Category: Montana/PNW trip

Montana/PNW trip, Oregon, Portland

Bend, Sisters, Portland, home.

Laurie


^^^The Three Sisters

After the Painted Hills, we drove through an area where a lot of the forest had been burned by the wildfires last year. It was beautiful in its own way and I wish that I had stopped to take photos, but at this point I was ready to experience the area without a camera and I was driving to give Sandy a break.

We decided to stay in a cheap motel in Bend, the Rainbow Motel. It was a good value and clean, but there was a slight funky smell that I didn’t like but was able to get past. At least it didn’t set my allergies off. We went downtown and walked around a bit before eating at the Pines Tavern, beside a couple of large pines that grew through the roof of the restaurant. We were definitely winding down.

The next day we needed to return the car by 6:30 p.m. We stopped in Sisters and spent a few hours wandering around and having lunch, visiting a local weaver’s shop and buying some more clothes. I will need to make some clothing donations to Goodwill after this trip, but to be honest, most of my clothes came from thrift shops to begin with so the worn out ones will show up in some cloth woven squares.

We drove on to Portland, dropped our luggage off at the Crystal Hotel, and Sandy got to drive in rush hour Portland traffic. We turned in the car at 6:27 p.m. and then took the train back downtown and spent a couple of hours at Powell’s Books. We didn’t eat out – we were tired and I had a lot of really good snacks with us that we didn’t have room to take home in our luggage.

The Crystal Hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places and each of its rooms is decorated with the theme of a song by an artist that has played at the Crystal Ballroom. Our room was “Long Haired Child” by Devendra Banhart. I’ll probably stay there every time I go to Portland because I like being so close to Powell’s and the TriMet light rail system.

The next day we were beginning to feel the burn to our checking accounts and our hips so we walked around downtown then took the train to Washington Park, then a bus to the Rose Garden, which had free admission. We were there during the Rose Festival and even though I am not wild about formal gardens I have to say that the variety of roses were stunning, as well as the view of downtown Portland.


^^^I apologize but I had to laugh at this sign in Chinatown.



Two more visits to Powell’s Books (God, how I love that place) snagged me several books from my list, mostly on collage and fiber art. We ate pasta and seafood (but no crawfish) at Jake’s Famous Crawfish that night. We were clearly ready to go home, which means that we traveled for exactly the right amount of time.


Once again, we were assigned pre-check at the airport. Sandy took some nice photos of the mountains from the plane. Everything went great until we cranked up the car in Raleigh and the check engine light came on and the engine was running a bit rough. It was Saturday night on Memorial Day weekend so we pushed on home although it made Sandy quite unhappy. Later we replaced a coil and a spark plug. The cats were happy to see us but not stressed out at all. Thank you, Susanne!

It was a wonderful trip, and I came back with lots of ideas of where I’d like to visit the next time we go to Montana and Oregon.

John Day Fossil Beds, Montana/PNW trip, National Parks and Monuments, Oregon, Painted Hills

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument: The Painted Hills

Laurie

We reached the Painted Hills section of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument around mid-afternoon.

The Painted Hills are included in this travel marketing campaign of the seven wonders of Oregon, and you understand why when you get there. It is up there with the most beautiful and unusual terrain I have ever seen. I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves.

Wildflowers:


Textures and colors up close on the Painted Cove Nature Trail:

From the hill above it:

The Red Hill Trail:

Montana/PNW trip, Oregon

Central Oregon, May 25, 2016

Laurie
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I’m so glad that we chose to go east of the Cascades for a couple of days. My heart wanted to do the Oregon Coast, but Sandy saw the word “Fossil” and that was it for him, and since I had planned most of the vacation I had no problem letting him take over the direction of our trip. It is funny because the only fossils we saw were in display cases, but the day was amazing anyway!

Central Oregon is full of wheat fields, wind farms, rolling hills, mountains, cliffs, volcanic geology, dry plains, conifer forests, long highways, small towns and very little traffic and population. I could easily see myself settling on this side of the Cascades, maybe closer to the Columbia River because I don’t want us to be TOO isolated, but the artistic inspiration for me here would be endless.

We drove southeastward on Highway 206 through Cottonwood Canyon State Park to Condon, where we stopped for gas, water, and a little shopping where Sandy bought me MORE clothes. That man loves to dress me up. Then we took Highway 19 south.

In Fossil, we needed to make the choice of which John Day Fossil Beds National Monument location we would visit. We only had time to do one. After talking to the employees in a coffee shop, we continued on Hwy 19 to Service Creek, turned southwest on Hwy 206, and on to the Painted Hills off Hwy 26.

In some places there were windmills as far as the eye could see.

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At one vista pullover, you could see the mountains in the distance while standing on a circle that identified them.

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Perhaps my favorite photo of the whole trip:

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Montana/PNW trip, Oregon, Pacific beaches

Oregon, May 23-24, 2016

Laurie

We saw our friends off on Sunday and Monday and Pam was kind enough to let us stay another night at her cabin while we figured out what we wanted to do next. Our only plan was to return to Portland on Thursday night, when our car rental was over. I wanted at least one more day on the coast. We cleaned and did laundry at the Livermore House and headed south to Manzanita to have lunch at the Big Wave Cafe on Hwy 101. I needed some fried halibut before I left the coast. We drove a bit further south and poked around a few shops in the little town of Nehalem, then went back to Pam’s cabin, said goodbye to her, and caught the sunset over the ocean one last time. I finished weaving my sample, although later I went back and unwove part of it and altered it.


On Tuesday, the weather forecast was excellent so we decided to drive up the Columbia Gorge, spend the night on the east side of the Cascades, then drive several hours farther southeast to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We stopped on Alberta St. in Portland on the way to have a piece of pie and explore a few stores there. I took a photo of this house because I think that the colors might be nice for our Craftsmen house when we paint the exterior.

Then we stopped at Multnomah Falls. I did walk on that bridge, but I got off quickly. I hope that I’ll be able to go back and hike to some of the other falls along here one day.

We turned south at the Dalles, and ironically, just after the sign stating that we had left the national scenic area, there was this view of Mount Hood. And I began to fall in love with central Oregon. Maybe it’s because that I grew up in the swamps that I love hilly dry country with lots of sky.

When we got to the tiny town of Dufur, we reached our destination for the night. We were the only guests on a Tuesday night at the Balch Hotel, a lovingly restored hotel built in 1907. We had cheeseburgers at the saloon across the road, then settled in to the former “Ladies Sitting Room,” our bedroom with a view of Mount Hood. The next morning, we had a wonderful breakfast in the hotel which was included. This may have been the best deal on a lovely hotel I’ve ever gotten. The rooms and the grounds were gorgeous.


My view at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday was this. I picked up my phone and snapped it from our bed, then went back to sleep.

art retreats, Montana/PNW trip, Oregon, Pacific beaches

On the beach at Oswald West State Park

Laurie

Sandy and I rented the Livermore house about six miles south, and I was determined to get down to the beach there this time. The last time I stayed there my knee was aching and I listened to my body. This time my hip was just going to have to deal with it. Winter storms had washed away the first public access point I found so I drove down to the next one, where I found gratitude for the new stairs.

^^^Tempting, but nope.





The house is nestled in a temperate rainforest on a sea cliff. I wished that I could have one rainy day all day to spend there. What a restful place.

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art retreats, Cannon Beach, Montana/PNW trip, Oregon, Pacific beaches

Pam Patrie’s Creative Retreat, May 2016

Laurie

Later that afternoon, we arrived at Pam’s cabin where Jeanne and Jenny and Glen had already arrived. It was so great to see them and meet Glen. He and Sandy spent most of Saturday together exploring Lewis and Clark National Park, Fort Stevens and Cannon Beach while the women played with dyes and silk yarns. I painted a second weft to try again at home.

As usual, Pam pampered us with incredible meals. On the first night this lemon pasta dish blew me away. That reminds me, I need to put lemons on my grocery list.

I didn’t take a lot of photos here, but that is a sign of a good retreat for me. I was too caught up in the present moment to pick up the camera, and the hours whizzed by. For more photos of Pam’s retreats from 2014 and 2015, please see these links:

A winding path to the sea

So fresh was the air, like a breath taken from the stars

What beholds a given day, an hour, a moment

Tapestry retreat with Susan Maffei and Archie Brennan at Pam’s Cabin Part I, Part II, and Part III.

The June 2015 Trip to Oregon – Pam’s Place

Astoria, critters, Montana/PNW trip, Oregon, Pacific beaches

Astoria, Oregon, May 19-20, 2016

Laurie


Sandy and I arrived at the Commodore Hotel in downtown Astoria in the early evening. The Commodore is a restored hotel with tiny rooms and (in our case) bathrooms on the hallway, but big on style and absolutely clean as a whistle. The staff was great. We were offered a glass of local beer before we headed to our room on the second floor, where we had the street view.

Astoria is a big tourist place but it is also one of the oldest towns on the west coast. The Lewis and Clark expedition reached the Pacific Ocean here at the mouth of the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark National Park as well as several historic sites and state parks surround it. There are lots of interesting shops and artists and several breweries here. Our first stop was at Fort George Brewery. I ordered the Plaid Scotch Ale and the Quick Wit. Not my favorites. But we ate dinner at the bar and I pronounced both the Wallapa Bay oysters and the “Buddy Rich” beet and arugula salad the best I ever ate.

The next morning we walked along the harbor. There were a lot of murals. We shopped in a good thrift store and Sandy bought me a beautiful batik tunic from La Luna Loca. We ate lunch on the waterfront at Bridgewater Bistro, where I had the salmon.


Before we left Astoria, we had to go see the sea lions. I was surprised at how big and loud they were. We saw some of the boats that were the subjects of the paintings in the restaurant.

Montana/PNW trip, Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, National Parks and Monuments, Washington, Washington state, Wildflowers

Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Laurie

On Thursday, May 19, we decided to drive in the rain to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. When we stopped at the state-run visitor’s center near the edge of the park, they showed us the view we could expect at the observatory, which was solid white. We decided to go anyway, and I’m glad that we did. The ride was beautiful and by the time we got to the top it was snowing.

In the observatory center, we talked to a ranger, looked at exhibits telling the stories of people who did and didn’t survive the blast, and watched a film about how the biodiversity in the blast plain increased because of the introduction of sunlight. Some burrowing creatures and those on the sides of the mountains away from the blast survived. Many new species moved in.


When the film screen came up after the first film, it showed a wall of white cloud behind the large windows. We decided to watch the second film, which was focused on geology. This time, when the screen lifted, the clouds had cleared up just enough for us to see the plain in front of the blast, not the mountain. Everyone hustled outside and we took a few photos before it faded back into white.

On the way back we stopped at Patty’s Place to have some delicious cobbler. When a man at the table next to us asked for Texas Pete for his elk burger, Sandy asked them where they were from. Lexington, NC, right down the road from Greensboro. Patty’s Place had a big wrap-around porch and I’ve never seen so many hummingbirds in one place in my life. I’m sorry that I didn’t have an elk burger. Sounded good.

Then we headed to Astoria, Oregon, driving along the Columbia River on the west side of I-5. I could see living in that area if it wasn’t for earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides and volcanoes. Those make me a bit nervous.

Klondike Gold Rush National Park, Montana/PNW trip, National Parks and Monuments, Seattle, Washington, Washington state

Whitefish to Portland

Laurie

Somewhere on the way to Seattle, taken from the train:

We had a few hours to kill in downtown Seattle so we visited the Klondike Gold Rush National Park, a museum located in an old hotel, and I got another stamp for my national park passport book. Woo hoo! We visited the other end of this park in Skagway, Alaska back in 2009 when we took a train ride along the White Pass trail of 1898.

Photos from Pioneer Square, downtown Seattle:

^^^Yummy lunch at Pho Fuschia in Seattle.

By the time we arrived in Portland, we had had enough of the train. We took the TriMet light rail to the airport, the shuttle to the rental car agency, drove to a musty Four Points hotel in NE Portland (to which I’ll never return), ate some forgettable Chinese food, and crashed.

Glacier National Park, Montana, Montana/PNW trip, National Parks and Monuments, Wildflowers

Glacier National Park, May 17, 2016, Part II

Laurie


Next we headed north to the east side of Going-to-the-Sun Road at St. Mary’s Lake. I wanted to do a bit more hiking but we had no water left in our bottles and every store in the little town there was closed. We drove up as far as we could to the point where you could see Jackson Glacier. It looked like a snowfield in the distance, which was a bit disappointing after some of the dramatic glaciers we saw in Alaska. I took photos of wildflowers everywhere that I could.

Near the bottom of the road a grizzly bear ran in front of the car ahead of us out of a meadow into a little stand of trees. I only got a glimpse because I was fumbling with my camera. Lesson learned – I mostly missed seeing the bear AND I didn’t get the shot. But still! A grizzly bear!



^^^There it is. “Jackson Glacier is approximately the seventh largest of the remaining 25 glaciers in Glacier National Park…In 1850, there were an estimated 150 glaciers in the park. Glaciologists have stated that by the year 2030, many if not all of the glaciers in the park may disappear completely.”

^^^This was a lovely little stream with several waterfalls and a good trail. Those are colorful rocks, not leaves.

^^^The sedimentary layers in the Lewis Overthrust were fascinating.


^^^We returned the car, hung out at the historic depot, and got on the train with no problem. Taking clear photos from the train was not easy, so I don’t have many. I smuggled a few Montana beers with us which I ended up lugging around for most of the trip! We had dinner on the train and I got off for a few minutes at Whitefish, but after that we slept through the rest of Montana, Idaho, and the edge of eastern Washington.