THE LONG ROAD TO OREGON

By Manny Pinol

On Monday night, Feb. 10, I took a Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to San Francisco for the long planned trip back to Oregon where I and my American friend, James Landers Clem, have set up a modest Anglo Nubian breeding and dairy farm two years ago.

The flight was smooth and it was not very cold when I arrived in San Francisco where a Fil-Am friend and kumpare, Dennis Maniwang, picked me up for the long trip up north to Oregon.

The long drives in America have always fascinated me.

I love driving through the long interstate road networks which go straight for miles and then meanders through the snow-capped mountains.

Many years ago, I brought my family on a long drive to Oklahoma from Los Angeles and the kids absolutely enjoyed the trip as they passed through scenic areas during the 2-day and 2- nnight drive.

Last night, Dennis and I decided to drive all the way up to Oregon shortly after having dinner in a Japanese restaurant, courtesy of another San Francisco-based friend, Ferdie Fernandez.

It was an 8-hour easy drive and I was able to take over the wheel from Redding to the small city of Weed up north of California near the border with Oregon and then from the sleepy city of Dorris to Klamath Falls City where my friend Jim Clem is based.

Yesterday, I visited the dairy goat breeding farm where Jim and I are raising Six M Galaxy and Goldthwaithe lines of Anglo Nubian goats.

Two years ago, my friend Jim, who used to breed a lot of gamefowls called the Jim Clem Black Japs, asked me about the Anglo Nubian Dairy Goats and I encouraged him to get involved with goat raising.

I provided him with the breeding materials with the understanding that I get to buy anything that I wanted to bring home to the Philippines, especially the Six M Galaxy line which is considered as among the best strains of Anglo Nubians for dairy.

Yesterday, when I visited the farm, I found out that Jim has over 160 goats from the small herd of about 30 when we started two years ago.

Today, I will move around Oregon with Jim to visit some small farms where the farmers are raising organic and free range chicken.

I will use whatever I will learn from these trips for the further development of the Manok PiNoy free-range backyard chicken which I have developed in the Braveheart Farms in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato.

(Photo caption: Snow-capped mountains like Mt. Shasta near the boundary of California and Oregon, are among the breathtaking views one could see during the long drive up north from San Francisco.)