Our journey home - Oregon to Ohio

After enjoying the lush green land and beautiful water scenes of western Oregon we headed east through the dry mountains of eastern Oregon and Idaho. The landscape was brown except in areas that were irrigated.

We passed many cattle and horse ranches and lots of wide open spaces. When we traveled through Wyoming we passed through the Rocky Mountains and crossed the continental divide at 7000ft. We climbed to the highest point on I 80 at 8640 and dropped back down. Dan's famous saying became, "Here we go again" up the hills and down the hills. The RV did quite well. We didn't speed up the mountains, but we made it! We passed the huge statue of Lincoln that we remembered from the trip west.

The campground where we stopped in eastern Wyoming was a ranch with lots of animals including bison, horses, cattle, llamas, and camels. We were quite astonished and took a double take when we drove past them.

We never did find out why they were there, but during the summer they had lots of activities for families so that must have been part of it.

The rest of the trip through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio was uneventful. The breadbasket of America was very dry, but there were lots and lots of cornfields and hay fields. One object that we saw over and over again was the windmill. I never did get a really good picture but this one gives you the idea.

As we drove along we passed many large trucks transporting the windmill turbines. When we stopped at a rest area we got a close up look at them. They are really BIG!

From Oregon to Ohio we logged 2435 miles in seven days. We took our time and traveled between 300 and 400 miles a day depending on campground availability. The weather cooperated, and the only rain we experienced was at night. So now we are spending time with son Dan, Kelly, Mitch, Lacey, and Matt in Ohio and plan to visit friends in PA. We'll leave next week for South Carolina to see Donna and Doug and families.

Oregon - Columbia River Gorge

We drove from the Oregon coast north to I 84 and west along the Columbia River to Memaloose State Park. We chose this campground because it was in the center of the area that we wanted to investigate. The drive along the Columbia River was gorgeous. We began our exploration at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum. It gave us a good overview of the history, geology, and transportation of the area including the Native Americans, Lewis & Clark, and the Oregon Trail. A nearby city, The Dalles, was our next stop where we looked around the city and enjoyed a picnic by the river. It was the first end of the Oregon Trail. We drove to The Dalles Dam but the visitor center was not open. The dam was an impressive sight.

Instead of taking I 84 east we drove along the Historic Columbia River Highway, the original route 30 constructed in 1922 that connected Portland to The Dalles. We thought the view from the interstate was amazing, but the scenes from this two lane road were spectacular. Here's a picture looking up to one viewpoint. It's hard to see but there are people at the very top looking down. That's where we were headed.

Once we got to the top we had a panoramic view of the area. Once again the pictures can't capture how truly beautiful it was.

This is the S curve in the road that we took to the top.

Here are a few more shots of what we saw.

After our drive along the scenic highway we headed west to Hood River, the windsurfing capital of North America. We didn't see any windsurfing going on while we were there. We drove south to an area called the Fruit Loop. It consists of orchards, fruit stands, vineyards, lavender fields, and nut and berry farms. We discovered that 1/3 of the nation's pears are produced there. We chose to stop at the Gorge White House because it is a century old working farm and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. In the main house a variety of wines were available for tasting and purchase. In a building beside the house produce and flowers were sold. As we looked in the back yard we could see areas where customers can pick their own flowers and fruit.

The pears that we bought were scrumptious. We were amazed at all the orchards in the area.

On the way back we saw a spot on the map called Panoramic Point and decided to investigate. We wove our way up to the top of the hill to see what we could see. We were a bit underwhelmed. Mostly what we saw were fruit orchards.

As we looked to the south we could vaguely see Mt. Hood, the 11,235 mountain in the distance. Look carefully in the center of the picture and you may see it too.

The following day we planned to cross the river and travel west along the river in Washington to Camas to tour the Pendleton Woolen Mills factory. After that we were going to cross back over to Oregon and drive along more of the Historic Columbia River Highway. There were several waterfalls and another dam that we wanted to see. Instead of that fun day of exploration we spent the day in the RV because I got hit with a stomach virus. We tried to extend our stay another day, but all the sites were taken. So we accepted the fact that we couldn't see everything anyway and appreciated all the wonderful sights of Oregon that we did get to see. After a summer of adventures it was time to head back east.

Oregon - the coast

Our campsite at Beachside State Park had an oceanfront view. The problem was it was so cloudy and foggy that we barely saw the ocean. The beach was very hard to walk on, but the sound of the waves coming in was soothing to hear. We were able to see the tallest and shortest lighthouses and several others up and down the coast.  We walked to the top of the tallest one and had a foggy view of the ocean. The Pacific coast is so much different from what we are used to on the Atlantic. There are lots of large and small rocks and sharp hillsides. This area is called Devil's Churn. The water comes in, churns around, bubbles up, and makes its way back out to sea.

Birdwatchers have many varieties to view on the rocks. Here is a sample.

One chilly day as we were exploring one of the state parks we came across a group of people in wet suits surfing in the water. We talked to one girl standing and shivering who reported that she heard the water temperature was 56 degrees! We didn't go down to the water!

Another interesting spot on the central coast was Devils Punchbowl, an oddly colored basalt formation with fascinating wave action.

A little north of Devils Punchbowl was Cape Foulweather. With a name like that we had to stop. It was named by Captain Cook when he landed in 1778 on a day of particularly inclement weather. The winds can reach 100 mph during storms. Fortunately it was only cloudy not stormy the day we stopped.

After two days of dreary weather the sun finally peeked out and the weather became magnificently clear. Our time at the northern part of the state was so much more enjoyable since we were able to see everything more clearly. The campground at Nehalem Bay State Park was also by the ocean but this time we could not see it from our campsite. We had to walk across some dunes to get to it.

One day we visited several lighthouses and the city of Tillamook. While there we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese factory and the Air Museum. The cheese factory is the largest on the coast and one of the top 10 attractions of Oregon. We followed the self guided tour, sampled some delicious cheeses, and enjoyed some yummy ice cream. The Air Museum is one of the largest wooden clear-span structures ever built with an area of over seven acres enough to play six football games. It was used in WWII to house blimps that guarded the coast against enemy submarines. It now houses privately owned WWII flying aircraft. We viewed a film which gave the history of the hanger, showed how it was built, and described some of the aircraft on display. We were impressed with how many planes that old were still in running condition. It was BIG!

 





The next day we went north to the beautiful town of Astoria which is situated on the mouth of the Columbia River. We took a guided Trolley ride and learned lots about the city's history and industry. The box in the front is the deisel generator that gave it its power.

 

 

Since it was such a beautiful day we decided to go up the hill to the Astoria Column to get a panoramic view of the ocean, rivers, and mountain. The murals on the outside depict the history of the region from 1792 to the arrival of the railroad in the 1880's. It was restored in 1995 and is a real work of art.

 

 



We climbed the 164 steps to the top and were thrilled with the magnificent view in all directions. The pictures just don't do it justice.  (I accidentally clicked on the column picture again and can't get rid of it. Oops!)

 

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this lovely city. From the sounds of things we wouldn't want to be there in the winter!

 

From Astoria we took a drive to Fort Stevens State Park and went through the Military Museum. The military guarded the mouth of the Columbia River from when it was constructed during the the Civil War through WWII. We didn't take time to walk through the whole historical site since we had other stops we wanted to make. There are several small tourist towns along the northern coast. One neat one is Seaside, Oregon's first seashore resort, famous for its Promenade. It was quite busy when we were there so I can imagine how packed it gets in the summer since there seems to be every activity available to do. At the end of the road that leads to the beach is a sculpture that designates the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail.

 

 

One of the most spectacular ocean views we found on the northern coast was at Ecola State Park, south of Seaside. It was absolutely breathtaking watching the waves crash along the rocks. This view is looking north.

 

 

And this view is facing south.

 

 

This was the most unusual lighthouse that we saw. It was built on a rock 1.2 miles out in the ocean. It operated from 1880 until 1957 and is now a wildlife refuge.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and the coast of Oregon and looked forward to the Columbia River Gorge.

Oregon - our 50th state

We had an uneventful drive across Idaho. It was very dry, and we skirted wildfires in the center of the state. Although we didn't see any blazes we smelled smoke several times. The eastern part of Oregon was also brown and dry with lots of sagebrush. We traveled up and down the mountains and curved around the roads.

We stayed several days south of Bend, OR at LaPine State Park. We traded the lodgepine trees of Yellowstone for the ponderosa pines of Oregon. We took a bike ride to the biggest ponderosa pine in Oregon, called "Big Tree." Since it  lost half of its crown to weather several years ago it is no longer the tallest but still the widest with a circumference of 29 ft. It showed its age of 500 years - kind of ugly and not very impressive.

We visited the city of Bend and Lava Lands Visitor center at Newberry National Volcanic Monument, but our main reason for stopping in this area was to see Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake was formed 7,700 years ago when a volcano named Mt. Mazama erupted. Although the booklet noted that it is six miles across, the other side did not look that far away to us. It is a very, very beautiful shade of  BLUE. The pictures just don't due it justice. Notice a little bit of snow on the right side.

We drove the 33 mile loop around and stopped at many scenic overlooks. This is a picture of phantom ship. It's composed of solid lava and is longer than a football field and as tall as a 16-story building. It looked a lot smaller from the rim.

There was only one area where you could walk down to the water and take a scenic boat ride. We walked part of the way down but didn't take time to ride the boat. Here it is going across the lake.

We enjoyed the center part of the state but were ready to go west to the coast. On the way to the beach we drove two lane roads up and down and around mountains. The road sign said it was "Over the River and through the Woods" scenic highway. I really saw the sign several times! The sign gave us a good laugh, and the road tested Dan's driving skills. Of course he passed with flying colors. I was ready for some flat land!

We chose two state parks on the Pacific Ocean and stayed at each for three days. While we were at Seaside State Park we explored the central and southern part of the state, and when we stayed at Nehalem State Park we traveled to the northern areas. We found a very helpful tour book called  Mile by Mile Guide to Highway 101. Since we knew we couldn't see everything, we were able to read what was available and pick what we wanted to see.

More to come....having computer problems.....