Drive Home

On June 12 I drove 234 miles towards home after cycling from Signal Mountain Lodge to Jackson, Wyoming. That's a good start but it will take me 2 more days of driving to get home.

On the morning of June 13 I left the motel in Burley, Idaho and drove the U Haul box truck another 50 miles to Twin Falls. Now I have to do the big switch. I fueled the truck, then returned the truck at the U Haul dealer near downtown Twin Falls.

Then I had to pedal 6.2 miles to the Magic Valley airport. All uphill and into the wind, gaining 400 feet elevation.

I pedaled 6 miles uphill from the U Haul dealer to Magic Valley airport.

Birds made a mess on my car at the airport. I didn't notice the small overhead cable, maybe to a security camera. Birds obviously liked the cable. I spent a few minutes cleaning the car.

Apparently birds like the overhead cable above my car.

Loading the bike in the car didn't take long even though the fit is much tighter than in the box truck. I've done it many times. I leave both wheels on but have to fold down the rear seats and the passenger seat.

The bike is a slightly tighter fit in my Prius.

I had no specific plan for getting home. I decided to take the I-84 route again to continue scouting ideas for a bike tour in northeast Oregon. While driving the boring route across Idaho I decided that Baker City, Oregon would be a good place to stop and explore. I called to reserve a room at the historic Geiser Grand hotel in Baker City. When it opened in 1889 it was regarded to be the finest lodging between Salt Lake City and Portland. The hotel is beautifully restored.

I spent the night at Geiser Grand hotel in Baker City.

Stained glass atrium at Geiser Grand hotel.

Bar and breakfast room at Geiser Grand hotel.

I arrived at about 3 PM, leaving plenty of time to explore the downtown. Baker City is not a big city, only 10,170 people. But the downtown area is very impressive. It appears that Baker City aspired to be an inland metropolis like Spokane. But that never happened. Oregon doesn't have an eastern metropolis and Baker City is smaller than the rival cities of Pendleton, La Grande, and Ontario.

Baker City has an impressive inventory of old brick and stone buildings. I enjoyed walking around the downtown area. I took many more pictures than what I included here.

Carnegie Library built in 1907. Now an arts center.

I especially enjoyed walking around after sunset. I was waiting for the perfect moment to take a picture of the theatre.

Eltrym Theatre at sunset. The name is Myrtle spelled backwards. This theatre is the only search result for the word Eltrym.

The bookstore has a display of banned books. It seems that every bookstore opposes censorship, even in conservative places like Baker City.

On June 14 I drove the rest of the way home from Baker City, Oregon to Oakland, Oregon. The entire route was on I-84 and I-5.

I snapped a couple of photos while driving. First was a picture of the American Cruise Lines boat on the Columbia river a few miles east of The Dalles. The boat is on an 8 day Columbia/Snake river cruise from Portland, Oregon to Clarkston, Washington. The price is $6110 per person during peak season. I'm not interested.

I spotted the American Cruise Lines boat on the Columbia river near The Dalles. Illegal photo while driving on I-84.

I also snapped a telephoto view of 11,249 foot Mt. Hood in the distance ahead. I-84 goes alongside Mt. Hood but has surprisingly few views. Mt. Hood is the highest peak in Oregon.

Rare view of Mt. Hood from I-84 near The Dalles. Illegal photo while driving. I almost never do this.

To break up the Interstate highway monotony I drove the Historic Columbia River Highway between The Dalles and Mosier. I biked that route in 2006. The western part of the Historic Columbia River highway is extremely crowded because of the waterfalls. This section has no waterfalls and is nearly deserted, but the view from Rowena Crest rivals the view from crowded Crown Point.

Historic Columbia River Highway climbing gently to Rowena Crest.

Columbia river gorge looking upstream from Rowena Crest.

Driving home was very tedious after the historic highway diversion. Heavy traffic with several areas of slow-downs getting through Portland. I got home a little after 6 PM.

The total trip home was 290 miles in the U Haul box truck, 6 miles on the bike, and 740 miles in my car. The box truck got 15.2 miles per gallon at 65 mph. My Prius got 48 miles per gallon at 70 mph. The short drive in the box truck consumed 19 gallons of gasoline and the long drive in the Prius consumed 15 gallons of gasoline.

The 10 foot box truck is the smallest vehicle that U Haul rents one way. It can be rented and returned at nearly every town in the U.S. The price is about $1 per mile for one way rentals. U Haul is more expensive to rent and operate than one way car rentals, but more widely available.

The trip was shorter than planned, but I would judge it to be successful. I'm still determined to see the High Desert Rivers east of the Continental Divide. Next year...

Today's ride: 6 miles (10 km)
Total: 494 miles (795 km)

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