Return Trip from Donnelly, Idaho to Seattle August 2001       We arrived in Donnelly at 8:00 PM on Sunday, July 29, 2001 and stayed there visiting with the Larkin family till Saturday July 4th, 2001.  Our road trip starts there. Saturday, August 4, 2001.  We started our return trip from Donnelly, Idaho to Seattle, Washington at noon.  We traveled on 95 to Weiser Idaho, then on 201 South to Ontario Oregon which I found to be pretty.  We turned East onto SW 4th Ave and then made a left to go South on 201, then turned right to go West on 26, arriving in Vale Oregon.  I would have liked to stayed in Vale longer because I also found Vale to be pretty, but we didn't want to explore every little town too early in the trip because Tom knew there were more interesting sight-seeing opportunities ahead of us and our time was not unlimited.  At Vale we turned onto Route 20, which was slow but beautiful.  Along the way we saw sage brush and pinion pine, cows grazing, mountain bluebirds, blackeyed Susans, and elk and antelope on a game trail. It was 7:30 PM when we stopped for the night at Stinkingwater Pass Oregon.  We parked on top of a hill and watched the full moon rise, drank a little merlot, and listened to coyotes. Sunday, August 5, 2001.  We woke up at 7:00 AM and decided to go for a walk to stretch our legs and look for wildlife before heading out on the road.  We followed a dirt road up a hill and saw birds and cows.  For breakfast, we ate the mangos we had in the van.  At 8:30 AM we drove west on Route 20 toward Buchanan Oregon, where we turned onto the Crane-Buchanan road to reach Crane, Oregon.  We saw California quail on a wooden fence, prairie hawks, and red tailed hawks of many morphs:&nbps; white neck and speckled breast.  We decided to go a little further South into the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge at Malheur Lake, Oregon.  We saw a golden eagle.  At Barton Lake (around the driving loop) there were low tiny 4 petaled yellow flowers that I had never seen before and could not identify.  There was a round barn for horses with round stone inside.  At Diamond Craters we saw an old lava flow which had red stinky flowers.  We had lunch at Malheur Lake on Route 205, where we saw white pelicans.  Finally, we hit the road again and at 3:45 PM we were in Burns, Oregon, which was a disappointment.  We stayed on Route 20 without further meanderings. At 5:00 PM we reached Bend, Oregon.  We found a mall there with a Barnes & Noble, Wild Birds Unlimited, and Wild Oats Organic Food.  It was a good to stretch our legs.  We saw something labeled KorPine Factory and didn't know what it was.  Bend used to have a plant that made particle board.  This trip was in 2001 and the plant permanently closed a year later.  Tom and I enjoyed Bend and decided to stay the night in the van in the mall parking lot. Monday, August 6, 2001.  We woke the van in the mall parking lot in Bend, Oregon, and did what mall parking lots are best for... we went to Starbucks for morning restroom, coffee, and breakfast.  We were on the road, route 20 by 7:30 AM, heading northwest to Sisters, and we arrived about ten minute later.  Sisters is a cute little town, like McCall Idaho, but more authentic, less touristy.  We gassed up, and window shopped.  It was too early for the stores to be open.  There were stores with antler art and furniture, log furniture, gift shops, restaurants, and pretty buildings; all tasteful, no large garish signs.  We saw deer including 2 bucks with large antlers in a park, just out of town on route 242.  We are heading toward McKenzie Bridge, Oregon and decided to take the smaller road 242 rather than taking route 20 West and then South on 126.  Route 242 was a road full of switch backs.  We went through Black Crater, Oregon.  This was an old lava flow.  Due to the switchbacks, it took us about 4 or 5 hours to arrive at McKenzie Bridge. We picnicked until 1:00 PM at the Old McKenzie Fish Hatchery, where we saw a newt, more specifically, a giant Pacific Salamander.  We fed the trout at the hatchery and we observed kingfisher birds.  From here we took route 126 West and arrived in Eugene Oregon at 2:30 PM.  We did a quick driving tour of Eugene, stretched our legs a bit to walk to Mother Kali's Books.  By 3:30 PM we were back on the road.  We took Route 126 due West to the Coastal village of Florence, Oregon.  We arrived at 5:00 PM.  From there, we took Rhodedendron Drive to Jetty Beach North access and get to the ocean beach, where inspite of being early August, it was windy and cold.  We didn't stay long at the beach, but we found something worth seeing:  At 6:00 PM we were on Heceta Beach Road.  Considering that it was early August, it was still plenty bright outside.  Back on Coastal Road 101, heading north, we found Darlingtonia State Natural Site.  Here we found Darlingtonia Californica, also known as pitcher plant or cobra plant; the largest insectivore plant in North America.  We walked on a wooden walk overlooking a hundred of them. At 6:30 PM we prepared dinner, cooked it at the van:  we cooked the lentil soup I had prepared in advance and kept in the cooler.  For dessert we had chocolate and merlot wine.  We wanted to make a little more headway, so at 7:15 PM we were back on 101 heading North.  At 7:30 PM, we found that the Sea Lion Caves were closed at Heceta Head.  At 8:30 PM, continuing on 101 North, we reached Yachats.  We slept in the van at a Texaco Station. Tuesday, August 7, 2001.  The entire time we were on the Oregon coast, it was either windy and cold or encased in a blanket of coastal fog.  It was dissappointing to not see any sunshine.  We woke at 6:30 PM and discovered a wonderful bakery in Yachats that was open early.  They told us they were planning to move to Seal Rock (further North on the Oregon Coast).  We continue North on 101 till we hit Waldport, Oregon, where we decide this would be a good place to do our laundry.  We had been on the road long enough that this was necessary.  Fortunately, it was still early in the day and we completed our task in less than 2 hours.  We continued a little further North on 101 to Seal Rock and took a nap there.  At 11:30 AM we continued North to Newport, Oregon.  This was Tom and my second trip together to Newport and we had fond memories of our first visit, which was on our honeymoon car camping trip.  At 12:30 PM we ate at Crab Chinese Yum, then shopped and spent money in historic old Newport till 4:00 PM.  Tom purchased a handmade knife.  I bought an alpaca cape, black cotton pants, a green tee shirt, and 2 bottles of wine.  Now all our cash was gone. We continued North on 101 and stopped at Rigata Park on Devil's Lake at Lincoln City, Oregon.  We had more lentil soup for dinner.  We continued North on 101 and stopped at Cape Kiwanda.  We saw the "haystack" rock in the water.  Historically, whales have been sighted here, but today we didn't see any.  Tom got a beer in the Pelican Pub on the beach.  We were in Pacific City and a sign told us this was the "Home of the Dory Fleet".  We parked behind a hotel to sleep. Wednesday, August 8, 2001.  We wake at 7:30 AM and get on the road.  By 9:45 AM we are at Cape Meares.  This is where we saw whales the last time we were here.  There is also a lighthouse.  This morning it is disappointingly foggy.  We head East on Bayocean Road NW and then on route 131 to Tillamook, where it is inexplicably sunny.  at 10:30 AM we have a wine and cheese tasting at the Blue Heron.  By 11:00 AM we are enjoying a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  I am impressed.  At 11:20 AM we are on the road.  We arrive in Brighton and from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM we rent a boat from the Manhattan Brighton Marina so we can toodle around the Nehalem River.  We continue on coastal 101 north, and finally at 3:00 in Nehalem, Oregon it is warm enough for us to change into shorts.  Our goal is for today is Seaside, Oregon because tomorrow we want to arrive at home.  We get to Seaside, Oregon at 4:00 PM.  We are happily reminding each other of our first trip here 8 years ago.  We go into Butterflies Forever Museum, then we do some shopping and have teriyaki for dinner.  We sleep in the Van in a Parking Lot on the Beach. Thursday, August 9, 2001.  Today our job is to get home.  Our route is going to be 210 from Seaside to Seattle, so we have a little time to enjoy Seaside, Oregon.  We wake at 7:30 and go to the local bakery for coffee (Tom gets doughnuts).  Believe it or not, after we arrive home, we are going on another trip in our van.  But right now, our curtains need some velcro expoy repair and while we eat breakfast and get oriented, I am repairing the curtains.  At 10:30 AM we rent bicycles and ride around the promenade for an hour.  The we have lunch at Normas Seafood, which was adequate.  Now we high-tail it outta here at 12:30 PM.  We cross the Astoria Bridge at 1:00 PM.  We are still taking Coastal Highway 101 and at 2:30 PM we are in Raymond, Washington where we see nice metal sculptures of people, animals, pastoral life, all around the road. Now we take 101 North till we hit 107 and take that East, then we travel on Route 8 and/or Route 12 till we get to I5.  By 4:10 PM we have reached Tacoma and run into traffic, but we arrive home at 5:08 PM.  Tonight we sleep in our own beds, but first, we feed our cats, fill our bird feeders, feed ourselves, shower and do laundry.  Tomorrow our adventure continues.             Created:  December 27, 2022 Updated:  December 22, 2022