Rust in the Dust
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Field Guide Part 2: Rust in the Dust

Last updated July 24, 2000

Oregonians love unreasonably big vehicles. Perhaps it is some vestige of the pioneering spirit of Oregon's early inhabitants, who forged across the country in wagons built to carry all their belongings. Or maybe it hints at the state's agrarian past, when tractors and combines roved the endless plains. Whatever the reason, the inhabitants of Oregon's suburbs seem compelled- no, obligated- to fill their driveways, streets, and even their yards with enormous vehicles (of both land and sea) that they seldom, if ever, use.

Behemoths and port-a-wrecks

 Two proud and loyal beasts, both almost as big as the houses of their owners.

 

 You needn't be a homeowner to clutter your surroundings with a camper. How charitable are the inhabitants of this apartment building, sacrificing nine (yes, nine) prime parking spaces so that their neighbor may stable his luxuriant leviathan.

Verdant parking

A garage, an empty driveway, plenty of available parking in the street, and two cars on the lawn. What a fleet the owners must have that they resorted to trampling their delicate lawn to store their no-doubt essential auxiliary vehicles.

The luckiest man in Oregon

In a single front lawn are displayed a boat, two campers, two cars, and an RV in the shed! And that's not all- there are at least two "temporarily disabled" vehicles in the back! Imagine the wealth, admire the bold extravagance with which the owner displays his booty. He clearly is, by modern standards, the luckiest man in the state.

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