Portland, Oregon and Surroundings
May 29th through June 3rd 2009

Many of the stops were photo ops for my HOG ABC's for that year
My HOG ABC Page for 2009

Day 1, Friday, May 29th:  Ride part way to Oregon

It started out overcast and decidedly on the cold side.  Left the driveway at 7:11 in the AM.
Temp in the high 50's.  Around about I-505 it cleared.

First stop is often in Cordelia at the Burger King:

 

Next a rest stop up I-5  note the towel on the rear rack.  A bug rag for the windshield.

The weather at this point was just about perfect.

I need a "T" county and I passed through Tehama.
Stopped in Corning    at the Tahema County Courthouse.

By now, it's is very warm, low 90's.

I did stop at the Redding Harley-Davidson, not particularly photogenic, so no pics.

Weed seemed like a good place to get a bite and cool down. Found some shade.

First item upon reaching Oregon is to get a photo of Jackson County.
There's a place I've used before right in front of the
Jackson County Sheriff Office.
Unfortunately, it is directly below a "No Parking" sign.
So I parked there and with Sherriff, city, and state cop cars
cruising by, I took my photo.

Riding on, I had the strange feeling that there was something in Grants Pass that I wanted to do.
Oops, Douglas County. Oh well, perhaps on the way home.

I started to think that I hadn't yet gotten a photo that says "Oregon".
At a rest stop where a VFW volunteer man and his wife, both ancient,
offered free lemonade. Wow, was it good -- i.e. cold!

I took a contingency photo with the Oregon sign in the far background.

Finally, I could go no farther. 
Cottage Grove is a place I've stopped many times before.
Almost immediately, I found the local post office.
 A good "Oregon" photo.

There is a good, historic down town, but where I stay is in a Comfort Inn along fast-food row. 
Next time I'm going to try the Holiday Inn Express at the other end. 

Next to the Comfort Inn is a tourist trap shop evidently dedicated to cats. 
The sign says that Ripley's Believe It Or Not once featured them.  On the other side of the sign, it says "Hairballs Happen"
.

Millage for the day was 560.  Arrived Cottage Grove at 6:25 PM.  Hmm, I'm getting too old for this.

The new bike ran perfectly.  Much easier and more comfortable than Lola for the long distances.
Day 2, Saturday, May 30th: Arrive in Tigard/Beaverton Oregon

A couple of rest stops along the way, but just wanted to get there so few photos


Lane County Courthouse photo in Eugene, Oregon

Day 3, Sunday, May 31st:  Spend the day with family

I did get a couple of local letters in wandering about Tigard and Beaverton

King City and Washington County

Family photos are published elsewhere

Day 4, Monday, June 1st: Day trip through Astoria, Oregon, up through Washington, then dinner with family
Today I took a ride out to the Oregon coast and then across the Columbia River and up into Washington.
Highway 26 runs from Portland to the coast just south of Astoria
Along the way is some beautiful forested rolling hills.
Unfortunately, a lot of the land has been clear cut for the lumber
They tend to leave about two rows of trees adjacent to the highway so it is not so ugly.

A very nice rest stop about half way to the coast.
In the north west corner of Oregon is a little town or Warrenton
On the north side of Warrenton is the Youngs Bay Bridge which leads to Astoria
The town of Astoria is in the most north west corner of Oregon
It sits at the mouth of the Columbia River and is dominated by the Astoria - Megler Bridge to Washington
The deep channel of the river is closest to the Astoria side so the bridge must be very tall almost immediately.
To accomplish this, the approach ramp swings around a big circle lifting cars high in the air
About a quarter of the way across the river, the bridge stoops down to a few tens of feet above water level
with a couple of up loops for local fishermen.  In total it is over four miles long.
Huge ocean-going ships pass by
One coastal town in Washington is Ilwaco
Fishing and pleasure boating seem to be the main industries
There is a local museum that seems to feel it is more classy to spell the word with two "V"s
Next stop was in South Bend, Washington (not Indiana) which is the seat of Pacific County
Across the street from the counrthouse annex was an oyster processing plant
While I was there watching, a constant stream of oyster shells went up the conveyor belt aand piled below.
I noticed along side the road that they used crushed shells for grading.
They must have been oystering for many, many years to have so many shells.
Back onto I-5 to head back down to Portland.
It was about lunch time and I was hungry so I stopped in Chehalis, WA for a bite
I happened to call my buddy Monte just to shoot the breeze.
He was excited, turns out he spent some of his youth just north of here.
Next stop was the Columbia Harley Davidson in Vancouver, Washington just north of Portland
They were having a little party for staff and customers.  Music, pizza, lotsa bikes
All that food and I had just eaten.  Wish I'd have known, I would have gotten a free lunch

Day 5, Tuesday, June 2nd:  Ride part way to home

Day 6, Wednesday, June 3rd: Arrive home

This is well trod path for me so I did not take a lot of photos on the way back home.
Oregon has some very good rest stops.
Green and friendly

 California has some good and some not so good

Updated: Sunday, January 03, 2016 01:44:46 PM