Oregon Trail

What does Oregon look like?  Most people think of forest-covered mountains, or maybe even a majestic rocky coastline. That's only half the story. East of the Cascades, this is Oregon:

Coming off of the Blue Mountains, into Pendleton

Ontario to Forest Grove Oregon is "just" 402 miles, and Interstate 84 follows the Oregon Trail path almost the entire way.  Before you get the the arid plains pictured above, you need to cross the Blue Mountains.  Make sure to stop and drink in the view at Deadman Pass.  By the way, when the Pioneers came through here, this was just known as Crawford Hill.  It took speed, modernity, and stupidity to cause the kind of tragedies that gave this area it's new name.

The view from Deadman Pass, formerly Crawford Hill.

And then, suddenly, you're at the Columbia river.  Wide and flat, it seems to just wander along the Oregon/Washington border forever.  There are a few cool sights along the way:

Groovy railroad bridge that raises up to allow shipping traffic.

A fish truck.  Really.

We were gaining on our target.  Closer, closer....  The river became faster, and the landscape had changed what we usually think of: green and mountainous.  Suddenly we were in Hood River, and Mount Hood leaped up to great us!

So, in Hood River there's this lovely little bridge right across to Washington state.  We'd come this far, why not add another state to our roll call of greatness?

One problem, that lovely little bridge is indeed little--very narrow.  And it's not concrete or asphalt--it's steel grating.  How people navigate this during a typically cold, wet winter, makes one wonder.

Joe did an excellent job navigating the bridge BOTH directions, and we were back on the road to Forest Grove...