The Dalles

August 8, 2023 to August 9, 2023

Tuesday

Today began as I wish more of them did, with Rachael and I sitting at the kitchen counter sipping coffee and helpfully looking in while Rachel chops vegetables for the omelet she is preparing us. When she and Patrick come to visit us someday in our future home we’ll be happy to break out the omelet pan and return the favor, but in the meantime we’re content to let them build up some credit.

We’re on the road not long past eight, on the not terribly long drive to The Dalles. We have a couple of possible bike rides in mind, including one right here. There would be worse ways to start the day than going back to the Greenbelt and exploring the miles we missed yesterday when we stopped to help Shelby. More enticing though is a ride down Reith Road, the back road between Pendleton and Umatilla that follows the Umatilla River - we rode it eight years ago on our way back from Walla Walla, and it’s a ride I’d love to repeat some day.

Not today though, because there’s a new development - Rachael’s knee, the one she scraped on that fall back by Lake Louise, is troubling her more this morning and she thinks she’s in need of a rare day off. So we just drive.

There’s little to say about the drive, except to take note of the disaster that didn’t happen. Somewhere west of Ontario, after it’s too late to do anything about it, I look at the gas gauge and wonder if there’s any risk of running out of fuel before we make Baker City. I don’t think so, but as we continue driving I start to worry. The gauge is working it’s way toward the red zone faster than I expected, which reflects the fact that we really haven’t had the Raven that long and I’m still learning its quirks.

Eventually I decide that it’s too close a call, and we either need to find a station on the way or turn back to Ontario while there’s still time. Rachael consults the phone and I’m relieved to hear that there’s a station just 13 miles away; so as long as it’s actually open we’ll be fine. And we are fine. Before we get to the station though, we hit the red zone and the dash warning alerts me that I’ve got about 50 miles left in the tank. So we’d probably have been fine in any case, since Baker City was only 45 miles away at the time.

Oh, and there’s one other thing to say about the drive. We stopped for a snack break in Pendleton, at the excellent Buckin Bean, a coffee & pastry shop with excellent eats and a lot of character that’s just the sort of place we were hoping to find in Baker City two days earlier. We’ll have to remember this place if we’re back through Pendleton some day.

Even with those two breaks it’s still only about two when we arrive in The Dalles after picking up an hour when we cross the time zone for the sixth time. Too early to check in to our room, so we head down to the waterfront for lunch as our main meal of the day, enjoying the view of the bridge and dam and being amazed at the number of pelicans gathered out in the middle of the river.

All those pelicans! There must be fifty of them out there.

We check in to our room at The Dalles Inn around four, and spend the next several hours in the room avoiding the oppressive heat. Toward sundown though I head down to the waterfront, thinking I might see some birds on the river along the Riverfront Trail. I don’t really, other than a few gulls too far off to distinguish; but as compensation I find the Bargeway Pub, and a pleasant spot to sit on the deck and enjoy the views over an IPA.

The view across the river to Dallesport.

Wednesday

Rachael’s knee is no better today, so a ride or walk on the way home is out. We can’t check into our Airbnb for the next month until noon and we have to be out of our hotel by 11, so we pick 10:30 as a departure time and I go out for a walk along the Riverfront Trail. My knees feel better after the walk than when I started, reminding me that I really do need to start working walks into the routine more frequently. And it’s a very enjoyable walk that surprisingly reels in a new bird for the list, although best was the flock of vultures on the beach that let me approach surprisingly close to them.

Looking cross at Dallesport again. The Dalles sits in such a beautiful spot. I’d really be happy to make it over here more often than we do.

I wasted too much time looking through all the sparrow pics before deciding this was just a female or immature house finch.

Wow, another good look at a belted kingfisher. That’s two this month.

Missing a few primaries. Looks like he’s been in a dogfight.

I was surprised to see this flock of turkey vultures soaring ahead. Later on I’d find them all hanging out on the beach.

Vulture, what big feet you have! I’ve never noticed.

Train shot. There can never be too many of them.

So we’re back in town again, for 31 days this time - the minimum stay that allows us to avoid the exorbitant short term lodging tax. Sad to say, we find that we don’t care for this spot too much and we’re not that enthusiastic about being back in town either. We’re glad of the chance to catch up with friends and family but there’s no doubt we’ll be ready to leave for Spain when the time comes.

In the meantime, I’m not sure how much activity we’ll report on here. The lights aren’t going out on this journal yet but they’re definitely dimming. Certainly they’ll flicker enough to illuminate any new birds that walk across the stage, but don’t be surprised if it’s pretty quiet here for the next four weeks. See you whenever.

In the other Caffe Umbria, the one downtown closer to our current apartment. An impressive bit of color coordination, and a chance to brag on the fact that I still haven’t lost this pair.

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Patrick O'HaraYou're Canadian adventure/road trip was a joy to read. Thanks for taking the time to write these up everyday.
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9 months ago

Keith Adams"I look at the gas gauge and wonder if there’s any risk of running out of fuel before we make Baker City. "

About 40 years ago, the outdoor columnist / humor writer Patrick McManus published collections of his columns in book form ("A Fine and Pleasant Misery", "They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?" and possibly others). One column had to do with running out of gas, and asserted that the only thing more exciting and riveting than actually doing so is being acutely aware that your supply is low and *almost* running out. Nothing catches and holds your attention in quite so riveting a way as a gas gauge that hovers near and moves inexorably toward that ominous "E" marker.

The advent of the Low Fuel Warning light, and its associated estimate of remaining range, has really eroded the effect and drama.
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8 months ago

Keith Adams"We stopped for a snack break in Pendleton, at the excellent Buckin Bean, a coffee & pastry shop with excellent eats and a lot of character that’s just the sort of place we were hoping to find in Baker City two days earlier. We’ll have to remember this place if we’re back through Pendleton some day."

One of my favorite stops last year, because of the delightful couple I spent over an hour chatting with (Tiffany and Ray, https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/rejuvenation/0708-halfway/), was the Coffee Corral Roasters in Baker City. You could do far worse than enjoy a cup of their dark roast and a chocolate chocolate chip muffin.
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Keith AdamsThanks for pointing that out. It’s just the sort of place we were hoping to find a few days earlier but unfortunately it was Sunday and they were closed.
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Keith AdamsThis is really true. One of our strongest driving memories is from nearly 20 years ago, driving home from a bike tour of the Northern California coast. We had about forty miles to cover then on a nearly empty tank before the next station. I put the car into neutral at the top of every hill, and prayed a lot. We were reminiscing over that day on this drive.
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8 months ago

Bob DistelbergI’m one of those “Time to fill up as soon as it dips below half a tank” kind of people. The few times I’ve been traveling and ended up in one of those close to E situations, it was very unsettling. Come to think of it, it’s the same with recharging the various devices.
Thanks for sharing your Canadian trip. The photos and scenery were just spectacular. Such a beautiful area.
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8 months ago

Bob KoreisOn pro about being back in PDX is that your location is probably within a reasonable walk to St Honore. Fantastic patisserie/boulangerie.
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Bob KoreisThanks for the reminder. That really is a great spot, but I haven’t been there for years. I’ll have to try to stitch it into an outing.
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Bob DistelbergI’ve made many resolutions to become such a person, but it just doesn’t seem to be in my genes. It doesn’t take me long to revert to type.
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8 months ago

Jacquie GaudetAl has run out of gas exactly once in his life, so he's doing pretty well (but I'm doing better). We were on our way home from cycling in to Victoria to visit relatives (we prefer not to take the car on the ferry) so our older son just took his bike off the rack and rode home. Chip off the old block.
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8 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Jacquie GaudetI’ve been close enough to sweat a few times, but it’s been at least 40 years since I actually ran out and walked for gas. I don’t remember it at all clearly, and can’t even say for sure there was just the one time. There are a few things I’ve gotten better at as I age, at least.
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8 months ago