The Accidental Drive Through the Willamette Valley

On Friday, we drove north along I-5 through Oregon. We continued to have nice scenery along the way, with the mountains keeping us company to the east. Much of the scenery here was golden hills, reminiscent of California.



When we drove through Salem, we took a short detour to view the state capitol building. We have now seen 49 of the 50 state capitol buildings. We hope to see number 50, Olympia, when in Washington.

Oregon State Capitol Building, Salem

We continued north to Portland, where we would be staying for the weekend. We intended to drive on I-5 the entire way, but due to an accident on I-5, we detoured through some back roads - which given our propensity for back road travel, was okay with us. It gave us a chance to drive through the heart of the Willamette Valley. The Willamette Valley is a 150 mile long valley, and the Willamette River flows through the entire length. 

Due to the Willamette River as well as many other waterways in the Valley, the soil is extremely fertile, making this an extremely productive agricultural area. It is also known for its many wineries. It is especially known for having the best Pinot Noir. This area was once referred to as "A promised land of flowing milk and honey". 

The agriculture output is prolific and varied. Some of the products include different kinds of berries (especially blueberries), nuts, wheat, oats, mint, hops, grapes, peaches, and hay. There are lots of farms and orchards along the way.

Hops, we think


Wheat

The Willamette Valley is also known as being the end point of the Oregon Trail.

Other than the slight detour in Salem, we didn't really plan to have any stops today. The main goal was to arrive at our campground in Portland, set up camp, and enjoy the fact that we would be here four nights, so no setting up and taking down for a few days. We did venture out to a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a really good meal. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 29, 2024 at 6:19 PM

    Quite impressive about those 49 state capitals. Interesting about all that beautiful agricultural. Most interesting is that good Mexican food! Lol
    Ellen Hebert Hutchinson

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 20, 2024 at 6:48 AM

    Sounds like a nice detour route to drive through and get fresh fruit and wine 😀

    ReplyDelete

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