Oregon Coast

As our expedition moved from Columbia Gorge to Oregon coast, we moved our lodging westward accordingly from Gresham to Portland, and then finally to Hillsboro. My niece lives in Beaverton, so the final location worked out well. We plugged in our car in Beaverton, had dinner with her and her husband and then checked into Courtyard Marriott in Hillsboro.

We checked out early in the morning. We had 400 miles to go and dozens of stops for sightseeing along the coastline. At the end, it still wasn't enough; we skipped all points of interest after Bandon and drove straight to Crescent city. We got there well after dark.

One could be excused for thinking Oregon coastline is an extension of California coastline. Oregon retains some ruggedness of California coastline, with bluffs and phallic rocks sticking out of the water. But it is not rugged like Big Sur. It also has more sandy beaches and streams and rivers emptying into the Pacific. Take Waldport at the mouth of Alsea River for instance. It is covered with sandy beaches, sandbars and tidepools all over. For each river emptying into the ocean there are a dozen streams splitting beaches or creating lagoons where they meet the sea.

This is a two day excursion. It will be a much more enjoyable trip if you stop at estuaries and wade the tidal pools or get baked in the sun at any of the mile long pristine beaches for a while before moving on.

View of Netarts Bay From Cape Lookout, I think

Seaside, our first stop, was a tourist town. We couldn't even find a parking space there. I figure it's just a beach with boardwalk -- been there, done that -- so we moved on after charging up the car. Cannon Beach, about 10 miles south, was a quieter and more pristine breach. It was a bit tricky to get to it. We got off the freeway, drove down a residential street and parked on the shoulder. And then we found stairs leading down to the beach, hidden between houses.

Cannon Beach

We continued on US-101 and then OR-131 to Cape Meares. We skipped Tillamook Creamery -- we had enough butter in our freezer to last another year or two -- and skirted Tillamook Bay all the way up only to find that the road to the cape was closed. We turned around and traced back to Netarts Bay to get to Cape Lookout. A few pictures of miles long sand beaches and the Netarts Bay there, and the morning was done.

Siletz Bay

We stopped at Lincoln City for charging, had in-car lunch with leftovers and hung out in the shopping mall. It was the last chance for tax-free shopping. But we didn't find anything that struck our frugal fancy and came up empty handed once again.

Shortly after Lincoln City was Siletz river and Siletz Bay Wildlife Refuge. It was yet another estuary that wasn't on the Drive #9 of the guide book; another beautiful river emptying into the Pacific with wide sandy beach and sand bars; and another place that we could've stayed over to make the trip more leisurely and enjoyable. We'll come back to it someday.

View from Cape Foulweather

22 miles south of Siletz River, past Lincoln Beach and Depoe Bay, was Cape Foulweather that claims to be 500 feet above the sea where the history of Oregon began. With rugged cliffs, it was more California than Oregon; you'd be forgiven if you mistook it for Santa Cruz or somewhere north of Big Sur.

We skipped New Port, Waldport and all other river-meets-the-Pacific estuaries on the way to the charging station in Bandon. But we did stop for the Dunes Recreational Area. It was infested with ATVs so we took a quick look and then turned around.

Gold Beach

Final charging stop in desolate Bandon. It was a good sized town but there was no soul around except for the scruffy chump on a bike who knocked on my window while charging. He went on telling me how he saw through the construction of the charging station and where to stop to charge on the way to Crescent City. He said he has a Tesla though he didn't look like the type. He sure knew a lot about Tesla though. By the time we got to Gold Beach, it was getting pretty dark. We stopped for a quick shot and then headed to Crescent City.

Colombia River Gorge

The Coke can in Bulgogi, a Korean eatery at the SW end of NE Sandy Blvd, said 1.50. I figure that should be about $1 USD.

I keep thinking this is Canada. It may as well, with the sun laying low on the horizon. It's late August and the evening melancholy hour goes on and on. Not quite as long as in Alaska where the sun rides the ridge forever, but certainly longer than in Sacramento. Our day trip to The Dalles along Columbia River Gorge ended as such and we headed to Rodeway Inn on the other end of Sandy Blvd.

We checked out early from Days Inn in Gresham. With millions of stops along the way it was going to be a full day trip to The Dalles and back. It is the Drive #8 and #10 of the Most Scenic Drive in America. We were going up the river on the South side and then come back on the North bank.

View from Crown Point

The air was still hazy in the morning sun when we got to the Crown Point perched on the cliff overlooking Columbia river. It cleared up a bit by the time we got to Multnomah Fall. We had to take a long detour to the fall. The Historic Columbia River Highway was closed and we had to turn around and come back to Crown Point to get back on I-84.

















After the charging and in-car lunch lunch in The Dalles -- the food didn't look too appetizing in that cow-belled restaurant and we had enough in the car --, it was time to trek back to Portland.

Panorama Point in Hood River

Under the Route 197 bridge just north of The Dalles, black rock slates were climbing out of the river on top of each other and the crystalline water sparkling in the afternoon sun was lapping them energetically.  I could've stopped for it. But I was too tired by then to turn around. I'll come back for it someday.

The north shore of the river along Lewis and Clark Hwy has many streams emptying into Columbia. We were going to follow one of them, The White Salmon River, to Trout Lake. But we were running out of time and electrons by then.  So we stopped and admired the river instead.  The river was about 30 feet down and and there was steel rope tempting you to rappel down. I couldn't resist.

White Salmon River

About 20 miles west was another White Salmon River, Little one this time. It was draining into, well, Drano Lake. The lake was a man-made one with a levy on Columbia to support the road and the levy encircled the bay turning it into a lake. At the mouth of the river was a dead salmon floating belly up. And we understood why it was called White Salmon River.

White Salmon River

We were all done with streams by then and the sun was getting pretty low in a fall-like day. We made a stop at Home Valley Park, rested on the picnic table by its secluded beach for a few minutes and then continued on to Beacon Rock.

Home Valley Beach

I could've made it to the top of Beacon Rock -- it was only about 20 stories tall, so it seemed -- if I didn't leave my wallet in the car. I didn't want the car broken into, so we turned around half way up. It would've been the first completion after giving up so many times. Instead, it became another abortion.

Beacon Rock

The Cape Horn Viewpoint was our final stop. Soon after we crossed I-205 bridge with another spectacular view of the river and we were back in Portland traversing NE Sandy Blvd.

Cape Horn Viewpoint

Portland OR

After driving 700 miles to get here, I crashed early and slept 9 hours. I was feeling much better this morning. Trip is more enjoyable when you are not fatigued. Who knew?

There was nothing that piqued my interest in Top 15 Things To Do from Trip Advisor. So we checked out the neighborhoods instead to see how people live. That's what I usually do when I visit a new city anyway. Matator Network had an excellent article on Portland neighborhoods and I'd recommend it to anybody visiting Portland for the first time. We hit all 5 neighborhoods today.

In all, Portland looks like a cross between SF and Sacramento, Nob Hill and all. It hugs a river like Sacto instead of a bay. the Riverfront trail was too
bustling though. I prefer the quietude of Sacramento's river trail.




Powell Books and the Pearl District was the first order of business. Paid $8 for a used copy of In Cold Blood, had a coffee and then walked to Pioneer Court Square. Next we drove to Lan Su garden, peeked inside from outside -- we were too cheap to pay $20 to get in -- and then walked to the Riverfront Trail. We returned via Skidmore fountain, a European looking square occupied by homeless people.

23rd in Nob Hill looked much like Fillmore in Lower Pacific of SF with shops and eateries lined up on the both sides of the street. It was nothing new to us, so we walked back to 21st, a plebeian version of 23rd, and then back to the car parked in front of Trader Joe's. By then we got hungry so we went over to Boke Bowls for fusion Japanese.

There wasn't much to see in Central Waterfront so we drove directly to Boise, a working class neighborhood going through some gentrification. It's a workable neighborhood. Certainly is not an upscale, but there were lots of greenery and gardens in homes there.

Over all, very pleasant town full of friendly young people. Another 12,000 step day ended back in Gresham.

Portland OR Via Bend

It was only 90F in Sandy where we made the final stop for charging. But the humidity made sweat like it is 100F. It's nothing like the deep South. But it's not bone-dry Central Valley either. That explains all that lushness in Portland. And with hills around it, I could've mistaken Portland for Asheville as we entered it on I-84.

Crater Lake was a bust. The haze was so bad we could barely see the water from the rim.  It is supposed to be the clearest lake in the world but it was the color of ash in the morning sun. Not much to see, so we moved on to Portland via Bend without completing the circle around the rim.

We took this route on the back side of the Cascade for the view of the mountains. The highway is supposed to be hugging the mountains with Mt. Bachelor rising up in the distance. No nothing. It was just a grey void on the both side of the US 97.

Trillium Lake made up for all the loss. It was still hazy, but you still could see the majestic Mt. Hood rising above the water. Maybe we'll camp here the next time.

Salmon hatchery in Wildwood Park was a find. It is on Sandy River, one of many tributaries that feed into Columbia. No, we didn't see any salmon there. It probably wasn't the season and we didn't walk down to the hatchery. We took a short walk along the river and left. It was getting late and we wanted to get to the lodge in Gresham, conveniently located before Portland.

Klamath Falls

The Black Bear diner in Mt. Shasta is still there. In my memory it was a dingy place that served hamburger with dried out patty and wilted lettuce. It apparently has been remodeled and became much brighter. And the food was better this time.  I wasn't looking for it; it was conveniently located across Tesla supercharger and I had to drop in.

It was July 2006 that we stopped here, I think, on the way to backpack in Shasta-Trinity. This is what I looked like back then.

And this is what I look like now:

It was overcast in Sacramento when we left for Oregon. The smog got thicker and then the visibility dropped to half a mile by the time we got to Redding. The Carr Fire was almost extinguished but the aftermath lingered on. The smog didn't get any better as we approached Oregon. Oregon was under the assault from the fires in Washington and northern Oregon. This is the year of fire in the West coast.

We followed I-5 and Sacramento River up north and made a stop in Redding to see the Sun Dial Bridge. Then we walked down to the river and took dip. The water was icy enough to make my feet painful. Being closer to its source in Klamath Mountains makes it much colder than it is in Sacramento.

The next stop was Lower Klamath lake that wasn't. No water was visible except in the channels. It was a wetland covered with reeds. Lots of crows and white cranes and some hawks. There was supposed to be Bald Eagles there but we didn't see any. We might have if we made it to the observation deck, but was defended by swarm of mosquito so we had to turn around.

 We charged up the car and bedded down in Klamath Falls for the night. Another bed bug problem and we had to switch the hotel. The hotel had 70% rating and no mention of the bugs in the reviews, yet I was bitten the same.

Cat Food Thief

Wild turkey sightings are common around here. The other day I saw one on the sidewalk on Q street rummaging the dirt under the tree. It jumped off to the busy road at one point, I had to block the traffic and shoo it back onto the sidewalk. Someone called animal control. Then, while biking 2 days ago, I saw a whole family on the trail taking refugee from the sun in the shade under the tree. There are enough wildlife in this city to keep you entertained.

Last night I saw a raccoon grooming himself in the middle of our backyard. That made me think, maybe it's the raccoon that's been cleaning up the cat food over night. We've been feeding a homeless cat that has been coming to our door since we moved in. He comes almost everyday in the evening. On the days that he doesn't show up, we leave out the cat cereal outside. In the morning it is usually gone. I'll have to install a camera outside and see who's getting fed.

10 Mile Ride

The weather cooled off for a week or so. Then it shot up to 100F again yesterday. It must the summer barking out loud for the last time. 

I didn't count on it. I didn't bother to check the weather before I left and I got dehydrated half way to Paradise. I aborted the trip when I got the Expo Parkway. I found a Subway next REI there and gulped down a few cups. I knew Subway gives refill -- we've bought a cup and two of us soaked ourselves at one in Worthington, MN. While REI, I checked out Synapse bike in size 54. The size was workable -- I could put the zero offset seatpost and 80mm stem and could ride it comfortably. But the bike was not as lively as my Contend SL. I'll spring for a second when I find a stiff 54 under 16 lbs. with low stand-over.

The river trail disappeared at N 12th. The road turned into Hwy 162 in North direction and the bridge going over the river had a narrow sidewalk. It didn't seem like a good idea to ride on it, in the wrong direction no less. I didn't know where that led to anyway. So I rode down the 12th, crossed over to the other side and the stopped at CubeSmart to ask. She told me that the street between Ford and Casino will lead to my salvation. As such I got back on the Northern Bike trail, only to find that the river trail became a dirt track from there on. I wasn't going to ride for 3 miles on the dirt road. I crossed the river to get on to Jedediah-Smith trail that led me to Expo Parkway shopping center.

It was good for 10 miles round trip starting from Matsui Waterfront Park. I left my car there and ended up with a ticket. I didn't know there was a time limit there. Parking at Tiscornia as I originally planned and paying $5 would've been a better deal.  The car was boiling in the sun too when I got back. 

I'm fatigued today, but ok otherwise. It's a normal post-exercise fatigue, not sickness. And I'm ready to believe that I'm recovering, for good this time around. I'll shoot for 20 miles in the Fall. If I make it, I'll declare that I'm recovered. For now, we are travelling to Oregon next week. 

Trip Write-up

Oh, I forgot to link our cross-country trip write-up. It was published on Health Rising website  back in June.

Cycling Begins

Cycling is working out better than I imagined. I rode 5.5 miles along the river on Saturday. I took one day recuperating and I was back on saddle again for 4 miles today. And I rode at a decent clip too, at least twice as fast as the ride in 2010 that made me sick for a week. It's now as if I'm only extremely out of shape rather than sick. I'm going to do 10 miles this week and see if I can get away with it without getting sick. If I can, oh boy, I could really start believing that I'm recovering.

So, I was in SF  last week to pick up the bike. In the morning I went back to the old neighborhood around the Rincon Hill  where I walked around like a zombie, sitting down wherever I could. Portico at 1st and Mission. 201 Mission where I draped myself on a patio chair outside of Angus Burger, now gone, during a desolate walk on the thanksgiving of 2009. Starbucks on Drumm where I camped with my legs up on the chair to relieve the ache. Starbucks on Howard and Spear. How I struggled to walk a few blocks back then. And how anticlimactic it would be to recover from all that as if nothing happened.

In the evening, I picked up a Giant Contend SL 1 from Bike Connection. I was gonna buy Giant Contend SL 2 from an LA bike shop -- they were selling a red one that I was looking for $899, almost 25% off -- and see my nephew and his new bride while there.  The one from the SF bike shop for 15% off instead. But going down to LA was too much a work and SF is nearer in case I need to get the bike serviced. (Turned out, I needed 80mm stem and they will swap it out for free.) So now I'm finally done with the bike shopping. For now and happy with it -- it is an aluminium bike, but it is very responsive and comfortable at the same time. And it fits me every well. Next week I'll go to Mike's Bike and see what they have on sale. If they have a Tarmac comp or S-Works at 25% off, I may get tempted.