This is a trip of bridges

Before we left Eugene, though, we needed to send a card from “Tracktown USA” to a dear friend for whom this place is special.  Finding a postbox wasn’t easy though and involved a U turn on the thankfully empty highway!

First stop on our way was Albany, where the Visitor Information office turned up trumps.  What a charming place and how helpful the lady sitting behind the desk was – would that all information centres were like this one!  We left armed with plenty of ideas and directions for a few stops along the way to Portland, starting with a few bridges to search out.

These were no ordinary bridges though – there are more covered bridges in this part of Oregon than anywhere else in the west, and though we didn’t have time to look them all out, we managed five in quick succession.  The first one, the Hoffmann Bridge had gothic style windows in the side panels.

The Gilkey bridge, on the other hand, had open sides and seemed larger.  So very well maintained, these bridges were in quiet corners of the countryside.  We saw hardly another soul until we encountered a couple geocacheing – another great idea for getting out into this lovely landscape.

The bridges were all different from one another and we really enjoyed taking a close look, especially when there was no-one else within sight (or earshot).  But enough is enough, and after five bridges, we were beginning to feel ready to move along. 

Our next stop was going to be Salem, where we planned to add another Capitol building to our collection.

We arrived just in time for a tour with another of the excellent volunteer guides.  Unusually, the Oregon Capitol doesn’t have a dome, but a tower and one of the first things we learned was that this is the third such building on this site, because the first two burned down.  This one is fireproof!

We recognised our friends Lewis and Clark here on one of the murals depicting Oregon’s history.

The state seal was explained to us, too, with significant motifs there in the design.

The House was sitting this afternoon, and the representatives were just returning from lunch whilst we were there.

The Senate wasn’t returning from lunch till 3pm.

We found the whole place fascinating as always and were glad we’d stopped by.  Nevertheless, the time was going on and we still had a bit further to go to Portland.  I had read of a great bakery called “Aurora” en route – or so I thought.  After investigating further, however, not only was the bakery called Anjou not Aurora, it wasn’t in this part of Oregon.  In fact it wasn’t in Oregon at all!  And it was closed on Wednesdays. Apart from that, I thought it was a brilliant idea.

So, it was on to Portland, where we checked into the hotel and went downtown in search of dinner.  No problem finding somewhere here!  On the way back, we passed by Portlandia who is huge – get a better impression from my photo of the day today.

We walked back along the Riverwalk to our hotel, admiring another engineering marvel as we did.

Last stop was sitting watching the teams going out in dragonboats right outside the hotel, in front of the last and final bridge of the day.  This is a city full of activity and the next couple of days will be fun as we explore a little more.  Fingers crossed, the sun will keep shining and it’ll stay dry for us.

If not, we can always eat chocolate.

Water, mountains and forests

So now we see the charm of Eugene: the glorious countryside which is just minutes away.  With such magnificent landscapes on the doorstep, who needs a city centre?

We set off towards the Cascade Mountains this morning, heading up the Mackenzie River in the direction of the small town of Sisters.  We stopped off at the National Park Ranger Station to make use of the facilities and, stupidly, failed to check a few vital details.  Eleven miles up the road, what did we find?

The pass over the mountains is open only a few weeks in the year due to snow and ice and here we were in mid June and it was still closed to traffic.  We turned around and retraced our steps (can that be done in a car?) and took the only other route – that which we’d planned to take on our return.

The views were terrific.  Here’s Mount Washington with the Three Sisters in the background.  The forest here burned in 2003 and as we stopped to take these photos, we took a look at a great display board there which explained the background to the fires and how the forest is recovering.  We read how the fire was most probably started by lightning and smouldered for days before really setting in.  However, I also read this alternative theory…

We soon found ourselves in Sisters, where the frontages are built in the style of a 19th century Western town.  I’d bookmarked Sisters because of the shop in the picture – The Stitchin’Post.  The first quilt I ever completed was made to a pattern designed by Jean Wells and I learned then of the Sisters Annual Quilt Festival which is held on the second Saturday in July.  Well, it’s too early for that, but not too early to take a look around the shop!

I’ve been in one or two quilt shops here and there.  I might have said that some were the best I’ve ever seen. Well, time to forget all that – The Stitchin Post now claims that title.

Of course, it’s particularly well stocked right now, because the “big event” is on the horizon, but even so everything was beautifully organised and not a thing was out of place.

Just when I thought I’d seen it all, I went through a door into another room full of goodies.

Oh, and did I mention the yarn department?

Yes, we were some time in there, pottering about deciding what I should bring back and what I could leave because I could buy the same at home.  The staff were patient and knowledgeable and happy for us to browse for as long as we liked.  What a great store!

My hero was waiting patiently outside, having decided that looking at maps and fiddling with the satnav was more interesting, but as soon as we reappeared, he was ready to explore further down the street.  This building, with the mural, had two doors – cowboys and cowgirls.  Need any further explanation? 

After an ice cream in the parlour across the road we enjoyed a walk the length of the main street, wondering how on earth they get 1300 quilts up and on show for one weekend in July?

Of course, we had to take the same route home, which gave us the chance to stop at the Sahalie Falls and take a walk through the woods.  The sun was warm today and the shady forest beautifully lit.

The falls themselves were in full flow, creating a fine drizzle over the viewing points.

Back into Eugene then, to enjoy a Chinese for dinner tonight before watching the next episode of Masterchef and the semi final of The Voice.  Time to pack up too, for the last stop on our road trip – we set off for Portland tomorrow morning.

“It’s really quite a boring town”

Not my words, I hasten to add, but spoken by a resident of Eugene this evening.

 

The day began in Newport as we took the road south along the last stretch of coastline for us.  The character changed from sandy bays to rocky beaches, full of tidepools begging to be explored.  We set off in more drizzly rain, even though it was supposed to be sunny today.  When we commented on this to the woman at the petrol station, we were reminded that it was “still a bit early, give it time!”  That was around 10am.

Stopping from time to time to take photos and look out over the beach into the haze, we made our way south.  At one pull in, we saw a family peering over the cliff edge at some sea lions basking on the rocks below, many with pups.

Looking north, we felt sorry that the gloom meant that there wasn’t much of a view of the coastline.

Here’s the same view five minutes later – oh, there’s a lighthouse down there!

Another five minutes and there’s not only a lighthouse but a small cottage set on a ledge there.  Dare I also point out the blue sky too?

This is how we found this coast to be – changing all the time.  We could have stood watching the weather for hours.

Ten minutes later, I’m standing inside a quilt shop, chatting!  We’d arrived in Florence, our last coastal stop and where we’d read of spectacular sand dunes (thanks Jane!!)

Mary’s Golden Pass came to the fore again, allowing us free entry to this wild part of the coastline, managed by the National Parks.  The dunes stretch for 41 miles down the coast but we would see only one small corner, just outside Florence.

The boys were out with their toys this morning, zooming up and down this huge dune in their buggies.

There appeared to be pretty, scenic drives to be enjoyed on these 4WD buggies, but unsurprisingly, it was the huge dune which was the main scene of the action.

Far too sensible to want to have a go ourselves, it was time to go.  Turning right in Florence, towards Eugene, where we were to spend a couple of nights.

We didn’t know much about Eugene, it just happened to be a good turning point and we thought that, as a university town, there would be plenty of things going on.  Having registered our arrival at the hotel, we set out to explore downtown.  Except we couldn’t identify where that might be.

We found a great kitchen shop and a well-stocked embroidery shop which had more needlepoint canvases, cross stitch kits and different embroidery threads than I’ve seen in a long, long time.  But this was all very small…where was the main street?

We were amused by the window display giving a poke to Portlandia’s “Put a bird on it” skit.  Butterflies the next thing, eh?

After an hour’s mooching, we headed for the Electric Station for something to eat.  As we left, we heard an unmistakeable sound and headed towards the railroad which was adjacent to the car park.

The Coast Starlight Express was there, boarding the final passengers for the l-o-n-g journey south to Los Angeles.  It had left Vancouver, Canada at 5.30am this morning and left Eugene one hour late at 6.10pm.  It’ll arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow evening at 9.00pm.  Yes, there are sleeper cars on there but I’m not sure that I seriously wanted to travel that way, however romantic it seemed at the time!

So, sorry, Eugene, we don’t seem to have got your measure.  We’ve tried really hard, have picked up and perused every leaflet we could find, asked locals for advice and finally, returned to the hotel to watch the first two programmes of American Masterchef.

Travelling doesn’t get tougher than this!!

A Lewis and Clark day

I hadn’t really paid much attention to the achievements of Lewis and Clark till now.  OK, I knew they were explorers of the American West, but that was about the limit.  I suppose I’d heard their names mentioned frequently a few years ago, when the bicentennial of their expedition was celebrated.  However, here in the Northwest USA, their names crop up all over the place and it was time to learn more.

This morning, we began by visiting Coxcomb Hill, site of the Astoria Tower and from where we could get a superb view of the bridge way down below.  Those 4 miles seem more real when seen from this angle.

The Astoria Tower was constructed in the 1920s and features Lewis and Clark’s expedition amongst other notable Astoria events.  It’s pretty amazing in terms of the fine details included and the artwork is worthy of closer inspection.

We resisted the temptation to climb the tower for a better view of the landscape, our excuse being the poor visibility, of course.

Instead, we read the interpretive signs and began our study of the day’s heroes.

It was not far from here that the pair reached their goal and having done so, were able to turn around and return home.  We noted the Lewis and Clark National Park site nearby where they had spent the winter and, with Mary’s Golden Pass at the ready, we decided to head there for our next stop.

Here, we watched a short film about their journey and with increased respect for their achievements, felt motivated to find out more.  Fortunately the displays were well done and offered all the information in a very accessible form.

In particular, we were keen to find out who these men were and how they came to be asked to make this (at times) horrendous journey into the unknown.  We also learned what happened after they got back again – all our questions answered!

Sacagewea was the heroine and the focus of many stories.  This bronze of her with Jean-Baptiste, her child, stood in the woods on the path leading to the reconstruction of the shelter the expedition team made as shelter during the winter they spent here.

It was her room I stepped into first, recognising it as hers by the papoose hanging on the wall.

This whole exhibition and reconstruction was really well done and we felt that we’d done dear Lewis and Clark justice, not to mention Sacagewea.

As I was photographing interesting bark on the trees, Mark’s phone rang – Father’s Day greetings from Edward, back home, which quite made Mark’s day.  Bless…

Finally, time to hit the coast, here at the aptly named town of Seaside.  The weather was still a bit iffy, with “a  little bracing dampness in the air” (ref  The Adventures of Portland Bill, 1980s)

But we “sausaged through” (ref Mr Rosenblum’s List) and as we travelled further south, the weather improved.

We offered thanks to Oswald West, former Governor of Oregon who ensured that this whole coast remained accessible to the public and for whom this little outcrop is named.

Further on, we stopped at the Tillamook Creamery and caught sight of one or two of the quilt blocks on the Tillamook Quilt Trail.  Huge (and delicious) ice creams kept us quiet for a while!

By now, we were feeling ready for “home”, but couldn’t resist a short stop at Cape Foulweather where a couple had been watching whales offshore.  We stood and looked a while but saw nothing.

The seascape was spectacular.

But the coastline down where we were headed was better.  We hopped back into the car and drove a short while south to Newport, where our hotel awaited.  After such a long and satisfying day, we were ready to put our feet up.

Dinner tonight was popcorn shrimp at Gino’s on the Bayside in Newport.  Very good it was too!

Bridge to Bridge

The Maritime Inn in Gig Harbor, where we stayed last evening, had several photographs of Gallopin’ Gertie and Chrissie the receptionist told us of her mother in law’s first-hand account of the day the bridge collapsed.

So this morning, when we headed out to cross the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the warning of high winds and rain didn’t exactly boost Mary’s confidence.  After all, she could remember the tale of Tubby the dog.

Fortunately, we made it safely to the other side and were soon on our way to Olympia, where we hoped to take a look around the Washington State Capitol Building.

We’ve actually been here before, a few years ago on one of our family holidays with Edward but on that occasion, didn’t hang around to take a tour.

Though we’d planned to do that today, we still found ourselves hanging around because on a Saturday, the tours begin an hour later.  Still, we were there ready and waiting!

Our volunteer guide added greatly to the experience, explaining the origin of the Washington State Seal.  When the State became part of the Union, the task of designing the seal was given to a local jeweller who drew around his inkpot, then drew around a silver dollar coin to create an inner circle.  He placed a postage stamp with an image of George Washington in the centre and added the words around the band to finish.  Nice story and an interesting one to compare with the great lengths taken to create a logo these days!

We very much enjoyed the hour spent looking around and felt pleased we’d waited a while rather than rush on our journey south.  We were heading for the Columbia River and the border with Oregon today, which was quite a drive.

Sadly, our scenic, seaside ride was a misty, cloudy one and we saw very little of the coastal scenery.  Instead of seeing a spectacular coastline everything we saw looked pretty bleak.

Reviewing my photographs this evening, I couldn’t remember why I took this next photograph

Until I zoomed in, that is and spotted Dismal Nitch.

This is Lewis and Clark country and signs like this and the previous one, to Cape Disappointment, bring a smile to our face, particularly so on a wet Saturday afternoon!

There, in the background too, is the last bridge of the day: The Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River.

This bridge is quite something.  It’s 4 miles from one side of the river to the other and the crossing seems to take an age.  From the Washington side, the first stretch is undergoing some repair right now, so there are covers over part of it.

It then opens up and it’s possible to see where we’re going – my goodness, so far!

The centre part is more of a causeway, lower level and without an overhead structure.  The Astoria side comes into view and what looks like quite a steep incline towards the end.

The last part has a similar superstructure to the first, this being high enough to allow shipping to pass by underneath.  We spot the beige building on the left and think that it’s our hotel for the night.  Will we have a bridge view?

We do indeed!  We step into our room and look out of the window, not seeing anything to begin with, because it’s so high, so huge and we are looking underneath it.  But sure enough, there it is – magnificent!

I’m not sure I’d feel the same if I lived in quite such proximity to it!  But for just one night, it’s rather fun.

It overshadows the small Mexican restaurant which was recommended to us as well. 

We nearly have second thoughts when we see the sign – is this our sort of place?  We carry on regardless and have a great meal, including enormous Margaritas which hit the spot perfectly.

We return to our room and watch a bit of passing traffic.  What an interesting place to stay!

Tomorrow, we’re keeping everything crossed for a little sunshine, as we explore the Oregon coast, going south from here.  The forecast looks a bit iffy though.  Ho hum!!