Bonneville Fish Hatchery in Columbia Gorge, Oregon

Bonneville Fish Hatchery in Columbia Gorge, Oregon
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

The Bonneville Dam fish hatchery is located adjacent to the Bonneville dam along the Columbia River in Oregon. Here, salmon, trout, steelhead and othe r species are hatched and raised and released to the wild where many will make the long trip into the ocean, then return to the Hatchery to spawn.

Oregon Coast Landscape

Oregon Coast
Originally uploaded by papalars

It's actually hard to find (or take) a bad shot of the Oregon Coast, which is one of the most photogenic destinations you'll encounter no matter where you travel.

Always after my trips to other places I come back to Oregon and never fail to note the abundant natural beauty of Oregon.

For more about the Oregon Coast visit the Oregon Coast Blog: http://oregoncoasttravel.blogspot.com

Full Sail Ale Brewery Tour - Bottling Machine

Full Sail Ale Brewery Tour - Bottling Machine
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

After the batch of beer has gone through the 10-14 day fermentation process it's ready for bottling. Here, a tube fills each bottle and caps them after which they are inspected and put in cases, and shipped out all over the Pacific Northwest. Some of the beer is kegged in a different machine for distribution to bars and restaurants.

Full Sail Brewery Tour, Hood River Oregon

Full Sail Brewery Tour, Hood River Oregon
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Sugar content of the unfermented mix is checked at Full Sail Brewery in one stage of the brewing process. Behind are the huge Mash Tun and Lauter Tuns into which the huge batch of beer is processed by hand and under close supervision over the first few days of the brewing cycle. Later the beer will move to the huge fermenting tank where yeast is added, breaking down the sugars into alcohol over a period of 10-14 days after which the beer is ready for bottling or kegging.

Much of the beer crafting is done as part of the process of selecting and adding the hops to the mix. Full Sail uses mostly Oregon hops from the state's fertile central valley.

Full Sail Brewery Tour, Hood River

Full Sail Brewery, Hood River
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Full Sail Brewery, Hood River
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Full Sail Ale is one of the most popular beers in the Northwest, and our Full Sail brewery tour in Hood River helped us understand why Full Sail remains so popular. We had a great guide, Gary, and thanks to his expertise and the fact we were the only two on the tour we were able to ask a lot of questions.

Gary explained that in 1985 the town of Hood River was suffering badly as the Timber Industry was in decline. A group of friends, hard up for work, decided to start brewing beer and took over a small building which remains a small part of the huge brewery complex that now produces millions of bottles of Full Sail Ale and Henry Weinhard's as part of the Full Sail contract with Miller Brewing.

Bonneville Dam Powerhouse

Bonneville Dam Powerhouse 362
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Inside the Bonneville Dam Powerhouse water from the mighty Columbia River flows below, powering 8 massive turbines, each generating enough power for about 30,000 homes.

Completed in 1937 after about 4 years of construction, the Bonneville project brought power, flood control, and jobs to the depression ravaged Pacific Northwest. Seventy years later the Bonneville complex has expanded to another powerhouse on the Washington side of the river, and continues on as one of the USA's major hydroelectric power resources.

Oregon Coast Cities

The Oregon Coast has no major cities but many small and charming towns and villages, almost all built around Highway 101 (the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway) and very near or along Oregon's beautiful coastline.

You can find good detail on all these cities at the official website of the printed Oregon Coast Mile by Mile Guide and the companion Oregon Coast blog which provides travelers with details on things to do, where to stay, and where to eat all along the Oregon Coast's Highway 101.

These are the cities along that Oregon route, featured at the Mile by Mile Guide:

Astoria
Bandon
Barview
Bay City
Beaver
Brookings
Cannon Beach
Charleston
Cloverdale
Coos Bay
Coquille
Crescent City
Depoe Bay
Dunes City
Empire District
Florence
Gardiner
Garibaldi
Gearhart
Gleneden Beach
Gold Beach
Hebo
Klamath Area
Lakeside
Langlois
Lincoln City
Manzanita
Mapleton
Myrtle Point
Nehalem
Nesika Beach
Neskowin
Netarts
Newport
North Bend
Oceanside
Ophir
Otter Rock
Pacific City
Port Orford
Reedsport
Rockaway Beach
Sand Lake
Seal Rock
Seaside
Tillamook
Toledo
Waldport
Warrenton/Hammond
Westlake
Wheeler
Winchester Bay
Yachats

You'll also want to order a free printed Mile by Mile guide by clicking here: People's Coast website

Bandon Sunset on the Oregon Coast

Bandon Sunset July 1987
Originally uploaded by Dan Hershman

Bandon by the Sea is one of the cities along Oregon Coast's Highway 101 and a very popular vacation spot for California folks as well as Oregon locals from the inner valleys.

Bandon's actual official name is "Bandon by the Sea" but it is almost always called Bandon locally. Old Town is Bandon's charming downtown tourism district where you'll find several excellent restaurants shops, and lodging. A few miles south of town along the Bandon Loop Road are several more hotels like the Inn at Face Rock (nice rooms, golf, beach across the road) and the Windermere (right on the beach, more rustic rooms).

Several years ago world class golf came to Bandon with the Bandon Dunes, a Scottish style course that attracts golfers from all over the world.

Travel Oregon

Oregon's Tourism information office is called "Travel Oregon" and they have a lot of great resources available to you to help plan your Oregon trip.

The website is here
The Travel Oregon blog is here
Order vacation planning guides here

Oregon Coast Official Websites

The best way to plan your trip to Oregon is to surf several websites, order printed information that many of those sites offer, and if you are like me keep cutting and pasting information into my own personalized trip guide.

The official Oregon Travel website is Travel Oregon from the Oregon Tourism Commission click here for website .

The Oregon Coast makes this job a little more interesting because there are literally dozens of excellent resources, many of which try to cover the entire coast.

The most comprehensive of the Oregon Coast sites is the Mile by Mile Guide to the Oregon Coast combined with the Oregon Coast Travel blog. Both come from the publishers of Oregon Coast Magazine and the Mile by Mile Guide to the Oregon Coast which is the most popular guidebook in all of Oregon.

Although I will cover some Oregon Coast themes here at The Oregon Experience, look to the Oregon Coast Travel blog for the best coverage of the coast including travel tips and news.

Other good resources for the Oregon Coast are OCVA - The Oregon Coast Visitors Association new "People's Coast" website.

Note: Please don't ask me to explain how in the world somebody came up with "The People's Coast" after spending a small fortune in consulting fees.

OK, you talked me into it. Expensive firms routinely convince gullible clients that elite "branding" is more effective than real marketing. This is because real marketing has measurable results and returns on investment, where "branding" campaign failures can easily be covered up. Sorry - but this stuff bugs me.

Oregon Coast Highway 101 Mile by Mile

The most comprehensive directory to the Oregon Coast is this excellent Oregon Coast website that takes you mile by mile along the entire 363 miles of Oregon's magnificent coastline, from Astoria on the Northern Oregon Coast to Brookings on the Southern Oregon Coast.

Here are the Oregon Coast Highway 101 mile by mile categories. Click on each for extensive details for each part of this amazing coastal drive - a drive I believe to be unsurpassed in charm and natural beauty.

Astoria to Seaside
Cannon Beach to Manzanita
Manzanita to Tillamook
Tillamook to Lincoln City
Lincoln City to Newport
Newport to Yachats
Yachats to Florence
Florence to North Bend
Coos Bay to Port Orford
Port Orford to California

These highways intersect with Oregon Coast Highway 101

Cape Arago Highway
Highway 6
Three Capes Loop Highway

Oregon Experience. The Oregon Coast from Brookings to Gold Beach

As we noted earlier, Highway 101 is pretty much the only game in town for travel along the Oregon Coast.

.....to be continued...

Oregon Coast: Highway 101

When you are talking about travelling on the Oregon Coast, you are talking about Highway 101. US Highway 101 was designated a National Scenic Byway - the longest in the nation at over 300 miles, spanning the entire Oregon Coast from Brookings, Oregon north to Astoria, Oregon.

The route is locally known as "101" but the Scenic Byway is called the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway NSB Website.

This splendid drive offers many wonderful views though you'll want to get out of the car and hike the short distances that usually will get you to cliffs or the beachfront to see even more.

One of my favorite hikes is the Indian Sands just north of Brookings in Harris Beach State Park. The area was frequented by Native Americans and is named for the colorful sandstone. Note that you can't get down to the water here - for that head south to Harris Beach Park Picnic Area. Also, there's a great Oregon State Welcome Center up the hill and across the highway from that Picnic Area.

A common mistake for travelers is to underestimate the time it can take to comfortably drive the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway. You'll want to plan 2-3 days for this drive so you can have some beachcombing and unwinding time. There are several beachside Bed and Breakfasts and vacation rentals nestled in the countryside as well as hundreds of hotels which tend to cluster in the cities. We'll have a lot more about places to stay on the Oregon Coast later...

Oregon Coast: Brookings, Oregon

Brookings aka Brookings-Harbor thanks to a two city consolidation some time ago, is the Southernmost city on the Oregon Coast, in what locals call the "Banana belt" of Oregon thanks to the climate which is warmer than coastal points north in Oregon and south in California.

Two great information stations are located in Brookings. The first is one of several State of Oregon Visitor Information Centers where Oregon maintains an excellent visitor information center across from Harris Beach State Park just north of Brookings on Highway 101.

In town in the Brookings Harbor Chamber of Commerce has an excellent collection of visitor information for Brookings-Harbor and it's located down at the Brookings Harbor, one of the areas you'll want to visit during your stay. Here at the harbor charming restaurants and shopping blend with working fishing boats. Sometimes you can even buy fresh fish right at the docks.

Other good online resources for this region are:

The Wild Rivers Coast, an active coastal regional promotion group;

Oregon Coast Visitors Association which promotes the entire Oregon coast.

Southern Oregon Visitors Association which represents seven southern Oregon Counties including Curry County;

Travel Oregon, the state of Oregon's tourism website.

Brookings, Oregon from Travel and History

There are many hotels along 101 in town, but if you want to spend a bit more and wake up almost on the beach you'll want to consider the Best Western Beachfront