Portland! day three, Welcome to Oregon

On our third day out, the rain let up by early morning in Eureka. We had a long way to go and a reservation at the Blue Bird Guesthouse in Portland that night. With some hot coffee we jumped on the road north. On the way to Crescent City was another stretch of coast redwoods and a drippy green canopy of moss.
Add to that some fairy tale weathered coast peeking out of fog and clouds and herds of Elk on the road and you know you're really in the Pacific Northwest (even if it is just the southern tail of it.) The Roosevelt Elk herds are on the road enough to need their own am radio station to inform drivers of their habits. We tuned in and listened to the looping crackly broadcast warning the foolish away from trying to feed the friendly looking beasties. We took the advice and stopped for a photo opportunity some distance down the road from the herd. Then, out of the forest near Klamath rose another two mythical denizens of the Pacific Northwest, Paul Bunyan, and Babe (Sasquatch greeted us in the previous installment). Our early morning start from Eureka brought us to The Trees of Mystery and the giant welcoming committee too early to hear Paul speak. According to Roadside America when the place is swinging and the parking lot is full of visitors Paul perks up and makes helpful suggestions to people passing by like, "Say, you look like you could use a visit to our gift shop and cafe. We have hot and cold beverages to refresh the weary traveler." Paul was silent for us and the few people around were staff working on some plumbing maintenance in the restrooms. Oh well. After the obligatory jump with our giant new acquaintances, the hot engine provided a thermos full of tea to keep us perked up through the grey day and the on-again off-again rain that followed us to Portland.Planning ahead, I prepared our lunch of potatoes, onions, and mushrooms with salt, pepper, and olive oil in a big foil lump. This would steam for the next two hours of our drive and be ready for the noon snack somewhere up the road.

After Crescent City we turned inland on highway 199 toward Grants Pass. There we'd join interstate 5 all the way to Portland. Sorry to say we really don't have any photos of this stretch. The rain and some photo fatigue kept mrs. a-go-go off the shutter. The Welcome to Oregon sign along highway 199 was a welcome sight. A new state at last. Climbing the grades up into the mountains we saw a dramatic change in flora. Driving inland and higher in altitude we left the coast rain forest and entered a more sparse and dry landscape for a while. From Grants Pass north bound on interstate 5 The thick conifer forest returned but here we could see the patchwork of clear cuts. In places the clear cuts left thin bands of standing trees in an attempt to veil the scarred patches from the public driving on the 5.

After Eugene the agricultural valley of the Willamette River opened the way to Portland where we arrived in light rain by sundown. A few consultations with the map and we made our way to the Blue Bird Guesthouse. Check in consisted of punching in a code at the front door and finding the keys to our room in the door upstairs. Each room is named after an author. Ours was the Sherman Alexie. The rates are reasonable and we found the guesthouse very comfortable, but you will likely be sharing a bathroom with other guests if you decide to visit. It was bed time at last, after finding a bite to eat in the neighborhood. The next day we would explore downtown and meet up with Le Silly.