Parkinsons And Touring The Oregon Coast; Part Four

Toby

 Maria's last minute wish before she arrived was to ride horses.

A little panic as we don't ride, we don't hang out with horse people and it's the end of the season for dry sunny days, But I found a place that provides trail rides on the beach. A two for one deal: The glorious Oregon coast and a trail ride.

Except the weather was due to change. I have never spent as much time looking at weather as when my guests were here. Surprisingly, but typical of our September weather here in Oregon, it was sunny their entire time. But a storm was forecast and the horse ride could only be done on Thursday or Friday. I wasn't sure I could deliver.

 Recently, my family visited Pacific City and the trail ride was here as well, so we parked Asko, at the local Pelican Brewery - right on the beach!
Asko could care less about riding, but Maria had taken lessons for 12 years. English saddle riding lessons. We are not that sophisticated (lol), so Western would have to do.

On the trail rides I've gone on before with my kids, it's nose to the tail in front of you. And you plod along the trail, safely. This was quite different for me. My horse, Charlie, likes being on the ocean side of things. And he plods, but not right up against the butt of the horse in front. Maria was not so lucky -- her horse, Toby, was apparently behaving for once and tucked himself right behind the leader horse. Nothing she could do would separate that bond.

Good for me, as I am a  "I don't want to fall off" rider. Not so good for Maria.

Pelican Brewery

 This is what we parked Asko in front of. A $7 sampler of ales and some fish and chips.

After our ride, Maria and I had a late lunch. I had just a house salad as my tummy was saying no to the other lovely things on the Pelican Pub menu. They added craisins marinated in one of their cream ales. I'm in heaven. So I bought a bottle to experiment with. It's sitting in the fridge right now with a "Don't drink my ale" note for when I get to the store next to buy the craisins.

Lincoln City

 Driving south from Pacific City, we stopped in various waysides to take in spectacular views.  Yes, the weather was changing but not until we were finished sightseeing.

This viewpoint is just south of Lincoln City. That long spit of land in the background is a lovely long, flat beach (No tidepools), and Mo's restaurant sits at the end with a lovely view back towards us in this photo. The inner area, when the tide is out is awesome for clam digging.

Mo's is a tradition, serving good clam chowder among other seafood.

 Depoe Bay.

All my life, we've gone here. The kids have gone here with their bands for Memorial Day remembrance ceremonies. This is the smallest deep water harbor. No sandy beaches here. Just a tiny town also know for their salt water taffy.

And I've never seen whales here until this day. The whales came just for my guests.
They were playing quite close to shore (rocks). And looking right, you could see big, fat, seals sunning themselves on rock islands.  This is when I realize I need a better camera. My iphone just shows rocks and ocean waters.

Good thing a nice volunteer had big binoculars he didn't mind passing around. Seriously awesome.

 We continued on to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.

$7 gets an Oregonian frustrated. It used to be free to go up and walk around. The lighthouse is closed these many years. But it's out on a spit of land that has tidepools to play in. Instead, you pay your day use fee and then they placed cones in the road to make you turn right, before even seeing the lighthouse, to their brand new interpretive center.

I felt slightly illegal, going around those cones and dissing their brand new interpretive tourist stuff. I'm sure it's all wonderful inside, but we were here for the lighthouse.
(I'm striking this beautiful spot off my visitor showcase list.)

One thing to note in Oregon -- all beaches are public access forever.  We enjoy beautiful scenery and feel strongly it should not be closed off for a select few. I will say - it's not the $7 day use fee - it was the cones placed in the middle of road forcing me to go somewhere I didn't want to go.

 Some stairs (two flight length) to a nice viewing platform, also a wheel chair ramp.
 It's a bit of a walk down to the tidepools.

About as close as I could zoom with my phone. You can make out the specs of humans playing in the tide pools to see what they could see and touch. Sea Anemones and Starfish are the usual.

 Over towards the right, we saw more seals basking in the sun.

 We had planned to drive from Newport back to Corvallis and meet up with my son for dinner but after waiting on Hwy 20 for over 20 minutes of not moving, we turned around and came home via Lincoln City. We ate dinner at Mo's which is one of those iconic, traditional things we Oregonians do when coming to the beach.

A very long day of driving, but I managed to deliver on the horseback ride.

They also had the next morning free prior to  leaving, so I took them out to another favorite restaurant, the Donald Cafe. On the way, I thought to show them where we flew in the balloon and landed. As we came through Hubbard, the car lurched to the right. We had stumbled on the St. Agnes church rummage sale.

Their annual rummage sale.

I always find stuff here. So, we derailed, much to Maria's delight and mine. I found her a nylon USA flag and she found two small pinback pins of the US flag. Perfect ending to their trip that started nearly a month before in Chicago, driving Route 66 on motorcycles to Los Angeles, and finishing up in Oregon.

A Tourist With Parkinsons In Oregon; Part Three

To properly see Oregon, you must go on a balloon ride. At 6:30 in the morning.

One of my guests has Parkinson's Disease. When visitors come, we usually take them around to see the sights which involves a lot of walking, something my friend, Asko, doesn't do well. Trying to think of new touristy ideas, my husband suggested a balloon ride.

 Late September is definitely almost the end of the season for balloons (until springtime).
Portland Rose Balloons operates out of Aurora Airport. Local to me.

That's the basket. It can hold more than 12 people, which we had. I've been on two other balloon rides with the more usual smaller basket which holds 4 -5 people.

The pilot had two of the three grammas lie down when the balloon was near  round, and scoot into the basket. He also had my friends do the same on the other side. This is for two reasons. One - very accessible for older people. As the balloon continues filling and coming upright, those people also come upright without having to clambor over the sides of the basket. Two  - now you have some weight in the basket so it won't float away ( UP!)

Yes, you heard me right, three old grammas. That makes this super accessible for any person. I'll tell you - those grammas were calling people (all the bars are in the sky), texting, talking. They were more connected than me.

Our pilot and our three grammas.

Hazelnut/Filbert trees in the background. These are newly planted filbert trees in the foreground.

Big or Little Pumpkins

Our balloon ride took just over an hour and five miles as the crow flies.
Slow and beautiful.


How can you top that morning?
You  go on a lunch cruise on the Portland Spirit up the Willamette River.

City of Portland

We each selected different items for the limited menu ( five entrees to pick from). Mine was fresh steelhead.  Everyone agreed their meal was delicious.

Once you board in downtown Portland on the waterfront, they immediately seat you. When the boat gets underway, lunch is served.
The cruise is about two hours in length.

.

 As far as accessibility, this is a very steep ramp (september --when river levels are low). There is help available if need be.

Parking is best as a drop off for the passengers and then the driver can park about two blocks away. There is a short, flat, walk to the waterfront of maybe 300 yards and then this steep ramp down to the boat.

Once on the boat, you would only need to use the stairs if you want to go up on deck.  Banks of windows are on each dining deck  (two) and if you have accessibility issues, then reservations will seat you on the first deck closest to the water.


So, other than the steep ramp, this cruise is very accessible.

The new, old, Sellwood Bridge

 After lunch, I immediately pop up to the top deck --which is just for viewing. I love being on a boat. However, I rarely get to do so in our Portland. We used to have a little fishing boat but we would put it in south of Milwaukie.

The lunch cruise of the Portland Spirit cruises from Portland down to Milwaukie. If you went further, you'd hit Oregon City and then pass through the locks (which are currently closed because of maintenance) and hit Canby where we live.

We have used the Columbia and Willamette rivers to find our way home when clouds unexpectedly closed in when we were flying home from an airshow years ago. These  rivers are a big help for navigating the wide open skies. Even when cloudy, there will be breaks in the clouds above the river.

Waverly Golf Course. 2nd oldest golf course west of the Mississippi.

There are some homes that defy tiny houses.

 You were so focused on that Mediterranean humongous house, you might not have seen the floatplane docked there.

Floating homes. It used to be you did not have to pay Oregon property tax on these homes as they were floating. That tax loophole has since been closed up.

Coming back up river.

This is our brand new pedestrian bridge crossing the Willamette river. It's only for pedestrians, bicyclists, and trams. No cars allowed.

It finishes up on the left at the new OSU/OHSU medical building where my son was one of the first students.

 

 The Willamette, as well as the Columbia, serves a lot of big ships. Dredging has to be done to keep the channels deep enough for ocean going ships.  Most of the ocean going vessels stop just north of Portland. South of Portland is for the smaller boats.

During June, many military ships dock right on the Waterfront during our Rose Festival.

Directly ahead on the east side of the river is our acclaimed O.M.S.I. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. There is even a submarine to climb aboard.

Maria and Asko really enjoyed this day.

Having friend s visit allows you to see your home in a new light. Because of Asko's Parkinsons, we stretched our tourist thoughts and saw some Oregon highlights we might not have seen otherwise.

Asko's problems with walking is the eye/brain connections. If he can see a line to follow - a rug, a flooring line, a sidewalk line, he can walk quite normally. Otherwise, he has to shuffle. Which makes long walks out of the question. 

He can and did ride my bike up and down my street. He rides motorcycles quite well. However, he knows as his Parkinson's progresses and trike motorcycle will give him more stability.

Being A Tourist In Portland with Parkinsons; Part Two

Swan Island Dahlias

 Yesterday, we visited Multnomah Falls. On the way home, we stopped at the BIG Harley Davidson place in Gladstone.
Asko has been looking at Trikes as his condition deteriorates.

It was Monday so  we scored a very knowledgeable salesperson who was able to talk to foreigners without stupidity. Some trikes  - don't know the exact lingo - come with the two back wheels on the same suspension, others are separate. Harleys' come together so your ride might be more bumpy.  Who knew?

Also, you cannot import new motorcycles into Canada or the EU. However, you can sell to California, if the bike is used with at least 7500 miles on it to qualify for stricter CA emission requirements.

I explained that here in the US, Harley's have more status. But in Finland, everyone wants a Honda.

I also took them to Tony's Fish Market in Oregon City for some smoked and fresh salmon. Nums.

On the way home, we stopped at the Oregon City Overlook that looks down on the Oregon City Falls, the abandoned Blue Heron paper plant, the power plant,  and the locks. This is just off the highway (99E) and very little walking.

The next day, Tuesday, we drove over to the big Honda Dealership near Washington Square.
Less helpful, less merchandise.

Both Maria and Asko had all sorts of sweatshirts and tshirts with Honda Gullwing or Shadow on them - that they bought in Finland. This store, as big as it was, barely had a red Honda tshirt. Nothing about the different models. Quite disappointing.

Then we drove south to see my parents who wanted to meet Maria for the first time after all these years. There's a Mexican restaurant in Sherwood that I like. They had the enchilada special and Margaritas. A strawberry and a banana margarita. Happy tourists.

I had the carne asada and no margarita = happy driver.

Since walking long distance was out,  I couldn't show them our wonderful museums. So, I did the next best thing - Cabelas. 

This is so quintessentially Western US Outdoor. The center aisle contains all the animals we might encounter in the Western states - all safely taxidermed for our safety.

Some easy walking down a store aisle. This is all wheelchair accessible.

  We stopped at Old Navy  and found a woman's Timber's tank top. So tired of men's tshirts choking me at the neck.   I also found a nice v-neck woman's Oregon State Beaver's shirt.
Asko sat in the car - remember, he doesn't like shopping.

We drove back to canby via the Canby Ferry to make a short visit to the dahlia fields.

The ferry ride is short enough not to get out of the car. Asko grew up with a ferry quite similar to this one running on an underwater cable.

Photo credit belongs to our pharmacist in town at Parson's Canby Pharmacy.

The dahlia fields were still going strong and while there isn't a paved asphalt pathway through the fields, many of the flowers are quite near the road in several places allowing Asko to see them up close. Maria's dad used to raise these in Finland for his market stalls.

This day was made up of various small errands that involved a lot of car time with very little walking time.

Tomorrow's installment was another sunny day of awesomeness.

part one is here.

Being A Portland, Oregon Tourist With Parkinsons, Part 1

St. Josef's Winery

Woman's Forum Viewpoint - Crown Point

Vista House - Crown Point

 I had the pleasure of playing hostess to my host-sister from Finland this last week. I was an exchange student there -- a few years ago :-). I managed finally to get back to Finland four years ago and this year, Maria returned the visit coming to Oregon to see me.

Maria and her fiance, Asko, came a couple of weeks earlier to ride Route 66 on Motorcycles. How cool is that?  While Maria has been to the states before, they hadn't been to the hot, dry, states before (Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nevada, California).
Oregon was a relief with all it's greenness.

They traveled from Chicago to LA on Harley Davidson Motorcycles. At home, near Helsinki, Asko drives a Honda Gullwing and Maria just bought a Honda Shadow. A bit different than Harley's.

Anyhoo, Asko has Parkinson's Disease. He can drive motorcycles, and ride a bike, but has trouble walking far. My traditional Oregon things to show guests involve a lot of walking. We needed to adapt our Oregon Tour.

There was a worldwide Parkinson's Disease Convention here in Portland the weekend they arrived. After picking them up at PDX, we drove to downtown Portland to the convention center and had dinner nearby at the Altabira Roof Top Restaurant. Where we met up with their Parkinson friends - all 14 from Finland! It was a seriously awesome dinner with my non-existent finnish (I've forgotten so much)  and they all tried out their english on me.

I could see the different levels of Parkinsons. Some people had suffered with it for many years (Asko - 19 yrs) and others had the fast evolving type.




There are multiple finnish tour groups coming here to the states to ride motorcycles.
And kitschy Route 66 is a favorite.

Shepherd's Dell Waterfall

 Sunday was our first full day so Maria and I left Asko with my husband while we  went and did some shopping. They hadn't had the chance to buy souvenirs while riding. We live near the Woodburn Outlet Malls and all my European visitors love their brand names.


Being Sunday, there were a few airplanes taking off from our airstrip (to breakfast or wherever) and Asko helped my hubs in the hangar. I should mention Asko has limited english but can understand more. He was happy to have a down day and not go shopping.

Serendipitously,  the nearby winery, St. Josef's was doing their annual grape stomping festival this last weekend.
Maria and I tasted the harvest, took a tour (I was much busier on Instagram this week - RocketGirl50), and bought a couple of bottles as gifts for her mother and for us to drink during the week.

On Monday, we drove up the Columbia River Gorge to Multnomah Falls. This is probably the number one tourist attraction just outside of Portland and it's relatively accessible. We borrowed a folding wheelchair from the senior center just in case and ended up not using it but it was nice to have it just in case.





If you catch the old highway just outside of Troutdale - I think it's exit 22 Corbett -- it's a very scenic drive from the car. First up is the Woman's Forum Viewpoint where you can see up and down the gorge. Very accessible by car with less than 10 steps to view amazing.

Looking west down the gorge, you can see Portland, and looking east up the Columbia, you see Crown Point. Our little jewel on the mighty Columbia.

The highway is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and was blasted out of the rocks lining the gorge to create a picturesque drive. It has suffered periodic landslides and was completely revamped several years ago. It's lined with

We then drove to Vista House at Crown Point. Some stairs, but accessible for Asko. Parking is quite close. Maybe 100 steps to the doors of Vista House. Inside to see all the marble work and art deco architecture.

Along this highway are many year-round waterfalls. Multnomah Falls is the second-highest in the United States but there are three others  that are easily viewed from the parking areas. There are several that need to be hiked into.

First up was Shepherd's Dell. You could do a short hike to the pool or just look from the bridge.
All of these waterfalls have a parking area along the road around each attraction. It's nice to get princess parking, but if you don't, the walking distance  is not great. (finally caught up with my photos on this post.)

Shepherd's Dell Waterfall. We are actually across the road from the falls. We crossed to see way down below some more pools and the gorge view.

Wahkeenah Falls

 Most of Wahkeenah Falls is visible from the road. Very pretty.

My son has hiked up to the upper pool to take really awesome photos in his IG feed. Hiking is available everywhere but on this drive we are focused on the accessibility.

Depending on your princess parking abilities, its 100-200 steps to the bridge. Alternatively, you can let passengers out at the bridge. Most drivers are kind enough to wait if there is traffic.

Wahkeenah Falls. Discussing  fir tree growth. These are like third generation firs. Most of the big ones were cut down a hundred years ago.

 Driving on, we come to Multnomah Falls. This one is tricky. Parking is what it is. If you come via I-84, you have to walk a long ways. Local's secret is to come via the old scenic highway and you get to park nearer. Still - I had to let my passengers out while I waited for a spot to become vacant.

This is where we thought we might need the wheelchair.
Everything is wheelchair accessible up to the first viewpoint.  Including the ramp/walkway from the I-84 parking lot.

Multnomah Lodge is not. The Lodge restaurant is upstairs - which Asko did well on. The gift shop is too crowded for accessibility although they do try. Good thing Asko doesn't like shopping - lol.

I would say the walking from the road's curb to the lower viewpoint is about a football field in length and slightly uphill.

 Late September, the falls are on the thin side.
Multnomah Falls is fed by underground springs as are most of the waterfalls up the gorge.


Multnomah Falls is always crowded with tourists seeking pokemon as my sister noted.
So it's more dodging unsuspecting tourists that makes this difficult to navigate. Asko managed quite well. 

We ate at the Lodge Restaurant which has some beautiful architecture. The Salmon burgers were very good.

Bridge view.

 Maria and I hiked five minutes to get to the bridge spanning the falls. You can go further to a even more up-close viewpoint but that takes a while depending on the amount of tourists trying to push you over  get by you. There are a few bench seats at the lower viewpoint which Asko sat on to wait.


People push strollers up here so it's conceivable that you could push a wheelchair. Not sure I would want to. This short trail has about five switchbacks to help you gain elevation.

Horsetail Falls

 This is one of my faves - Horsetail Falls.
You can jump in over at the sides, you can swim, you can take your shoes off - it's gorgeous. Beautiful.

Horsetail Falls is also right beside the road. Parking is closeby. 100-200 steps to bridge view.

 I'll be back to throw some more traveling with Parkinson's Disease photos at you soon.