Willamette Mission State Park

Our Last Oregon Park

We are all settled in at Willamette Mission State Park which was Mike's choice for our last hosting stop in Oregon. We cycled the scenic bikeway last year and wanted to ride a few more routes before we leave Oregon once again.

 Willamette Mission was the first agricultural community established in the Willamette Valley by settlers in 1834.  

The State Park has more than 1,600 acres of woodlands, wetlands, rolling meadows, and working farmland. We find new trails to walk or ride everyday.

Each morning, the horse people arrive pulling their horse trailers. After their rides, they hose down their horses, then the horses often proceed to roll in the dirt or at least stir up some dust. They are powerful and fun to watch but seem more restless when the weather changes.

The old Willamette Mission flooded and the settlers moved to Salem. Now a ghost structure stands and can be seen across the river.

When Ranger Noah offered us this host position, he couldn't be sure of the end date. During our orientation, I asked him again about our end date. It turns out that we are parked in a flood plain. If the river gets too high, we have to leave. Hmmm... Right now it is running at 6 feet. If it goes to 12 the park floods. Rain is in the forecast for the next
week. Hmmm...

The Wheatland Ferry is a cable ferry on the edge of the park, crossing the Willamette River approximately 580 feet and is supported by two steel cables, one under water on the downriver side, and one overhead on the upriver side. The ferry also uses the overhead cable for steering.

The ferry carries 286,000 cars and trucks across the Willamette River each year 9 at a time. The ferry started service in the 1850s. 

We took our bikes across the river on the Wheatland Ferry for a visit to Arcane Winery celebrating Labor Day with Blues and BBQ. The round trip was $1 per bike each way, people are free. The was enough for me with 90 degree temps and humidity. But the music and food were good.

Salem, OR

 We made a visit to the state capitol and state park in Salem with a self guided walking tour.

Oregon has a state park for every occasion. 

We like to learn about the history and interesting fact of places we visit.

 In 1843 a vote was held by settlers and trappers to decide if Oregon Country (not yet a state) would side with the US or Britain in WWI. The vote was 52-50 to align with the US.

Dome of the capitol.

We drove by the old State Mental Hospital which is now a museum and was where "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest was filmed. I had no desire to tour the place. It just had a strange vibe to me. I didn't even want to take a picture.  Call me "crazy"?

 The sunsets can be stunning and a nice prelude to the owls singing at night.

I am pleasantly surprised at how much we are liking this hosting position and location.

We will keep an eye on the river.

Cycling the vineyards

I decided to use the campground's showers instead of the one we have for a change. When I walked out of the shower, Mike was standing at the sink. He asked what I was doing in the Men's showers. I did some quick thinking and told him "now that there are new laws I can use which ever restrooms I please." He didn't buy it.

We are loving riding these country roads. We drove to Geyserville  to check out their roads on a Saturday and there were plenty of cyclists to be found. Two vans full of Backroads Cycle Tours pulled up as we left Starbucks.

The shaded roads along the vineyards were great since things were heating up after a couple of rainy days. I enjoy when there are clouds and sprinkles while riding. But the sunshine felt good after the morning fog lifted.

Sonoma's art along the roads. This one is called cartwheels, a grocery cart filled with bike rims?

 

I have to make myself pay attention to the road for obstacles. It is too easy to get distracted out here. 

This old store from the 1880s is one of the few delis on the country roads and Saturday there were many cyclists stopping for a pit stop and snacks. A small sandwich is $13. They kept filling the counter with them.

There is a huge amount of baby grapes. Looks like it will be a fruitful harvest.

We stopped at a couple of wineries but they were serving Zins which are not a favorite of ours. We will have to check and see what is offered next time we stop. There are so many wineries, it can be overwhelming.

Several wineries have made caves in the side of their hills.

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 It has been so nice to wake up in the morning and walk along the Russian River before the kids get out on their inner tubes and float. Actually, watching them is pretty good too.



 

Friday nights in Cloverdale's plaza has a farmer's market with food vendors and a band. The band was from San Francisco and quite good. There was an eclectic group of fun local people that many looked that they have moved here after the 60s in San Francisco. The towns here have had a nice small town feel.

It has been such a good week here in the Russian River and Alexander Valleys. We are excited to see what is next down the road.

Heading to Cloverdale

It is good to be leaving southern California after living on the Coast Hwy for two months. We seem to always have that itch. As we were walking in the surf a bee stung me in the foot. I seem to get stung far too often.

Cloverdale is a small town in the north of Sonoma County bordering Mendocino County. When we arrived and stopped at the visitor's center, they happened to have a farmer's market just a block away. 

After getting some items at the farmer's market, we realized it was 3 pm and we hadn't had lunch and found this cute hamburger place.

The gal at the visitor's center gave us a map with suggestions of bike routes. She suggested that we ride up to Sonoma Lake since we were from Colorado and used to hills. Forget that we haven't seen Colorado in a year on our bikes.

 

It was a pretty good climb up to the dam with nice views of the vineyards. The riding here is much more pleasant than Napa with less people and traffic.

We went back to the lake's visitor center and met a couple of guys leading the Road Scholars on a bike tour. They gave us some tips on wineries to visit and things to see. Cycling tours are not cheap. $1500 for 4 days of riding with meals and hotel per person for this tour. There was another tour group just up the rode as we were heading back home.

There were plenty of hills and the wind made us work a bit. Mike was a good guy being the lead so I wouldn't have to work as hard against the wind.

We are here for a week and looks like it is a gem even if another bee stung me in the back of my leg this morning.