June, 2014 – We had dashed across Nevada and Oregon, zipped through Crater Lake, and come to central Oregon because we had mountain biking on our minds. Bend, Oregon, is reputed to be one of the biggest mountain biking meccas around, and we were eager to get out on the trails and give it a try. First we got our feet wet…well, we whetted our appetites, I should say, at Diamond Lake.
Category Archives: Oregon
Crater Lake National Park in Oregon – Bluer than blue!
May, 2014 – After recovering from our mad dash across northern Nevada and southern Oregon, our first priority was to visit Crater Lake National Park. We had heard about this beautiful park many times over the years, and now we were blessed with the most perfect weather to go see it on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend.
As we approached the park, we suddenly found ourselves driving between banks of snow.
We had seen ankle deep snow in lovely Lamoille Canyon back in Nevada, but this stuff was waist deep! Continue reading
Northern Oregon – Columbia River of History
Our last glimpse of the Oregon coast before turning inland
along the Columbia River
Our last day with the Toyota Tundra truck
The Toyota and Dodge side by side
Our first day with the new Dodge
Oregon is loaded with little espresso kiosks on every street
corner.
Farmhouse deep in the countryside.
Cycling along part of the old Columbia River highway that
has been transformed into a bike path.
The Columbia River's mysterious opening to the Pacific was
tracked by Lewis & Clark.
The Vista House, a monument to the pioneers built
overlooking the Columbia River Gorge in the early 1900's.
The train and highway run along both sides of the Columbia
River. We were told there are 38 trains a day, 19 on each
side.
The Vista House.
Columbia River Gorge
The paddle boat Columbia River cruises up and down the
river from Cascade Locks
Latourell Falls in the Colubmia River
Gorge.
Our lucky day. We found a patch of
shamrocks along the side of the road.
The Columbia River seen from the historic highway that has
been revived as a wonderful paved bike path.
Full Sail Brewing in Mt. Hood, Oregon.
Mt. Hood. The lush valley was filled with orchards of ripe fruit.
Driving towards Mt. Hood, Oregon
Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. It is a charming stone lodge
built with hand tools.
Inside there are many funky nooks and crannies and funny
"hobbit" doors and beautiful wrought iron.
Marionberry pie, one of the great delights of Oregon.
Northern Oregon
July 7-19, 2007 - We turned the corner on the Oregon Coast at
Astoria and said our goodbyes to the wilds of the ocean. We
arrived in Scappoose, Oregon, a small town northwest of Portland,
and settled into the city park for a few days. While exploring the
town of St. Helens we found a truck that we knew would pull the
buggy well, a Dodge Ram 3500 single rear wheel diesel. We spent
some extra time in the area upgrading to the new truck.
One of the many charms of Oregon is its love affair with good
coffee. There are little espresso huts everywhere.
It's also a very
lush area, and
we explored
some of the
back roads.
The Columbia River was the "great northwest river" that Lewis
and Clark explored in 1805, opening the west to expansion and
the arrival of the pioneers. They traveled the river by barge,
taking the wheels off their covered wagons and placing them on
barges. Later roads and railroads were built along the river's
edge. Today the historic Columbia River Highway has been
rebuilt as a beautiful bike path along the river.
A paddle boat "Columbia River" out of Cascade Locks provides
river cruises. The highway and train tracks run right alongside
the river. While we stayed in the city park in Cascade Locks we
were constantly awakened by the trains. They passed within 100
feet of our rig, and sometimes they would arrive in the wee hours
and sit still, trembling slightly, long waves of thunderous noise
rippling up and down their many-car length.
There are many waterfalls
along the Columbia River
Historic Highway.
The Mt. Hood Scenic Byway is a glorious drive through the lush
orchard-filled valleys around Mt. Hood. At one corner of the
drive is the funky-trendy town of Mt. Hood, home of the Full Sail
Brewery and a windsurfing mecca. We happened to be wearing
our Full Sail cycling jerseys that day and stopped in at the
brewery pub for a pint.
High up on the mountain we discovered the Timberline Lodge. It
is a lovely old stone ski lodge. When we arrived there were
crowds of young kids carrying snowboards heading up the chair
lifts for a day of summertime snowboard racing.
One of our favorite discoveries in Oregon was marionberry pie.
Marionberries are a cross between blackberries and raspberries
developed at the University of Oregon. The pie is to die for. The
best one we found was at a bakery in LaGrande, Oregon.
We wandered over the river into southern Washington and along
the Washington coast as well, discovering the beauty and power of
both the towering mountains and the severe coastline.
Oregon Coast – Where the Buggy Got Stuck!
Roads Less Traveled
First glimpses of the Oregon coast.
Rugged cliffs and crashing surf.
Going along the Oregon coast you hang out over the edge.
Driving the Oregon Coast
Hiking through the ferns. We could hear the ocean below
us but couldn't see it.
Huge boulders line the Oregon coast. Note the tiny people
down on the beach!!! This is the Beach Loop outside Bandon,
Oregon.
Another view of the Oregon Coast at the little southern town
of Bandon.
Florence Harbor, Oregon.
A cyclist of another type.
Heceta Head Lighthouse on the central coast of Oregon.
Heceta Head Lighthouse on the central coast of Oregon.
After we turned around...
Taking the road to the lighthouse, we took a wrong turn and
ended up on a tiny road that got ever narrower.
One amazing coastal vista after another.
Yaquina Lighthouse, Central coast of Oregon.
Yaquina Lighthouse, Central coast of Oregon.
Harbor seals basking in the sun (in front of a crowd of
onlookers) in oldtown Newport, Oregon.
Soaring free over the central
Oregon coast.
Stunning views up and down the Oregon coast.
Rugged, forbidding and exhilerating.
We sat in a similar cattle traffic jam in northern Ireland back
in 2002. Here we are in Tillamook, Oregon, home of
Tillamook cheese. These are cows that contribute to the
cheese!!
Oregon Coast
July 1-7, 2007 - Leaving the California Coast, we drove up the
Oregon coast, enchanted by the rugged, craggy cliffs, crashing surf
and noisy seabirds. The coastal road hugs the edge of the cliffs
and the stunning views unfold outside the window.
We stopped to take a hike at one of the lookouts along the road.
The hike went deep into the woods on a steep hillside that
dropped hundreds of feet to the raging surf below. We could hear
the waves bashing the rocks below us, but all we could see in
these thick woods were tall pines soaring up from a bed of Boston
Fern. The ferns were so thick Mark dubbed the area the Boston Garden.
We stopped for a few days in the little coastal town of Bandon. We
struggled throughout our Oregon coast visit to find decent places to
stay. We arrived during the July 4th week and all the state parks
were booked solid. There were four state parks we wanted to visit,
and each one had a "Campground Full" sign when we arrived.
Unfortunately, Oregon and Washington allow all the campsites in
their state parks to be reserved in advance, so there is no way an
impromptu traveler can enjoy those parks during peak season. So
we stayed at Bandon RV Park right in the middle of town. Later we
found other RV parks that were more spread out on grass rather
than being like a parking lot on pavement, that were on the outskirts
of town.
We did several bike rides around Bandon, including the Beach
Loop which took us to some beautiful overlook where the huge
boulders thrust upwards through the sand. We spent a lovely
evening strolling through the town. There is a wooden pier where
we watched the seagulls tease the harbor seals, and we
wandered through the gift shops and found a great place for fish
and chips.
Further up the coast we stopped at another charming coastal
town: Florence.
We wandered through the town on foot rather than by bike, but
we did see one froggy cyclist in front of a shop selling pinwheels.
On up the coast we rounded a bend and saw the most classic
image: Haceta Head Lighthouse. We stopped and took photos.
There were tons of seabirds circling in the air and squawking on
the rocks just below the road. The surf was so fierce that the
spray filled the air.
We drove a little further and saw a sign "Lighthouse" with an
arrow pointing to the right. The lighthouse was to the left of the
road, but we assumed the lighthouse road must bear right and
then cross under the coastal road to the left. We turned off and
were instantly confronted with a fork in the road and no sign.
The road to the left looked more promising, so we took that fork.
We drove for about a mile but the road didn't turn left as we
expected. Instead it followed a stream and seemed to head
back into the woods. Suddenly the road turned to dirt and the
trees closed in on us. The buggy was enveloped in tree
branches!! We couldn't believe our eyes. There was no way to
turn around, and the road seemed to get narrower ahead of us.
Trees had fallen across the road and they had been sawed in
place just enough to allow a passenger car to slip through. The truck and trailer almost shaved their sides as they passed these
sawed tree trunks. We got out the walkie-talkies and tried to back up, but after ten minutes we'd backed up only 10 feet. We
looked at each other in shock. How had this glorious day of discovering a beautiful lighthouse suddenly turned so frightening? We
nervously joked that we might have to set up camp right in that road -- forever. We got the bikes out of the truck and rode ahead
down the road. Miraculously, there was a sweeping left turn in the road just 1/4 mile ahead, and it was just barely wide enough for
use to do a 3-point (10-point) turn and get turned around. As we snuck back through the sawed tree trunks and out onto the paved
open road, we sighed huge sighs of relief. The fridge vent had been shorn off the roof and there were scrapes and scratches on
the side of the trailer -- but we were free again. When we came to a visitors center a few miles up the road we mentioned the poor
signage for the lighthouse. "Oh, yes, we've been asking for years to have that sign replaced, but no one ever does anything about
it." Yikes.
We continued driving north along the coast, savoring the salt
spray and inspiring views. Yaquina Lighthouse watched over the
coast as if in a scene from a lighthouse calendar.
Our spirits soared as we looked up at the gulls in the air, and we
laughed at the antics of the harbor seals in the small city of
Newport.
The views continued to
amaze us with every passing
mile.
We took a brief detour slightly
inland to visit the Tillamook Dairy.
They make the most delicious
colby cheese and yummy ice
cream. We picked up two half-
gallons of ice cream that can only
be found at the factory: Wild
Blackberry, a sumptuous purple
ice cream filled with blackberries,
and Peanut Butter Chocolate, which has thick lumps of peanut butter
and chocolate in its depths.
We feasted on these for a week after our visit. The Tillamook
area has many farms whose cows contribute to the dairy. Still
struggling to find places to stay, we followed a sign for a
campground that did not list the mileage... it turned out to be over
10 miles on a tiny back road to the campground! As we searched
for the campground we sat and waited for a herd of cattle to cross
the road. We ended up opting for the local Tillamook RV Park
instead. Along with hookups, laundry and free phone, it came
complete with the strongest cow pie smells you can imagine, and
they placed our rig directly under a spotlight. As the months went
by we learned that when it comes to campgrounds, the more you
pay the less you get.
Once we got to Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River, we
turned inland and followed the river upstream along the northern
portion of Oregon, going backwards along the historical route
traversed by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804-1805.