Day 76: Astoria, OR to Ontario, OR

Cars, Airplanes, and Snow!


Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, Hood River, OR

As we checked out of our hotel in Astoria, OR this morning we watched our last ship go by.

Kaimon Galaxy: Inbound in Astoria, OR

Then we hit the road, bright and early.  The drive to Ontario was about 500 miles and was supposed to take a bit over 7 hours.  If all had gone as planned, we'd have arrived around 6PM while it was still light and we had plenty of time to grab dinner and relax before our next leg tomorrow.

Not long after we left Astoria, we came across this giant Weyerhauser papermill in Longview, OR.

Weyerhauser Papermill in Longview, OR


Here's how the rest of the trip went:





You'll probably have noticed that part of the trip took place in the dark, and part of it included driving through snow.  Clearly the best laid plans can go awry, as ours did-- thanks to mother nature, arbitrary variances in time, and car museums.

As we were driving along we saw an innocent brown sign advertising an airplane & automobile museum.  Sure we thought, we aren't on a tight schedule we can stop for this.  Well, 12 acres of exhibits, a great lunch, and about 2 hours later we were back on the road.  Why did we spend so long at the WAAAM-- the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, in Hood River Oregon.  

Here are some of the reasons it took us so long:

1930s Cars and Gliders

1931 Pierce Arrow Limousine


1938 BMW Motorcycle & Side Car (M's only relative in the museum)


Big Plane, Little Plane
(Many of the planes exhibited were accompanied by a mini-me)

Bob Calls this a Little Model Plane


Bob Calls this a Big Model Plane (Bigger than Uncle Dennie's even!)


Airplane Trailer Carrier, with Lisa for scale
(we see these on I-25 north of Denver sometimes)

A Hokie Plane (note the VT Colors)


A Collection of Misc. Spare Motors & Parts


A Steam Tractor from Mansfield, Ohio


Packard Limo-- in Maroon & White
(one hanger of four in the background)

Bob's Dream Garage!

When we finally hit the road again I was driving and Bob was riding for a bit.  During this leg we passed some great scenery, like these windmills.

Windmill Farm on I84 in Oregon

We also passed this tree farm.  Bob was impressed with the neatly planted perfectly spaced rows of trees in the middle of what looked like a typical wheat/corn farm.

Tree Farm (note the difference in leaves changing color)


Close up of Tree Farm (perfect rows!)

We also spotted a potential piece of Hephner family migration history-- though the spelling is different.  We didn't have time to stop, but wondered if there was any relation.

Heppner, OR


Shortly after passing Heppner, OR the skies started to cloud up, and we both mused that it looked like snow clouds above-- and then dismissed that idea as unlikely, as it was 50 degrees.  However, I yielded the wheel to Bob just the same.

And, as you can see from the video just as it began to get dark we started climbing in elevation and it began snowing.  The last clip in the video was taken at Blue Ridge Summit, a whopping 4100 foot elevation.  Luckily, as we descended the snow turned back to rain and eventually the skies cleared. Driving was slowed a bit from our previous 70 MPH speed limits, but it looked as if we would still be pulling in at a reasonablish 8:45P.

But-- about 50 miles before arriving in Ontario, OR Bob saw that fateful sign--  "Entering Mountain Time Zone."  Our 8:45 arrival turned into a 9:45 arrival and just about everything in town shut up tight between 9P and 10P.  Luckily, the Arbys at the truck stop was open 24 hours and we did not starve tonight.

Tomorrow's drive is a bit shorter-- about 350 miles to Ogden, UT-- so even if we sleep late and get sidetracked again, we should be able to make it in daylight, and in the same time zone.

Until then...

--Lisa

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