This is interesting. I’ve been through Silverton many times but didn’t know this was here. It was added sometime after we moved out of the area.

I also thought that this is the only photo that accurately conveys the size of the cave.

Nice shot. It gives a really good feeling for this amazing place.

I’ve been through Scio many times - actually got lost in it once many years ago - but never knew this about the place.

Wild Radish grows wild around here (Bay area of CA.) It is a mustard relative. We also found it interesting that it is farmed in Oregon.

Looking forward to following along. In 2015 I rode through the valley on the Transam route in August - it was a good ride then, your journal will help me recall some memories.

Radish seed, probably. I’d never seen it before cycling in this part of the valley in late June two years ago. Folks identified it for me in one of my posts from back then: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/AustintoAlbuquerque/the-little-muddy-creek-loop/#21799_fs32crttq06u6g4sgy866k0omtg.

Very interesting place. Probably my favorite small town in the valley.

Brownsville looks extremely interesting! I am sorry we did not detour to see it. Maybe a good place for a rest day on our next Oregon trip.

While in Lowell, we somehow missed this bridge but did see an even smaller one over the sidewalk.

Good to see your journal up! I am looking forward to following you.

I carried a stove for the first 3 or so years after I quit camping. Now I carry an insulated bottle instead of a stove. My present 24 ounce bottle can carry a lot of emergency tea. I don't miss the stove at all.

I stayed at a cash-only motel in Orderville, Utah last month. Cheapest place I've stayed in years. I have seen cash-only restaurants and bars but they are rare. I think most business owners put up with credit cards because customers spend more freely with credit cards than with cash. And as you mentioned, small businesses openly charge credit card fees nowadays.

I imagine the developer in Heber City would get a lot of grief from the local population if he built a 5 story building in a quaint historic district. It sounds like he would qualify for a variance because the city changed the height limit after he submitted his application. That's an interesting story because Utah is normally 101% pro development.

We've run into two cash only places on this tour. This year is the first time I can remember being charged back the credit card processing fee. Now it has happened to me enough times that I don't even pause. Usually it is 3%, but we have already gotten an email from our lodging in Torrey that they charge 4%. I wonder if all of those places would happily take an out of state check? I'm sure they expect people to go to the ATM for cash.

Do you carry any sort of stove to make emergency tea, now? I debated carrying a little Esbit stove. I even bought one. It looked so cheap, I ended up throw ing it away . . . I think you could probably buy Esbit tablets and use an Altoids box.

Side note - my friends who own the movie theatre in Heber City had a lucrative deal to sell with a developer who wanted to raise the height to five stories and put apartments in the extra floors. Which was allowed. Then the city council changed the building height to two stories. Poof! There went the sale. I thought that the buyer could ask for a variance if he really wanted to buy, he just missed the deadline. I also think a five story building would look odd in downtown Heber.

Thanks for the info Wayne! In 2018, we had biked down the coast of Oregon and had planned to bike north from CA through the Willamette Valley to return to our car that we'd left in Scio. The wildfire smoke was so bad that we had to rent a UHaul at the border and drive back. I think that was likely in August? I think the smoke was from CA fires and maybe some in Oregon.

Great country to bicycle in and the covered bridges are wonderful!