The Oregon Coast

Many mid-westerners are not familiar with the Oregon coast. It's a great natural resource as we found from our stay at Ona Beach.

The Oregon coastal mountains rise just a short distance (2 to 10 miles) from the coast. The mountains help protect the coast from some of the inland summer heat and, along with the sea, contribute to the weather which in summer is fairly comfortable, but can create some fog and overcast mornings. The beaches are completely public, and state parks and beach accesses are common along the coast.

The coast scenery does vary, but it's always beautiful. Highway 101 is never far from the coast, so driving on the highway is very pleasant. But the coast line is best experienced on foot walking on the beaches. The water is cold, so that limits some water activities.

Oregon Sand Dunes

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Wide flat beaches near Ona State Park

Sea stacks near Cannon City

Alice walking the beaches: just like in Hawaii, her head is always down looking for seashells.








Traffic can be slowed by the volume of cars in places and the slowest drive we had was from Portland to Seattle on a Sunday afternoon, choked with people returning from a week-end along the Oregon coast. A great place to visit and vacation.

Reminiscing on a Great Adventure

41 years ago Dave Hicks and I shared an adventure that was probably one of the greatest adventure of my life.

First, in my vernacular, any experience that is outside of the "normal" and has an element of risk that afterwards leaves me with memories (hopefully all positives) that I recall for a long time is an adventure. A pretty broad definition, but it works for me.

Dave and I at Newport, OR, summer 2011.



Back in the summer of 1970 we were working summer jobs in the Burg between our jr. and senior years in college. As a break before heading back to school, we decided to head out west.

In a nutshell, we hopped a freight train in Aurora, IL, and rode it to Whitefish, MT. From there we hitchhiked to Baniff, Canada where we hiked and hung-out for a while. I then hitchhiked down to Washington and Dave hitchhiked and rode trains back to Ill.

That short description doesn't do justice to all of the mini-adventures we had along the way: getting caught by yard bulls in the train yards of St. Paul;having our train car set off in a train yard and losing the rest of the train in Minot, ND; running through a wheat field in Montana to buy beer while the train was on a side track waiting for another train to pass; illegally entering Canada; running out of money in Baniff and having a friend wire some to us; Sharing a box car with some real hobos who taught us the finer points of sleeping in a box car (don't sleep long ways with the car, sleep cross ways; it's safer if the train suddenly stops). After we separated and I was in Washington, I had the opportunity to work fighting a forest fire for a few days. The job helped pay for my flight back home. The scenery and other imagines from the trip are still very vivid for me.

The experience was a life-changer. My self-image was always different after that trip. Although when Dave and I do get together now, we seldom reference that trip in our conversations, the experiences will always be a bond we share.

Two Beautiful Lakes

We visited two beautiful lakes within a couple of days of each other this week. Lake Tahoe in Calif/Nevada and Crater Lake in Oregon.

Lake Tahoe sits on the border of California and Nevada. The largest Alpine lake in North America. 21 miles long, 16,000 ft deep.

Crater Lake from Rim Village

Crater Lake formed in the calderon after Mt. Mazama blew its top over 7,000 years ago.

Crater Lake is approx. 1,000 feet below the rim, 6 miles across, 19,000 ft at its deepest point. The blue of the lake is amazing and difficult to capture on film.



Lake Tahoe is a recreation area; casinos (in Nevada), marinas, vacation homes, hotels, restaurants, golf courses, ski areas, etc.

Crater Lake is a national park. Limited lodging and areas to eat in the park.

Two areas I always wanted to see, checked off in a matter of days. Of the two, Lake Tahoe is where I'd like to go back to again.

Blue Highways

William Least Heat Moon wrote a travel book in 1982 entitled Blue Highways. It chronicles his journey around America as he drove on two lane roads which, in the old Rand-McNally road atlas, were blue. He often stopped at small town cafes and wrote about the conversations with the people he met. It's an enjoyable read and provides insight in to small town America nearly 30 years ago.

From the Mississippi to the west coast the interstate system is primarily east/west. Because of the zig-zagging in our travels, we've had many opportunities to travel on two lane highways on this trip. We've enjoyed the solitude and scenery of the countryside.

Wednesday we had our own "blue highways" experience in Canby, CA, a town of just over 300 people on highway 299 in the north east corner of California. Needing a break we stopped in at the Canby Hotel, Restaurant, and Saloon. They could have added pool hall, because it had that too; all separate areas in a small, very old building. The place had many antique lamps and pictures, the "lobby" of the hotel was overstuffed chairs that you got to by walking through the saloon. The waitress and cook were nice, older ladies who cooked a great hamburger.

We talked about the Canby Hotel, Restaurant and Saloon the rest of the day.

Independence Rock, Wy

Our drive out of Casper, Wy, took us by Independence Rock. Independence Rock is a large, hump of a rock that sits along the old Oregon Trail and California Trail, and served as a half way point from the jump off point along the Missouri and the west coast. Emigrants would hope to reach the points by Independence Day signaling that they would probably make it over all mountains before the winter snows.

Around the rock some settlers carved their names and dates in the rock. You can walk around the rock or climb up the rock and find names etched in the granite.

"Texting" in the mid-1800.s

Only a history nerd might be excited about this; but it was neat to think about the tens of thousands of emigrants who moved along the Oregon and California Trails over 150 years ago. The depression in the ground where the trail went is visible. Some travelers needed to record their passing for whatever reason and we can still see that record of their passing today.

The next day we drove through the salt flats west of Salt Lake City and then again west of Reno, NV. Interestingly, many people used black rocks and wrote out their initials in the white salt basins. Don't think those will last 150 years, but the need to leave a mark on the natural world is still alive.

Black Hills

As we prepared for our trip and told people we would be stopping at the Black Hills, many shared that their own trip to the Black Hills had been one of their best vacations. We've certainly enjoyed our stay. The greenness and topography of the Black Hills contrasts with the high, dry plains to the east and contributes to its wonder. We stayed at the Peregrine Pointe B & B , which was secluded and very comfortable; I could have easily just spent hours sitting on their decks enjoying the solitude of the countryside. The conversation around the breakfast table was always interesting as guests exchanged activities they had done, places they had dinner, or past experiences traveling in the US and abroad.

Some areas of the Black Hills are a bit too commercialized (Keystone) for me, but there are plenty of attractions that would interest a family with kids. The scenery is stunning but can be difficult to take it all in when driving in a car. I can see why people with convertibles and riders on motorcycles are so prevalent (and the Sturgis Harley Rally is still two weeks away).

We did stop at Mount Rushmore. An impressive piece of sculpture and engineering; but, not wanting to be unpatriotic, I'm not sure if carving faces on a mountain side added anything to the natural beauty of the area. But it is a huge tourist attraction and enjoyed by many families.

We drove through the wildlife loop road of Custer State Park and saw only a group of burros who were panhandling from the cars that they had blocked on the road. As we got near the end of the road, we saw a nice herd of bison.

One was nice enough to come over and pose for us.

As we left the Black Hills, we stopped at Devils Tower in Wyoming.

An astounding geological feature. Even more impressive in person than any picture or movie can capture.

Now we have three stops at different places as we work our way to Oregon.

Road Trip to Washington: 2011 version

As part of our 40th wedding anniversary, Alice and I are making another road trip out to Washington.

This is actually the third similar road trip to Washington we've taken together. In 1972, with our friends Don and Cindy, we bought a rather ugly green van, put a rug down in the back, threw in a couch, and, with two dogs, headed west. We actually spent our first anniversary in that van as we traveled through the plains. We eventually made our way to Manson, Wa; where my uncle found us jobs picking apples with a grower in the area.

Just over 20 years later we made another road trip to the Washington; this time with our kids in our Toyota van. We visited many of the same spots along the way before arriving in Manson. One thing that really stands out about that trip was that Marshall could drive; so it was nice to sit in the back and let him do his share of the driving.

Now 39 years after Alice and I made that first road trip together, we're heading out again. No camping on this trip,though; we have hotels and B & B's reserved out and back.

This will actually be my fourth road trip to Washington. My parents made a similar road trip when I was 18 months old and my sister was 3 1/2. But I only have a few photos of that trip, no memories.

But the idea of taking a road trip to Washington to visit relatives began much earlier. I have a photo album that my dad made after he and his brother and friends made a similar trip in 1937. I can't imagine what the roads and conditions must have been like as they traveled out to Washington.

The tradition continues.