Miles total: 6955
Though Salem is not far from Eugene, the plan was to ride due west to the coast to Florence, take US101 up the coast to Canon Beach, then loop back down to Salem via McMinnville. The coastal part was a bust. The entire shoreline was so fogged in you could barely see the ocean. And only a small fraction of 101 actually runs along the water; the inland parts, while free of fog, were nothing special ... looked a lot like riding US64 in NC to me. The only photos worth taking were of the some of the nice 1930s era bridges.
Went through Tillamook, passed the massive Tillamook Creamery, and stopped to take a photo of the huge WWII blimp hangar — currently the largest clear span wooden structure in the world.
Stopped at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville to see the Hughes Hercules (aka Spruce Goose). No good way to really photograph the whole thing and get the right perspective.
I spoke with one of the volunteers there for a bit and he told me that the big box to the right the stairway leading to the cockpit was a gigantic HEPA filter for the germaphobe Hughes. The whole cockpit was fed filtered air, and Hughes himself had his own dedicated hose (black hose drooping from the ceiling):
9-ply laminated birch fuselage skin ... and none of it has delaminated in 70 years.
From McMinnville to Salem I rode through part of the Willamette Valley, passing a number of.vineyards. Whereas Napa seems to be dominated by big dollar estate wineries, the Willamette appears to have a lot of blue collar wineries run by farmers. And the rest of it is weeds and scrub. Not the most picturesque place.
I will say that the Oregon State Capitol, from the outside anyway (didn’t go inside), is a terrific Art Deco structure. I’d rank it #2 — behind Lincoln NE.
Not sure how we could have missed the giant WWII Blimp Hanger at Tillamook. Guess we were fixated on the items in the Creamery’s Store. Glad Harris T. carries their brand now - the ice cream is really good!
ReplyDeleteI am SO sorry you ran into so much fog. We had a lot as well, although a lot of the time we’d just stand at a look-out long enough for the shifty winds to curl some of the fog away. Views can be spectacular, but only in the sunshine. And definitely not in all places.
Are you doing any of the Columbia River Gorge? We enjoyed the Washington-side road/views along the River more than the Oregon-side, although the famous waterfalls are on the Oregon side.
Spruce Goose was impressive - unaware of McMinnville or the museum.