The Willamette Valley

We are staying five days at Champoeg (sham-poo-ee) State Park about halfway between Portland and Salem; on the banks of the Willamette River and just a few miles from I-5. We would have stayed here longer but even months ago the campground was booked up for Labor Day weekend and it was full every night this week. 


On Monday we took the light rail into Portland, ate Chinese at a food truck pod downtown and hiked a good portion of the trails in the thousands of acres of Washington and Lincoln Parks that include the famous Rose Gardens. In the cloudy weather we were ever-vigilant for a glimpse of Mt. Hood.

Is that Mt. Hood?

No, this is Mt. Hood.

This is a rose.

This is a rose garden.

This is a banana slug.

This is a Portland golfer, waiting for the light-rail.

On Tuesday we went south to Salem for a quick look at the state capitol (a fabulous 1930s art deco building) and then the state fair where it was "senior day".

The Oregon Fair is certainly no Iowa (and definitely not Minnesota), but it is more substantive than either the Idaho or Wyoming fairs.

Given Oregon's status as a mecca for craft brewers the beer selection at the fair was disappointing. Apparently a single vendor has the concession locked up so there was only one offering of an Oregon-brewed beer, Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale. They did have a judged competition for home brewers and for hops growers. Speaking of which, there is a large field of hops planted near the park where we are staying.

Betsy is well-dressed to review the award-winning hops at the state fair.

A field of hops grows near Champoeg State Park.

Portland is home to more than 15 percent of Oregonians so it is a bit odd to spend only a half day there on our five-week tour of the state.

So be it. We just were not that worked up for the urban experience. 
Apparently Portland is a great place to live and many people say it is the most European-like American city. Certainly it has a great reputation in urban planning circles and is known for its growth management laws that discourage sprawl and automobiles but encourage density, walking and biking. I recall a quote from a former mayor that went something to the effect; “Everyone has a right to come downtown but that doesn’t mean they have a right to bring 2,000 pounds of steel with them.” We certainly did not try to bring our “steel” with us but there were cars on the street. One thing we noticed however is that there are no stop signs at intersections. Pedestrians had 100 percent right-of-way and the drivers actually stopped to let people cross (even though we, as Texans, were wary).

This 1901 marker commemorating the 52 signers led to the creation of the state's first park.

On Thursday we hung close to home here at Champoeg State Park; Oregon’s first state park that was originally created to commemorate the 52-50 vote in 1843 that created the first government entity in the Oregon territory. The town of Champoeg (usually pronounced sham-poo-ee and probably a derivation of an Indian name, although it could have been French) was an important early center of commerce on the banks of the Willamette River but was wiped away by a flood in 1861 and then another in 1891. There are markers on poles to show how high the water got in those floods. There are also a ton of good trails and we hiked/biked most of them.

Thursday we went back to Oregon City to ride the odd elevator that connects 7^th Street in the river bottom to 7^th Street above the cliffs and to look at the Willamette’s famous falls and view the house and grave of Oregon’s founding father; John McDougal.

The elevator.

The Falls.

McDougal was in charge of the British Hudson Bay Company’s Ft. Vancouver when the Americans began arriving in the early 1840s. He was under orders to discourage the emigrants but instead helped them to settle by providing trade goods. By 1848 the British had retreated to the 49^th parallel (today’s Canadian border) and Oregon was a U.S. territory.

Dahlias, one of many crops grown in the Willamette Valley.

We further explored the lush farmlands of the Willamette Valley and had a serendipitous stop for beer on the way home that included a great country-western band. Oregonians were in slack-jawed awe as they watched the two Texans two-step and waltz.

These Oregon girls (and the fiddle player from Boise) were good.