Going to Oregon for a week...

[Nefarious]

Originally posted by capt. apathy
if you have access to a computer when you hit the airport.  (or check from home before you leave, but the info won't be as fresh)
check out.
  http://www.tripcheck.com/

it'll let you know road conditions.

some important things to keep in mind once you leave I-5.

1.   log trucks and chip trucks are heavy, fast(most are paid by the load not the hour), and you are hard to see.  they will not get out of your way.  they will run you over.

2.   if you drive slower than other cars use the turn-outs and let people pass.  you will be ticketed if cars are lined up behind you and you pass a turn-out without using it.

3.  in the passes ice can show up at almost any time.  often 'black-ice' which you can't tell from a wet road.  watch for the mile markers with reflectors and reflectors on the pavement, the reflectors turn blue when the temp dips below freezing.

4.  the mountain roads twist and turn a lot, and are kind of intimidating to people from the flat lands (not sure where you are from).  don't worry, the corners are banked for speed, keep the pedal down.

5.  if you smoke DO NOT FLICK BUTTS OUT OF THE WINDOW.  fire is a big deal hear, and even though it's not the season, and you likely couldn't start one if you wanted to,   the punishment is just short of a lynching.

Thanks again Capt for helping me out, Us Hillbillys should be ok, Its our kind of conditions. Sounds very similar to Old Route 50, Ive been on those kinds of roads since I was a wee one. I used to live in Virginia Beach from 84 to 91 and we used to take 250/50 through Virginia and W Virginia and we used to visit my family in Clarksburg/Salem, It got to the point where now I can tell you what mountain were on and the next one will go up.

Now I live in Salem WV, and I still take Old Route 50 from Clarksburg to Winchester VA to visit my dad, Its just so damn beautiful! But we tend to avoid it in the Winter Thats when I take 68 Four lane! And even it gets bad, especially when your not expecting it like last weekend.

[SOB]

The Evergreen Aviation Museum is in McMinville, and a short detour from I-5.  If you hit the coast, there's also an air museum in Tilamook off of Hwy 101.

Buy your liquor early.  There are a few liquor stores that were grandfathered in when the OLCC took over, but you have to know where they are.  The rest have fairly conservative hours.

Hope you have fun, and I'd definitely recommend the coast if you have time.

http://www.traveloregon.com/

[Nefarious]

Originally posted by SOB
The Evergreen Aviation Museum is in McMinville, and a short detour from I-5.  If you hit the coast, there's also an air museum in Tilamook off of Hwy 101.

Hope you have fun, and I'd definitely recommend the coast if you have time.

Thanks SOB, And The Pacific is definatley a destination while I'm there.

Last time I saw the Pacific was 1984, And I hardly remember it!

[Mini D]

1) You can buy beer and whine in any store.  Liquor must be purchased at a liquor store.

2)  I-5 through Oregon is straight.  It get's a bit congested in Salem and Eugene, but us usually doing 80 most other times.  Take i205 from the airport and head south.  It will hit i-5 and bypass the Portland I-5 congestion.

3)  Evergreen flight museum is pretty cool.  It's about 30 minutes from I-5 though (not really a short jaunt).  Tillamook flight museum is about another 90 minutes farther (On the coast).  There really isn't much on I-5 itself.

MiniD

[ygsmilo]

Lots of good wineries in the McMinnville area also, there are several tasting rooms in the area.  Lots of good Pinot Noir.

[Greese]

Here's your trip:

From Portland Airport, ake the 205 south.

When you see the Willamette Exit in the West Linn area, exit, go under the freeway, and take the first right and there will be a great McMenamins.  It is literally only a block from the freeway, this will take you no time at all, but will be a highlihgt of the trip.

Have a beer or two.  One of the best places in Oregon to do so.

Get back on the 205 Freeway, heading south.

Merge with I-5 South about 5 miles later.

Drive through Salem.

At the southern end of Salem, take the Detroit Lake exit (Hwy 22).

Head East.  Once you are in the mountains, this is one of the most beautiful stretches of road in the state, in my opinion.

After you get to the eastern side of the mountains, you will go through Bend.  There is a whole new road system that is not on most maps, and can be a bit tricky.  Might as well stop again....

As you begin to go through Bend, stay on the main drag.  No exits or turns...

You will go under an overpass, then a few lights.  You will come to a street called "Greenwood".

Take a right.

Take a left on "Wall" just a couple blocks up.

Take another immediate left.

Take ANOTHER immediate left.  This will be "Bond"

Park.

At the corner ofBond and Greenwood is a little place called "Deschutes Brewing Company".

Go in, have a few more beers.  This is one of the best brewers in Oregon.

When you are done, you may decide you want to live here.  Just know it gets a little cold in the Winter...

Go back to Greenwood.  Turn towards the freeway, but you will go under it.

Turn right on Third.  This is the street you came into town on.

Turn right.  Go south until you meet up with 97.

Turn left.

Drive a few more hours until you get to Klamath Falls. 97 in this stretch is very straight, and relatively cop-free.

Have a good road trip across Oregon.  Don't forget those two, very important stops...

[Nefarious]

Thanks Greese, milo, MiniD.

Lots of cool places to stop.

Edit:What are the price of Ciggs? Should I stop in Virginia and get a carton before I go?

[Frogm4n]

Originally posted by ygsmilo
Lots of good wineries in the McMinnville area also, there are several tasting rooms in the area.  Lots of good Pinot Noir.

Just go to a safeway and find the bottles marked down the most. You can get 60dollar wine for 30 bucks sometimes. Oregon has the best Pinot Noir in the world.

[capt. apathy]

whenever you are choosing a place to eat, if you see a McMenamins choose that.  some are just ordinary brew-pubs with good food.  but they also take historical buildings all over oregon and washington and restore them and install a bar.

they've restored a lot of old buildings,  a grade school, the masons 'grand lodge' bldg, a boxing club, a play-house, an old 40's theater, a state work-farm,  and I'm sure there are many others I haven't seen.

also if you are a beer drinker there are hundreds of micro-brewerys around.

if you've got the time on the way home I'd come back north up 101. you can hit the coast at the dunes down south, drive through the cliffs in the central coast, and wrap it up on the long beaches up north.  (the tilimook air museum is also on the north coast, so you can check that out before heading back to portland, and if you route it right you can pass by evergreen on your way)

also it's whale watching season now, so you'll likely see some in the central coast (the water gets deep fast there so you can often see them from the hwy)  if you don't see any by the time you get twards the north (and want to), every harbor along the way has whale watching tours.

btw greese's way is prettier, but if you are getting in late and just trying to get there quick, I-205 to I-5, to 58, to 97

and here's the link I meant to give you earlier
road condition map

I was kinda tired and just gave you the link to the main site earlier.

[beet1e]

Are you allowed to pump your own gas in Oregon yet, or does the nanny attendant have to do it for you?

[capt. apathy]

you let the pump jockey stand in the rain.

btw- to all you whiners.  we get full service for about $.03 more than Washington pays to stand in the rain and pump their own.

[Chairboy]

Seconded.  In Oregon, you get full service for cheaper then pump your own is in most places.  I just paid freaking $2.24 a gallon for regular in LA, but in Eugene you can get it for $1.69, they THEY pump it.  

Also, when I last registered a car there a couple years ago, it was $32 to register the car for two years.  Doesn't matter if it's a Lexus or a 72 VW Bug.

[Mini D]

Originally posted by Nefarious
What are the price of Ciggs? Should I stop in Virginia and get a carton before I go?

Oregon is a no-smoking state.

MiniD

[Chairboy]

There's also no sales tax in Oregon, so it's probably silly to buy cigarattes in VA, then carry them in your luggage, etc.

[Mini D]

There's no sales tax, but "luxury" taxes on Cigarettes have been on the ballot for the last 10 years.

MiniD