Tank and I had a good day today. Up early, as usual, and an excellent full breakfast at one of the Perkins restaurants. They have a recipe for Granny's omelot that I would like to have at home. No Sunday paper however, so I was on the road sooner than I expected.
The first destination for the day was a place called Bruneau, where they have a state park with very high sand dunes. I chose to take US30 as a blue highway to get there. As long as it stayed close to the Snake River, I had varied scenery to look at, otherwise, south central Idaho is really pretty flat. It's almost like the Snake River canyon was carved out millions of years ago and everything else is a table top plateau above it.
Tank and I stopped at several places along US30 and the Snake River, mostly to look at water falls. At one place called Thousand Springs, it seemed every major crevase along the mountain side was gushing water. At Malad River (spur of the Snake River), I saw a very large aquaduct in addition to some falls created by damming up the river.
At Malad, the batteries on my 35mm camera gave out, so from there I went in search of replacements. I have now gone through three sets of batteries for that camera on this trip. But then, I have taken about 90 rolls of film and it is a fully automatic camera, with auto load and rewind and a display window. Every time I open and close the camera, it uses the battery. I have paid varying prices for the two batteries, from a low of $11 to a high of $17. When you need batteries, you pay the asking price.
Back in Twin Falls, I noticed that it was Idaho Power that provided the parks at both the Shoshone and Twin Falls falls. I noticed this again at Malad River. I think it's really neat for them to do this and I hope the locals appreciate their efforts. The parks come complete with picnic grounds, tables, etc.
US30 finally joined I84 so I had no choice except to travel the Interstate for a while. I went through one area which had signs saying high winds at times. Well, the wind sock on top of the sign was blown straight out, so I guess they mean 'now'!
To get to Bruneau, I used Idaho highway 51 and 78, going south out of a town called Mountain Home. As I passed through town, I noticed a large gathering at a local park, so out of curiosity, I turned around and went to have a look. It was a local car show where anybody and everybody with an antique or restored car came for 'show and tell'. In my home town of Sparks, we call that 'Hot August Nights' and is the first weekend in August (now).
I took a quick look at the cars on display and they were gems. Mustangs, Chevys from the 50s, older cars, a few old trucks, etc. It was neat. Someone had a small concession stand, kids were having fun, and there was a dog or two in the park. I think everyone was having some fun this Sunday.
But, my destination was Bruneau State Park, to check out the highest sand dunes in North America (or so the sign said). Well, the sand dunes are high, and the sand was pure and soft, and hard to climb, but Tank and I gave it our best shot. Tank pretended to be the 'Desert Rat', or some other World War II ace. I think he reads too much Snoopy, where Snoopy thinks he's a World War I flying ace. Anyway, I took Tank's picture running up and down the sand dunes. He took my picture at the entrance to the park.
In the middle of the sand dune hills, as odd as it may seem, was a good sized lake, where I observed people fishing, either in a small boat, or just wading out in hip boots. I also saw kids swimming in the lake, in spite of the sign warning about 'swimmers itch'. I asked a ranger about this and he said that if you don't dry off after coming out of this water, then bacteria may enter the pores of your body and create an itching sensation. Hmmmm, I think I'll wait for the motel pool.
We resumed our travels, now headed for Boise, Idaho. All along the Snake River, there has been varying forms of irrigation. With water, even a desert community can grow things. Another of my many observations this trip has been dump trucks. I have seen many, while parked, have their dump box elevated. I guess that prevents any kind of moisture from just laying inside the truck's dump bed.
Another observation on this trip has been the number of states which post signs saying moving violation fines will be more in construction zones. In this area of Idaho, the sign says fines will be 'enhanced'. Now what is that supposed to mean? To me, enhanced means to improve or make better. A fine is now better? Who designs road signs anyhow?
Arriving at the Boise area, I noticed Micron has a very large plant in the area. They too make computers. One of my sons has a Micron laptop, given to him by the company he works for, and it appears that they put out a pretty good product.
I noticed large lumber operations in the outskirts of Boise. Since I didn't see much in the way of forests enroute to Boise, I wonder where they're getting their raw materials.
At Boise, I stopped for lunch and then went in search of the Old Idaho Penitentiary. It was built in 1870 and was used by the state until 1973. It is a terrible place! Architecturally, the structure was interesting but to see what prisoners had to endure was not pleasant. For five minutes, I was literally locked up in a maximum security cell, and that was more than enough for me. You talk about some pretty primitive living conditions, this was it.
On entering the penitentiary, I thought I would take a self-guided tour but it worked out that a guided tour was just starting. I joined it and I'm glad. The guy who gave the tour was outstanding. A blend of facts and his own commentary made for an excellent one hour. After that, I did go around and take pictures of various things within the prison walls.
After being 'sprung from the pen', as they say in the movies, I went in search of the capitol. I took pictures of the capitol building and asked if the governor was in. He was, but I said I really didn't care, and left my card should he want to contact me. From there, I went to the old Boise train station, which sits high on a hill overlooking the city. Tank took my picture by the train station.
So, another end of day, and supper yet to be eaten. There's a restaurant just down the road, and maybe I can find a Sunday paper to read. Tomorrow it's off to Oregon and a day's destination of Pendleton, where the fine woolen products are made. I'll keep you posted....
Numerically, I didn't visit that many places today, but what I did see was most interesting. I left last night's lodging at Boise, Idaho and headed northwest towards Baker City and Pendleton, Oregon. The remaining miles in Idaho were gentle rolling hills but later in the morning, I would be travelling across mountain tops in Oregon.
The early morning sun illuminated the small and medium farms and ranches, with either crops being watered or the cattle out to pasture. Here in western Idaho, and so far in eastern Oregon, if there's water nearby, then there are working farms and ranches. But I drove by a lot of sage brush desert too, with not much sign of anything or anyone around.
I entered Oregon as the sun tried to come up but it stayed very overcast most of this morning. As I crossed the state line, I looked for an opportunity to stop and take some 'entry' pictures. But due to construction and virtually no shoulder to the road, I couldn't take any pictures there. I spent the next half hour and about 20 miles looking for another entry to Oregon so I could take my photo. I wound up taking a picture of a very simplistic Oregon sign, but a sign in any case.
I travelled along side the Snake River for part of the past two days and saw it again today. I crossed it at the state line and then one last time about 20 miles into Oregon. So long, old friend, it's been nice to know you. I still think it's amazing all the uses that the states (Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon) have gotten out of the same river water (power, recreation, picnic grounds, and irrigation).
Entering Oregon, I have encountered two state laws I was not aware of. First, I saw a sign saying that it's unlawful to use the left lane unless passing. Personally, I wish all states would have that law! Next, when I stopped to get gas, I began to fill my own tank only to be told that that is against the law in Oregon, and an attendant must do it for you. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning, but I'll guess it may have to do with 'topping' of tanks, or possibly people driving off without paying.
I'm in the Pacific time zone now, so it really feels that I'm closer to home. Yesterday or today, I could have made an easy turn south and entered Nevada. Sparks would only be a few hundred miles away. But no, I have more touring to do before I conclude this trip next Tuesday.
I passed a couple of cement plants, and that makes sense because I'm quite familiar with 'Portland Cement' products. I visited the Oregon Trail Center, and of course that makes sense too since I'm in Oregon. And finally, Pendleton products are made, where else but Pendleton, Oregon.
During all of this trip, I have seen many barns. Big barns, little barns, new barns, old barns, tall barns, short barns, etc. There have been traditional red barns, some white barns and many barns which haven't seen a coat of paint for years, if ever. What I don't understand is how some of the decaying barns are falling apart in odd ways, a board here or there. Some barns 'lean', and barns have totally collapsed. I would guess there was a lot of pride and satisfaction when a barn is first erected. What happened after that? Economic collapse led to collapse of the barn after a while? Anyway, there's a story there.
Just east of Baker City, Oregon is the Oregon Trail Center. As I approached this huge hill (small mountain), I noticed a pretty new structure on its peak and I thought, what a strange place to build such a new building. Well, that was the Oregon Trail Center, built there on purpose so that visitors can have a panoramic view of a large area, across which is part of the Oregon Trail.
The Center has excellent displays to describe the movement of thousands of pioneers across the so-called Oregon Trail, from points east to the Oregon and California frontiers. At 10:00AM, interpreters put on a live performance of period music and readings of letters written by many of the pioneers. It was quite good.
I took a 2.5 mile hike and walked on part of the Oregon Trail. The hiking trail leaves the visitors center such that you have to walk about a mile downhill to a re-created wagon encampment and then come back on another trail which was about 1.5 miles long. The hiking trail gives you an appreciation of what the pioneers must have gone through trodding through this terrain, plus driving their wagons and moving their cattle, mules, oxen, horses and such. It was life and death on the Oregon Trail.
In total, I spent about three hours at the Oregon Trail Center, and then went into Baker City, both to tour its historic district and to have a bit of lunch. It was interesting to hear the conversations of the locals. You have to look at a map to understand that Baker City is miles from anywhere else, so local talk is a way of life around here.
From the Idaho/Oregon border to Baker City, I travelled up and down mountains, usually going up or down by one or two thousand feet. When I got to Baker City, it lies in a huge valley, which is very flat and full of ranches and farms, irrigated by water from the Powder River which flows through town and the center of the valley.
Some miles north of Baker City, I reached LaGrande and the scenery became quite pleasant. The hills were full of lush pine trees, very tall and very full. But my attention was quickly diverted to something else because as I crossed the Blue Mountains, I descended for about six miles on a windy road with a six percent grade. Spooky stuff!
The area around Pendleton is quite flat and there are a lot of farms growing a lot of wheat. I saw a number of huge combines reaping the wheat crop. I would have stopped to take some pictures and video but I was in the wrong lane to pull over, and I didn't want to double back just for those pictures. I was running short on time because the last tour at the Pendleton woolen mills was scheduled for 3:00PM.
As it worked out, I got to Pendleton with time to spare. I checked into my motel and then drove over to the mill. I bought some things and at 3:00PM took the tour. The tour guide wore a headset and we visitors each wore earphones. As she spoke, it was not important for us to be next to her because we could hear easily above all the noise in the mill.
Pendleton has gone completely to computer-controlled looms now and they can produce a blanket, with complex patterns, in about 15 minutes. We watched a number of the looms and the wool blanket came out in 'real time'. I don't know how many threads went into those blankets, but at least twice while we watched, the loom stopped with red light because one thread broke. The weaver corrected it within seconds and the loom resumed its automatic weaving.
It is about 100 degrees here in Pendleton, so I took a short swim before doing my laundry. I shopped across the street for some needed refreshments, and once I finish keying this diary, I'll be ready for supper.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Mount Ranier in Washington state, with various sights to see enroute. I don't have a motel reservation for tomorrow night, so I'll have to see what's available. Stay tuned....
I know someone is going to read this part of my trip diary and say, "All Bob does is 'man things'." Gimme a break! For starters, I am a man and I like man things. That includes women, by the way. But also, this is 'my trip' so I guess I can do what 'I' want to do. And do it I did!
If you don't like mechanical things or you have never worked with plywood or lumber, then you probably would not like the way I spent three hours this morning. I had an absolutely fabulous, very personalized tour of the Boise Cascade plant in Yakima, Washington. More on that later.
I was up early, so what else is new? It was going to be a good two hour drive from last night's stay in Pendleton, Oregon to Yakima, Washington. And I wanted to be on time for the 9:00AM tour of the Boise Cascade plant. I had coffee and an English muffin, but afterward I wish I had had a full breakfast.
I had not previously been to Pendleton, but somehow I had the impression that eastern Oregon and Washington were heavily wooded. Such is not the case because Pendleton sits in a rather stark valley, with not much in the way of trees or greenery around. As I left town, headed northwest, the landscape did change, again, and again. First, I began to see trees on the hills, but then things went barren with just sage and range grass, but then it changed again to huge wheat fields. At least I was 'entertained' for the morning.
As I crossed the Columbia River into the state of Washington, I was looking for the rather typical 'welcome' sign but whoops, no sign at all! The whole southern boundary of Washington is a waterway, so even when I leave to head south back into Oregon, I may have difficulty finding a state sign for my 'entry' collection. I'll come up with something. I can't have a collection with just 47 states in it!
As I entered the state of Washington, I did see something that got my immediate attention. If you have travelled by car at all and crossed state lines, most states have a truck weighing station. Well, at this one, a car had flipped over and was off the road and down the hillside. All kinds of people were scurrying to help, so I didn't think they needed me.
This reminds me that just yesterday, I saw a small pickup truck, flipped over on its back, with its contents spread all over the highway, going in the opposite direction. Again, lots of people were gathered, so I saw no point in me pulling over. Early on this trip, I saw accidents in Oklahoma and Texas, but then not until yesterday. Considering all the vacation time travellers on the road, that's actually a good sign.
Crossing the Columbia River to enter the state of Washington, I did the best I could to look sideways as I crossed the bridge. The river is very wide. Huge! Just looking at it brings words like 'power' and 'force' to mind. I've read about the Columbia River, and maybe on another trip, I might travel laterally east/west (or west/east) and see what there is to see along the mighty river.
The landscape in Washington was an on/off thing. If there is water nearby, you're going to see farms and ranches. And boy, the wheat farms are huge. No, make that HUGE! I don't know acreage, but these farms are big, big, big! If no water, then you'll see sage brush and range grass covering the hills.
Along the Yakima River, you can see all kinds of benefits of having the water nearby. In addition to the farms, there are lots of orchards (remember, Washington is a major grower/producer of apples in the U.S.). There are lots of vineyards, with traditional lateral grapevines, but then there are lots of farms with a unique way of growing vines, vertically on wires suspended from overhead lines. Interesting.
I got to Yakima around 8:30AM, so I checked in with the receptionist for the Boise Cascade tour, and then ducked out for a cup of coffee. On this tour, only boots or tennis shoes (sneakers) are allowed because they really, really take you into the bowels of the wood processing facilities (that was 'wood', not 'word' - pay attention!). Before the morning was over, we toured both the plywood and lumber producing mills. What a tour! Actually, I'm amazed that they allowed us to go where we went, which was everywhere and anywhere. Our tour guide worked for the mill for 38 years and really knew his way around. He watched that we didn't do anything wrong, but then too, he gave us some latitude as far as taking pictures, for instance.
Yesterday, at the Pendleton Woolen Mills, they did not allow either flash or video cameras, claiming it was a safety hazard for their employees. At Boise, we could take flash pictures, but not video. Our tour guide told me (something I already knew) that the problem is that people using video cameras back up too far to get a picture, lag behind the tour group and don't have their attention on moving through the plant. So, I took about 40 slide pictures and no video.
First, we visited the plywood mill. It, and the lumber mill, are highly automated. At one time, Boise Cascade had 1400 people working here and now it is about 300. The automation flips lumber into position for cutting, glueing, sorting, grading, stacking - you name it! The saws are awesome. I watched four foot circular saws buzz through trees with ease (rhymes, doesn't it?). I watched the guy who sharpens their band saws. The bands are about 40 feet in length and a foot from teeth to the back. He sharpens these saws 'every four hours'!
The plant is very environment conscious and has considerable recycling or use of all materials. The bark trimmed from trees is used for one thing, and the sawdust created from cutting is used for something else. They produce lumber and plywood here, but other plants produce paper and particle board. Nothing is wasted.
There were so many fascinating things to watch. The computer-controlled mill uses lasers to detect the size and shape of all wood, during all phases of processing. It knows when to flip a board, scrap it, where to cut and what size to cut. Humans do grading of finished products but the computer reads their markings using 'black light' and then sorts and stacks the wood. Just amazing!
Well, not to bore you, but if you're ever passing through Yakima, Washington, write to Bud Cyr, Box 51, at Boise Cascade and tell him Bob sent you for a tour!
I left Yakima and headed for Mount Ranier. It was probably 1:00PM by the time I got there, so I ate before doing anything else. I travelled on Washington highway 410 to enter the park from the east side. This means I came across the Chinook Summit, which is about 6400 feet above sea level, and it dropped me down to about 3400 feet at the park entrance. Then, me and the Ford Explorer had to climb back up to 6400 feet because that's the elevation of the park visitors center at a place called Sunrise.
I got pictures at all these points - Chinook Summit, the park entrance, a place called Dege Point, and finally at Sunrise. As you can imagine, there were lots of people, there for the same reason I was. To take a hike on one of the many trails, take pictures of Mount Ranier's 14,400 foot peak, or take pictures of the many pretty flowers in bloom at this time of year. My favorite flower was a purple lupine that seemed to be growing everywhere just now.
Tank took a picture of me with Mount Ranier in the background. When we got up to the snow line, I returned the favor and took a picture of Tank playing in the snow. That's right, snow in August! The top of Mount Ranier is covered with snow and in one spot, glacier ice!
The only overnight accommodation at the park is on the southside, and I was on the eastside. I looked for a place to stay on the east side of the park, and the one place with rooms available charged what I can spend on three nights at a Motel 6. So, I called Motel 6 and booked a room in Tacoma. That meant more miles today, but it will mean less miles for tomorrow. And, I save on the hotel expense.
So, I'm in for the night. Supper later and then relax a bit, maybe a dip in the motel pool. Tomorrow is basically a Seattle day. I want to revisit some things like the Space Needle and wander around the downtown market area, ....and (!) take a tour of Boeing's aircraft museum (I know, Bob's doing guy things again, but I like planes!). I'll keep you posted....
Today was 'not' a good day! I spent more time in Seattle freeway traffic than I'm going to want to remember. And all this because I really wanted to see the Boeing wide-body assembly plant, north of Seattle.
Because of my decision yesterday, to drive from Mount Ranier to Tacoma for the evening, I felt I was in a good position to begin a relaxed morning today. After all, being in Tacoma, I'm just south of Seattle and that was my day's touring agenda. So, after a 'not so good' full breakfast (I won't bore you with that), I got on the freeway headed north around 8:00AM.
I expected the worst from morning rush hour, but surprisingly, traffic moved smoothly going into Seattle. So much so, that I made an in-flight decision regarding my first visit for the day. I was going to begin with the Museum of Flight, which is on Boeing's property on the south side of Seattle. But since traffic was moving so well, I thought, why not drive the 60 miles north to Everett, Washington, where Boeing has their wide-body (747, 767, 777) assembly plant.
Well, the drive did go well, but when I got to Boeing, parking was an absolute mess. I found parking about 1/4 mile away, walked to the tour center and when I saw the sign saying 'no' cameras of any kind allowed on Boeing property, I walked back to the car to leave my video and 35mm there. A 1/4 mile back to the Boeing Tour Center, and then I learned that the only space available for the tour would be at 1:00PM. Well, nuts! I didn't want to drive 40 miles to/from Seattle to do something in the meantime, take the tour and then drive into Seattle again to do something for the remainder of the day, so I got tickets for the last tour of the day, at 3:00PM. Mistake!
So, I left Boeing, now being around 9:30AM and drove to the University of Washington campus for a look around. This is August and school starts very soon, so the place was crawling with freshman, going through orientation with some upperclass person. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, so I cut my visit short, and drove into Seattle.
At the Seattle Center, I paid the $5.00 parking fee (which I thought was a ripoff) and parked near the famous Space Needle, which appears in most skyline pictures of the city. Seattle Center was originally the site of the 1962 World's Fair and afterward became an amusement park. I was living in Nevada at the time, and visited the site when it was new, so today was my second visit, 35 years later.
I chose not to wait in line for a ride to the top of the Space Needle, but walked around the park, talked with people, and then decided to take the monorail into the city center. When the monorail was first built, there were grand plans that this could spread throughout the city to offer mass transportation. It never happened. The track runs for about a mile, to/from the park and city center, and that's it.
At the downtown station, a 'buzz' was going around, with people putting out (literally) a red carpet, police arriving for crowd control, and other people with cellular phones looking very official. Well, me and hundreds of other people, not really being sure of what was going to happen, hung around to see, what would happen. To make a long story short, the Seattle Super Sonic NBA basketball player, Sam Perkins, apparently is planning to retire, and this amounted to a big to-do in which he could meet 'his fans' for a final press conference. Oh well, what else did I have to do today?
I walked down to Pike Place Market, using Pike Hill. Seattle sits on the edge of Puget Sound, so it is very much a waterfront kind of town. You literally walk 'down' to the water. But in my case, I took the publicized concrete circular staircase and long flight of stairs, known as Pike Hill to reach the market. The market is a busy place, originally a farmer's market, but now it has all kinds of restaurants and shops and such.
From the market, I could watch what was going on in Puget Sound. I took pictures of the ferry boats, sail boats and even a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, which had its ship's crew in dress whites on the flight deck as they were preparing to leave port. The Navy had jet planes and helicopters doing a fly-over as part of the ship's send off. Having been part of this in my Navy days, it was interesting to watch now as a citizen rather than aboard the ship.
I did a little shopping, had a bite to eat, and in general, just toured the city center. About now, it was time to ride the monorail back to Seattle Center, get in my car and drive back north to Everett to take the 3:00PM Boeing tour. Well, again, traffic moved pretty well, so thusfar it was just costing me the time and miles for this back and forth driving.
The tour went well. They begin with a short video which compresses the four month build process of a wide-body jet into about six minutes. But the video does a pretty good job of conditioning you as to what you will see once you get into their huge production hangers. The main building at Boeing is .7 by .3 miles big. If you walk around the facility, you will have walked over two miles!!! Each hangar door on this building is as large as an American football field! Inside, the building is divided into three areas, one for each of the wide-body jets they produce there (747, 767, 777). Our tour visited the 777 assembly area.
The tour takes you to a viewing area on the fourth floor, so you're looking down on the entire floor area. The tour guide gives a general presentation as to what is happening, and for the remainder of the time, you're free to watch any part of the building process. From there, we took a bus out to the flight line, where jets go through their final preparation before being turned over to the purchasing airline.
Now comes the ugly part of the day. Having taking the last tour of the day, it happened to coincide with the end of 'first shift' for the Boeing plant. There are 24,000 people who work first shift at Boeing and that is a lot of cars leaving the plant (6000 people work second shift and 2000 work third shift).
Boeing has streets laid out to theoretically provide an efficient exodus of first shift, but this does not provide for any accidents happening on Interstate 5 which runs north/south past the plant. And that was my first problem of the afternoon. I took at least an hour to leave Boeing, get on I5 and get pass the accident. From there it was still start/stop, bumper to bumper for miles and miles, for some other accident that had long since cleared, but traffic could not get back up to speed.
Being on the north side of Seattle, I had still another accident area to clear at city center, and south of town traffic moved at start/stop speed again, for who knows what reason. 2.5 hours after I left Boeing, I finally arrived at my motel in Tacoma. Not a nice way to spend the day. Add to this the fact that I drove 'to' Boeing twice, it was not the kind of day I expected.
But, to summarize the highlights of the day, I did get to visit the university, see the Space Needle, ride the monorail, and visit the downtown area. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day, as I head south to Portland, Oregon, with touring along the way. I'll keep you posted.
Today, my mileage and my blood pressure were back to normal. No traffic jams or accidents to slow my travel and a brilliantly clear day in which to do some sightseeing. I did go through a slow area, where police and some medics appeared to be attending to a taxi cab driver who may have had a stroke or heart attack. I wish him well.
I moved slowly this morning so as to time my arrival at the Mount St. Helens Visitors Center, near Castle Rock, Washington, but as it worked out, I didn't have to do that. I had breakfast, read two newspapers, loaded the Ford Explorer (one more time) and off we went around 8:00AM.
Speaking of loading up the Explorer, you have to realize that on this 94 day trip, I have stayed multiple days in the same location, only about ten times. That means a lot of 'one-nighters' where I go through a ritual of checking in, unloading the Ford, and then in the morning, reversing the entire process. In a nutshell, I cannot carry everything in/out of my motel room on one trip to/from the car. It usually takes three trips. I have a PC, camera bag, ice chest, clothes bag, tote bag with front seat miscellany and probably my two cameras which have been out of the bag all day anyway. Believe me, it is a time consumer getting in and out of my night's lodging. However, the trip's end is in sight.
My first stop after beginning the day's journey was Olympia, Washington's state capitol. I checked my maps to make sure I could find the capitol but I didn't have to. I got off the freeway and it literally dumps you on the front door of the capitol building complex. I checked to see if the governor was in, he was, but I decided to talk with his good-looking secretary anyway. I left her with two of my cards.
All of the roads that I travelled on today were much better than yesterday. I don't know why, but the freeways in and around Seattle are very rough riding. On one stretch, I felt my body literally shake up and down because of road 'thumping'. No problem today.
At Castle Rock, I turned off and went five miles east to locate the Mount St. Helens Visitors Center. They charge a fee and my Golden Passport would have gotten me a 50 percent discount, but when I learned that all they offered was a video and a sequence of display boards, I decided to just drive up to Mount St.Helens. Good choice!
The distance from I5 (the major north/south interstate highway) to Mount St.Helens is about 47 miles, so I had to decide on whether I wanted to make the 94 mile round trip. I decided that this is a special trip, and who knows, maybe I'll never come this way again. So, what's a few more miles on the Ford?
The road going to St.Helens doesn't go anywhere else, so I was really surprised at the quality of the road. Fantastic. Wide, smooth, lots of places to pull over and take pictures. Just great. And add to this, there are several 'other' visitors centers along the highway, and they are free. The one I liked best was the Forest Learning Center, which is sponsored by three different groups.
Along the highway, Weyerhaeuser has signs informing the public about tree planting and havesting. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens destroyed almost 100,000 acres of the companies forests. It takes about 50 years to grow trees for lumber use. The recovery of the Mount St.Helens area is remarkable, truly remarkable. It has been 17 years now and trees planted after the eruption are now about 20 feet high. Outside the blast area, the forest has many trees 50-75 feet high. Just a gorgeous area. The United States has an excellent forest management system.
The signs I saw indicated the dates of tree planting, the last harvest in a given area, what kinds of trees are in a given area (e.g. noble fir, douglas fir, ponderosa pine, etc). I saw game in the the area, and came close to having a doe and fawn jump in front of my car.
The Forest Learning Center is at a sufficient altitude and it is on a projection of land that gives a great view of the entire North Fork of the Toutle River area. From the viewing areas, I set up my tripod to take pictures of Mount St.Helens. I was also able to sweep the forest area on either side of the river bed, and spotted a herd of elk that must have numbered 50-100 animals. What a view!
Being a lumber area, understandably I've seen a lot of lumber trucks runing around and at least one major sawmill receiving and cutting the trees into finished lumber. I'm still impressed by the tour I had of the Boise Cascade mill in Yakima. If you have any interest in such a thing, plan for a tour now because they may stop offering it.
Well, Mount St. Helens consumed my morning, and I loved it. There was a bit of a haze but I think I got some good pictures of the huge, but quiet volcano. I drove back to I5 and then south down to Vancouver, Washington. I stopped at the local Chamber of Commerce to get some free maps and then had some lunch before beginning my afternoon's agenda. I had to laugh at the free maps, referencing Vancouver as "Vancouver USA" to distinguish themselves from Vancouver, British Columbia.
If you want to visit a very pretty city, consider a trip to Vancouver B.C.. I have been there several times and I think they have very beautiful parks and gardens. But, if you want to see forts and vintage cars, Vancouver, Washington is where I went this afternoon.
The Vancouver Fort was built in the mid-1800s. What exists today is actually a rebuilt replica but it does convey what life must have been like at that time. Like so many other parks, the fort had interpreters in each of the buildings, playing the role of merchant, blacksmith, trader and so on. The fort was bigger than a football field, and although I didn't count the logs (tree trunks) that make up the fort's wall, there must have been several thousand.
Also in Vancouver, there is a small museum of vintage aircraft. Yes, I have seen a lot of aircraft museums, but it was close by, and who knows, maybe I would see something I hadn't seen before. That worked out to be the case. They have WWI fighter planes, racers, experimental aircraft, bi-planes and more. Compared to other aircraft museums, maybe they did not have a large number of planes but all they had were of top quality. I enjoyed the visit to the Pearson Air Museum.
Near the fort is a line of houses called Officer's Row and these buildings are in remarkable condition. They once were used to house officers stationed at the fort, but in modern times, each is now used for other purposes (offices, restaurants, etc). I took pictures of the homes before leaving the fort area.
So, another enjoyable day. Tomorrow, I continue south to Eugene, Oregon, but with a varied agenda of things I want to see and do. I plan to stop in Salem, take some side trips and then end the day at Eugene. I'll keep you posted....
Today was my day to get some physical exercise, so I left last night's lodging in Portland, Oregon and headed for the Silver Falls State Park. I chose a blue highway (214) to get there, and that turned out to be an excellent choice.
Today has been a bright, clear day, with cool temperatures beginning in the 50s but not getting hot at midday. My drive down OR214 took me past many berry farms, like the well-known Smuckers brand. If you want, you can go pick your own boysenberry, loganberry, marionberry, berry-berry, and so on. I saw more of the vertical vines again today, and having not seen them until recently, they're still a novelty to me. I took pictures to show my family.
Also in the Woodburn, Oregon area I saw many nurseries and many, many Christmas tree farms. I wondered what it might be like to be a child growing up on one of these farms. Is Christmas very special, or having seen trees all year long, just a bore? If I were the parent, I think I would have the child (or children) pick out a special tree and watch it all year long, knowing that it would one day be the grand tree of the holiday.
I saw acres of flowers, whose names I could not tell you, but they were very pretty. So pretty, that I had to stop and take pictures of those too. Ah, but onward to the Silver Falls State Park.
I stopped at a view point to see the North Falls, but parked at the Winter Falls so as to hike down one of the marked trails. I chose a 2.5 mile trail that I thought would allow me to see some of the better falls and yet not take more than the morning to hike down and back. 2.5 miles is really a 5.0 mile hike. It was about 500 feet down the trail, and of course, 500 feet to climb back up the trail. I think I got my physical exercise today.
The falls I liked the best were the Middle North Falls. The falls were about 200 feet, but it flowed over a rock ledge such that I could walk under the falls. I had Tank take my picture (that's me, just to the right of the falls). I saw the Drake and Double Falls, but after seeing the Middle North Falls, they were not as impressive. I thought the Double Falls (there were two) were barely a dribble. That would make them the Double Dribble Falls. (Okay, okay...).
While hiking down in the canyons, I ran into two guys reconstructing a foot bridge over one of the streams. For those of you who have hiked on any park trails, have you ever given thought to who it was that made the trail, or posted the sign, or built the bridge? These guys were hard at work with the task at hand, but also had to haul their tools and materials to the work site. No fun, I don't think.
After spending the morning at Silver Falls, I drove the 25 miles into Salem, the capitol of Oregon. I got myself involved in a road rally with Porches and Ferraris (sp?) zipping around me (including crossing a double yellow line). I was glad when those guys went their route and I went mine.
At Salem, I took pictures of the state capitol, which is not like other state capitol buildings. My reaction to the one in Salem is that it looked like a Tupperware Jello mold, you know, one of those round, ribbed ones. And put a gold dodad on top and you've got it. Well, actually, it is a nice building with a nice plaza, flowers and fountains, and such. I asked if the governor was in, he was, but by this time, I struck up a conversation with a nice lady who was involved with the antique car gathering which had met all week in Salem.
There must have been hundreds of antique cars, mostly Ford Model T's but others as well. The meeting was somewhat of a national event because they drew entries from literally all over the country. I took lots of pictures. I asked about buying one or trading my Ford Explorer for one. I couldn't decide on the red car or the yellow car, so Tank took my picture with each to help me decide. Tank was of little help, because he was busy chasing squirrels around the capitol grounds.
After my visit to the capitol and the antique car gathering on the capitol mall, I went to a place called the Mission Mill Village. I attempted to have lunch there, but it was so poorly managed, I got my money back and went elsewhere. The Mill is advertised to be the only (mechanically) working mill around, and maybe so, but the place is more caught up in being trendy than in being a stand-alone museum. I wasn't impressed.
Driving south to my day's destination of Eugene, I checked into my motel and got gas for tomorrow. Then I headed into the city to see the sights. The University of Oregon is located in Eugene, and the campus struck me odd. The academic buildings are quite new and modern, but the stadium is quite old and archaic, as college football stadiums go these days.
I drove over to Skinner's Butte Park, which is promoted by various literature. It's an ordinary park, along a river, and the butte can be accessed by a poorly maintained road, to finally give a panoramic view of the city. Ho, hum. I'm sure the locals may like it, or to take their visitors up there, but I wasn't impressed. Oh, well, you can't win'em all. The highlight of my day was hiking to see the falls and standing under the Middle North Falls while it tumbled by me.
Tomorrow, I continue south through Oregon. In the morning, my agenda is to see about ten covered bridges, and then in the afternoon, I will be visiting Crater Lake National Park. I'm looking forward to both adventures.
Some miles are worth it and others are not. Sometimes you learn by doing. Well, that's how today went for me. I began my Saturday early, leaving last night's lodging in Eugene, Oregon, and taking off for the back roads to see some of Oregon's covered bridges.
The minimal map sent to me by the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce leaves a lot to be desired, but after some struggle, I was able to locate about six of the bridges before I decided this wasn't that enjoyable. The covered bridges are fairly new, having been built after 1920 or so. Add to that, they all look basically alike, with none having any unique character.
I like covered bridges in New England. I didn't visit bridges in New England on this trip, but I have done so on other trips to the area. I can't remember the oldest bridge I've seen in New England, but maybe there was some from the 1700s. Certainly, I saw bridges from the 1800s and early 1900s. And those bridges have character and distinction. Sorry, Oregon, your covered bridges don't cut it.
The unfortunate thing for me was that before 8:00AM I had already logged something like 60-70 miles wandering around the countryside and, in a sense, for naught. Oh, well, you don't know unless you try something. So, off Tank and I went for the national park at Crater Lake, Oregon.
I used blue highway OR138 and while it was scenic, it was very long and very repetitive. Also, by the time the day ended, I was comparing the Umpqua River, which flows along side OR138, to the Rouge River, which flows along side of OR62, the route I used to leave Crater Lake and drive to my day's destination of Medford, Oregon.
The Umpqua River is very popular with fly fisherman trying to angle a trout. But that's it. The river really doesn't have other uses and there certainly was not very many places on the highway to pull off and take pictures. I hate to say it, but in spite of the deep gorge in which the river flowed, and the heavily wooded slopes on both sides of the river, I found it tiring and boring. It was about 75 miles from Interstate 5 to Crater Lake, and that's just too long for the same scenery, over and over.
Crater Lake sits at a pretty high altitude. There was snow on Hillman Peak at 8100 feet above sea level. The lake is not large, if you compare it to say, Lake Tahoe. I think the ring road is about 33 miles to circumnavigate the lake. But the lake is beautiful. Forget all those miles to get there. It was gorgeous! I took pictures from just about every viewpoint where I could pull off the highway. And video too!
Tank took my picture at the entrance to the Crater Lake National Park, and again as I looked out over Crater Lake. My thanks to my favorite cameradillo!
Crater Lake was formed by vocanic action about 7000-8000 years ago, and this creates an interesting problem for building a road around the lake. The road is literally perched on a very narrow ridge. I hate to admit being afraid to drive, but when there is NO shoulder whatsoever, that's spooky!! Believe me, I did not take my eyes off the road and couldn't wait for the next place to pull off and take more pictures.
The water of the lake is an aquamarine blue/green. Wizard Island sits prominently in the southwestern quadrant of the lake and I'm sure everyone took pictures of it. Speaking of everyone, in spite of the distance to get to Crater Lake, there were hundreds of cars there today with probably 2.75 people per car (don't ask where I got the number of 2.75, I just made it up). As I left the park going south, there were hundreds more cars headed up to the lake.
I bought my usual books, slides and cards. Had a bite to eat, and then after having spent a couple hours there, I headed south on OR62, following the Rouge River. The next time I come this way, I want to make sure I get the most detailed maps of the area. There is a lot to see and enjoy along the Rouge River.
Compared to the Umpqua River, the Rouge River (Red River) has many different uses for the public to enjoy. First, there is sightseeing at the Rouge River Gorge and the Natural Bridge, which I did today. But further south, as the river descends in altitude, there is boating at Stewart State Park, just above the dam, and then river rafting at several points further south than that. Along one stretch, the river is still turbulent enough to give adults some thrills, but then further south, the river becomes placid and children or adults can enjoy just floating along the river.
My stop at the Rouge River Gorge was great! The gorge is not deep, maybe 50 feet or so. But over the years, the river has carved its way through the rocks, and today the river moves rapidly through the gorge, maybe doing 40-50 miles per hour. Considering the volume of water, you're talking about a huge amount of force. Don't mess with Mother Nature!
I stopped again, further south, at a place called the Natural Bridge. Again, Mother Nature has done some tricks with the river's water. At one point, the river burrowed its way 'under' the huge rocks, creating underground channels and blowholes. Then, maybe a hundred yards downstream, the water comes shooting out of a hole that looks like the underside of a small bridge. The Natural Bridge name comes from the fact that one could walk across the river where it goes underground.
The Gorge and the Natural Bridge are a photographer's delight. The state has fenced things off for safety reasons, but they have given people a lot of opportunities for good photos. I really enjoyed these two visits which were really just a few miles apart.
Considering the mileage I put on, and the four adventures (covered bridges, Crater Lake, the Gorge and the Natural Bridge), the day came to its close. I'm checked into tonight motel and ready for some supper shortly.
My trip days are dwindling, with only three more planned. Tomorrow, I'll be headed for the Northern California coast to see redwood trees and the ocean. On Monday, I plan to visit Lake Shasta and its famous caverns, and on Tuesday as I wend my way home, I'll stop at one last national park, Mount Lassen. I'll keep you posted.....
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