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This is the Portland Building and the second largest hammered copper statue in the world, second only to the Statue of Liberty. It is known as Portlandia. Note Robert on his bicycle.
We were really impressed with Portland. It is a beautiful city. We got our bikes out and rode all over the city. This is a bike riding city, and very green conscious. There were people everywhere, and on a Saturday and Sunday. We went to a large outdoor market that was all artsy craftsy. There is a China town, we went into Powell's City of Books, the world's largest independent book store, and we didn't even make a dent in the breweries. Portland (Beervana) has more microbreweries and brewpubs per capita than any other city in the US. Portland is also known as the City of Roses, and the City of Bridges. There were seven bridges just in the downtown area we rode in, all across the big Willamette River. There are over 200 parks, a Japanese garden, a rose test garden, and a classical Chinese garden.
While at Champoeg State Park we did a bike and hike to the Willamette River dock. In 1996 there was a flood and the water was up to the little sign on top of the pole on the right. So now all the docks are floating and leave a lot of room to rise. Any houses are built up off the river and have little dolly lifting systems to bring stuff up from the water.
We stayed at Champoeg SP just south of Portland. We took a side trip to the town of McMinnville where the "Spruce Goose" is housed in a museum. This is the plane that Howard Hughes built in WWII of wood to transport stuff. By the time it was done the war was over and it could hardly get off the water. It flew once. It was a pet project he got the government to pay for like most of his other pojects. It was so big I coundn't back out enough to get the whole plane in one shot.
On 6-14 we headed inland to Eugene, Oregon. A cute and hip town. Got the bikes out and biked a very nice paved trail around the Willamette River. Here I am by a huge rose garden.
Next we headed north to Salem, the Capitol of Oregon. Here is their weird looking building.
Coquille River lighthouse
Bandon was a very cute little port town. We strolled around, ate a great smoked salmon sandwich at this place. It was on ciabatta bread with cranberry sauce and cream cheese. Yum. Bandon is known as the cranberry capital of Oregon. Saw a bunch of cranberry bogs but they don't ripen til about September. Bought a big cranberry muffin for next day, and some fudge.
There are light houses all along the coast and we have stopped at most of them. This is the Cape Blanco lighthouse just north of Port Orford.
Next little port town was Port Orford. It was a little different in that it is the only open-water port on the Oregon coast and one of six "dolly" ports in the world where recreational and commercial fishing boats are hoisted into and out of the water. We sat and watched that for a while. Also ate some good seafood. Port Orford is the northern gateway to America's wild river coast, with the Sixes river and the Elk river, then all the way down into California to the Klamath river.
California state parks are expensive (over $20) and with no electric or water hook-ups. Gas is also more expensive. So, we headed north on Hwy 101 through the Redwood National Forest winding along the cliffs hanging over the ocean, into Oregon. Top picture is Brookings, a cute little port town. Bottom pic is Harris State Park beach. Oregon state parks are cheaper and have electric and water. All along the coast the temp has been 48 to 50 night and high 50 to mid 60 day, very humid, breezy, clouds roll in and out, and fog rolls in usually in the afternoon. I think it stays this way all year. In Brookings we went to a small brandy distillery. There are a ton of wild blackberries, loganberries, and marionberries growing all over this area.
This is what the scenery looked like as we head north along the coast of California. This is the Emerald coast, and is also known as the Emerald triangle, it runs all the way down past Ft. Bragg. Famous as the number one marijuana growing spot in the U.S., also home to Big Foot, Paul Bunyon and Babe. Big trees, lush growth, lots of cows by the ocean, hippie and vintage shops, artist, organic and co-op groceries.
On our trip northward, we stopped at the Loleta cheese factory, then the cute town of Eureka. Toured the bay, the North Coast Brewery, a natural food store, and of course we check out all the different grocery stores. We left there and visited a little city just around the bay from Eureka. Arcata is a college town. This is a picture of the square. We went to the organic food co-op and then the Humbolt brewery. There were a lot of scruffy, long haired, old hippie looking types in town.
Driving north again, we stopped in Ferndale, a very cute Victorian village, and stayed at the Humbolt County fairground. We drove to the Lost Coast Headlands and wanted to hike down this steep hillside to the beach but it was a little late to start that (bottom pic) so we just went to the Centerville beach county park and watched the waves crash on shore and gathered some cool rocks. The sand looks like salt and pepper.
June 1 we headed up Hwy 1, then jumped over to 101, which is off the coast, and drove through a 30 mile stretch known as Avenue of the Giants. It was a beautiful drive. Redwood trees here can be 2000 years old, 380 ft tall, and over 50 ft circumference.
After several nights at Ft Bragg we went back south a few miles to Van Damme State Park for a night. We drove through Little River and Mendocino, some very cute towns, that started as lumber towns. Mendocino is on Nat'l Register of Historic Places. We stopped to see several lighthouses. There are sea caves all over the coastline here that you can kayak to but it's been kind of cool and windy. We sat on the beach and watched the gulls.
We also went to the Pygmy Forest which is a forest of trees that are less than 10 feet tall and less than an inch thick, although they can be a hundred years old. All due to soil conditions, and so close to the giant redwoods and Douglas firs.
This is the Portland Building and the second largest hammered copper statue in the world, second only to the Statue of Liberty. It is known as Portlandia. Note Robert on his bicycle.
While at Champoeg State Park we did a bike and hike to the Willamette River dock. In 1996 there was a flood and the water was up to the little sign on top of the pole on the right. So now all the docks are floating and leave a lot of room to rise. Any houses are built up off the river and have little dolly lifting systems to bring stuff up from the water.
