Clatsop County

The last time I was up here was in 1994 or 1995.  This was before kids, gainful employment, or much of an internet(thanks again Al Gore!).  We went to the coast as a romantic weekend, probably with an article from the Sunday Travel section of the Oregonian.  We went to Astoria to stay at the Rose Briar Inn, which was a small hotel in an old Victorian house.  There was a mix-up and our 2 night stay had a problem with the 2nd night.  As a remedy, we could either move to an inferior room or stay in a sister hotel in Cannon Beach. We chose the latter, as we felt Astoria didn't have that much of interest.

About all we remember from that trip is me standing on a rock on the beach and a sneaker wave caused the ocean to rise up around the rock and I fell in fully clothed and got mostly wet just before checking into the Cannon Beach hotel.

Fast forward to 2010...We could not remember the names of either hotel or what we did on our last visit.  We hit Fort Stevens to look at the wreck of the Peter Iredale (1906 shipwreck visible in low tide), Battery Russell (WWII era bunker ruin), and in Astoria visited the Astor Column (my 11 year old son kept calling it the Astro Tower).  Seeing these sites began jogging memories of our past visits.  We found the Astoria hotel, that is now some kind of home for women.  Walking along the beach in Cannon Beach, we found the Cannon Beach Hotel that we stayed in long ago, still here as a hotel.

Fort Clatsop is a re-creation of where Lewis and Clark spent there winter at the mouth of the Columbia River before heading back east.  It was a little stockaded area with small rooms that appeared to be a cold, dark, and wet area to spend a winter.  Earlier this year we visited the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center that allowed me to visualize the hardships early pioneers dealt with coming east to settle in Oregon, and contrast that with Lewis and Clark (should be Clark and Lewis) and think about how they had very different challenges than the wagon trains that followed.     

Returning to the this place brought back a number of memories that had been lost and made some new ones that I will probably forget before too long.  Like telling my in-laws I was excusing myself to go to the Fortress of Solitude... 

Astor Column in Astoria

Battery Russell in Fort Stevens is fun to explore



Fort Clatsop is a replica of where Clark and Lewis spent a wet winter




The beach at Cannon Beach looking at Haystack Rock



Tillamook County

Cows.  Tillamook County is known for dairy cows, and more by smell than by sight.

We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and as soon as we stepped out of the van we were punched in the face by the smell of dairy waste.  Oh, and it was raining.  The factory was not operating at the time of our visit, so there wasn't much to see (although people wearing white suits with hair nets walking around isn't the height of excitement either, is it?).  What was open that day was a gift shop, cheese tasting area and ice cream shop.  We, you know, bought some postcards, sampled some, like, cheese and had, ahem, a little ice cream.  Then we put Tillamook in our rearview mirror.

Up to this point I was thinking Tillamook County is kind of low on the 30-something county scale; above Polk County but way below Curry County.  A few days later was passed through again and this time picked up some brie from the Blue Heron Cheese Company, along with a baguette and some Italian salami...if you know what I mean.

We had this food,a full tank of gas, and Throwing Muses was in the tape deck.  Yeah that's what I said; a tape deck.  VW is usually slow in adapting new technology, just to make sure it isn't a flash in the pan.  A Highway 6 sign caught my eye and I decided that since we have not been this way, we will today.  Highway 6 follows the Wilson River into the Tillamook State Forest.  The grown ups up in front got to recalling something about the 'Tillamook Burn' and wondering aloud when it happened, how it started, etc.  It's hard to inspire children with a bunch of maybe and sort of facts about a possible fire that occurred maybe where we were, or maybe not.  At this moment of wondering, the Tillamook Forest Center magically appears. 

1964 photo shows the lingering effects of the fire.  No trees.

Newer photo showing trees have returned.

I never knew it existed, but it is there to tell me the history of the Tillamook State Forest.  The 'Burn' occurred in 1933 due to logging in extremely dry conditions and the fire was huge.  The burn was actually multiple wildfires at 6 year intervals, becoming known as the '6 year jinx'.  The state forest was created by foreclosures, due to loss of timber and the Depression.  I was inspired by how Oregonians worked together in replanting the burn and making improvements in firefighting.  The last fire was in 1951 and it was much much smaller than the previous fires. 

If just one person reads this and enters the cheesemaking profession, my blog is a success.  And I hope that no one starts a huge wildfire to bring people together because of this blog.  

Crook County

Crook County is not home to the Hamburglar, as some have suggested.  It was the home of Les Schwab Tire Centers empire.  But when the old man passed on, the grandkids moved corporate over to Bend, leaving Prineville as a city without a tire magnate. 

I had a meeting in Prineville a few weeks ago.  I stayed at the western-themed Stafford Inn.  The hotel room was bedbug free and the room was nice.  And just like the Old West, they give you a warm cookie at check-in.  Right next door was the Pioneer Steakhouse, where I was determined to have me a 16 oz ribeye steak, served up medium rare.  The food was excellent, to the point where I was full, but I kept on going.  Steak doesn't keep, I told myself.  Not enough to box up so I better just eat it up, I told myself.  I am so full I am going to die, I told myself.

The following morning, I couldn't eat anything.  I was still full.  I had some mediocre hotel coffee and headed over to the library for the meeting.  My boss was with me, and he kept asking for weeks leading up to our meeting, "have you seen the Crook County Courthouse?  It's awesome!"  He asked again. 

Lunch was interesting.  The host liked to go to a thrifty sandwich place.  We all thought cheap sandwiches sounded tasty, so we went.  The group is made up of environmental health specialists, and some of them inspect restaurants in their respective counties.  One of the guys looked up and saw a sewer pipe right over the sandwich prep area.  It looked watertight, but it does give one pause to consider that one drop leaks from that pipe, it is on my lunch.

Prineville's recent coup was facebook is building a huge server center.  It is giving this rural city a big boost with construction jobs for the next few years, and will create a few jobs maintaining servers and filling vending machines. 

So as the Hamburglar once said, "Check out Crook County prices.  They are so low, it's a crime."    

Hood River County

I spent a cool fall Saturday on the Fruit Loop in Hood River County.  What is a fruit loop?  Is this where they make the cereal that is so popular with the kids?  It is in fact NOT where Toucan Sam makes healthy cheerios. 

It's a loosely organized group of fruit growers and wineries who got together to do some marketing of what they have to offer.  And so I guess I'm lemming enough to need a little marketing to get me over there. 

We drove through the small boutiquey town of Hood River.  It looks both quaint and expensive.  We kept on driving. 

The particular weekend we were there was Heirloom Apple weekend, and Mt View Orchards was hosting their very own Edelweiss day.

First stop was Whitehouse Winery.  I was very hungover, and wine was the cause.  I did not want to be here.  Looks nice and my friend Jon bought a few bottles from them to restore his wine supply. 

Next was Draper Girls, whose claim to fame on the tour loop is they are the only provider of un-pasteurized cider.  That is exactly the type of intestinal adventure I was looking for.  I picked out the oldest one that was sitting in a warm spot and the bottle was bloated...no I didn't.  $3.50 a pint is about as much as a beer, so I picked a fresh cold one.  Verdict: among the best I have had in Oregon, not as good as cider from the Bay State.  I bought some apples here, too and they were about $1//# and the quality was good.  They probably had about 15 varieties out for sale, (no McIntosh) and I picked out some Rome beauties, Newtown Pippins, and Empires.

Mt View Orchards had way more varieties for sale and were priced in the 70 cents/# range.  The apples were not displayed to be appealing, with lots of stems and uglies.  People here were buying large quantities.  Edelweiss Day meant a tuba guy/yodel lady for music and sausages and apple strudel for lunch.  Dee-lish!  In hindsight, I should have bought a bunch of apples here.

I give Hood River County a thumbs-up and I will be back.  More apples and there's also a brewery, Double Mountain that I need to try.

Columbia County

Legend has it that Columbia County was named after the ill-fated space shuttle.  Legends tend to make the mundane more sexy, and regrettably my money is on Columbia County being named after the river on which passes by.  It's even spelled the same, so unless the river was named after the county, which was named after a blown up shuttle, then I just can't buy into the legend.

So it's October, and I have about 10 counties left to visit.  And the kids have soccer games every weekend and, um, it's October.  I needed to schedule some work meetings around the state, and Portland couldn't accommodate my free parking mandate, I turned to Columbia County and surprisingly, there was a small amount of free parking.  By a small amount I mean a buttload of free parking at a very nice building in St Helens.

As luck would have it, St Helens also has a Burgerville, which is my favorite fast food place.  I went there for lunch and had a pumpkin shake with my lunch.  One thing Burgerville does is on their receipt they include nutritional info and even have suggestions for healthier alternatives to what you order.  Oh and Columbia County was nice, too.  

Malheur County

This trip came on the heels of Harney County.  Malheur touches Idaho to the east and Nevada to the south and east.  Once again this is sagebrush country.  And once again, this is a beautiful place.

We were headed to Owyhee River, specifically Three Forks, which requires traveling over 30 miles on a gravel road.  One of the highlights of the drive in was seeing my first dead cow, very bloated with feet up in the air.  Regrettably I didn't get a picture.

It was a long drive getting out to what was to be our campsite.  It was in a gorge that you drove in to.  We expected a campground and there was no campground.  There was a river bar and a vault toilet and nobody there.

We set up the tent right along the river for the kids and adults slept in the SUV.  It was amazing.  The only detraction was the feeling that a sniper could take you out at any time.  I spent the entire evening catch bass after bass and the kids joined in.

Getting home from here was tough.  Another 30 miles on a gravel road that included a short stint in Idaho.  We got gas in Jordan Valley, which is in the mountain time zone, and drove 500 miles all the way back to Eugene.  It was then that I realized with absolute clarity that Oregon is 75% sagebrush country, but 75% (at least) live on the wet side of the mountains. 

Harney County, Part II

Part I of Harney County was climbing into the Steens Mountains and taking in amazing views. 

A bit of confusion was caused because Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is in Harney County, not Malheur County.  Just outside of Fields, we were thinking we were crossing into a new county, which was our goal.  It worked out OK, but my gubernatorial support may be dictated by the candidate that will change that name to Harney National Wildlife Refuge. 


Milkshakes inside


Fields: It was a 9 year old girl birthday day and the party consisted of getting a shake at the Fields General Store.  "The best burgers and shakes within a 100 miles." Knowing the remoteness of the place really enhances the slogan.  The shakes were great.

Clean living!

Alvord Hot Springs: This is a roadside attraction not to be missed.  We had the place to ourselves.  Long ago, someone constructed concrete pools and piped in hot water in.  There is a changing area clad in corrugated sheet metal and an indoor/outdoor pool (indoor also clad in sheet metal).  After several days in the desert, it was very refreshing to clean the dust off.  The 'seats' in the pools were upside down washing machine drums.

Alvord Desert

Alvord Desert: An old dried up large lake bed provided a safe place for our 3 kids (ages 13, 11, and 9)to drive under heavy supervision.  The 9 year old birthday girl was first and she sat on my lap.  She was content with driving maybe 100 feet.  The oldest went next and she was white-knuckled and topped out at 25 mph.  The middle child (the boy) was the most comfortable with driving and went as fast and far as we would let him.  The oldest child was white-knuckled in the backseat and wanted him out. 

Imagine a day being a kid that begins with milkshakes, then hanging in hot springs, followed by driving on the desert?  I never had a day like that, but my kids did!