Personal Challenge 2018 - Week 33

This is the 33rd week of my personal 50-week States of the Union Challenge. Each week I research one of the 50 United States (in the order they attained statehood). I share tidbits of information about the state here on my blog and I create a card that is inspired by something about that state.

This week's state (the 33rd one to attain statehood) is...

Oregon

Date of Statehood: February 14, 1859

The name ‘Oregon’ is believed to have come from French word ‘ouragan’ (meaning “windstorm” or “hurricane”), referring to the powerful chinook winds of the Columbia River.

Oregon is one of only five states with no sales tax (the others are Delaware, New Hampshire, Montana, and Alaska).

Oregon is the first state to conduct all elections by mail. 

Oregon’s flag is the only state flag in the United States with a different design on each side. While the front features the escutcheon from the state seal in blue and gold, the reverse pictures a golden beaver.

Oregon was home to the world’s largest log cabin, built in 1905 in honor of the Lewis and Clark expedition, it was a half acre in size—that is until it burned down in an epic fire in 1964.

There are 9 lighthouses standing along the Oregon coastline. The nation’s most photographed lighthouse is the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Albany in northern Oregon is home to The Historic Carousel Museum, which not only displays historic carousel animals and artwork, but is currently in the process of building its own hand-crafted working carousel featuring a "menagerie" of 52 animals. 

Oregon is home to the biggest mushroom on earth. Spanning approximately 2.4 miles in Oregon’s Blue Mountains, the enormous honey fungus is believed to be somewhere between 1900 and 8650 years old. 

Mushroom hunting is such a popular (and lucrative) activity in Oregon, the state even has its own mushroom festival. Held annually in Estacada, the Estacada Festival of the Fungus features a mushroom hunt, tastings, fungus-themed artwork, and mushroom identification classes. 

Portland’s name was decided with a coin toss. Had the coin landed on the other side, the city would have been named Boston. 

At 8,000 feet deep Oregon’s Hells Canyon is the deepest river gorge in North America.

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the U.S. and was formed more than 6,500 years ago within the remains of an ancient volcano.

Mill Ends Park is a tiny urban park located in downtown Portland. The park is a small circle 2 feet across, with a total area of 452 sq inches. It was designated as a city park in 1948. It is the smallest park in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, which first granted it this recognition in 1971.

Oregon is the only state that has an official state nut. The official state nut of Oregon is the hazelnut. The hazelnut is also known as the filbert. Oregon grows 99 percent of the entire U.S. commercial crop.

Portland has over 70 food cart/truck vendors, making it the best in the world for street food. 

The Tillamook Cheese Factory is the largest cheese factory in the world, and a popular tourist attraction for all ages. Visitors can see cheese being made and learn about the cheese-making process by taking a self-guided tour.

The world’s tallest barber shop pole, standing at 72-feet tall, resides in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state in the country. There are over 60 of them, including deserted gold mining towns.

There are 159 yurts in 19 parks in Oregon. What's a yurt, you ask? It's a circular, portable tent structure that's perfect for camping. 

Eugene Oregon was the first city to have one-way streets, and is quoted by “Bicycling Magazine” as one of the top ten cycling communities in the United States.

Oregon has some interesting laws, too...

In 1971 Oregon became the first state to ban the use of non-returnable bottles and cans.

It is against the law to use corn as bait when fishing in Oregon.

Ministers in Marion aren't permitted to eat garlic before beginning a sermon.

It is against the law in Myrtle Creek Oregon to box with a kangaroo.

In Portland you're not allowed to whistle underwater. 

No more than two people are permitted to share a single beverage in Stansfield.

Another loony law: dishes have to drip dry. 

I decided to go with this bit of Oregon information for my card's inspiration... Oregon residents own one-fourth of the country’s total llama population.

This is the inside of my card:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Supplies Used

Stamp Sets: My Favorite Things Llama Love and SU Sky Is the Limit stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers (the images were cut with a Brother Scan N Cut machine)

Papers: Recollections Black, Kraft, and 110# White CS and DP from the Pink Paislee Hello Sunshine Paper Pad

Embellishment: Flower from an unknown vendor