Showing posts with label Oregon Road Trip. Show all posts

My Oregon Road Trip Retrospective

I've been home a few days now, unpacking, organizing photos, resuming my regular life, and thinking about how to sum up the trip.

The drive home offered a few nice views.  Rather than drive west to Portland and then up I-5, I decided to head east a ways, then north through the Yakima Valley until I picked up I-90 at Ellensburg.  The last time I drove that stretch of I-90 was the day I moved to Seattle, July 12, 1998.

But before I turned north, I had to take one look back.



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Mt. Hood and the Columbia River

I just got back to Hood River after a drive around Mt. Hood on what the state of Oregon has designated the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway and the Historic Columbia River Highway Scenic Byway.  I stopped in the Passport Pub & Café enjoying a beer and using their wifi.  But I didn't bring the cable that connects my camera to my computer, so I can't include any photos in this post.  I can say, though, that it was scenic.
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Fossil to Hood River

I want to start this post with a few random observations.
  • Good snack while driving: string cheese.  It's individually wrapped, easy to open, and no crumbs.
  • Bad snack while driving: Laughing Cow wedges.  The little red strips you pull to open the wedges are hard enough to find and grab hold of when you're standing in your kitchen.  It's impossible while driving.
  • In Oregon, when entering a county, the sign welcoming you to that county often includes the phrase "We Honor Veterans."  It has remained a mystery to me (1) how a county decides it honors veterans -- do they pass an ordinance?  (2) In what ways do they honor veterans?  (3) The counties that don't have those signs: do they not honor veterans, or do they just not put it on their signs?
  • A road traveled in one direction provides a whole new set of beautiful scenery when going in the reverse direction.
  • The desire to photograph every beautiful or interesting thing diminishes over the course of a two week road trip.  And here's the final blow to my desire (compulsion is probably more accurate a word): how many pictures of Mt. Hood would I take if I took a picture of Mt. Hood at every opportunity?  And once I realized that it was ridiculous to take hundred of pictures of Mt. Hood, I stopped needing to take a picture of every interesting rock formation, every stretch of creek and river and rapids and waterfall, every scenic vista.  Yes, I took a mandatory handful of pictures of Mt. Hood as I approached it today, and no doubt I'll take more tomorrow, but moderation is starting to rule the day.

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The John Day National Fossil Monument Area

John Day was a member of the Astor Expedition of 1810-1812.  The John Day River was named for him.  And the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument was named for the river.

Today, after a huge and delicious farm-style breakfast of eggs, ham, potatoes, oatmeal, and biscuits & gravy,  I explored this area. 


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In and around Bend

Yesterday might have been the most gloriously varied day of my trip so far.  I hiked in two lava fields, one of which consisted largely of obsidian, went on a two-mile round-trip hike in an underground lava tube, saw two waterfalls and a caldera.  There was sun and there were clouds, there was snow on the ground and icy cold wind, I had a picnic in the car because it was too cold to have it outside, but then later I sat outside sipping coffee before having a fabulous dinner, did some shopping, and then went to a movie. 
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Crater Lake

This is Day Seven of my trip.  We started out early with a drive to Crater Lake.

The trip there was scenic, and we took a different route back that was also scenic.  And Crater Lake is pretty the way Mozart was talented and Einstein was intelligent.

Our first stop on the way was Mill Creek Falls.
 

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Ashland: Park, Theatre, and a Reconnection

Two plays today: a wonderful production of My Fair Lady in the afternoon, and a fun masque called The Heart of Robin Hood this evening at the outdoor theatre (where it wasn't quite as cold as yesterday).

The morning started with breakfast and the a walk in Lithia Park, which is one of the nicest urban parks I've been to. 

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Grants Pass, Jacksonville, and Ashland

The last few nights I blogged right after dinner.  Last night we didn't get out of the theatre until 11:00, and I was just too sleepy to stay up late and blog.  The play was Cymbeline, not one of Shakespeare's best plays (read the synopsis if you can get through it and see if you don't agree), but a wonderful production.  It started at 8:00 and ran a full three hours.

I left the farm by about 8:30 this morning.  Before I left, Dave showed me his wine cellar and gave me a bottle of his excellent blackberry wine.  He did all the mosaic work himself.


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The Southern Oregon Coast

When I woke up today it was foggy and drizzly.  But after breakfast (veggie scramble, sausage, fresh homemade apple-pear juice, and fresh apples and Asian pears from the orchard), I drove to the coast, and by the time I got there, the sun was out.

Until about 1:30.  Then it started clouding over and spitting rain.  And later in the afternoon it was raining heavily.  More rain is predicted for tomorrow.

But let's talk about the sunny part of my day.  (A few pictures now, more to come later.)

At Dave and Leena's suggestion, I headed to Coos Bay, and turned north, crossed the bridge, and made a left.  This took my onto the Trans Pacific Parkway.  (It is true - that is the name of the road.  It does cross some water, but it absolutely does not cross the Pacific Ocean.)  It took me to the south end of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  I had to disturb this fellow in order to get to the envelopes so I could pay the day fee.


But that accomplished, I found my way to an area of dunes that I had all to myself.  And I learned something: dunes are cool!
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Cannon Beach to Myrtle Point

I'm afraid I only have a handful of photos today.  I took over 100 pics on the drive down the coast, and they're all worthy of posting, but the internet connection where I'm staying is extremely limited.  I will update this post later with more pics.

I woke up early this morning and found that there was only a trickle of water.  I went upstairs to my hosts and knocked on the door, but I got no response.  So I just brushed my teeth with what little water there was, packed, and went without a shower.  After I'd packed up the car, I heard a toilet flush upstairs, and I checked, and the water was restored.  But I decided to just go.  I knocked on the hosts' door again and Prudence came and said hi, and was very contrite.  Later on this afternoon I got an email from them offering a partial refund, which I thought was very nice.

The trip down the coast was on-and-off rain, and unlike yesterday, when it rained all morning and then the sun came out, today it was overcast all day long. 

My first stop was the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  No formal tour, just watch through windows.  And the best part is the free samples at the end.


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Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain.  I went to breakfast at the Local Grill & Scoop, and afterwards, it was still raining.  So I thought maybe I should give up on any outdoor plans.  I decided to head toward Tillamook to tour the cheese factory.  But I drove a short way before I decided to turn back.  It was so windy and visibility was so bad, I was getting stressed just driving down the highway.  So I turned back before I got too far.

Back in Cannon Beach, I got out of the car to look at the beach in a storm.  In a minute, I was so wet, I came home to change my clothes, and my pants are still drying 8 hours later.  You can't really tell from these pictures how hard it was raining and how much it was blowing.



So I decided to spend the day at "home" relaxing.  I went to a market and bought some soup, and I ate lunch watching the storm out the window of my room.  I worked on my newest story, which is taking shape nicely.  One of my trip objectives was to relax, read, write, and relax.  So I wasn't ticked off at Mother Nature for screwing with me.  Well, maybe I was just a little.

But then, at 2:30, the sun came out.

And so did I. 
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Road Trips

The last time I took a serious road trip was my Acadian Adventure, eight years ago, in July 2005.  I flew to Portland, Maine, and I rented a car and drove up along the coast into New Brunswick, then down and around Nova Scotia, and back by ferry to Maine.  I saw so many wonderful things, but I have memories of long, tedious hours behind the wheel, trying to get to the next place, or, almost as bad, sightseeing out the windows of the car while driving.  On the Cabot Trail I must have stopped every quarter mile or so for a good portion of the drive to get out, take in the view, and snap a photo.  It was a very long day of scenic beauty.

I also rented a car for two days when I was in Tuscany in 2009.  I picked up the car in Siena.  The first day I drove south to Montalcino, Bagno Vignoni, Pienza, and a few other smaller villages; the second day I went north to Monteriggiano, Volterra, and San Gemigniano.  Once again, I stopped a lot for scenery, but at least I had some specific destinations where I spent several hours, so it wasn't all day behind the wheel.  Still, it was stressful.  Twice I forgot to engage the parking brake while I was sitting in the car studying the map. The first time I almost rolled over some other tourists; the second time I nearly rolled down a cliff.

And last year I rented a car for one day to drive around the island of Öland in southeastern Sweden.  That was not too long of a day, but there was still a lot of driving and stopping and driving and stopping and driving.

Two weeks from today I leave on my two week road trip to Oregon.  If I do no driving other than point to point, I'll put on over 1200 miles:

Seattle to Cannon Beach205 miles
Cannon Beach to Myrtle Point233 miles
Myrtle Point to Ashland151 miles
Ashland to Bend185 miles
Bend to Fossil110 miles
Fossil to White Salmon112 miles
White Salmon to Seattle230 miles

With day trips, I expect to drive close to 2000 miles in 14 days.  My challenge will be make the driving as enjoyable as the destinations.  The best way to do that, I think, is (1) not to be in a hurry, (2) don't worry about not seeing everything there is to see between point A and point B, and (3) when I stop en route to somewhere, make it a meaningful stop -- take a hike, do some journaling, have a picnic.

But here is a sampling of the kinds of scenery I'll likely encounter as I drive.
Wheeler County

Near Bend

Haceta Head Lighthouse, north of Florence

Mt. Hood

Rogue Valley, near Ashland
With views like this, I am going to have some major challenges keeping my eye on the road and my heart inside the vehicle.

Wish me luck!
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Bandon




On day three of my Oregon road trip I'll be driving down the coast from Cannon Beach to Coos Bay, then cutting in from the coast about 35 miles east to where I'm staying.  According to Google maps, it's about an hour drive back to the coast to Bandon, which a coworker tells me is one of the nicest towns on the Oregon coast.



He was also good enough to share some must-see destinations in and around Bandon.

Bandon Dunes is a golf resort which he says is definitely worth a drive-through.


Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint looks pretty impressive.

 


He says I can get great fish and chips and clam chowder here:


And Port Orfords Head State Park has some great views.


And I love lighthouses, so I'll have to be sure to visit this one.


I'm only five weeks away from leaving.  And I'm getting excited!
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Fossil and Fossils

I'd never actually heard of Fossil, Oregon, before it was recommended to me via my post on the Thorn Tree Forum.  And now that I'm definitely going there, I don't know if I'm happy about it.  Maybe it will be the highlight of my trip.  Or maybe not.  I feel like I should do some homework so I can make the most of my time there and, I hope, to get excited about it.

According to the City of Fossil web site, 470 people live in Fossil.
The community is located midway along the 217-mile Journey Through Time – Oregon’s only official cultural and heritage tour route – which celebrates pristine fossil and geologic resources, Old West culture and charming small towns.  Rich with centuries of history, this scenic byway tells stories of fortunes made and lost, of Chinese laborers, of towns boomed and busted, of timber, agriculture, gold miners and pioneer settlers.
I think the town looks kind of like an old western ghost town.


The surrounding area seems to have a lot of natural beauty.  In particular, there are the John Day Fossil Beds.  These pictures certainly whet my appetite.

Blue Basin

Cathedral Rock

Painted Hills

And there are fossils in (or around) Fossil.  I think.  Well plant fossils at least.  I won't be pulling any dinosaur bones out of big pits or anything like that.

I'll have to keep doing my homework.  So far I'm still not very excited.

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After Ashland

Somehow, I've managed to nail down the second half of my Oregon itinerary.  It'll be two nights in Bend, two nights in Fossil, and two nights in Hood River.

Actually, I won't be staying in any of those towns.

My first two nights will be about ten minutes outside of Bend, at a house on the Deschutes River.


Then I will be staying at Wilson Ranches Retreat, about 3 miles northwest of the tiny town of Fossil.


And from there I actually head across the Columbia River from Hood River, to a cabin outside White Salmon, Washington.


After I leave White Salmon, I'll follow the Columbia River Gorge Highway into Portland, and either spend my last night there or head back to Seattle.

There's not much left to plan.  I'll try to wing it as much as I can while I'm on the road.

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A Tale of Three Itineraries

As I'm planning my Oregon road trip, I feel like I'm planning three separate vacations.  First, I have four nights to spend along the coast.  Then I have four nights in Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  Finally, I have six or seven nights to meander back north through central Oregon.

The map below is my current thinking of how I want to spend my time.

B: Cannon Beach (2 nights)
C: Myrtle Point (2 nights)
D: Ashland (4 nights)
E: Bend (3 nights)
F: Fossil (3 nights)



Each of these mini-vacations requires separate planning.  Since Ashland required buying theatre tickets, I did that first.  The dates and details are all settled.  I'm arriving on Wednesday, September 25, and staying four nights at an apartment in the heart of Ashland.




My friend Mary is going to come down to Ashland and we're going to see five performances over four days.



That gives us Thursday morning as well as most of the day Friday and Saturday for leisure time in Ashland.

For the coastal part of my trip, I have four nights.  I'm looking at spending the first two nights around Cannon Beach or Seaside.  Then I'll head south along Highway 101.  And I've booked two nights at a farm in Myrtle Point.





The third itinerary is the one I'm struggling with the most.  My original plan was to head to Crater Lake, maybe stay in that area for a night or two, then Bend for three or four nights, then maybe a night in Portland before heading home.  But I've gotten some advice from a number of different sources that are making me think of dividing the time up differently over the second week of my trip.

I posted a query on Thorn Tree Forum, and those who've responded are urging me to make Crater Lake a quick stop, skip or at least cut back on my time in Bend, and head to Fossil for a few nights at Wilson Ranches Retreat, and then to Timberline.

I'm still thinking this all through, and I'll post more about these different options and what I decide once I do decide.
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