and Four Craters. Extending from the edge of the latter is the imaginatively-named Crack-in-the-Ground, a 20m deep and 3km long fissure which is popular with hikers.

Equally creatively-named are the two nearby large maars, or explosion craters – Big Hole and Hole-in-the-Ground.

Locations: Oregon / Categories: Street Views, Volcanoes

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In Memorial of Pre

Evan Brammer — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:37:18 +0000

Steve Prefontaine. His is a name synonymous with running; a name all of your running-junky friends are sure to be familiar with.¹ In 1975, at the time he was struck and killed in a car accident, he held every U.S. track record from 2,000 to 10,000 meters. When he was dead-out sprinting there seemed to be flames coming from his Nikes. In fact, he was the first athlete to endorse Nike.²

Prefontaine, lovingly referred to as Pre by those that knew him and us that admire his abilities, so enamoured the sports world that there are many places that bear his name in memorial. Here are just a few of the memorial locations set up in and around the state of Oregon, including Hayward Field, which is the location of the annual Pre Classic, due to take place this Sunday, June 7th.

Prefontaine Memorial Park with Pre Rock

“Prefontaine Memorial Park” could be a contender for The World’s Smallest Park, as it consists of not much more than one rock that stands near the site of Pre’s car accident. The stone memorial commonly known as “Pre Rock” bears a plaque that tells the story of Prefontaine’s death.

During the night on May 30, 1975, Pre swerved his 1973 Gold MG to avoid hitting an oncoming car. By the time emergency services had arrived, Pre was dead. Pre Rock is constantly covered in wreaths, notes, and U.S. flags; as we can see in this Streetview image.³

Pre’s Trail

When Pre competed in Europe he came to appreciate the style and terrain of their cross-country courses, and wanted a similar experience for Tracktown USA⁴ runners. When he returned, he won over Eugene city officials to the idea who worked with U of O track coach Bill Bowerman to design and build it, with the trailhead being just south of Autzen Stadium in Alton Baker Park.

Pre’s Trail Western Trailhead / Eastern Trailhead

The trail had yet to be built at the time of Pre’s death. However, the city was able to finish the 5.5km trail within four months, just in time to be used in a memorial run that would see over five hundred runners come out to remember their friend.

Steve Prefontaine Memorial Hall

When guests arrive at the Nike Campus at One Bowerman Drive in Beaverton, Oregon they are ushered into Steve Prefontaine Hall. Pre is often referred to as the “soul of Nike” by founder Phil Knight because of his commitment to running and his intense desire to always come out on top. Within the Hall are many of Nike’s newest developments, as well as individual pieces of memorabilia of Pre’s and many other athletes that have worked with the company in the past.

Several movies have been made chronicling Steve Prefontaine’s life, and Hayward Field played itself in each of them.

You can also check out the the Prefontaine Memorial at the Coos Bay Visitor Center. Each year over 1,000 runners compete in the Prefontaine Memorial Run held there in his hometown.

Or, maybe you. ↩
Pre battle-tested Nikes back when they were made on a waffle-iron in coach Bill Bowerman’s kitchen. Bowerman would later create Nike with former middle-distance runner Phil Knight. Together they shoed and clothed the world in a “swoosh”, banking billions in the process. ↩
A fact this author (who is proudly from Eugene) can personally attest to, as there have always been personal effects left at Pre’s Rock every time he’s passed by. ↩
With the consistent turnout of Olympians from the University of Oregon, Eugene is seen as a “mecca” for the running world. Numerous Olympic trials, NCAA, and USA Track and Field championships have been held here, specifically at the legendary Hayward Field. ↩

Locations: Oregon / Categories: Movie Locations, Stadiums and Sport, Street Views

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Top Ten Confusing Place Names

Ian Brown — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:59:42 +0000

Following the example of Alex’s Rudest Place Names post, I hereby present my top ten confusing place names.

For each of these sights, I picture a confused driver arriving in town, rolling down the car window and asking a passer-by “Can you tell me where I am?”

10. Smile, KY