Taking the Road Less Traveled in Oregon

Near Portland, Oregon

This is a lesson I learned the hard way – Always check for forest fires or any other natural disasters near your destination. I had a full road trip planned from Portland, Oregon down to Crater Lake area, over and up through some forests and then arriving at my final destination – somewhere in southern Washington for a work meeting. Plugging my initial destination in to GPS resulted in lots of closed road notifications. Turns out, there were forest fires rampaging the entire western side of Oregon at the time. I had to stop and completely replan my long weekend, basically just cutting straight across the state, looking for new attractions as I went. I did find a literal fork in the road doing so, which was a nice break.

On my return trip, I made my way along the Washington-Oregon border, meandering through the mountains. At one point, you could barely see the sun, even though it was noon. The smoke had settled in the valley, giving everything a rustic orange tint. The wind was unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I could barely even open my car door and was very worried that once I did get it ajar, the wind would take it into the Pacific Ocean.

In the end, I made it back to Portland in time to catch my flight, which turned into a red eye, which turned into a cold, which turned into my first case of COVID. Oh the joys.

Bar Stool Talk: Have you ever encountered a natural disaster or unexpected event that completely changed your travel plans? Share your story, including any challenges you faced and how you adapted to the situation. What did you learn from the experience, and would you handle it differently next time?