Bonnie Lure State Recreation Area

There's not going to be much to say about Bonnie Lure as there isn't much to it. After "touring" Oregon City, we headed out toward Estacada to try and find this state recreation area (it's not a state park and I'll explain why later). I didn't go with specific directions in hand, only the knowledge that it was out Highway 224, north of Estacada. I figured that it's a state park and they're always so well marked, why have good directions? Well, it's not a state park. It's an undeveloped state recreation area. After driving well past the turnoff and nearly hitting Estacada, we looked it up in the navigation. That brought us back down 224 where we turned off and drove right past the park in a loop that brought us back to Estacada. We looked it up on the state's website and drove back to where the navigation first told us. We drove by slowly this time and realized there was just a sign at the parking lot that would never stick out to you unless you knew it was there.

It may have been the slight frustration in getting there, it may have been the lack of contact with nature since way before tax season, but the creek was very serene. The water pushed up against the pillar of the bridge taking Dowty Road over Eagle Creek in a very . . . reassuring way. After reading what the Oregon State Park website had to say about this place (just now), I realized that we probably didn't see everything that Bonnie Lure had to offer. Even with this new knowledge, however, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that there isn't much to the recreation area but nature. It's a beautiful place to go fishing, sit by the creek or go on a short walk, but it's a recreation area and not a fully developed state park. If I were ever in the area again, I'd definitely want to stop by. It's pretty. It may be busy and unattractive on warm summer days (it just looks like one of those places), but on this nice but a bit drizzly of a spring day it was quite perfect.

Here are the specifics:
Fee: None

Pets: Allowed

Facilities: None
Attractions: Trail, wildlife/bird watching, native plants, fishing, swimming
Waterway: Eagle Creek & Clackamas River
Round Trip Hike: Roadside - unsure of trail length
Hiking Difficulty (out of 5): N/A

Camping: No

Season: Year round

Coordinates: 45.350722 -122.37655

Governmental Agency Land: Oregon State Parks & Recreation

Nearest town: Eagle Creek, Oregon (1.3 miles)

Nearest 10,000+ city: I'll probably have to give it to Damascus, Oregon on this one (8.6 miles - Damascus is just under 10,000 in 2009, but Sandy will be there eventually and is closer. Clackamas, Oregon City, Gladstone are all pretty equally distant)

County: Clackamas , Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 5 for beauty, 4 for crowds, 3 for play availability, 5 for surroundings - 4.5 average

More Information: Oregon State Parks - Bonnie Lure State Recreation Area

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Art? on the bridge:
Eagle Creek:
Eagle Creek under the bridge:

Oregon City Elevator/Willamette Falls

Somehow, I didn't know about the Oregon City Elevator. Mom says I may have been there as a kid, but I definitely do not remember it. I don't even know how I heard about it this time around. I do know I heard that it was the only "vertical street in the world." I think it may have been on the radio. I don't go down to that part of the metro area often, so I never even noticed it. Believe me, you'd notice it if you drove by (see the pictures below).

Let's just say that if this is a vertical street, I'm . . . I don't know . . . Betty White. It's an elevator. It's not even a very nice elevator. I'm glad we did it, but I wasn't impressed. I was even less impressed by Oregon City itself. As I said, I haven't been there in awhile if ever, but it was really run down. It seemed like there might be some good potential, but there was nothing much going for it this time. A good urban renovation could be good for this place. I didn't want to turn right back around and head back up the elevator, though, so we walked around down to the falls.

Willamette Falls is another sad reminder of what could be. The river seemed polluted, but it was probably just the debris from it being higher than normal. The run down factories built on the sides of the falls were the big problem, though. It wasn't even the 'neat old' type of factory, just a really run down paper mill that looked and smelled bad. The falls are big and powerful and still an impressive site, but it's certainly no picnic place in the making.

Back to the elevator. I can do that because it was used to get back, too. And to give it credit, it is the only elevator that connects a street on two ends, but it's not like you can drive into it. There is a nice view from the top, nothing touristy about the ride (the attendant didn't say a word to us - and why is she even there? I can push a button). It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for the "art project" of c. 2004. There may have been some lovely pictures, but they were all that cheap greeting card thing where if you look at it from one angle you see one thing and if you look at it from another you see another. I, personally, never can really see a full picture in one of those things. Anyway, we took the elevator back to the top, got in the car and drove off. Zoom zoom.

Here are the specifics:

Fee: None

Pets: Allowed, on leash

Facilities: None
Waterway: Willamette River
Waterfall Type: Block
Round Trip Hike: Roadside
Hiking Difficulty (out of 5): 0

Camping: No

Season: Year round

Coordinates: Elevator - 45.356918, -122.607701; Falls - 45.35239, -122.61763

Governmental Agency Land: Presumably Oregon City

Nearest town: Oregon City, Oregon (in town)

Nearest 10,000+ city: Oregon City, Oregon (in town)

County: Clackamas, Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 3 for beauty, 5 for crowds, 1 for play availability, 1 for surroundings - 2.5 average

More Information: Elevator; Falls

My Current Location: Home - Portland, Oregon

Oregon City Elevator:
Part of the view from the top:
Willamette Falls:

The Windseeker Restaurant

I just began my usual follow-up research for a post and landed on The Windseeker's website. In big bold blue letters in the middle of the page lies the claim that The Windseeker is the only restaurant on the river in The Dalles. Surely this couldn't be right, could it? A decent sized city in Oregon built there solely because of its proximity to the river has only one restaurant actually on the river? Yes, it's true. I would guess that the reason for this lies on the importance of the Columbia River in The Dalles formation. Even this restaurant is nestled in the heart of an industrial area. It seems to be the exception to the rule for waterfront property in The Dalles. Certainly this is somewhat sad, but it really just shows that The Dalles is still a lot about what it started as - a port.

Back to the restaurant experience. Does that make it sound like something special? It shouldn't. It was fine, I guess, but it was yet another case of a restaurant trying to be something it's not. The place is a pub and family dining style restaurant. We all know that 9 times out of 10, when you have this type of combination, the focus is usually on the bar side. The money comes from the alcohol and the lottery, especially in Oregon. The food is often an afterthought. Sometimes it is clear that this is the way the business was formed, with the food being an afterthought. In this case, it seems more like the care for the food waned over the years. The names of the dishes on the menu sound like 4 star entrees, but looking around you, you know they aren't. The food is fine, but remember that you're going to get something that tastes like what the place looks like, not what it sounds like on the menu. A place like this should be focusing on a few good dishes, not a recipe book's worth of options. When the options are too many, you know the skill in preparing the dish is low. I just got a cheeseburger and fries, which should be something a place like this would be good at, but it was nothing special.

The fact that this place is in the middle of an industrial area is well hidden. When you get to the parking lot, you are taken to another place. There's a fountain out front, a small garden and a decent looking restaurant amongst the trees. It gets away from the starkness of the surroundings. Once inside, you're taken back a couple decades in the decor (because of a lack of updating, not intentionally) and the view of the river is pleasant. The service is just fine, especially considering the fact that there was a railroad employee dinner being hosted in the main dining room that took well over half of the space available. There should have been more than two waiters on a night that this was going on, however. It was obvious this was planned ahead of time since there was a buffet line out just for these people.

Overall the restaurant is just fine, but it lacks anything that makes me want to go back. I know there are other interesting restaurants in the area for the next time I'm taking the I-84 drive to or from Idaho. Of course, you end up where you are when you're hungry. I don't know that The Dalles offers anything much better, but I'm sure there's something just waiting to be discovered.

Here are the specifics:

Price: Covered above. $$$ (out of 5)
Cuisine: Family Dining/Pub
Reservations: Probably if you asked, but not required
Pets: No

Parking: Parking lot

Address: 1535 Bargeway Road, The Dalles, Oregon 97058
Nearest town: The Dalles, Oregon (in town, but a couple miles from the core)

Nearest 10,000+ city: The Dalles, Oregon

County: Wasco, Oregon

My rating (out of 6): 4 for service, 2 for food, 2 for decor, 5 for view - average 3

More Information: Windseeker Restaurant

My Current Location: Home, Portland, Oregon