Apples to Oregon

 Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson and Nancy Carpenter was published in 2004 and is a tall tale loosely based on the story of a pioneer named Henderson Luelling who left Iowa for Oregon in 1847 with his family and a wagon carrying seven hundred plants and young fruit trees (you can find out about the types of plants he brought here http://www.ars-grin.gov/cor/cool/luelling.html).  Told from the perspective of Delicious,  Apples to Oregon describes the difficulties encoutered along the Oregon Trail.  Delicious and her family cross the Platte River with the wagon, encounter hail storms, the heat of the desert, walk past Courthouse Rock and Chimney Rock in Nebraska, “and lots of other rocks that didn’t have names,” fend off the frost and finally reach the Columbia River and “a pretty place near Portland.”  The plants that Henderson Luelling brought with him are believed to be the basis for many homestead orchards in the Oregon Territory.  The Hood River Fruit Loop is a 35 mile scenic byway with lots of orchards full of fruit that you can pick or just buy and eat, just like the ones on the...