STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21474: Outstanding Oregon Outing

April 28, 2006 on 8:42 am | In On The Road, Travelblogue |

After finally getting out of the Salt Lake City area late Friday afternoon, I managed to drive to Boise, ID before I stopped for the night. It’s only about 330 miles, but since I had been awakened before “the chickens”, it was far enough.
On Saturday, I drove from Boise to Troutdale, OR. This is my first venture into the Northwest since late last September. I refuse to drive here in the winter. Not being familiar with the west coast of Oregon, I was leery of continuing any farther. I didn’t want to drive all the way to Toledo only to find out that it wasn’t “truck friendly” and have to retreat 50 or 60 miles to find a place to park.
Along the way, I did a little sightseeing. The first place I stopped was at a View Area overlooking Pendleton, OR at the top of “Cabbage Hill”. Why it is called “Cabbage” I don’t know. Probably for the same reason that “the Grapevine” near Bakersfield, California is called “the Grapevine”, which I still don’t know either. Anyway, I took these pictures from the overlook.


In the lower left picture, you can see how the highway winds down the mountain. The elevation drops 4000 feet in about 10 miles (from 4400 feet to under 500 feet). The body of water shown in the lower right picture is the Columbia River which separates Oregon and Washington.
After you drive through Pendleton (where they make the world-famous Pendleton shirts), I-84 makes a sharp left turn, heading west, and begins to parallel the above mentioned Columbia River. It follows the river for about 180 miles and takes you through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. This is one of the most beautiful spots on Planet Earth. Time constraints prevented me from stopping at every View Area and Rest Area to take pictures. There are just too many “Kodak moments” to make that possible. The next place that I did stop was the Memaloose Island Rest Area.

The Rest Area itself was clean and well maintained, but I would expect no less from Oregon. Everything was so green and fresh. I enjoyed a leisurely stroll.



The natives were skittish, but plentiful and hungry.

After reluctantly leaving I continued to Troutdale. It is the trucker’s “Mecca” in the Portland area, and I arrived at the Flying J early enough to secure a nice parking spot near the grass as well as the buildings.


Spring had sprung here as well. The foliage on the hillside (above left) are actually wild blackberry bushes. The Roadside Diner (above right) is a new concept for some smaller Flying J’s, whose restaurants are usually located in the main building. They gave the menu a new look, but, unfortunately, the fare is still basically the same. The atmosphere also misses the mark. I don’t know about you, but when I enter a diner, I expect to hear Elvis or Roy Orbison blaring from the juke box, not the Euryrhmics or Oingo Boingo coming from a “canned” tape somewhere out of sight. Also, the waitstaff should be appropriately attired. The females should be wearing sneakers and “bobby sox” with Capri’s or a Poodle skirt. The males should be wearing a white shirt and black slacks. They could take lessons from the 5 and Diner, a franchise started in Phoenix.
On Sunday I drove to the customer in Toledo. The route took me over the Coastal mountains and onto US-101 which parallels the Pacific Ocean. Alas, I was unable to take any pictures. On the way to the customer, I was rushed for time because of heavier than expected traffic from ’sunday drivers’ crawling along at a snail’s pace gawking at the coastline. It took over an hour to drive the 30 odd miles to Toledo once I got onto the highway. Once I arrived, things went smoothly at the customer and I was unloaded in less than an hour. Unfortunately, there was little freight and I waited 4 hours before I finally recieved a Pre-Plan which didn’t pick up until the following day in Albany, OR some 90 “truck miles” east. When I use the term “truck miles” I refer to being unable to use the most direct route to a particular destination due to weight or size restrictions. It was a ’short’ run of only about 250 miles to Yakima, WA, but I accepted it due to a lack of anything else. The route to Albany took me over US-101 again, but again no pictures. The area is not ‘truck friendly’ regarding view points. All of the best view areas either restrict truck parking, or are too crowded. The few places where I could park offered no picture worthy scenery. DRAT!! I drove to a nice little truckstop called the Pioneer Villa in Halsey, OR to park for the night. It was about 10 miles past my destination, but Albany offers no truck facilities. After I parked and walked the MMM, I went to the Bar/Restaurant for dinner. I was famished after having only a skimpy breakfast and no lunch. I ordered pork chops. They were excellent with lots of meat and little bone. However the breading was “bullet proof”; hard as a rock and unfit for human consumption. The MMM enjoyed it though.
I arrived at the Shipper at the prescribed time of 0700 on Monday, the 24th. My pre-loaded trailer was ready, so I did the drop/hook and set out for Yakima. As I was crossing the Columbia River into Washington at Biggs Junction I snapped off a picture, then, since I had a 4 hour delivery window from noon to 1600, I took a few minutes to stop at a View Area near Goldendale, WA to take these pictures.



In the picture top left, Mt. Hood is in the background. The sign in the picture top right is misleading because Mt. Ranier was not visible today due to haze. Middle row left is Mt. Hood which is in Oregon. Middle right is Mt. St. Helens. Bottom row is 2 different views of Mt. Adams, lower left including a quaint old house.
I finished the Yakima trip at about 1430. Enroute, I accepted a Pre-Plan from Wallula, WA to Industry, CA. Not bad, a 1000+ miler. I drove the 90 odd miles to Wallula where my preloaded trailer was awaiting my arrival. Including the drop/hook, weighing the load, and doing the the paperwork, I was there about an hour. I then drove to Stanfield, OR about 35 miles away for dinner. I still had a couple of hours left to drive, but after dining on a couple of hot dogs and a bag of chips, I opted not to utilize them. I was safe, secure and ready for a break.
My drive on Tuesday took me through Twin Falls, ID where I transitioned from I-84 to US-93. This took me over the I.B. Perrine Bridge which spans the Snake River. I have long admired the view from this bridge. Realizing this, the State of Idaho finally constructed a small View Area. Today, I used it to take these pictures.


As you can plainly see, the view facing west (top left) is much more impressive.
I like the location of the Golf Course. When I win the Lottery, I’d like to play it. With my skill level, it would cost me about a dozen balls per hole due to all the water. I’m genetically programmed to find water with a golf ball.
I finished my driving day in Ely, NV. I stopped in Wells, NV for a sit-down dinner in the Smoking section at the Flying J along the way. I finally put the Neo-Facist Nanny States of Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington behind me.
Ely finally has a decent truckstop. It’s not very large (parking room for about 25 trucks), but it is nice. There is no restaurant, but it does have a Subway and a Taco Time. Across the street is a Mickey D’s and an Arby’s, so you won’t starve if you stop there.
Before departing early the next morning, I took these pictures.


The picture lower right shows that they knew I would eventually be stop here.
About an hour after I left Ely, I encountered this Equine road block. I think their intention was to “truck-jack” one of the many hay trucks which frequent this route.

After they determined I wasn’t hauling hay, I was allowed to proceed. About 3/4 mile farther along, I encountered a lone rider in hot pursuit. Must have been the Sheriff, or maybe the Gang Leader going to check on his minions. By the time I noticed him it was too late to snap a Blogworthy picture.
I drove to our Terminal in Fontana where I spent the night. My destination, the City of Industry, despite what it’s name implies, doesn’t allow overnight truck parking.
Thursday morning I drove to the Consignee about 25 miles from Fontana. I had to wait 2 hours to be unloaded. I arrived before my appointment time, so this wasn’t unexpected. I was amazed at the light traffic this morning. It took less than 45 minutes to make the drive. I’ve had days when it would take 2 hours for the same drive, which explains my overly prompt arrival. I had to wait another hour or so before I recieved and accepted a load from Southgate, CA to Loveland, CO. I contacted my DM and arranged to T-Call the load at Swift’s drop lot in Henderson, NV. After picking up the load, I drove post haste to Henderson, dropped the load, and drove to the Wild Wild West to begin a much deserved rest.