We woke Saturday morning to 38˚F ( 3.3˚C) but the skies were clear and the forecast was for highs of 66˚F (18.9˚C). A perfect day for riding.
Time to dust off the bike, my gear, and also dust off the cobwebs of my mind. You know, the ones that accumulate over the winter months and cloud the mental acuity needed for riding.
Troubadour and I rode to Saturday coffee then headed out meandering across the valley in a southeastern pattern. Some back roads I'd been on before, some I'd never been on.
We found ourselves at Thompson's Flour Mill on Boston Mill Road. (Thompson's Mill was formerly known as Boston Mill). The mill is the same one in my header pic that was taken 3 years ago. It is an Oregon State Park Heritage Site, built in 1858, and is the oldest water driven mill in the state. It burned down in 1862 and was rebuilt within a year. It continued to grind grain until 2002.
The Mill was actually open so we stopped by and looked around and even took a free guided tour.
Once inside we were treated to working displays showing some of the belts, gears, grain elevators, and augers of days gone by.
The tour guide even guided is through the basement, opened the gates to the mill pond and started the last remaining turbine. When we went back to the main floor the mill was turned on and we watched all of the original elevators and belts move. It was quite a sight and must have been really loud and dusty back in the day.
As we went back outside we were greeted by the resident chickens, and one rooster.
A sign on the outside of the mill showed some of the old advertising from when they produced cattle and poultry feed as well as flours. (They mixed molasses with the grains)
As we walked back towards the bikes we noticed there were more chickens, as well as ducks and turkeys milling around the farmhouse yard and were starting to wander towards us. The park host had added a feeding station and they were looking for some grub.
They had the largest turkeys I'd ever seen. A park ranger came and talked a bit and said the poultry came with the place. A lot of them are heirloom and have just reproduced and kept the lines going. They were true free range and could wander at leisure. While it was fenced in front, they have 86 acres at their disposal at the back of the yard/property.
We had parked the bikes by some picnic tables so it was the perfect opportunity for a snack in the sunshine. We stalled and soaked up the sun for as long as we could then got back on the bikes and headed further east then south. Troubadour had a route in mind to find a few more covered bridges.
ToadMama - I think I need some of those stick-on googly eyes for my top case when it photo bombs.
Next up was Crawfordsville Covered Bridge in Crawfordsville, built in 1932 and spanning the Calapooia River.
Further south and we saw the Mohawk River (Earnest) covered bridge. The original bridge was built in 1903 but was replaced in 1938. This bridge was appeared in the movie Shenandoah filmed in the 1960's.
Back on the bikes and we came to the last covered bridge of the day, the Mill Creek (Wendling) Covered Bridge, built in 1938.
Wendling Bridge was the last stop of the day, but the best riding was yet to come. We made our way out to Marcola Road then south to Hill Road and east on McKenzie View Road. If you click on this LINK you can see part of the route. We were on the upper orange line between Hill and Coburg Rd. Fun bits of twisties in there with a little elevation change.
We went north on Coburg Rd into Coburg, then into Harrisburg and north on Peoria Rd and into Corvallis. From Harrisburg to home, it was a little blustery and the clouds rolled in. It cooled off but it never did rain.
We arrived home about 4:30 pm with smiles on our faces and tuckered out from not riding in a while. While Troubadour commutes by bike as often as he can, he hasn't been doing much pleasure riding lately.
It was only 110 miles (177 km), but it was a great day out on the bikes and a nice kickoff to riding season.
- Au Revoir
" Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawns." - Quoted by Lewis Grizzard in Kathysue Loudermilk, I Love You
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You're right- That WAS a lovely day!
ReplyDeleteIt was so nice to get out on the bike. I hadn't actually ridden since Thanksgiving. That three months was the longest I've gone in about 5 years without riding.
DeleteTrobairitz:
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice day to start the riding season and get your riding legs functioning again. So many covered bridges and all of out view of the tourists. You have so many backroads where you are and they all lead to a covered bridge. All I could think of was Free Range Turkey .... mmmm, I love turkey
bob
A weekend photographer or Riding the Wet Coast
We are spoiled with our back roads. We ended up on the other side of I-5 and took two lane roads the whole way. I love meandering through the valley.
DeleteThose turkeys may be tasty but do you want to eat anything that sounds like that? They were loud. You could hear the rumbling in their chests. It was quite the experience.
Pretty nice outing and the mill looked like an interesting place to visit. Too bad there isn't more of it operational. I visited somewhere that was still a functioning shop with a water turbine driving overhead pulleys which drove the woodworking tools. And nice photos of the covered bridges. How many more until you've ridden to all of them in the state?
ReplyDeleteWe have 56 covered bridges left in the State and I think we've only tagged 18. We have a long way to go. I think we have all the ones close by and will have to take 2-3 day trips to get some of the more distant ones. We always have a hard time planning destinations so this will help.
DeleteI want to start a blog tab on Oregon lighthouses too.
What a lovely day! Riding, old mill, chickens, turkeys, AND covered bridges. VERY cool. Glad you got out. I really enjoyed your pics. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, you should have some googly eyes handy.
We saw a little bit of everything. I thought you'd like the poultry pictures. The rooster was so colorful.
DeleteGoogly eyes are a must. Every time I scroll down and see that pic I think I need the eyes.
Covered bridges look so lovely.
ReplyDeleteThank you - and thanks for stopping by. I've added your blog to my list on the side bar so I can follow along on your posts.
DeleteGood posting with a bit of disparate subjects! I found it interesting that they had to order those milling stones from France, guess there wasn't a source closer by.
ReplyDeleteNot only shipped to Connecticut from France but then sent around the Cape by boat instead of over land. I was quite surprised to read that.
DeleteVery nice tidbit about the milling stones from France that were carried around South America, Brandy. Don't you just love the opportunity to learn something historic about your surroundings (as a bonus of a two-wheeled outing)?
ReplyDeleteAnd a covered bridge! I bet you have a lot more in the area than we have over here.
Can you imagine the cost associated with the millstones? And they had more than one too.
DeleteI love touring the historic areas. They aren't always open when we go by so this was a nice treat.
A beautiful day - some history, some poultry a few back roads and covered bridges. Sounds Perfect. We're about two months from green grass and bare pavement around here although there are a few hard cores who are skidding on ice and sand covered streets to prove they can.
ReplyDeleteIt was a little bit of everything kind of day. Except rain, we lucked out with no rain.
DeleteHard to believe it will be so long before your pavement is bare enough for safe riding. You'll have to have your own Dust Off ride when the time comes.
You Bet!
DeleteNice. I'm guessing the millstone wasn't shipped in 7 business days...
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of your covered bridges... 56 you say? I think I've seen 4 or 5.
At one point Oregon had 450 covered bridges so it has really gone down in numbers since their heyday. He is a neat link: http://www.oregon.com/covered_bridges
DeleteAnd yeah, I can't imagine how many months it took from the date of order to delivery of those millstones.
Wow what an amazing day! I love visiting historical places very cool. Beautiful pics and Troubadour us looking very spiffy in his roadcrafter suit. Nice to see you out & enjoying sunshine.
ReplyDeleteHe does look pretty spiffy doesn't he? He is visible enough it makes me think I need a high vis jacket since my helmet is black.
DeleteNice! About time those bikes got some exercise. I still dunno what's up with having roofs on bridges but I'd probably slow down for a pic of them too.
ReplyDeleteThe Gladius is still missing some tank decoration I see...
I agree, about darn time. They put the roofs on the bridges to protect them from the elements. With the rain we get a year and moss and such they though the bridges would last longer if they had a cover.
DeleteAnd yes, decoration is still missing, lol.
Argh! Lost my post! Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing your pics of the local area. Home. Sigh. :)
I'm glad you guys got out for a ride, and the day looks lovely. Ron tried to start his bike, but apparently the battery is toast. He said he'd take Sam to work tomorrow. She started right up, ready to roll. That she has heated grips is a nice perk for him.
I hate it when the comment disappears. Blogger hiccups I guess.
DeleteGlad we could bring you a touch of home. Still no idea when Rachel gets to come home? Been thinking of you guys. Especially when we saw the cyclists out in Linn County while we were riding.
I bet Ron enjoys those heated grips. Sam may turn in to his favorite bike.
Great to see you finally have some decent weather and get the bikes out for a fang. It didn't take to long from freezing cold snow to 18°C riding weather.
ReplyDeleteI see you two have renewed your covered bridge addiction. Have you thought of seeking out professional help?
Hooray for decent weather. Typically it will rain all weekend then be nice during the week when we have to work. Darn jobs always getting in the way of riding. We lucked out with the nice saturday and we picked the right day because Sunday's weather was windy and kind of crappy.
DeleteNot so much an addiction as a good excuse to wander hither and yon. Just be glad we didn't turn them in to kissing bridges this time. :-)
The first ride, the old mill, covered bridges and chickens.......If that doesn't describe a lovely spring day I don't know what will.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty good first ride of the year for me. Of course Brad has ridden with his commuting and teaching Team Oregon. Hooray for spring - hope your snow melts soon and your weather warms up.
DeleteThe chickens and turkeys were a big surprise, could have played with them longer but they didn't want me to pet them, lol.
I love that mill. Back here in ye olde country we have quite a few that are still in use but all now heritage sites.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see that people are keeping our heritage alive for the future generations.
It is nice the old mills are heritage sites now. If they didn't keep them going no one would ever know how flour used to be made. The ranger at this one said they hope to be operational and making flour and/or chicken feed once again within a few years. I think they are hoping it will be self-sustaining.
DeleteWhat beautiful riding and fantastic photos! I love that riders travel to these out of the way places and see things that others just wouldn't take the time to appreciate. I have only been over a couple of covered bridges in my lifetime and both on a motorcycle. We found them in Pennsylvania with my Uncle Reggie. :)
ReplyDeleteI saw those temps and shuddered! Eeek! I don't know how you ride in that cold, but I sure admire you for it.
Smooches,
Sash
SashMouth
An educational and fun ride, couldn't ask for more than that.
DeleteThe temps were actually pretty good that day, things had warmed up. Well, the 38 in the morning was not warm. I'd taken the rain liner out of my jacket and just left in the quilted one, that makes it a little chilly on the chest. I forgot the rain liner is a wind blocker as well, doh! Now you know one of the reasons we are always in full gear - the weather.
I enjoyed the journey out with you guys on your first spring ride! And what a grand one it was! I too see some of those big old turkeys at one of my stops out by our bike trail. They are pretty fascinating and make some really odd clucking sounds when they "fluff up" their feathers.
ReplyDeleteFun to read and experience with you!
I am glad we could take you along for the virtual ride. Those turkeys were huge. The wild ones I've seen weren't that big, but maybe I just didn't get close enough. It is cool you've seen wild turkeys wandering in your travels too.
DeleteI'm always impressed by your ride reports...the photographs make me feel as if I was on the ride with you. You definitely have some beautiful places to ride. I haven't been on my bike in a couple of weeks and reading about your ride makes me want to get in the saddle and go. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Curt
Live Free. Ride Hard. Be Happy.
KT Did,
Nice post. I especially like #4 No Ego. I have long believed a rider has to be confident when they ride but they should never be cocky. Confidence will keep you alive, cockiness will get you killed. Thanks for sharing you philosophy.
Cheers,
Curt
Live free. Ride Hard. Be Happy.
www.curtcarter.com
Thanks Curt for the kind words. I haven't been back on the bike since so I am itching to go again if our spring rains ever stop.
DeleteI am sure KT Did (Kathy) appreciates your kind words as well, lol.
You two saw a lot in 110 miles. I look at those old mill pictures and become fascinated. The mill stone story and the elevators has me picturing the people who used that equipment all that time.
ReplyDeleteWe did. It was a great day, now if the rains would stop we'd get out again.
DeleteThe mill was really interesting especially when they turned it on and you could see the old elevators running where they cut out the walls for viewing. The leather belts were just zipping by. They showed us one area where a worker wore out the floor and they had to replace it with plywood and he wore through that too. It was the bagging area and I guess the gentleman worked at that station for most of his life. Quite the history.
I'd really like to have that sign with the cow! What a little gold mine of a place that is!
ReplyDeleteLooks like the cow is giving a raspberry to someone doesn't it? If it was for sale I'd grab it for you, but it will has to stay as a nostalgic piece of history.
DeleteInteresting stuff, especially the bridges. Looking at the photos of the mill, I could just smell the musty atmosphere! I love those old places.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan. Not as cool as some of the trips you've always got going on, but we enjoyed it.
DeleteAnd yes, it smelled very musty.