July 4th

Portland/Fairview RV Park; Portland, OR:  Just laid low today.  Headed out to run some errands and the park was cooking up burgers and hot dogs.  So I stopped and had a hot dog.  Ran our errands and stopped at a fruit stand and bought some marion berries, raspberries, and cherries.  Stopped and looked at a beautiful fifth wheel.  Way too fancy for us, but it was so tempting.  Back to our park and sat outside reading for a while. Upper 70s today.  I'm still thinking about that fifth wheel.  Hmmm.

Happy Birthday America!

Chinese Gardens

Portland/Fairview RV Park; Portland, OR:  Back on the rapid rail to downtown.  It’s such a great way to go downtown—clean, fast, and cheap.  Got off at Old Town/Chinatown and walked around until we found Voodoo Donuts.  We’d heard they were really good.  There were people lined up in front waiting to get in.  After about 20 minutes of waiting in line we got our donuts and sat outside to eat them.  They were pretty good.  Then we headed to Chinatown and the Chinese Gardens.  This beautiful little oasis takes up about a city block in Chinatown.  After the gardens we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant in the area.  Stuffed, we walked back to catch our train.  Back to our park by 3:30 and sat outside reading for a while.  Mid-80s today.

Voodoo Donuts

China Gate--Chinatown

Lan Su Garden

Lan Su is considered the most authentic Chinese garden outside of China.  It is beautiful!

Most of the materials used to build the garden, including more than 500 tons of rock, came from China.

Sixty-five artisans from Suzhou lived in Portland for 10 months while they assembled and completed the structures that were crafted in China.

Beautiful lily.

The walkways are a beautiful design of different inlaid stones.  If you walk barefoot on them, they're supposed to make your feet feel good.  It is beautiful.

Cute little portal in one of the walls.

Tea House

Interesting little window.

Portland

Portland/Fairview RV Park, Portland, OR:  Beautiful morning!  We drove over to the rapid rail station (only 5 miles from our park), parked the truck and bought two one-day tickets on the blue line.  Only $4 for both of us.  It took about 40 minutes to get downtown.  We got off at Old Town and walked down to Pioneer Square.  Walked around and finally found a great place for lunch.  We both had beef brisket which was really good.  Then decided to get on a hop on/hop off trolley tour which took about an hour.  Got back on the east-bound train and were back at our parking spot by 4:00.  Back to our park and sat outside reading for a while.  We’re going to go back on the train to the China Gardens in Chinatown.  Upper 80s today.  Nice!

Pioneer Square--downtown Portland.

Courthouse at Pioneer Square.

Mikey in Pioneer Square.

Downtown Portland.

Did a lot of walking.  Lucky for me, I had my "go walk" shoes on.

Downtown Portland from Washington Park.

Warehouse area in Old Town Portland.

Convention Center

Waterfront Park

Downtown Portland

Historic home in the Washington Park area.
Picture by Mike

Portland

KOA, Lincoln City, OR, to Portland/Fairview RV Park, Portland, OR:  Didn’t leave until 11:00 this morning.  I tossed and turned all night, so Mike did all the driving today.  Back on Rt. 18 through McMinville again and the cute little towns of Dundee, Newburg, and Sherwood.  Big winery area—especially Dundee.  Wanted to go back there, but by the time we got through all the Portland mid-day traffic, I nixed that idea.  Caught our first view of Mt. Hood off in the haze.  Pretty impressive.  We’re in a very nice RV park just east of Portland.  90 when we pulled in here.  Feels nice to be able to sit in the shade and still be warm.  Got set up and sat outside reading for a while.  We’re here for two weeks.

All through Oregon, and especially the coastal road, you see these self-contained bicyclists.  Loaded down with gear, they struggle up long hills.  Doesn't look like fun to me.  Plus, in some places there isn't a shoulder to speak of.  

This is a water park at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.  The water slides and chutes come out of the other side of this 747.  

Otter Rock

KOA, Lincoln City, OR:  Another fantastic, sunny day today.  We got the laundry done early this morning and then headed south along the coast to Otter Rock.  When we drove through the little coastal town of Depoe Bay we spotted whales blowing really close to shore.  So we stopped and watched them for a while.  Continued on and pulled off at a historic bridge and took some pictures.  Just before the onset of WWI, it was determined that the Oregon coast was vulnerable because there was no coastal road.  So, the legislature proposed a military highway be constructed along the coast.  Construction began in 1919.  The bridges weren’t completed until 1937. This road became US Highway 101. Continued on to Otter Rock.  Not much here.  Mike had a meeting here back in the 80s.  Back to Depoe Bay and had lunch.  Then back to Lincoln City and fueled up and picked up some groceries.  Back to our park and sat outside reading for a while.  A beautiful day.  71 today, but it felt a lot hotter in the sun.  Tomorrow we leave for Columbia River Gorge.

One of the historic bridges.

This beautiful loop was on the original road bed.

This windswept area Captain Cook dubbed "Cape Foulweather".  It's not unusual to have winds up to 100 mph in this area.

I love this little stone house way up on the bluff.  You can see the effects of the wind on the trees.

The marine layer hanging over Otter Rock.

Otter rock.  We saw some whales here also.

North Coast

KOA, Lincoln City, OR:  Another beautiful day today.  We headed north up the coast since when we leave on Monday we’ll be heading inland to Portland.  So we drove north on the 101 and then took the Three Capes Scenic Byway which hugged the coast.  Not a great road but fantastic views.  Drove all the way up to Cape Meares and checked out the Cape Meares Lighthouse.  Had lunch in the little coastal town of Oceanside at Roseanne’s right on the beach with a view of the 3 arch rocks.  And OMG the food was fantastic!  I had Pacific snapper and Mike had their clam chowder and a sandwich. He said their chowder was by far the best he’s had since we’ve been out here.  Left there pleasantly stuffed and headed back to the 101. Passed this cute house which was pretty close to the road and it had chain-link fence all around topped with razor wire!   Guess they don’t want anyone bothering them!  Went through the cute little town of Tillamook which sits in a pretty valley with mountains all around. We saw a bright yellow Lotus parked on the street there. Thought we were back in LA. The temperature was 82 here in the valley.  A veritable heat wave.  Back to Lincoln City and our park to rest, relax, and digest. 69 here in Lincoln City.

Little pond meets the Pacific.

Another amazing beach.

Sand dunes creeping up into the pine forest.

The three arch rocks.

Cape Meares

Cape Meares Lighthouse
We had to walk way down to this lighthouse. It's pretty short and squat.  Then we had to slog back up a long hill.

KOA, Lincoln City, OR:  This morning dawned sunny and pretty warm—for here anyway.  We got ourselves ready and headed back south to Yachats (Ya-hots) so we could stop and see some things we couldn’t while pulling the fifth wheel.  Yachats is a cute little artsy coastal town.  We checked out the beach and stopped at an amazing gallery.  Continued north through the little coastal towns of Depoe Bay, Waldport and Seal Rock.  Stopped at Newport and parked in the historic bay area and had lunch at a little place right on the water.  Checked out a couple of lighthouses and headed back to Lincoln City.  Relaxed the rest of the evening.  Mid-70s today. 

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Rugged Oregon Coast

Yaquina Head

Wide Oregon beaches.

No jackets!

Fishing boat coming in to Newport harbor.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.

Bridge over Newport harbor.