Road Trip - Day 14 - Bend to Eugene
10:00 a.m. 45 degrees. Raining
For some reason, I just could not sleep last night and for five hours I lay awake. But no hurry to get on the road today so I was able to sleep in. Our journey today is only 128 miles.
It is not a very nice day. When we look out the window it was overcast. I went across to the front desk to get a newspaper and some of the complimentary breakfast and it was drizzling. As Tom was loading the suitcases into the car, it was raining.
We fueled up with gas. In Oregon you do not pump your own gas. We asked why at the gas station and were told that it a) it provides employment and b) a kid pumping his own gas blew himself up and since then the law was changed. I’m sure there must be more to the decision.
We are soon outside Bend and traveling north on Highway 20 towards Sisters. The town is named after the three mountain peaks nearby – North Sister, Middle Sister and South Sister or affectionately called Faith, Hope and Charity. The mountain we saw yesterday with a little bit of snow on it was South Sister and it is now covered with snow. The scenery is green pastures and farmland. Very pleasant after our horrendous trip yesterday.
Sisters was a cute little town but we did not stop. At least it has stopped raining now.
The area round Suttle Lake was thick pine forest but with deciduous trees amongst them which were showing their Fall colors. Parts of the forest though have been devastated by fire. At the top of the Santiam Pass, elevation 4,817, there was snow on the ground. The scene looked like a Christmas card with the all the pine trees covered in snow. Even the burnt parts looked better.
We pass a sign for the Pacific Crest Trail and Tom told me this is a trail which runs from the Cascade Range in Washington through Oregon and down through the Sierras. That must be some trek.
As we descend, it becomes foggy and the roads are wet. There is lots of spray from the cars in front and from traffic coming the other way. The temperature has dropped to 36 degrees.
We turn away from Highway 20 and head south on Highway 126. Just a slight dusting of snow now on the ground and the road is drier.
Mount Washington, elevation 7,794 ft, is to our left. It must be an extinct volcano because we pass through a lava field. The road is now a corridor through tall pine trees. This is the Oregon Tom knows.
The snow peters out. We see a sign saying Sahalie Falls and pull in. A short walk takes us to a magnificent view of a waterfall. We took lots of photographs.
As we got back on the road, it started raining again. We only just made it make to the car in time. The the temperature has now risen to 40 degrees so we should be grateful it is not falling as snow.
The rain stopped and the nearer to got to Eugene the more blue sky there was. The sun even peeped through now and again and the temperature is rising. The McKenzie River flows alongside us and just north of Eugene it empties into the Willamette River. Why is it that over here ‘river’ comes after the name like Willamette River but in the UK it goes before as in River Thames? That is one conundrum that has been puzzling Tom and I for some time now.
There are lots of boat launches so obviously that must be the main recreation around here. As the river moves away from the road, farmland reappears. At Walterville, residential houses start and then, as we approach Springfield, the area becomes more industrial. The blue sky and sun disappear, the sky is overcast and the rain starts again – or should that be ‘Oregon sunshine’?
We cross I5 and enter Eugene at 1:20. Annie does not finish work until 3:00 so we have a couple of hours to kill. We find the River Valley Shopping Center and go look at the shops. In the food court we bought lunch.
At 3:00, we ring Annie and she is already home so, after she has given directions to her new house, we set off. She and Mitch live in a new home on the western side of Eugene.
This is the first time was have visited them in their new home. In fact this is the first time we have seen them in nearly two years. Mitch is also there but only until 5:00, then he went off to a football game. He is a coach for the Churchill Lancers. Before Mitch left for the game though, they announced that we will be grandparents in early May. Tom is going to be a Granddad for the first time. Great news.
We take Annie out to dinner to an Italian restaurant near the university. It is Friday night so it is quite crowded but we have no trouble getting a table. The meal was great and there was lots of it.
October 10 2007 07:08 pm | Further Afield
