Fort Collins – Dinosaur Park – Bend – Eugene – Corvallis - Oregon Coast - Olympic Park - Olympia

June 2nd – July 3rd

We began this trip just down the road in Des Moines, Iowa to visit with Peace Corps friends Tom and Lita who were kind enough to put us up for a night. It was great to reconnect with them after this very long year of isolation. More on the Magedanz at the end of the blog.

Our first destination on our "search of the perfect retirement town tour" was Fort Collins (metro population 310,000) at the base of the Rocky Mountains and home to Colorado State University. We could picture ourselves living there even most regular neighborhood streets were as wide as avenues lacking an intimate feeling that we like so much. So yup, being the first city on the tour, it checked many boxes: it had mountains, a charming downtown, beautiful magpies flying everywhere and a super vibrant farmer’s market.

Horsetooth Falls Trail

Benson Sculpture Garden

Our next destination was Dinosaur National Monument via Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park. The road to Estes Park snaked through a series of quite picturesque canyons. Our plan was to take Trail Ridge Road through the park, which at 12,200 feet is the highest non-dead-end paved road in the country. Excited to travel this road, we got to the park, to find out that only people with advanced reservations could pass through. Major bummer! This was the only road in the area traversing the mountains, so we had to drive all the way south to Interstate 70 before heading west again. Sometimes unexpected changes come with good surprises, not only this road was very scenic, but we hiked at enchanting Lily Lake and discovered some truly interesting mountain towns along the way, such as Nederland, were we had a delicious Nepali lunch. Nepali restaurants seem to be extremely common in the Colorado mountains. Estes Park has at least three of them plus a bunch of Himalayan stores as well.

Lily Lake Trail near Estes Park

Interstate 70 Rest Stop in Glenwood Canyon

Dinosaur National Monument has it all. Fossils, and petroglyphs, and canyons oh my! Considering that the name of the park is “Dinosaur”, it should not be a surprise that they have fossils there. In fact, this area contains one of the largest fossil deposits in the world. Most dinosaurs on display in museums around the country came from this very site. We visited their “Wall of Bones” in the Quarry Exhibit Hall which is a collection of fossils of nearly 200 late Jurassic dinosaurs that can be seen exactly as found, rearranged by the flow of an ancient river stream providing for a very unique experience.

The petroglyphs and pictographs in the region, which date back 800 years, were created by the Fremont people who left numerous amazing examples scattered throughout the area. Hunting for them along the cliff faces was an exciting game during our hikes. Many of them are still in great shape.

On our first day we hiked through a wide exposed desert canyon. It was a scorching hot day, so we only made it a mile before turning back. Considering that our campground did not have any showers, finding a pebble beach on the Green River was just the right place to visit on such a hot day. There is nothing like a nice dip to cool off and wash off our layers of sweat and desert grime.

We were fortunate to score one of the few campsites with multiple shade trees. While relaxing in the shade, the desert heat was not too bad. And after the sun set, it became quite cool, allowing us to enjoy a campfire, a very late starry sky and have a good night sleep. The next day we hiked to two steep dead-end canyons. These trails were mostly forested, so hiking in the shade was quite pleasant. One of the canyons had a running stream and was filled with lush vegetation. I imagined that it would be a great place to hold up during a zombie apocalypse.

Desert Voices Trail

Box Canyon Trail

Cooling off at a Green River Beach

All our gear on display at our campsite

Our next stop on the retirement city tour was Bend. On our previous trip out west, we did several awesome hikes in the area. This time, we just had time to explore the city and we loved it…especially the downtown area, the parks, the water, the houses. With a metro population of 166,000, Bend is Oregon’s largest city east of the Cascade Mountains. When most people think of Oregon, they think of lush green landscapes. Bend sits on the dry side of the Cascade Mountains in a high desert, so its landscape is very different than that found by just driving an hour to the west. The predominant vegetation here is ponderosa pine and bitterbrush.

On our way from Bend to Eugene, the next city on our tour, we passed through the Cascade Mountains. This was a pretty highway, but I was disappointed not to have any clear views of the mountain peaks that we were driving past. However, if one has the time, there are loads of trails leading to great views. Our time was limited so we opted instead to take a short hike to two waterfalls. The super lush trail that followed the McKenzie River was absolutely enchanting, with moss growing everywhere, just like in a fairy tale.

McKenzie Rapids between Koosah & Sahalie Falls

Sahalie Falls Trail

Eugene, sitting at the southern end of the Willamette Valley is lush with vegetation and a counterculture scene more radical than Madison or even Asheville. Perhaps this is because the city is home to the University of Oregon and its large liberal arts program. Living in Eugene, one would be submerged in a tie dye universe. With a metro population of 375,000, Eugene is the largest city we are considering. We found several neighborhoods that we liked including the perfect house which was just move-in ready…

During our visit we hiked to Spencer Butte, which is by far the highest point in the valley. for many miles around. At the top we had a great view of the Cascade Mountains off to the east, and the Oregon Coast Mountains to the west. Afterwards, we went to Skinner Butte, (because just one butte was not enough), which was much lower and had a road to the top. Since it sits near to downtown, it had great views of the city. The next day we hiked to an upper valley in the foothills of the cascades past interesting rock formations covered in moss. Later we visited Springfield, next door to Eugene, which is believed to be the inspiration for the Simpsons Show.

View of Cascade Mountains from Spencer Butte

Horse Rock Ridge Trail

View of Downtown Eugene from Skinner Butte

Downtown Springfield's tribute to the Simpsons

Just less than an hour from Eugene our next stop was Corvallis. With a metro population of only 86,000, this is the smallest city we are considering on our trip. Corvallis sits in Willamette Valley adjacent to the foothills of the Oregon Coast Mountains and is home to Oregon State University. An interesting college town, less artsy but super green. It has a lush and beautifully designed River walk along the Willamette River with many places for people to gather and enjoy.

While in Corvallis we summited Mary's Peak, the tallest mountain in the Oregon Coast Range, which is not as big of a deal as it might sound. We began hiking three miles through dense forest by ourselves and were surprised when near our destination our trail intersected with a dirt road that we had to share with loads of people coming from another parking lot just a little down the hill. At the peak, we found unobstructed, but very hazy views of Mount Jefferson (70 miles away as a bird flies), Mount Hood (90 miles), and the Three Sisters (100 miles away).

Sample of Downtown Corvallis's Murals

Old Growth Trail - Peavy Arboretum

Mary’s Peak East Ridge Trail

After Corvallis it was time to head to the ocean. The day-and-a-half we spent following the coast to the Washington border was the most interesting of the trip. If we had unlimited time, we could have found places to visit every few miles of roadway. The first day, we explored the town of Newport, the Devils Punchbowl Nature Area, Yaquina Head Nature Area, and ended up at the South Beach State Park campground.

Newport had some attractive areas, beautiful homes perched on the cliffs and an outstanding seafood restaurant. However, the town was way too touristy for our taste. Its fisherman themed downtown filled with wall-to-wall people, trinkets, fudge, salt-water taffy and all was a little too much for us. The Devils Punchbowl and its adjacent beach and bluffs was a much more interesting place to explore. This unique rock formation was created by the collapse of the roof over two sea caves and then shaped by the pounding waves.

Yaquina Head’s main attraction is its tide pool which can only be toured during low tide. Fortunately, that is when we arrived. During low tide, as the ocean recedes, the hollows in the basalt rock formations retain their water and become mini aquariums filled with orange sea stars, purple sea urchins, and giant green anemones to name a few. Absolutely amazing.

On the following day we explored Cape Lookout State Park. The trail we took followed a bluff along a peninsula that jutted out over two miles into the ocean and offered spectacular views of the coast. At least we imagined that that they were spectacular, because the day was very overcast, and we only had small glimpses of the shoreline through breaks in the clouds.

Later, we drove to Oswald West State Park hoping to hike to the Devil’s Cauldron, which sounded like a cool place to explore, but we never found it. Instead, we did a trail that followed a pretty stream that eventually led us to a beautiful cove. From there, we drove to Hug Point, the highlight of the day. We had fun exploring its sea caves carved into the sandstone cliffs, a small waterfall, and long stretches of beach dotted with sea stacks.

Our final stop was Cannon Beach with its beautiful long beach and famous 235 feet tall Haystack Rock jutting out from the Pacific coast. We found this town to be more interesting and less touristy than Newport. We ended our day’s journeys at the Fort Stevens State Park campground.

Smuggler Cove - Oswald West State Park

Hug Point Sea Cave

Hug Point Sea Stacks

Haystack Rock - Cannon Beach

Olympic National Park was our next destination. Along the way we Stopped for lunch at the city of Astoria. Funky Astoria was not on our radar screen, but we might give it a more serious looksee when we visit the region again. Astoria has an attractive downtown and loads of interesting old houses. The city which sits on the shore of the Columbia River, was the first American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. With a metro population of only 38,000 it is unlikely Sandra would be happy living here. While there, we visited the Astoria Column, which offered spectacular views of the city and the Columbia River.

That night we were Lucky to find another great site at Potlatch State Park. This one with its own salmonberry patch. Yum! We enjoyed the great variety of berries we found on our numerous hikes within the northwest region. A big plus for us possibly moving to this area.

Our goal while visiting Olympic National Park was to summit Mount Ellinor. With an elevation gain of 2,300 feet, this would have been the most ambitious hike we would have ever done together. It was a hot day with the trail starting out very steep, so we were really working up a sweat. After less than an hour we began hiking in snow. Soon the snow became so deep, that it became difficult moving forward. It was surreal hiking in so much snow on such a hot day. The trail markings became totally invisible, and the few people we saw were well outfitted with snow axes, crampons, and poles with metal tips, (Sandra’s poles have rubber tips). When we saw that some of them were turning back, we determined that it was time for us to turn back as well . For the remainder of the day, we explored gorgeous Lake Cushman and did a hike along the Staircase Rapids.

View from the Astoria Column

Mount Ellinor Trail

A hazy Mount Rainer from Mount Ellinor Trail

Lake Cushman

Our next and final city on our tour was Olympia, the state capital of Washington with a metro population of 286,000. This radical city brimming with young energy is located on the very most southern end of Puget Sound. So, there were load of opportunities for impressive waterfront views and sightings of Mt. Rainier to be had. We found many pretty inter-city parks, with the best being Tumwater Falls, a beautiful canyon with waterfalls, cascades, and salmon hatchery. Olympia has a lot going for it, but Sandra was not very excited with the neighborhoods we visited nor the samples of housing we looked at.

While in the area, we checked out two neighboring communities. My favorite was the unincorporated area of Boston Harbor, population 1,700. This town has loads of handsome houses, many with great views, however, there is not much there. Its downtown is just one small general store with some restaurant/bar tables. Yet it is only an 18-minute drive from downtown Olympia. Sandra is skeptical that we could be happy there. Because of its proximity to bigger urban life, her favorite town was Gig Harbor, population 10,000, that is only a 17-minute drive from downtown Tacoma. We’ll give it a more serious look on our next visit.

You might have heard about the heat wave they had out west this summer. On our last day in Olympia, it reached a high of 113 degrees, and as is common in the area, our apartment did not have air conditioning. In the past. Olympia only averaged a high of 77 degrees in July. So, it is not difficult to understand why only 50% of houses in the region and 30% of apartments have air conditioning. Also, the older the building is, the more likely it is not to have central air conditioning. If weather patterns continue to get warmer, this will probably change.

Tumwater Falls

State Capitol Building

View of Olympic Mountains from Boston Harbor

Sunroof of the Museum of Glass Bridge - Tacoma

Before heading back east, we stopped off in Seattle to visit with friends. We had lunch in Dana’s and Sandra’s beautiful backyard garden and later went for a swim at a tiny beach with Laura and John who were gracious enough to put us up for the night. It was another extremely hot day, and even though they live in a beautiful historical home, as I mentioned earlier, Puget Sound + old house = no air conditioning. Because of this unprecedented heat wave, they attempted to purchase a window mounted unit, but the entire city was sold out. Laura booked a room at the hip Staypineapple Hotel and invited Sandra to spend a girl’s night in cool decadence while John and I toughed it out. Actually, after taking a cold shower and lying in front of a window fan on full blast, it was not that bad.

It was finally time for our 28-hour, five-day drive back home. It was our 19th wedding anniversary, so we stopped in Spokane for the night and celebrated with a delicious and beautifully platted gluten free dinner. Thanks, Dana’s Sandra for the excellent recommendation. Spokane has an impressive canyon with waterfalls adjacent to its downtown. But it was just too hot to do any explorations.

The next day we visited Missoula and Butte After driving mile after mile through empty lands with little sign of civilization, we were surprised with how much character Missoula had. While there we explored the downtown and a charming Art Museum housed in a Free Library building. Butte, on the other hand was quite sad. You could tell that there was once money in the town by all the grand old houses we saw. Unfortunately, most of these houses were rundown, and the downtown resembled a ghost town.

On our third day driving home, we took a two-hour tour of the Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. The tour was very educational, loads of fun, and absolutely amazing. The tour started with us climbing a steep trail to the cave entrance. Once inside the temperature dropped to 48 degrees, which after a four-day heat wave, was very welcoming. The first room we passed through was a bat habitat. The bat population varies greatly depending on the time of day. When we arrived, there were only a few hanging way above our heads. As we continued our way through the cave, we passed through various rooms consisting of limestone formations of different shapes and sizes. Many looking like giant melted ice cream cones. The tour proceeded down through the mountain along a long series of steps. Some of these passages were quite cramped, and at one point we had to go down a natural slide. Eventually we ended up back near the visitor’s center. Afterwards for a stroll and lunch, we drove to Bozeman, another city of great character and spectacular mountain views.

We started the next day at the Wall Drugstore, retracing our itinerary from exactly 20 years ago when Sandra moved from California to Wisconsin. That was our first road trip together. It was even bigger and more touristy than we remembered, with hoards of shoppers showing up by the bus load.

The Badlands offers a rugged but beautiful landscape of soft sedimentary rocks that were deposited and eroded over millions of years creating formations layered with vibrant colors. The very bottom layer which was deposited 69 to 75 million years ago is a gray shale containing gypsum and iron oxide. The very most top layer is only 28 to 30 million years old and contains volcanic ash.

We only spent one day in the park. Most of the interesting rock formations can easily be seen from the road. The only real hike we did was on the Notch Trail. Because I have a fear of heights, this trail was a little scary for me. We followed a canyon until we reached a point where we had to climb a multi-story wooden ladder bolted into the canyon wall. Once on top we had to follow a narrow trail to a notch in the canyon wall that revealed a dramatic view of the surrounding area. The ladder was not as scary as I thought it would be, however there was a point along the trail where I froze looking down at the canyon floor below and debated turning back. As I was determining what to do, a group of small kids hurriedly walked past me without giving it a moment’s thought. That gave me the courage to finish the trail.

On the last day of our odyssey, we explored Mitchell’s Corn Palace. The Corn Palace is a concert/sporting venue that is covered on the outside every year with new murals made of various colored corn cobs nailed to its walls. Sioux Falls was our final stop on our long journey. We explored its downtown Sculpture Walk consisting of 43 sculptures within a three-block stretch, and the falls that are the name sake of the town. Both of which were unexpected treats. Then, it was time for the long stretch home and the opportunity to get some needed rest. Touring the countryside for five long weeks was quite exhausting.

Final Thoughts

After our trip, Sandra is now even more confused than before as to what city would be best for us. All of the towns we visited would be great places to live, and they all exceled in their own way. After much debate, we agreed to eliminate Fort Collins and Bend from the list. That presently leaves us with Asheville NC, (see previous blog of our Asheville visit) Olympia WA, Corvallis OR, and Eugene OR. And we still have a few more cities in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona that we might want to visit this winter before making up our minds. Also, next summer, we might want to explore one or more of the northwest communities of Astoria, Port Townsend, Gig Harbor, or Bellingham. Wow, that is a lot of town shopping still to do.

So far, based on the information we have to date. If it were only my decision, it would be a tossup between Olympia/Boston Harbor, or Asheville/Black Mountain. Looking at just the city, Asheville is the clear winner, with better weather, arts/culture, neighborhoods/architecture, and resilience to global warming. Looking at just the region around the city, Olympia is the clear winner, with better access to spectacular nature, ocean access, urban access, and demographics. We will keep you posted as to our decision. We still have two years to make up our minds.

For my Peace Corps LDA Brothers

Tom and Lita are both retired and living happily in a little town on the outskirts of Des Moines. Originally, they moved to Dubuque to be midway between their son and grandkid in Des Moines and their daughter and grandkid in Duluth. They liked Dubuque but wanted to be closer to at least one of their kids. Now they live just a block away from their son and loving to spoil their granddaughter. Tom hopes to attend the next reunion, he missed the last one since he no longer uses his work email address. Contact me for his new contact info.

Fort Collins Pros

Most vibrant interesting downtown of all the cities visited
Thriving art scene
1.5-hour drive to Denver
2.0-hour drive to Rocky Mountain National Park
Good biking town
Many nearby hiking trails
Most sunny days a year off all the cities visited (237 days)
Good foodie town

Fort Collins Cons

Few attractive residential neighborhoods with interesting architecture
The hottest summers (Average July high of 87)
The coldest/snowiest winters (Still warmer than Madison)

Bend Pros

Vibrant attractive downtown
Many attractive residential neighborhoods
Many attractive open green spaces
Most hikes within a half-hour drive
1.5-hour drive to Crater Lake National Park
Good foodie town
Most sunny days of northwest cities

Bend Cons

Most remote city (3.0-hour drive to Portland)
Far from the ocean (3.5-hour drive)
Most expensive housing
Greatest danger of forest fires and prolonged drought of cities visited
The coldest winters and warmest summers of northwest cities
Smallest college educated population

Eugene Pros

Vibrant attractive downtown
Many attractive residential neighborhoods
1.5-hour drive to Portland
1.5-hour drive to the ocean
2.0-hour drive to Crater Lake National Park
Best performing arts of cities visited
Good city for art and culture
Least expensive housing of all visited cities
Pleasant winter temps (Average January high of 48)

Eugene Cons

Many rainy days a year (151 days)

Least hikes within a half-hour drive

Corvallis Pros

One of the greenest cities in the country
1.5-hour drive to Portland
1.5-hour drive to the ocean
Largest college educated population
Best city for biking and walking
Best food coop of all the cities visited
Pleasant winter temps (Average January high of 47)
Best farmer's market
Many nearby hiking trails

Corvallis Cons

Least amount of art and culture of all cities visited
Many rainy days a year (155 days)
Not a great selection of restaurants

Olympia Pros

Vibrant attractive downtown
Many attractive open green spaces
Best urban access (7M people within 2-hour radius)
Best ocean access (It is right there)
We already have friends in the area
2.0-hour drive to Mount Rainer National Park
1.0-hour drive to Olympic National Park
Fewest hot days a year (Average July high of 77)
Pleasant winter temps (Average January high of 46)
Good selection of restaurants (But not a foodie town)

Olympia Cons

Most rainy days a year (168 days)
Few attractive residential neighborhoods with interesting architecture