Since being back in Oregon 107 days, I’ve comfortably furnished an apartment, researched and studied for work taking tour groups around the City of Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, and Mt. St. Helens and was ready to do some exploring further afield.
I didn’t set out with exact destinations in mind and learned this week the name for that is to coddiwomple.
SATURDAY: South to Salem, through Monmouth to Hwy 20 and the Pacific Coast.
Saw a sign directing to a covered bridge and spontaneously decided to check it out. We walked through and then drove through the 1929 Harris Covered Bridge near Philomath.
Our coddiwompling took us through timberland and farmland where we saw hazelnut orchards, vineyards, corn fields, hayfields and berry fields… such beautiful country!
Near the lumber town of Philomath we found this log. It was a large broken-top came down from one very old and large tree and by counting the growth rings it has been determined to be more than 500 years old. The 3 tags on the growth ring highlight 1776, the year the Declaration of Independance was signed, 1865, the year of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, and 1927, the year of Charles Lindburg’s solo, non-stop transatlantic fllght.
To escape Portland’s heat wave, we drove to the coast. Discovered cool temps and heavy fog at the ghost-like Yaquina Bay bridge in Newport!
From 100 degrees in Portland to 59 degrees at the coast – perfect weather to enjoy a bowl of delicious clam chowder!
FRIDAY: Stevenson, Washington to the Women’s Forum State Park and beyond…
For work I took a group from the American Empress sternwheeler docked in Stevenson, Washington to share this fantastic view of the Columbia River Gorge and to drive the historic highway.
SUNDAY: North on I-205 to Washington State…
Sunday we decided to surprise family at church in Chehalis, Washington. We were treated to a lovely lunch and enjoyed our short visit. Leaving Chehalis we were amazed of this view of majestic Mt. Rainier.We may be home from our around-the-world trip but there are always beautiful places calling me to come explore. I’m thankful for the luxury of time and good health to enjoy coddiwompling.
May you be inspired to coddiwomple too!
Next time I’ll Meet You in the Morning for a trip on the historic Columbia River Gorge highway.
Meet You In The Morning 
Merrill, Thanks for coddiwompling up to see us. We enjoyed visiting with you. That view of Mt. Rainier looks quite familiar 🙂 There are days when it looks like we could just reach over the trees and touch it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, we didn’t know you had that view. In fact, didn’t we see 3 mountains? St Helens, Rainier and Adams?
LikeLike
The view of the bridge in fog is very mysterious. Well shot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Merrill, Have been following you around the world. Have you been to the Swan Island Dahlias in Canby OR? It sounds like a great place.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Jeanne,
I already have plans to go there next week! I’ll be sure to take photos for a future blog post. Thanks for reading!
LikeLike