Oregon – Day 1 Itinerary & Travel

18-Apr-2005

I know that this is supposed to be a culinary blog but I hope you will excuse me if some of the posts over the next few days stray a bit from that. Although this recent Oregon trip was focused on wine tasting, as well as family events, there may be a few trips down memory lane… :-)

Friday morning broke gray and dreary. The rain was still holding off but I could tell that it was about to pour at any moment. Better get the car packed and get out the door! I’m not sure why but it seemed to take forever to get the car loaded and get on the road. It was mainly stupid stuff – I couldn’t find something I wanted (it was right where it was supposed to be but not exactly where it normally is), I got tied up answering a couple emails (why did I turn that dang PC on??), some news story caught my attention and I watched it instead of making packing progress. Dumb stuff.

And I was excited to be on the road! For the last several years all of my Oregon trips have been a straight line to and from my parent’s house. My focus was on spending time with my Mom and doing anything that was not directly related to that just seemed frivolous. This was my first trip down since she passed away. I was going down to celebrate my Dad’s birthday at my sister’s house in Junction City just outside of Eugene, home of my archrival, the Ducks. Straight through, with good traffic (and if you leave early (-:) it’s about 5 1/2 hours.

I decided to take a little extra time on this trip and visit some of the places I love. I would head south through Portland (Portland itself will have to wait for another trip) and then cut off the freeway onto Hwy. 99W. Once on Hwy 99 I’d head through Newberg to Dundee. Dundee is the heart of Oregon wine country, specifically pinot country. After spending some time tasting I’d continue on to the Oregon Coast and spend the evening and Saturday morning replenishing my soul – that’s what the Pacific Ocean does for me! :-)

I finally was on the road about 9:00. I know this will seem early for many of you but for me it’s on the late side. I had planned to be out of the house around 7:30. (R and I have a running joke. She’ll mention how busy or congested something was. I’ll answer how I didn’t have that experience at all! And then say, I just got an early start… R says it’s my answer for everything!) The first three hours were the normal I-5 trip. By now the rain was coming down and more water was coming up off the roadway than was coming out of the sky. But I didn’t care – I was on my way to a little adventure.

I exited at Tigard (Oregon has lots of strange town names. Many of them are Native American names – Willamette; some are from French explorers – Champoeg; some were brought by settlers from other places – Albany; some are family names – Brownsville; and some are just names – Crow.) and started heading west. Tigard is now part of the Portland sprawl. I negotiated my way through several miles of strip malls and new housing developments; stoplights and bumper to bumper traffic, before breaking free and getting out to the "country".

But once past the mess my soul breathes a sigh of relief and recognition. The Willamette Valley is a beautiful valley stretching from the Coast Range on the west side clear to the foothills of the Cascades on the east side. Salem, my hometown, is part of this valley. The valley is extremely fertile and many types of crops grow along it’s 120 mile length. This is one of the reasons I identify so strongly with food, I think. My first few jobs were all part of the agriculture industry in the area. The river itself flows south to north – something very few rivers in the US do. I thought I read somewhere that there are only three but I might have made that up. :-)

I take in the view, breathe the fresh air and make my way to Dundee. I did tasting at three wineries – each will have their own entry:

I had lunch at a great little place, The Dundee Bistro, owned and operated by Ponzi Vineyards. More info in it’s own entry.

After tasting and eating lunch it was time for me to head to the coast and what I hoped would be a fun and unique lodging situation!

I continued southwest on Hwy 99W until I reached McMinnville. At McMinnville I took Hwy 18 out to the coast. Technically you are at the coast at Road’s End but I never feel I’m really there until I get to Lincoln City. Normally, I’d pull over as soon as I saw the ocean and take it all in. Since I was running a little later than expected (I did not make up my 1 1/2 hour morning delay) and since it was still raining I just kept heading south to my destination.

I actually had a couple of potential destinations in mind. You see, quite some time ago Oregon starting adding yurts to many of the state campgrounds. The reservation website had been showing availability but I didn’t quite believe it. I had heard that the yurts were nearly always booked. So I was crossing my fingers that one would be available at one of three campsites in the area around Newport.

What is a yurt? It’s sort of a permanent tent. The yurts in the Oregon parks are (I think) 16′ in diameter. They have a platform floor, a heater, electricity (a couple of lights and several outlets). The frame is made of lattice running between 2" x 3" wood supports. The roof uses the same supports and is an inverted cone. At the center of the cone is a skylight that can be opened for ventilation. There are also "windows" in the yurt walls – areas where outer flaps can be opened to allow light and air in through mesh screens – like tent windows. There is a door that can be locked. In the Oregon yurts standard equipment includes: one futon with vinyl covered mattress and coffee table; a bunkbed with double bed below and single bed above, both with vinyl covered mattresses; a card-table-sized wooden table with two chairs; lots of clothing hooks; a "vanity" with mirror and narrow shelf; outdoor chairs; a picnic table and built in bench on the covered deck; and additional picnic table in the grassy area surrounding the yurt. They say they sleep five, but you know they mean five children. :-)

My photo at the top of the entry was taken at 7:30 am in the middle of a torrential downpour! :-( So you can understand why it isn’t quite as sharp as I would have liked. Besides the poor conditions I took it from my car – I wasn’t standing in that rain! And even with that you can see all the drops on the lens! For a better idea of what they look like, check out the park photos.

I did end up staying in a yurt but only because I found a way to work the system. They were completely booked at the campgrounds I checked out. I’m sorry I can’t tell you what I did because I may need this to work again and if too many people know the deal I’ll be out of luck!

While waiting for my yurt to be ready I took a quick jaunt into Newport for a bite of dinner and to try to catch part of the Mariners’ game. I just wanted a dive bar where I could get a decent burger and ended up at Szabo’s.

After dinner I made my way back to South Beach campground, moved into my yurt and settled in for an amazing and cozy evening. I read and made notes about the day’s adventures while it stormed outside. I could hear the rain and wind but I was as cozy as a bug in a rug! My only complaint is that during the night when the rain was super heavy, it was really loud in the yurt. The canvas is stretched so tightly it’s like a drum, so the sound of the rain is amplified inside. If it wasn’t for that, this would have been a really perfect experience! Even with that I slept well – the kind of sleep you have when you are perfectly relaxed and have been breathing lots of fresh air!

Oregon – Day 2 Itinerary & Travel
Oregon – Day 3 Itinerary & Travel