Summertime Adventures

A few books that might help with planning some adventures:

101 Accessible Vacations: Vacation Ideas for Wheelers and Slow Walkers

by: Candy Harrington

Oregon Favorites: Trails and Tales

by:  William L. Sullivan

75 Classic Rides Oregon

by: Jim Moore

Geocaching is fun!

       Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices or mobile recievers (smartphones). The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online.



A typical cache is a waterproof container, ranging in size from nano, about the size of a shelled peanut, to large, which can be as big as a 5 gallon bucket. Most caches contain at minimum a log for finders to sign, and larger caches might contain items for trading.

We have several books in our system to help you get started geocaching. In fact, the Beaverton Main Library and the Hillsboro Shute Park Library both have actual geocaches on site!



The Groundspeak Geocaching Logo is a registered trademark of Groundspeak, Inc. Used with permission.

Are you a Cartophiliac?

Do you love everything having to do with maps or atlases? Then this is the book for you!

Maphead, by Ken Jennings
From Jeopardy! legend and trivia master Ken Jennings comes a fun, informative and entertaining book that covers just about everything you ever wanted to know about maps, and then some. How much do you know about geocaching, highpointing, road atlas rallying, or "unreal estate"? Ken will fill in the blanks on these and many other related topics. Even if you're not a map lover, you will likely enjoy this book, as it's written in a very humorous and casual style. Chosen as an Amazon Best Book of the Month for September 2011.

NeighborhoodScout

Moving to another area of the country can be a daunting task and finding out as much information on your new home base can be overwhelming. A website that can help in determining which neighborhoods are best suited to your needs and dreams is NeighborhoodScout.com. The website uses the latest neighborhood statistics available from several leading government sources including the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the U.S. Geological Service, among others. The neighborhood profiles include school quality, housing costs, crime rates, income levels, the age, size and style of homes, the density of buildings, rental areas versus owner occupied, the proportion of families with children, the ages of persons in the neighborhood, ethnic and racial makeup, educational levels, languages spoken, types of careers of those living in the neighborhood and much more. Although you can subscribe to the database for more detailed information, the statistics that are available free of charge are substantial.

B

Beaverton Library Map - where is everything around the library?

View Beaverton City Library in a larger map

Visual feast

During this season of holiday feasting, here is one meal that doesn't pack any calories. Author, photographer, and multimedia artist Douglas Gayeton presents a visual journey through Tuscany highlighting it's people and their food traditions in his book, Slow: Life in a Tuscan town. Beautiful, sepia-toned photography coupled with a handwritten narrative of the journey are indeed a feast for the eyes.

Biking Maps for Oregon

Experience Oregon's natural beauty on a bike. For anyone who wants to get out there and explore by bicycle, this website offers some valuable guidance on how to get there.

http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=36638

What do Paris, London & NYC have in common?

PARIS 2011









LONDON 2011










NYC 2011









They are all part of the Fodor's Gold Guides that have just arrived at the Beaverton City Library.

Are you going to San Francisco...

SAN FRANCISCO & NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

This guide includes new full-color photos, illustrations and enhanced maps. Extensive information on local customs, currency, medical services and transportation. New "Discovering" feature helps decide which regions are best suited to the trip.

Bicycle Maps

Our map collection includes a number of maps on cycling in the Portland metropolitan area. Country Cycling explores Washington County by bicycle and there are cycling/walking maps that cover the various areas of Portland. Divided by area, there are maps covering Northeast, North, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest. The downtown area is also covered in the Portland by Bicycle map. Enjoy!

Get ready for the Holidays

Rick Steves' European Christmas

394.2663 STE

From England to Norway, Burgandy to Bavaria, and Rome to the top of the Swiss Alps, Rick Steves' European Christmas gets you a seat at the family feast, up in the loft with the finest choirs, and into the kitchen with grandma and her best-kept holiday secrets. With enchanting photos and more than a dozen recipes, this book captures the spirit of the season perfectly.

National Park Service Web Site

nps.gov
Check out this well-designed web site if you want to find a park by state, name, activity or topic. 
Activity includes everything from auto touring to wildlife viewing. The site also has information on scenic rivers, national heritage sites, memorials, monuments, historic sites, seashores, etc. so the topic search covers from American Presidents to Wildflowers. Other information on nps.gov includes news, events, photos and multimedia presentations and information for teachers and kids.

These 2010 travel books just in...

Eyewitness Travel: San Francisco & Northern California









Eyewitness Travel: Switzerland










Eyewitness Travel: New England

New Travel books just in!

Rick Steve's Scandinavia

With this guide, travelers set sail to Europe's most prosperous corner - a smorgasbord of Viking ships, deep green fjords, stave churches, brooding castles, and colorful farmhouses. Rick explores the sleek, modern cities of Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and Tallinn.

Frommer's Moscow & St. Petersburg

Savvy insider tips on exploring the treasures of the Hermitage Museum and the Kremlin. Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not. Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip whatever your budget. Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.

Frommer's Greece

With authors ranging from renowned Classicists to young Athenians, this updated edition bring readers an up-to-the-minute snapshot of the best both ancient and modern Greece have to offer.

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Paris

Annually revisited and updated. Beautiful new full-color photos, illustrations, and maps. Includes information on local customs, currency, medical services, and transportation.

Travel to and from Canada for U.S. citizens

Planning a vacation to Canada or perhaps a business trip? Maybe you're fortunate enough to be going to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia? You might want to check out this site that tells you what you need to travel to Canada (and Mexico too!) and what you need to get back into the United States. The site is http://www.getyouhome.gov/ . This is a government site that tells you the documents you need for travel between the United States and either Canada or Mexico. It's good to know before you go for that peace of mind feeling! We hope you have a good and safe trip!

New Travel Books

Headed to the Winter Olympics, Seattle or California? Check out these new travel books.


Frommer's Vancouver & Victoria 2010
Just in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games this book has all the details you need to plan your trip to the games in Vancouver and Whistler, from buying tickets, to finding accommodations.





Frommer's Seattle 2010

Features gorgeous color photos of the sights and experiences that await you. The author has combed the city looking for the best hotels, restaurants, shops, and nightlife spots, and has created detailed walking tours to take you through some of the city's most famous neighborhoods.




Frommer's Los Angeles 2010

Foldout map, plus detailed maps throughout. Exact prices, directions, opening hours, and other practical information. Candid reviews of hotels and restaurants, plus sights, shopping and nightlife. Internaries, walking tours, and trip-planning ideas. Insider tips from local experts.




Hidden San Franciso & Northern California

Combining unique travel choices, outdoor adventures, and little-known locales into guides where vacations meet adventures. This book offers readers the comfort of detailed maps, Internet information, author picks, suggested interaries, and walking and ddriving tours.

life abroad

Living abroad can be challenging, frustrating, and rewarding. Living as a minority, expatriate or foreigner in another country is a fascinating experience and reading about it serves to remind us of what is like for people from other cultures trying to find their way in the United States.

Here are a few suggestions about other peoples experiences in other countries that might make you laugh and scratch your head at the same time.


A Year in Provence
Author: Mayle, Peter

Check our catalog for this title

An advertising executive and his wife flee England for a pastoral life in the Provence region of France. Their romantic notion of buying and renovating an old farmhouse runs into a stonewall of procrastinating local handymen as lovable as they are eccentric. Through all the trials and tribulations of finding their way in this foreign culture Mayle and his wife come to appreciate the joys of the Provencal cuisine that for the locals is everyday fare.


I'm A Stranger Here Myself
Author: Bryson, Bill

Check our catalog for this title

Sometimes coming home is a foreign experience as well. Author Bill Bryson spent almost twenty years living in England. In this collection of columns about his repatriation he reflects on life in England as well America after he returns twenty years later. Humorous, sentimental, and gently critical, Bryson nudges the reader to examine the way we live here and how strange that can sometimes seem to the outsider.

Oregon Geology

For all who love Oregon and Geology, this map tool link is worthy of checking out.

The purpose of the Oregon Geologic Data Compilation <--click here to go to the site (OGDC) project is to assemble the best available geologic map information for the entire state by integrating the work of many individual geologic mappers into a vector digital dataset. The data are stored in a geographic information system (GIS) format with links to a relational database. The compilation is thus a "living map" that can change as new geologic information and mapping becomes available.

What is it?

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) has completed (May 2009) a six-year project to digitally compile geologic data for the entire state. This effort brings together the best available geologic mapping from state and federal agency sources, student thesis work, and consultants.

To view the map, your browser must must be JavaScript enabled, and, if you are using Internet Explorer, allow ActiveX controls. The map itself is image intensive. Users with slower internet connections may find that resizing the browser window to a smaller size will help the map image load faster.

You can view Oregon stratigraphy, rock type, and rock property theme maps on topographic and shaded relief backdrops along with faults, formation boundaries, and USGS 7.5' topographic quadrangle outlines and names. You can drag a portion of the map, and it recreates the map in a closer view. You can see fault lines, and there are pop up keys to determine geologic information.

Travel DVDs - New to the Beaverton City Library

Alaska Globe Trekker
Ian Wright begins his journey on the banks of the Yukon River in the town of Eagle, then travels to the town of Chicken, pans for gold, then north to Kennicott and McCarthy. The next leg of his journey takes Ian to Prince William Sound, Seward and more.


Return to the Amazon
After twenty-five years Jean-Michel Cousteau returns to the Amazon and revisited areas he'd explored with his father, Jacques Cousteau. Deforestation, population shifts and burgeoning cities have taken their toll on the area but so have numerous efforts to protect the rainforests, wildlife and indigenous people. The ecology of this one river has global consequences.

Ancient Egypt
Uncover the secrets of Ancient Egypt's visionary pharaohs, engineers, and architects who created some of the finest monuments the world has ever seen. On-location footage and computer modeling recreate architectural landmarks that continue to enthrall and inspire.


Rick Steve’s Travel DVDs:

- European Travel Skills & Specials
- Greece & Turkey
- Spain & Portugal

Washington County Assessor Maps

A patron was looking for the owner of a particular piece of property in Washington County. Although I knew the information would be available at the Assessor's office, I found that what he needed (and much more) was actually available online through the Washington County Intermap site. Using either the actual address of the property, the real property account number or the map & taxlot ID number, a wealth of information can be found with just a click. Ownership information is shown along with "overlay" information. This page includes the ground water resource area, sanitation district, fire district, park district, school district (listing the specific elementary, middle and high schools), election and commissioner districts, census tract, garbage hauler, and whether the parcel is within the Urban Growth Boundary. The assessment and taxation report lists the date of sale of the property with the sale price, market land value, market building value, market total value, taxable assessed value, legal description, lot size, building size, year built, and improvement information with details. Zoning information, contour lines and air photos are also available from this site.