Northern California/Oregon Road Trip August 2015

Did You Know? - After the American Civil War, numerous other settlers, including Joshua Welch, George Betts, Charles Angel, W. P. Watson, and John Henry, laid out what is now known as Beaverton hoping they could bring a railroad to an area once described as, "mostly swamps & marshes connected by beaver dams to create what looked like a huge lake." In 1872, Beaverton's first post office opened in a general store operated by Betts, who also served as the first postmaster of the community. Betts Street, where the current post office now stands, is named in honor of him. In 1893, Beaverton, which by that time had a population of 400, was officially incorporated. Alonzo Cady, a local businessman, served as the first mayor. Many major roads in Beaverton are named for these early settlers.

Beaverton is a city in Washington County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The city center is 7 miles (11 km) west of downtown Portland in the Tualatin River Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population is 89,803. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city.

In 2010, Beaverton was named by Money magazine as one of the 100 "best places to live", among smaller cities in the country.

Did You Know? - It is illegal for individuals to pump their own gas in Oregon.  It must be done by an attendant!

Did You Know? - Ammi majus — commonly called bishop's flower, bishop's weed, false bishop's weed, bullwort, greater ammi, lady's lace, False Queen Anne's lace] or laceflower — is a plant originating in the Nile River Valley which has white lace-like flower clusters. It is a member of the carrot (Apiaceae) family.

Did You Know? - The city is named for the Tillamook people, a Native American tribe speaking a Salishan language who lived in this area until the early 19th century.

Anthropologist Franz Boas identifies the Tillamook Indians as the southernmost branch of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest who were separated geographically from the northern branch by tribes of Chinookan peoples. The name Tillamook, he says, is of Chinook origin, and refers to the people of a locality known as Elim or Kelim. They spoke Tillamook, a combination of two dialects. Tillamook culture differed from that of the northern Coast Salish, Boas says, and might have been influenced by tribal cultures further south, in northern California.

Historically, the Tillamook economy has been based primarily on dairy farms. The farmland surrounding the city is used for grazing the milk cattle that supply the Tillamook County Creamery Association's production of cheese, particularly cheddar, gourmet ice cream and yogurt, and other dairy products. Approximately one million people visit the cheese factory (located north of Tillamook on Highway 101) each year.

There is also a large lumber industry that is experiencing a comeback from the replanting that followed the Tillamook Burn forest fires of the mid-20th century. Burned remains of some of the trees can still be found in the forests surrounding Tillamook.

Tillamook also serves tourists on their way to the ocean beaches and as a location for second homes.

Did You Know? - The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad is a registered non-profit museum organization (501c3). We are an all volunteer organization that operates over the former Southern Pacific and Port of Tillamook Bay Railroads. We operated regularly scheduled trains between Gairbaldi and Rockaway Beach in the summer months and special event trains throughout the year over the rest of the line. Our line extends from the TIllamook Air Museum blimp hangar on the South side of Tillamook through Garibaldi, Rockaway Beach and Wheeler where the tracks turn to the East and head up into the coast range along the remote and breathtaking Nehalem and Salmonberry River canyons.

Founded by Scott and Kim Wickert in 2003 the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad has grown from its humble beginnings dodging freight trains in Garibaldi on weekend runs to Rockaway Beach and Wheeler to the sole operator of 46 miles of the railroad between the Tillamook airport and a point 2 miles east of the railroad siding of Enright in the Oregon Coast Range. The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad offers excursions operating daily in the summer months and special excursions operating year round. Our schedules and special excursion pages have more details for how to catch a ride on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.

While we have grown significantly though somethings haven't changed, tickets are still bought onboard the train in the caboose that doubles as ticket office and gift shop. Gifts include shirts, hats, sweaters, toy trains, pins, and much more. While the freight trains are gone, the scenery is second to none.

Did You Know? - The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It flows northwest and then south into the US state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

The river is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its largest tributary is the Snake River. Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven U.S. states and a Canadian province.

By volume, the Columbia is the fourth-largest river in the United States; it has the greatest flow of any North American river draining into the Pacific.

The river's heavy flow and its relatively steep gradient gives it tremendous potential for the generation of electricity. The 14 hydroelectric dams on the Columbia's main stem and many more on its tributaries produce more hydroelectric power than those of any other North American river.