Why you talk to strangers at gas stations...



 

On the way down to the airshow in Hillsboro, we randomly stopped in Scappoose, OR to gas up.  A fellow VFR enthusiast came over to talk to me about my bike, and from that conversation came the best "secret road" tip we could have gotten - directions to "Historic Hwy 30".  After leaving the airshow, we stopped briefly for some (air-conditioned) lunch and then took our lives in our hands and did a rocketing half-loop with Saturday afternoon traffic around the bottom of Portland, OR and out the other side to hook up with I-84E.  Following the tip, we took Exit 17, turned left on to Hwy 30, and proceeded to enjoy nearly an hour of the most wonderful riding imaginable.  The pics here are of Vista House, a memorial to Oregon pioneers.  It sits on a cliff above the Columbia River, with magnificent views all around.  The first half of these pics are taken from Chanticleer Point to the west.  The winding road and many viewpoints more than made up for the 100's of suicidal squirrels that apparently cross the road between 4 and 5pm on sunny Saturdays.  I managed to avoid all of them but one.  At the bottom, W sits relaxing with the view to the West and Portland behind him.