Returning to Nature, Part 2

This 1970s-era Chevrolet Malibu stock car appears to have not moved in years, and is pretty well hemmed in by vegetation, both dead and alive. It is located next to the yacht and bicycle in Part 1.

Returning to Nature, Part 1

Today at Lane County Photos of Interest, we have a multi-part series of vehicles returning to nature.

Here are a derelict yacht, an old bicycle and a few garden implements including a wheelbarrow and potting bench, returning to their elements in a West Eugene front lawn.

A Car Graveyard in the Heart of Eugene

I have known about this stash of 1970s/80s era cars and parts, mostly BMWs and random parts thereof, located in the Whiteaker area of Eugene, Oregon, for many years, and have always wanted to get close to them, take pictures, and maybe even rescue a car or two. Well, I got the first two out of the way, and building a Revell plastic model kit of an E21 BMW 320i, similar to one of the cars here, will have to do for now as far as rescuing a car from here goes. 

The cars here include a W107 Mercedes-Benz SL roadster with a hardtop and some front-end damage, an early-model Datsun 240Z that was so badly wrecked that it would be impossible to rebuild but undoubtedly has at least a few usable parts left on it, a chrome-bumper BMW 2002 that looks to be a viable project car if it's not too rusty, an E21 BMW 3-series coupe, an E30 3-series coupe that would make great parts cars (or 24 Hours of LeMons/ChumpCar race cars, if one could be bought for under $500), and an extremely rusty "boattail" 1970s Buick Riviera. The parts include many doors, boot lids and bonnets from BMW E3 (Bavaria) and E12 5-series sedans, numerous tires, wheels, suspension struts, hubcaps and other bits that (for the most part) look to have come from BMWs and Datsun Z-cars, and many nuts, bolts and other fasteners. Due to all the interesting stuff out front, I would think that the garage/warehouse directly behind these cars would have similar if not better contents.

2002, E21 3-series and Buick Riviera in background, E30 parked in front

SL, Z-car and E30, E21 and Riviera in background

SL and BMW body parts

SL with 1970s slot-mag wheel, janitor's plastic mop bucket and unidentified steel disc wheel in foreground

Ninkasi Brewery: Construction Photos

I was in the Whiteaker neighborhood of Eugene, Oregon today, and snapped these pictures of the Ninkasi Brewery, maker of many types of fine, craft-brewed beer and ale. This brewery was a former plumbing company headquarters in its previous life, and has had the original building extensively remodeled to incorporate a tasting room and a far more modern esthetic than its previous iteration. Construction is far from finished, though, and much more is being added to the old plumbing-company building as I write this and these pictures show. The strange thing about the location of this brewery is that it is slightly more than 100 yards from the JESCO Club, an establishment used chiefly for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, which also has a tavern located two doors down from it. Clearly a foolish place for a building that AA meetings are held in.

 Tasting room and brewing tanks.

From the side, looks like it might be the start of the brewhouse or a bottling facility.

From the back (Blair Boulevard). 

In addition to the brewery, a warehouse appears to be under construction in the shell of this long-abandoned bakery outlet store. Little can be seen in this picture, but I was also in this area a few weeks back when most of the doors were open, revealing hundreds of gallons of beer and ale contained in single bottles, palletized six-packs and draft kegs. 

This Bridgeport beer bottle (brewed in Portland, Oregon, and a rival of Ninkasi) was lying in the grass between a sidewalk and the street across from the side of the brewery site seen in Picture #2. Oddly, there were no Ninkasi bottles in the area, or other alcoholic-beverage containers for that matter.

An Update, At Last!

I have been busy with many other things, and am just getting back to work here.

If anyone's noticed, I have added advertisements to my blog, and I will be paid for people clicking them to go to the service or product that the ad links to.

Anyhow, more pictures are on the way, and enjoy!