On our last day in Eugene, our plan was to ride over to the Bike Friday factory/showroom in town to order a new stem for my ten-year old Pocket Crusoe folding bike. We didn't get a sunny, beautiful day for it, but we did have a fun day and ride nonetheless. On the way there, we donated a few paperbacks at one of the few Little Free Libraries in town. In the spirit of constant downsizing and simplification, I donated four and only took one! Here's a fun mural we saw celebrating biking in all its forms on the way to Bike Friday. And we're here! We've always hoped to visit after ordering our Pocket Crusoes in 2004. Only took us ten years to get here. The showroom provides lots of colorful Bike Friday models to drool over. Love this new model -- the Haul-a-Day. Looks like you could haul a lot of groceries home on this one. I loved the colors of all of these. After having a test stem installed, I am giving it a try on the Fern Ridge bike path. We saw this very tame fellow along the path. Since I read that muskrats live near water, good chance this is what it is. I also read that they smell bad, but fortunately I didn't get close enough to smell him. Note the pretty duck hiding in the grass behind as well. This pretty community garden was alongside the path. It was nice to see some color on such a dreary day. Check out this beautiful kale and zinnia art! After returning the test stem to the good folks at Bike Friday, we wanted to get some more miles in, so we pedaled over to the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path. This trail system runs along both sides of the Willamette and through numerous parks. We also rode right by the Owen Rose Garden, which was gorgeous! I had to get a closer look at my favorites. Some of them were old-fashioned roses that still had an intoxicating aroma, unlike some of the newer odorless hybrids. We rode across this cool suspension ped/bike bridge over the river on our way back. On the way back to the motel, we spied this cool mural on the side of a building. Looks like you could just walk right into that street scene, doesn't it? And here we are, back at The Timbers, after seeing quite a bit more of Eugene. The skies stayed gray all day, but the temperature did warm up enough for shorts and short sleeves by afternoon, and it never rained, so we can't complain. And we accomplished two errands (library and Bike Friday), which is a lot for us in a single day! Stay tuned: Gorgeous Crater Lake is up next!
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One of the bike rides we wanted to do while in the Eugene area was the Row River Rail Trail, starting in nearby Cottage Grove. Since the trail is less than 16 miles long one way, Barry wanted to get some additional mileage, so decided to ride the 22 miles from our motel in Eugene to Cottage Grove, while I drove down and met him in town. He actually beat me to College Grove (of course I left a bit later!) and had time to take a few photos when he got here. He learned that Cottage Grove is the Covered Bridge Capital of Oregon -- cool. We'd get to see one of them later in our ride. And he took a few minutes to ride through the charming historic district. We saw yellow bike racks just like this in Key West! I parked at a nearby city park, and we pedaled over to the trailhead together. We had a beautiful day for it! Here's a map of the Row River Trail. All the sections marked as (Proposed) on the map are now complete and paved. After starting in the city, we soon reached this lush, green forest and a long, gentle climb. This would be a cooling place to ride on a hot summer's day. We rode alongside pretty and peaceful Dorena Lake for quite awhile. There are some big hills in the distance, but fortunately none we had to ride over. Barry did have one major climb on his way down to Cottage Grove, though. Before we knew it, we'd reached the Trail's End in Culp Creek. Time to turn around! The Row River trail is part of the Oregon Scenic Bikeways program -- the only one of its kind in the nation. Yes, Oregon is a cyclist's paradise, at least when it's not rainy! On the way back, we took a detour onto Row River Road for a short distance as it was also part of the Scenic Bikeway. What a lovely stretch this was with almost zero traffic, and it led to a nice surprise! This sign hinted at what we'd soon find.... One of Cottage Grove's covered bridges! And a very pretty one at that. It was the Dorena Covered bridge, built in 1949. We enjoyed riding through it even though it didn't really go anywhere other than crossing the Row River. I see now from studying the map above that we could have seen a couple of additional covered bridges by taking other short detours off the trail. Too bad I didn't look at the map until after we rode the trail. D'oh! After completing the trail and the little extra on the road, I ended up with 35 miles and was ready to head back to Eugene. Barry set off on his bike to pedal back. He wanted to get a full century (100 miles) on the day, so he checked out a bit of the University of Oregon on his way back. And the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery adjacent to the campus. And this mural depicting logging activities in the area. Barry got his 100 miles, I had a nice, easy ride, and we enjoyed some wonderful food that night.
Stay tuned for more from our last day in Eugene! After our awesome drive down the Oregon coast, we headed inland once again to visit the city of Eugene for a few days. Our reasons for visiting the city were twofold: One, to stop by the Bike Friday factory and order a new custom stem for my Pocket Crusoe folding bike (more on that in a later post), and two, to check out this green, cycling friendly city, which seemed a bit like Portland's little sister on paper. We picked a gem of a place to stay. The Timbers Motel is a retro, mom-and-pop type place right in the heart of downtown, so we could walk or bike everywhere. And it is unusually clean, well-equipped, and charming, not to mention incredibly affordable. We really enjoyed staying here while in town, and it proved a great base to explore the city from. There are flowers everywhere -- in barrels, planting beds, and hanging baskets. Hotels/motels that go the extra mile to have beautiful flowers always get huge extra points in my book. They make for a much more welcoming, homey environment. The rooms have been recently renovated (window treatments still in progress) and are much, much nicer than you'd ever expect from a "vintage" motel. Wood floors, huge flat screen TV, great lighting, beautifully tiled shower, tons of outlets for all your gadgets, and a super comfy mattress with lots of pillows. All this and pet-friendly too! I hope The Timbers won't mind if I borrow their image of downtown Eugene (below). I don't know how we managed to stay in town for three days without taking a nice one, but we did. It is a really charming, pedestrian-friendly place, with lots of restaurants and nice (not seedy) bars. It's definitely a foodie and craft brew mecca, and is easy to stroll and linger in. There are bike lanes on most streets and plenty of commuters and recreational cyclists pedaling by. There's some nice public art as well. And loads of adorable homes in neighborhoods right by downtown, like this cottage that totally charmed me. How cute is this?! We got to enjoy seeing downtown as well as the adorable residential area nearby several times as we found a couple of food favorites that ended up being our go-to choices all three nights we were in town. Why mess with perfection once you find it? For dinner all three nights, we walked through downtown, through the residential area, and over to the Laughing Planet Cafe, where we bought reasonably priced and super healthy dinners each night, either to eat in or to carry back to our room. This place rocks (as does their delivery van). Inside it has an urban-industrial chic decor. You order at the counter, then they bring the food to your table. They serve all manner of burritos, bowls, quesadillas, and salads, with plenty of vegan and gluten-free choices if you're so inclined, and heavy on the local and organic ingredients, when possible. Here are just some of the wonderful libations and meals we enjoyed. Barry tried a kale-apple smoothie that was dynamite. And the local blackberry ale was gorgeous and delicious. Can you imagine the antioxidants in both of these? Here's one of the delicious "bowls" I had with spinach, carrots, squash, and chicken over brown rice with an Indian inspired sauce. And Barry's absolute favorite, the "Highway to Kale" salad, which he got every night. It was amazing! He also got a HUGE burrito filled with beans, veggies, and rice one night. Great post-biking food! Here's another yummy bowl I tried, this one Thai-inspired, filled with veggies, rice, chicken, and a spicy peanut sauce. Here's another bowl Barry tried, the "Cuban bowl", with sweet potatoes, black beans, veggies, and a spicy habanaro salsa. Accompanied by a kale salad, of course! And after all that incredibly nutrient-packed food for dinner, naturally we had to indulge our sweet tooth at the #1 rated Eugene eating establishment in Tripadvisor, Sweet Life, which just happened to be right across the street from Laughing Planet. Or was it by divine design? Whatever the reason, it was a match made in heaven for us! We've been to a lot of bakeries lately, but this one takes the cake (pardon the pun!) for selection, and the quality was incredible as well. There's a long line of folks just waiting to order every single evening. The line is a good thing since it gives you time to look at everything and really consider the all-important choice you soon must make. And it is no easy choice, folks. The photos above aren't even all of it! Somehow, some way, we managed to choose and sampled a variety of incredibly decadent desserts over the three nights we visited. Some we took back to the room with us, which explains the less than gorgeous plating of some. The ones we ate in the restaurant were plated beautifully, as you might imagine. Are you ready for this? Here they are in all their splendor. Before you get the idea that we are incredible gluttons, do know that two of the three days we indulged in these incredible creations, we had done long bike rides. And we did walk to and from dinner each night as well. Ample justification, we hope!?
Here's a fun article I found on the Eugene scene you might want to take a look at to learn more about this quirky city: 31 Things to Consider Before Moving to Eugene. I just found it while writing this post, and found it amazing that both Laughing Planet and Sweet Life are mentioned in it. Good stuff! |
Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
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