Two Bikes, Two Covered Bridges

Last Friday I managed to score the day off.  It helps when your boss wants the day off as bad as you do.  We were really hoping for a dry day to go for a ride prior to the rains returning on the weekend.

While we didn't have beautiful blue sky and sunshine like the previous weekend, it was dry and a balmy 60˚F (15.55˚C) when Troubadour and I rolled out of the driveway at 1 pm.  We were headed east across the valley where we still needed to find two covered bridges in the Sweet Home/Cascadia area.

My Gladius needed petrol so the first stop was downtown for fuel.  From there we headed over the bridge and out Highway 34 to Peoria Rd.  We meandered our way south and east across the valley taking back roads.  Some I remember, a lot I don't since hubby was in the lead.

We found our way over to Highway 228 (aka Halsey/Sweet Home Highway) and through the little hamlet of Brownsville.  A good portion of the movie Stand By Me was filmed in Brownsville 30 years ago.

Further East on 228 and just before the town of Holley, Troubadour decided to explore where Upper Calapooia Drive went.  I followed and it was a beautiful two lane country road along the Calapooia River.  After about 6.5 miles we were stopped where it turned to gravel and there was a Weyerhaeuser Forestry Gate. Apparently we'd come upon the Weyerhaeuser Calapooya Tree Farm.  Since I was on Max we decided to turn around there.  Neither of us wanted a trespassing charge either.

A good spot for a break.  We stopped in a gravel area and had a snack and drink of water.  Wandered and took a few pictures.

(Entrance to Tree Farm off Upper Calapooia Drive)

(Oh, if we had the dual sports - and there were no logging trucks)

(Max just chillin')

As we were getting ready to leave I went to put my helmet on and noticed a moth resting on the top. He was pretty cool looking.

Troubadour remarked how it looked like a piece of tree bark and picked up a piece for comparison.  If the moth was on the trunk of a tree it would be completely camouflaged.

I put my helmet on and it was still there when I got on the bike. Hold on little moth.

We rode back up to Highway 228 and once more headed east towards Sweet Home.  There in Sankey Park we would find the first covered bridge of the day.  The Weddle Covered Bridge.  

(Weddle Covered Bridge (Ames Creek) - Sweet Home, Oregon)

The Weddle Covered Bridge was built in 1937 and spans Ames Creek.  It is 120 ft (37 m) long.  We would have wandered through it if a handful of teenage skateboarders hadn't made it their playground.  We did manage to keep them out of the pictures though.  For more info on the bridge click this LINK.

(Troubadour heading towards the flowering plum tree)

Before we left I too managed to get up close to the beautiful flowering plum tree.

(Flowering plum, Sweet Home, OR - March 13, 2015)

Back on the bikes and further east on Highway 20 towards Cascadia.  Fun fact - Cascadia was originally a stage stop on the Santiam Wagon Road.  A brisk 12 mile ride on the highway and we arrived at Short Covered Bridge. 

(Short Covered Bridge (South Santiam River)  - Cascadia, Oregon)

The Short Covered Bridge spans the South Santiam River and was built in 1945 and is 105 ft (32 m) long. For a bit more information on the bridge click this LINK. When walking on the bridge I noticed how low the water level is.  Not enough snow pack in the mountains this year means not a lot of run off.

(Looking right)

(Looking left - I was surprised at the color of the water)

(A view towards the bikes from the bridge)

And if you wander into the shrubbery enough you can get around the ugly "stop sign ahead" sign.

From the bridge we saddled up and raced for home.  Traffic was heavier as we were into the commuting time late in the afternoon.  It wasn't until about half way home that we saw our first motorcycle of the day.  I think we only saw 3 total and all appeared to be commuting home.

We arrived home close to 5:30 pm having put 140 miles (225 km) on the odometer. I noticed after we arrived home that Max hit a milestone.  He finally made it to 10,000 miles (16,093 km). Considering it has been four years this month since purchase, that seems pretty darn sad.  But we made it nonetheless. He now sits waiting patiently for the next ride with 10,004 miles on the clock.

If you are interested in the covered bridges of Oregon at all, Troubadour started a tab on his blog listing all of the covered bridges in Oregon with pictures and links.  Check it out HERE. So far, we've found over half of them. 

- Au Revoir

" Bridges become frames for looking at the world around us." - Bruce Jackson

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