We’re on our way to see Ian, our Big Sky Producer. He said we had to stop in Lincoln, the town where the unabomber lived. The only people we saw were through the a propped-open bar door and a guy locking up the ice chest outside a gas station.

And some of the best neon all trip.

Main Street, Lincoln (MT) from Jesse Shapins on Vimeo.

We could not resist a town named Moscow in northern Idaho.

There is a long Main Street in Portland proper. But we opted to take a quick peek at this Main Street right outside the city limits in Milwaukie, where the city stores all it’s transportation vehicles (including it’s de-icers). This light industrial zone was also home to a nest of birds atop this tower.

Main Street, Milwaukie (OR) from Jesse Shapins on Vimeo.

Lena's rocks and gifts

I was taking pictures of the wetsuit and crystals hanging outside a store called “Inspirations” when an unsmiling woman came out and asked why I was photographing her store.  I told her about the project and she invited me in.

Inside "Inspirations"

Inside, there were two older men who said they were cheating at gin rummy and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with Lena’s homemade jam. Inspirations also serviced as a make-shift hang out for the older men of the town.

Lena started talking about how people come to Myrtle Creek to prospect for gold. And the wetsuit outside wasn’t for surfing, but for protecting against the cold water while you’re out there panning.

She said that she and her husband had been out there about a year ago and found a huge soccer ball-sized, heavy rock. They thought they’d found gold and sent it in to have analyzed. Instead of gold, it ended up being some kind of gem no one had ever seen before. Since it was totally undiscovered, they got to name it. Their last name is Puls. So they named it Pulsite.

Pulsite

I’m not a prospector or gemologist myself, so I looked a little online to learn more about Pulsite. It seems like there is some debate as to the veracity of Lena’s discovery.