The further West one goes along the Columbia and the closer to the coast one gets, the greener it gets too, and after the big bend in the river at The Dalles the highway enters the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area. The population increases quite a bit here the closer one gets to the Portland and Vancouver metro areas, so there's more people and more traffic, with lots of folks enjoying the scenery out for a drive on what may very well be the last gorgeous Saturday of the summer.Eventually the river and the road enter the Portland metro area -- on the Washington side of the river, Highway 14 becomes a freeway into Vancouver, WA, and ends at I-5 where I pop over the Interstate bridge back into Oregon and check into my hotel on Hayden Island in the Columbia river, about 10 miles North of Downtown Portland. I came to Portland on this trip to stop by the Brian Marki gallery http://www.brianmarki.com, the fine art gallery that sells my photography in both Palm Springs and Portland. It was their 21st anniversary party on Satuday. I quickly showered off 200 miles of road grime and sun screen and bugs, put on some clean clothes and rode over to the gallery in the Sullivans Gulch neighborhood of Portland. Brian is one of the biggest promoters of my work, and he makes it a point to note that I shoot my images as I find them out riding on Angus, so when I pulled up in front and parked Angus across the street Brian heard me and came out and waved.My work looks fantastic in his gallery and I'm very honored that he includes me in his stable of artists. I enjoyed the company of the crowd looking over all the works from various artists and sipping wind and nibbling on snacks. Truth be told I sometimes feel a bit out of place in gatherings like this -- never quite feeling like my work is good enough. But Brian has often commented that the best part of my work is the stories that go along with the photos, and he, and the patrons seem to love listening to the story around a particular image and I put on my old lobbyist/radio personality hat and just start talking, and more often than not it helps with a sale.Sunday morning it was a bit cloudy and there was a storm headed in that called for rain late Sunday in Seattle, so I loaded up Angus and headed out -- oddly enough going South towards downtown Portland on I-5. It was just a few miles, but I wanted to head out of town on the old US-30 route that heads towards the coast along the South side of the Columbia after it winds through the Northwest neighborhoods of Portland and crosses over the Willamette River on a wonderful old suspension bridge.
US-30 was once a main transcontinental highway, and it's still a great ride out of Portland rather than taking I-5. It follows the river North and then West again where the river makes its final big bend to the West and heads to the Pacific. There is another large bridge crossing the Columbia here -- the last one before the four mile long bridge that crosses the river at the mouth at Astoria. This bridge drops you back into Washington in the town of Longview, where I pick up WA-411 for a windy drive up through Cowlitz and Lewis Counties, past the town of Winlock and it's giant egg -- now painted in Seattle Seahawks colors.
That reminded me that the Hawks were playing their first regular season game today, so as it was getting past lunch time I pulled into a little tavern in Napavine up against the BNSF tracks and went in for a bowl of soup for lunch and to warm up a bit and watch the end of the game. The tavern was full of Hawks fans and when I sat down we were up by a field goal late in the 4th quarter. St Louis tied the game and it went into overtime where Seattle lost, much to the dismay of the crowd in this small town tavern. I'd finished my soup and headed out for the final few miles back home.
I wound around the back roads here avoiding I-5, working my way North and decided in Olympia to head up the West side of Puget Sound and stay off I-5 and the traffic through Pierce County and into Seattle. I always have liked the road up this side of the sound -- US-101 to Shelton and then WA-3 up to Port Orchard. I used to take this often when I was living and working in Olympia as a way home to de-stress. The best part of this route -- aside from the scenery along the Sound and the lack of traffic -- is the only way back over to the Seattle side is to take a ferry boat.
I wound around the back roads here avoiding I-5, working my way North and decided in Olympia to head up the West side of Puget Sound and stay off I-5 and the traffic through Pierce County and into Seattle. I always have liked the road up this side of the sound -- US-101 to Shelton and then WA-3 up to Port Orchard. I used to take this often when I was living and working in Olympia as a way home to de-stress. The best part of this route -- aside from the scenery along the Sound and the lack of traffic -- is the only way back over to the Seattle side is to take a ferry boat.
There is nothing better than a ferry ride across the Sound to end a 2000 mile adventure. It adds a finality to the trip like a period ends a sentence. Riding aboard a big ship, heading up from the open car deck to the passenger cabin, and watching the far shore get closer and closer as the boat glides over the water. The familiar views of the neighborhood and the Seattle skyline come into focus. The boat docks and you ride up the ramp and onto the dock and off into the familiar streets, and a mile or so later, pull into the driveway and shut of the bike. Journey's end. Home. For now.