It has been a long drive from Newberg back to where we now sit - looking at a two sailing ferry wait to get back onto Vancouver Island. We dropped Avi and Violet with their dad in Vancouver, and are heading for home. 

Poor Avi had a good adventure overall, but there were rough spots for him - crashing on a training ride, having his sister drop a log on him, and today his grandparents bought him a package of beef jerky. Well, he asked for it. But 1/2 hour later he threw up all over the van. He recovered quite quickly once cleaned up, it must be said, and was soon back to eating the low quality cookies that came from the motel.

 Now with the kids gone we have less excitement but more time to contemplate. Of course, BC Ferries supports such contemplation by affording so much time to wait for their boat!

So what are we thinking about the Willamette excursion? First, we were blown away by the enthusiasm and endurance Avi and Violet brought to the ride. From the route, to the accommodations and food and the flats, they were on top of it. It's not that they were a fountain of questions and comments at every stage, but we did feel that they were active participants, rather than kids being dragged along.

And endurance was something we did not expect, or plan on. Distance turned out to be lots longer than we anticipated, and had the kids melted into whiny puddles it would have been tough. But no, they just gamely kept pedaling. Sure, Violet asked frequently how far we had come and how far left to go, but she never complained about the answers. 

Most impressive to me were the kids during those long periods that are part of any bike tour where you are just slowly spinning along, and the road seems to stretch endlessly ahead. Even for an adult, it can be a challenge to find something to think about at these times. But while I was searching my own mind  these times, the kids seemed to be just quietly pedaling, pedaling. Impressive.

So what of the route, the accommodation, the food, the sights, and the people, on what is touted as Oregon's premier bike experience?

The Route: 

The route itself, it can be said, was well marked. Dodie felt that every turn was indicated, and that one could actually do the trip without a map. But we had cause to question the choices the route planners made. Conditions bounced back and forth between low traffic and higher traffic roads, and on the latter we couldn't help but think something quieter (even if longer) could be found. One big puzzler was that the route did not take riders onto the lovely Minto Brown park opposite Salem.

On the other hand, one has to admit that the motor vehicle so dominates life and the landscape in America, that it is almost impossible to escape them reliably. 

Most roads with shoulders marked for bicycles on the route abandon the bicycles when there is a bridge or turn lane or any other reason that the cars seems to need the space. At those times, the cyclist has to take the risk of being rear ended, by taking the lane. This is bad enough for general cyclists, but when state advertising entices families onto these roads, it's almost criminal.

Overall, with the extent of high speed traffic and the erratic placement of paved  shoulders, we really can not recommend the Willamette route to any but experienced adult riders. We might add that the area north of Salem is generally (but not always) the quietest and most scenic part of the route. So it could be an idea to explore more there, while avoiding the south.

Accommodation: 

We did not try camping on this trip, mainly because it seemed like too much of a chore for two people to try carrying camping gear for four. Our bikes lack attachments for front panniers, otherwise it might have been worth a try. Still, we did not research campgrounds, and so can not comment on what camping would be like. The same goes for B&B's - we just didn't think of them. So we focused on motels, which does seem to be the main traveler accommodation in this area. The motels varied in quality, but all were acceptable. The rooms were much larger than we expect when in Europe, and all of them easily absorbed our four bikes. Almost all had a fridge, which we found a big help, and most had microwave and coffee maker or available coffee. At an average cost of about $115, they were more costly than what we are used to digging up in Europe, but they did not break the bank. Unlike the central European hotels, the included breakfasts ranged from just barely edible, all the way down to just a few very doubtful cellophane wrapped danishes. 

Since motels cluster either at Interstate exits or on the outskirts of towns, it was a bit of a challenge finding them at convenient distances for us. Plus, getting to them often meant navigating bigger and more dangerous roads. 

A big plus, especially for the kids, was the fact that at least half had pools, mostly indoors. If you have excess energy after a 75 km day, the chance to splash around for a couple of hours is a bonus!

Food:

Grocery stores were few and far between on the route. They were perhaps a little less plentiful than motels. And with no cooking facilities, we could use them mostly for stocking up on sugary snacks. This meant that especially for evening meals we relied on restaurants. Restaurant meals are notoriously rich, though in several places the kids impressed waitresses by ordering salmon and salad, or just baked potato with a side of broccoli. Even so, the restaurants effectively doubled our cost for the trip, running typically $70 per visit for the four of us.

Sights:

The route does not really feature any official "sights", like a cathedral, art museum, waterfall, or mountain, although we no doubt could have dug up interesting thingss in Salem or Corvallis. But for old farmers like us, or kids like Avi and Violet, goats, cows, donkeys, blueberries, apples, and plums, etc. are actually pretty exciting. In some very few cases, field crops were identified by signs, but we found ourselves often puzzling over what things were, when they would be harvested, and what the uses were. An active tourism agency could have improved matters with informative roadside signs.

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South of Salem, the crops mostly were reduced to just hayfields. While these are nice, they lack the wow factor of what can be seen further north.

People:

We did not find much opportunity to interact with the people of the valley. But the few that we did meet were lovely. The donkey farmers were really the best, but we received kind words and courtesy almost universally.

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Summary:

While not exactly "tough", not the Stelvio Pass or anything like that, this route was not easy. Traffic was the main problem. It's hard to focus on climbing that moderate hill, or on appreciating the peaceful looking pastoral surroundings, with a herd of thundering pickup trucks coming up behind. And the luxuries we are used to - superb food, fluffy quilts, pedestrian zones, and gelato were absent. We still think it was a reasonable choice from the available options within a one day drive of Seattle, but would not do it again - certainly not with kids. So what does that mean? It means we are tossing our loonies into the piggy bank, to see if we can finance the next kid tour into Austria/Germany. Stay tuned.

And oh, for those who thought we were too hard on Washington State Ferries for their food offerings, we are on the Nanaimo run of (much reviled for food) BC Ferries right now, and here is what we are dining on:

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Did you miss that blueberry pie? We went twice to Shari's, a chain that originated in Oregon and that features many types of pie.  But BC Ferries wins with a better crust and a heap of totally fresh berries. Here it is again!

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This was a great way for us to end the trip. Tomorrow we will be out in our own berry bushes, seeing what may have ripened while we were away!