It had to happen – a route segment that must be traveled to keep on schedule but one that has little of scenic interest. No crashing waves, tumbling rivers or Crater Lakes. Just the I-5, including three major slowdowns coming into Portland that added at least thirty minutes to the normal 2:00 hour ride. No construction, no accidents, just too many people trying to fit down a finite size highway on Friday afternoon.

We did, however, find two points of interest. Since we found ourselves in Eugene and since, as mentioned earlier, Reagan was accepted to the University of Oregon in Eugene, we figured we should check it out. First, we drove 15 minutes from our hotel to the campus and walked around for a while.

We (Judy, that is) was hoping for a cup of Portland coffee at the student cafeteria but it turns out the entire campus is limited to staff and students only.

The campus is nice as campuses go – nothing special but not all that unattractive. It’s a fairly big school (20,000 students sticks in my mind) but the campus is reasonably compact. My big beef is that the two most dominating structures on campus are the state-of-the-art football field, complete with a gigantic tower whose purpose escapes me, and the equally ginormous athletic building: think a domed Quonset hut blown up to city block proportions and at least ten stories tall. I’m not sure the old Minneapolis Metrodome was much bigger.

My question: what does it say about the school’s priorities when the campus is dominated by not one but two huge athletic facilities? I have no problem with athletic programs – Go Mighty Ducks! – but really?

Judy had found mention of a city park near a really good bakery a block away so naturally we had to check out both. We scored a cinnamon roll and an applesauce, something-or-other coffee cake thing that we ate, with Judy’s coffee, in the park. The park is surrounded by nice older homes, most with colorful gardens. Spring has sprung in Eugene and the azaleas, etc. are in full bloom.

We’ll never know what might have happened if Reagan had selected U of O. I for one, would rather make the trek to San Diego to visit her.

Looking at the map, Salem lies halfway between Eugene and Portland. “Isn’t that the capitol of Oregon? asked Judy. So of course, we had to stop. It’s a fine structure but once again it’s closed up tighter than a drum.

A man coming out of the building told us, “Yes, unfortunately it’s closed and it’s too bad.” His body language reflected what we’ve heard from others in Oregon. The governor, Kate Brown, has been too slow in reopening Oregon. She escaped a recall petition in 2020 and today announced that Oregon would begin to follow the CDC recommendations regarding face mask usage by those fully inoculated. As we parted I said to the man, “Give our regards to Governor Brown when you see her.” “I will,” he replied in a tone that told me he will in fact see her soon.

So on to Portland and the aforementioned traffic. It’s so bad we don’t want to venture out to downtown for dinner. All the good restaurants near here and elsewhere are booked solid so we may be stuck in the hotel dining room, which the desk clerk said is, “honestly, pretty good.” We’ll hit downtown to eat and sightsee tomorrow.

Right now, I’ve returned from a walk up the riverside: a series of condos overlooking the river and a yacht basin. Judy, bless her soul, is doing our mid-trip laundry. We can’t send it out because tomorrow is Saturday and so she’s draped herself over a hot coin-op machine making us safe for contact with our fellow passengers during the coming cruise, which starts Sunday.