Cross Country Trip – Day 29

17 April 2018

It’s been a long day.  I got out of bed at 5:30 am and was packed and loaded and on the road at 7:30 am.  I stopped for a brief breakfast at a restaurant on the way out of California.

The drive north on 199 is something to see.  I pretty much took my time on the “S” curves taking in the scenery along the way.  Eventually, 199 feeds into Interstate 5 at Grant’s Pass.  I stopped for Starbucks (yes, I know) and then headed north on I-5.

About 50 miles out of Eugene, Oregon, I though about getting the oil changed in the jeep.  I was down to 7% left on my last change and the new vehicles have a thing about not letting you destroy your engine.  I once ran low on Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) and a dire warning came up on the dash that said the engine would shut down and I would not be able to start the jeep unless I replenished the DEF.  I didn’t want to take a chance with the oil.

I called a jeep dealer in Eugene and they said bring it in and they would try to get me back on the road in an hour’s time.  They were good to their word. The whole process was easy (and cheaper than Fort Lauderdale).  I also had them change out the wiper blades (it is Oregon, after all) and the whole deal cost $102.

As it turns out, the person I talked to on the phone ended up being my agent at the jeep service department.  He’s a graduate of the University of Oregon in film and is currently getting a second degree in business.

Once the jeep was serviced, I checked and they had failed to reset the oil monitor. It was still reading 7%.  There is a way to reset it but the guy who tried to do it for me couldn’t and had to take it back to the service department.  Eventually, they got it reset and I was back on the road.
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I hit a traffic jam on the interchange from I-5 to I-84 at Portland (heading to The Dalles).  It took a good 45 minutes to get through the traffic.  Once I was free of the jam, I made pretty good time.

On the way, I noticed a turnoff for Multnomah Falls, my absolute favorite waterfall in the world.  Strangely, you could not get on historic highway 30 – the first tourist highway specifically built for tourists – and the gateway to the falls, but you could pull into a center section of I-84, park, and then walk under I-84 to the Falls.  This beats trying to fight traffic and find parking on the very narrow highway 30 – no matter how historic.

Multnomah Falls – Upper Falls 542 feet, lower falls 69 feet

From there it was a short drive to the Comfort Inn at The Dalles.  I immediately started a load of clothes and I’m finishing up the drying as I type this.  This is a fairly nice place but it is showing its age.

Tomorrow, I try to find a way to the National Park Inn at Mount Rainier.  Tom Green will meet me there and we’ll spend three days driving around, doing short hikes, and hopefully eating some good food – if we don’t freeze to death.

Bok Tower and Gardens

14 April 2016

Bok Tower
Bok Tower

It must have been at least 30 years ago I first visited Bok Tower and Gardens, probably during a trip to Mississippi to see my parents.  I remember you could drive right to the gardens and walk a short distance to the tower.  The gardens were nice but not terribly extensive.  In 30 years, things have changed!

First, part of the tower has been renovated and it certainly looks better on the outside these days.  I don’t remember being as impressed with it the first time.  Second, the gardens are far more extensive and well maintained.  They have provided numerous trails through the gardens  and have added an old home to their control.  There are at least three new buildings on the site.  One is the welcome center, another is the garden shop and another is the cafe.  They were busily installing a new children’s garden on this visit.

Window on the Pond, Bok Tower Gardens
Window on the Pond, Bok Tower Gardens

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On my first visit, I only heard the hour struck.  Fortuitously, this visit I heard the concert on the carillon at 3 pm by Geert D’hollander, the tower’s fourth full time carillonneur.  The tower has 60 bronze bells with the smallest weighing in at 16 lbs. and the largest over 11 tons.  Overall the tower supports over 63 tons of bronze.

Grounds of Bok Tower Gardens
Grounds of Bok Tower Gardens

You can go into the Founder’s room on the ground floor (available four times a year) if you are a sustainer or above and Tower Club members can access the carillonneur’s studio and keyboard room and bell room.  I’m none of those so I enjoyed the outside view.

The tower contains the Founder’s room, above it the Chao Research Center (archive), above that the maintenance workshop, above that the Anton Brees Carillon Library, above that the Carillonneur’s studio, above that the keyboard room and at the very top, the bells.