It was brutally cold outside when I awoke in Sisters Oregon. I went to the Sisters Coffee Company and saw that they had their big beautiful fireplace going strong. The place looked and felt like an old lodge. I decided against getting one to go and drank my coffee by the fire. It was so damn cozy inside I could have stayed all day. Eventually though, it was time to go. Next stop: Eugene.
The drive to Eugene was the best part of going there. I took US 20 north, out of Sisters. I had originally planed to take the 242 (aka the McKenzie Hwy) west between Mt Washington and North Sister Mountain. This was back when the roadtrip was supposed to happen in September. Now though, the road had been closed for winter. So I went north of Mt Washington before 20 headed east. It was rather beautiful. Easy driving too. At Oregon 126 I went south. I stopped and took a walk into the woods and found a lovely waterfall. The drive from here into Eugene was real pretty. I passed by small town after small town. Christmas tree farms and snow gave it all a very festive feel.
I didn't really care for Eugene truth be told. It was pretty ugly looks wise. The downtown was rather dull looking and characterless. All the cracked out looking homeless youth didn't help. There was just a pretty bland vibe in the air. It got me thinking about what that guy Steve (I met at the D&D) said about towns out here. He said he was in Montreal once and it made him realize how new everything out in Oregon was. Especially places like Bend and Eugene. He told me Bend was only about 100 years old. Built by the logging companies. Eugene felt even newer and rather sloppily thrown together. Like a strip mall with sidewalks.
I went to Luckey's Club in Eugene and had a beer. I was ready to get out of town so used the wifi to make my next plan. I was deciding on what part of the coast to go towards when two guys walked in and asked the bartender if they sold food. He replied "Yeah, but you don't want it". I decided to keep going along Oregon 126, straight west, to Florence.
It was a windy and rather long drive to the coast. And once I arrived I wished I had gone north on the interstate for a while before heading to the coast. The towns were all rather touristy and compact. I dunno, I was sort of expecting quiet rugged shoreline. What I got was traffic and people. I guess it was the Thanksgiving long weekend. It wasn't bad or anything. Just slow, busy, and uninspiring. Thanks to a county town sign advertising the "Three Capes Scenic Dive" I did see a spectacular sunset out in Cape Kiwanda.
I had thought maybe I would spend the night in Newport Or when I planned this trip. Now I wanted to just get out of there as fast as I could. I had never been to Astoria Oregon other than driving across the big bridge back in May. D&D Steve had casually mentioned that Astoria was a really cool town. So that's where I decided to go.
Astoria was great. Easily my favourite city/town in Oregon. If I were to ever move west I think it would be to Astoria. It is located at the mouth of the Columbia river on the Pacific Ocean. The downtown is real cute. It has coffee shops, bars, restaurants, a trolley on the pier, and a pretty fun feel to it. I really wished I had arrived a few hours earlier than I did. I checked into a hotel that was pretty much under the Astoria-Megler bridge (aka the bridge from Goonies). I found a nice dive bar called the Chart Room Bar and instantly met some people. I talked with a guy named Sam for a while. After he left I had an old man talk to me about Hillary Duff for a while. You can't make this shit up. He knew everything about her. It was bizarre. From there I took a walk and headed on back towards my hotel. I was planning on hitting up Mary Todds Workmans Bar on the way back. It looked really fun and I read that the food was great. I am pleased to report, even though it was a pretty quiet night inside, that it was really fun and the food was really really good! I made friends with the bartender (Andy) and a few regulars. This place was a goddamn gem! I stayed later than I had planned drinking tall boys of Busch while listening to stories about a bike rides from coast to coast, housing foreclosures, and local history.
