Destinations

Discovering the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge

This trip has been about touring some of the byways in northeastern Oregon. There was one more byway in Oregon I wanted to tour, but we couldn’t make it work with our schedule. Instead I suggested we drive along the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge to see what it had to offer. Most people drive the Oregon side because of the ease of the I-84 freeway. Checking out the other side of the river seemed a unique opportunity.…

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Driving From Wallowa Lake to Pendleton, Oregon

On Thursday of our journey through three byways in Oregon, we started the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway. However, it is a long byway so we did not finish it. We drove through the Hells Canyon area and ended up just past Joseph in the town of Enterprise. Today, Friday, we would finish the byway and begin to make our journey back home. In looking over the guide for Hells Canyon Scenic Byway, I realized we had missed an important stop,…

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Cruising Oregon’s Hells Canyon Scenic Byway

During our trip to Northeastern Oregon, we have followed two different scenic byways. On Thursday we would begin the third and final byway, the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway. This route starts in Baker City and goes for over 200 miles so we will not finish it in a day. While there is an emphasis on the Hells Canyon, this byway offers more than just that particular location. The first place we stopped goes back to the storied history of Oregon.…

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Up High in Oregon’s Elkhorn Mountains

On Tuesday we explored the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway in northern Oregon. However, we did not finish the route. The byway continues all the way to Baker City. It’s actually a good thing we hadn’t planned to finish it as it would have been really late if we had driven to Baker City. John Day was a good place to stop. Today we finished the Journey Through Time Byway and then drove the Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway. It is…

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Driving Oregon’s Journey Through Time Scenic Byway

I grew up in Southern Oregon. Despite being an Oregonian there are a number of regions in Oregon that I have not explored. The northeast corner of the state is one of those areas. This region has a number of unique features. Since Silvette had a week of vacation to use up, we decided to take the opportunity to check this area out. My research indicated a number of scenic byways crossed the area so we used those as a…

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Visual Preview of Next Week’s Post

I am back in the United States, but I didn’t find the time to finish the blog post I intended for this week. Instead I am posting a photo of what’s to come next week. This is a location I think is a hidden jewel in our region so be sure to come back next week to read all about it. Later in the year I will share where I have been for the last two weeks. See you next…

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Cruising White Pass in Washington down to Oregon

There are many ways to get to Oregon from Washington state. From Seattle, the obvious way is to head south on I-5. However, for this trip we were headed to Northeastern Oregon, and I decided we should go the scenic route over White Pass. Crossing the Cascade Mountain range, which runs north and south through Washington, is necessary if one wants to travel east. The main Washington route is I-90 which takes one all the way to Boston if one…

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Tillamook County Beaches on the Three Capes Byway

When we drove through Tillamook on previous trips, I never saw any beaches. The town is actually some distance from the ocean. I always wondered if there were any beaches in the area worth visiting. Monday was the day we were going to figure this out. We planned to drive the designated Three Capes Byway and discover what beaches existed along the way. Highway 101 goes along much of the Oregon coastline with beautiful ocean views. However, as it nears…

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Neskowin and Nestucca, Great Sites South of Tillamook, Oregon

We don’t usually go anywhere over Memorial Day weekend as we don’t want to fight with the traffic and crowds. However, this Memorial Day weekend would be a bit different. The last of my uncles died recently, and his family was having a memorial service for him on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The service was in Salem, Oregon. We decided to go to the service and then drive over to the coast to explore the Tillamook area. To…

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An Unexpected Stay in Glenwood Springs, Colorado

As our journey through Southern Colorado was coming to an end, it was time to decide how we were going to get to the airport in Denver. That may not sound like such a big deal, but it turned out to be more difficult than one would expect. My initial plan was to return to Denver via a road that was not quite as far south as we had come, but would still be in the southern part of the…

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