Hull-Oakes Lumber Company

Hull-Oakes Lumber, one of the last steam-powered sawmills in the United States. The wood boilers burn so clean that smoke is barely visible, even on a sunny day. This makes it one of the most eco-friendly wood mills in the country. The mill was built at the end of a power line where there was just enough electricity to run lights and small motors, but not enough for a sawmill. Today, 60 years later, it is still operating that way. The boilers are fired up at midnight to build up a head of steam prior to the start of the single shift mill. Although it is open on two sides, the sawmill never closes because of cold weather. The water lines are drained at the end of the shift whenever frost threatens. Thousands of people from around the world tour the mill every year. Tom Hull (owner of the mill) will sometimes lead the tour. The tour is free, but an appointment is recommended. At the age of 87, Ralph Hull is still active today. He and his grandson Todd Nystrom are responsible for the day-to-day operation. For an appointment, telephone 541/424-3112 or fax 541/424-3012. Most of this information has been provided by at http://www.armstrongblue.com/Articles/hull_oakes.htm

Corvallis Tourism Website

One of the best places to find out information about Corvallis is the general visitors page at www.visitcorvallis.com This site is simply fantastic. they have a live event area where you can post upcoming activities or simply find something to do on a Saturday afternoon. They also have a comprehensive list of places to eat, stay, and a section for suggestion on things to do. The reason I write about the is because they recently updated the old website into a snazy new format. this new site is even easier to navigate and has added several new features. Click on the link in this posting to check it out.

Beautiful Nature Walks, Peavy Arboretum/McDonald Research Forest

Last weekend I decided that with the leaves changing, it would be a wonderful time to go for a mid-day walk. I hoped in the car and drove out to Peavy and I was amazed. It is that time of year when leaves blow across the trail and a swirling spiral of red and yellow leaves can be seen in all directions. For those of you that don't know, the forest is located right off of Highway 99. If you are in class and stressed like me, or just a passer-by I would highly recommend getting out to the woods sometime in the next week.

Stuffed Grape Leaves

so the following post has nothing to do with Corvallis, but rather is a food recipe that all my friends CONSTANTLY ask me about. This is my family list for amazing stuffed grap leaves. Make sure to actually try them before you say it sounds disguisting

What you need:
1 jar, or about 15 grape leaves
1 can of tomato paste
2-3 cups or rice
1-2 lbs of ground meat
allspice
mint
a whole lemon

Start by soaking the grape leaves in water over night to soften them. If they came from a jar at the store, feel free to skip this step (Oasis restaurant in Corvallis sells grape leaves). Next cook the rice, it is easier to do in a rice cooker but a pot works just as well. After the rice is cooked, mix it together with the ground meat and pour in the can of tomoto paste. Add a good bit fo allspice and a little mint so that you can smell it, but it is not overwhelmingly strong. Stir the mixture up with your hands, careful not to burn yourself (the rice will still be hot).
Take the grape leaves and lay them on a plate with the vein of the stem facing your direction. Place one to two spoonfuls of the meat and rice mixture on to the grap leaves and proceed to wrap them up (check out a video or tutorial online as to how best to do this). After all the grap leaves are wrapped, line the bottom of a pot with grape leaves so that the stuffed ones do not burn. Next stack the grap leaves in the pot, placement is not an issue, just make sure that stack rises near the top of the pot. Next, fill the pot with water and cut some lemon slices to place on top of the water (use the whole lemon in my opinion). Place a plate or other heavy object over top of the pot to prevent the leaves from rising to the top. Set the stove to the highest setting and once boiling occurs, reduce to a heavy simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
Grape leaves are best served with pita bread and dipped in hommus, but that of course is a matter of opinion. NO, you do not remove the meat from the leave, the whole mix is eaten as one. Hope a few of you actually try this out, I made it for my roommates a few days ago and there skepticisms soon turned into making yummy sounds.

da Vinvi days

So the 20th annual da Vinci days festival is going to be back in Corvallis on July 18th-20th. For those of you have never gone to this before it is pretty spectacular. they have art exhibits, live music, and all sorts of other crazy creations that people have come up with. There website is http://www.davinci-days.org/ for those of you that are interested in checking out what is going to be there this year. I forgot to mention that they have robots this year.....and who doesn't want to go play around with robots, come one don't lie to yourself. Anyways, I am going to be there for sure so hopefully all you will do the same and head on out. I think the tickets are fairly cheap to. 15 for all day and like 8 for one day. Last year I bought mine at Corvallis Tourism on Harrison. So anyways, hope you can all go out and enjoy the festivities.

Finally Summer

So I woke up this morning and as I walked to work I realized that it is FINALLY summer. The grass is turning that beautiful emerald green color and I no longer have to wear a sweatshirt. That means swimming in the river, drinking with friends in the front lawn, hiking the trails and just overall good times to be had. I need to find some fun events to attend as well, I am thinking some Saturday farmers market trips are in my near future as well.

Been to Long

Well, it is officially my last week as an undergraduate (which is why it has taken me so long to post more blogs.) However, I am STILL not leaving Corvallis. Four years and I can not imagine myself wanting to live anywhere else. Thats why I have recently applied to graduate school and.....was accepted, yah for me. That means two more years of awesome food, good friends, staying up way to late, and getting into trouble for things I should probably not be doing (that last part is between us.) Besides all of this exciting news, I got a chance to go to Fireworks Restaurant and bar on 3rd Street yesterday. "And the survey says," simply amazing. Organic vegetables and pasture raised meats. I consider myself no vegetarian but any time I can eat delicious food while not knowing it is good for me I am happy. At least this way I can pretend to be extremely environmental, and have a good meal. I will be living in Corvallis over the summer so hit me up with a post if anyone is ever down for a bar night (which I think is my real reason for liking Corvallis now a days)

Spring Break

So I am full force in the middle of Spring Break right now and the town has cleared out fairly well, a few of us are still lingering behind but that is to be expected. I ended up going with a friend to American Dream Pizza last night which if you have never went to, is some of the best pizza I have EVER had. Apparently it was even good enough for presidential hopeful Barrack Obama to attend. If you live in the Corvallis area I am sure you heard about this, but for those for you who don't its true. Apparently it was an unscheduled stop as he headed to Eugene to give a speech. I guess Corvallis just has some awesome food places. Great restaurants like Le Bistro (see the video), American Dream, Aomats (love sushi), and Wildfire just to name a few. If it is one thing I adore its food and I think the whole college diversity really gives my town an extensive dinning selection. Everything from organic to steakhouses are here, and having a little bit of everything really is nice

First Day

Well, I guess it would be wise to start off saying that I am new to this whole blogging world that I have heard so much about, but sometimes being a student calls for doing something new when you are bored. Right now I all to often find myself having way to much down time so....here I am. I look forward to having all of you read my writings, thoughts, and in general just overall reflections about life in the college town of Corvallis. For those of you who don't know this all ready, it is a quaint town located in the Willamette Valley in Oregon (at least we have good wine, thats always a plus) with a population around 50,000. Anyways I am excited to start blogging and have all of you comment.