Detours on the Road to Where Ever

"Establishing goals is all right if you don't let them deprive you of interesting detours".

Doug Larson

"So many roads. So many detours. So many choices. So many mistakes."

Sarah Jessica Parker

When you are taking a road trip, you usually have a destination in mind. Quite often you have time limitations and schedules, so you need to just hit the road and get to where you are going.  We seldom seem to have all the time in the world to just meander and see all the sights along the way. But even when you are on a schedule you can take a few little detours and still get to your destination, and you will be rewarded for doing so.  You will have had an experience, or learned something new, or just seen something entertaining that you will remember long after the trip is over

My husband and I take a road trip to Washington every year.  Now that we are retired, we do have the time to do a little wandering off the beaten track.  But the trip this year was going to be shorter than the past years, and when we left home we did have a schedule, as I had made reservations at a cottage on the Washington coast, which was our first destination.  It is a 2 day trip from San Diego to the Washington coast.  We made it to Redding the first day, and that was pushing it.  We got stuck in terrible traffic through Los Angeles, which really slowed us down by several hours.  Also, we have the 2 dogs with us, so we do have to stop every few hours for them to stretch their legs and take a potty break, and for that matter, us too. 

Rogue River Creamery

So the second day we are headed for our destination, and I see a sign along the side of the road which advertises The Rogue River Creamery.  They are located in Central Point, Oregon and we were approaching that area.  They said they had samples.  Now I have to say that I LOVE cheese and have actually read about this place.  I had seen an article that talked about how good their cheeses are.  So when I saw the sign I said to my husband, "we have to stop."  The good thing about traveling with George is that he is pretty easy going and willing to stop most of the time.

Since we had the dogs with us and it was a hot day, George said he'd stay in the car and I could go check it out.  I went in and had a few of their samples, and fell in love with several of the cheeses.  Their blue cheese was so creamy, and probably the best blue I had ever had.  A couple of the cheeses in their display case caught my eye, especially one that had the word raspberry attached to it.  I found out that you could ask to taste anything, and they would gladly oblige.  The raspberry cheese had been soaked in a raspberry ale, and it was my favorite cheese of the day.  I ended up purchasing 3 packages of cheese, the raspberry, the Rogue River Blue and the Mt. Mazama cheddar.  I told them I would be putting them in the cooler of my car and not actually eating them for about 5 days, when we would be at our cabin, so they wrapped them special for me, so that they would stay fresh. 

Then I noticed that there was a chocolate factory next door.  Convenient, since besides cheese my favorite thing is chocolate.  So I just had to go check it out and get a few samples there.  They had a chocolate that was very spicy, which I quite enjoyed.  The stop took just over an hour, including the driving time to the shop and back to the freeway, and I thought it was definitely worth the detour.

On the way home we also made a detour.  We had heard about VooDoo Doughnuts from several people in the area.  They are quite popular in Portland, so much so that they always have a line around the block waiting to get in.  I guess the draw is that they are different from the usual doughnut shop, in that they have unusual toppings and also, I was told, unusual shapes.  We decided to skip the one in Portland and instead stop at their shop in Eugene, which would be a quick hop off the freeway on our way south.  Their signature doughnut seems to be their maple bar which is topped with bacon.  I thought, what the heck, might as well try it.  I do require my bacon to be cooked well done and crispy and this seemed like it was.  Sometimes you just have to try the unusual.  However, I have to say that I don't really see the draw.  The doughnuts were good, but you can get good doughnuts lots of places.  The shop was a little unusual, you have the weird name going for it, and some of the doughnuts were different, but I wouldn't necessarily go back.  But still, I was glad we made the detour and checked them out, or I would have always wondered what they were like.

VooDoo Doughnuts

The maple bar with bacon

I will tell you that if you are anywhere near the Portland area, and you are at all into literature and books, then one detour you should definitely make is a stop at Powell's Book Store.  It is different from the ordinary book store.  Powell's City of Books is a book lover's paradise, the largest used and new bookstore in the world. Located in downtown Portland, Oregon, and occupying an entire city block, the store stocks more than a million new and used books. Nine color coded rooms house over 3,500 different sections, offering something for every interest, including an incredible selection of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles.



The Travel Section at Powell's

 A few facts about Powell's:   
• It has 68,000 square feet packed with books.
• They buy 3,000 used books over the counter every day.
• Approximately 3,000 people walk in and buy something every day.
• Another 3,000 people just browse and drink coffee.
• They stock 122 major subject areas and more than 3,500 subsections.
• You'll find more than 1,000,000 volumes on their shelves.
• Approximately 80,000 book lovers browse the City's shelves every day in Portland and via the Internet

It is one of my favorite places in Portland, and I make a point of stopping there whenever we are in the area.  They have a great travel section, and I bought several new travel books there this year.

A fun little detour we did on this trip actually took us by complete surprise.  We had left Lassen National Park and were heading south on the 395.  I was dozing, I admit it. So I didn't see it.  My husband said he had just seen a shoe tree.  I was a little puzzled.  He found a place to turn around and we went back, and sure enough, there was a tree beside the road, covered in shoes.  It was worth going back for, just for the amusement factor. 

The Shoe Tree on Hwy 395

So whenever you are driving down the highways on your way to wherever, make sure you take time to occasionally take a detour and check out what is around you.  You may discover a cute little town, or a new kind of cheese, or just see something amusing.  Or you may find dinosaur tracks in the dessert, which we did when we made a detour in Arizona last year.  Those detours can be fun, and certainly a lot more exciting than spending more time in the car.

Dinosaur Tracks in the dessert in Arizona