Mill City - Sisters, Oregon
Miles Driven 4132
We packed up the car to leave our perfect little hideaway on the mountain. One last brunch in Portland and we choose The Jam on Hawthorne Cafe & Arthouse which was fantastic. I think we had the nicest waiter in all of Portland. Shout out to John! Our next destination would be Mill City Oregon, a very small town outside of Salem, blink and you'll miss it.
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| Dahlias Dahlais Dahlias! near Canby Oregon |
The drive from Portland to Mill City along route 99E to 214 was serene. It was foggy and misty as we passed the flower farms and Christmas tree farms.
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| Silverton Oregon, Historic Wolf Building 1891 |
My sister and I's best childhood friend Hannah moved to Mill City Oregon when we were very young. We'd been pen pals for years after, chronicling our dramatic teenage years in ink. We'd visited her once when my family was driving up through California on a "where should we live next?" adventure....20 years ago. I'd been looking forward to this reunion since I left Tennessee.
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| Our Easter Dresses always had lace, bows and puffed sleeves. Anne of Green Gables style. |
Hannah had just run for a city council seat and she was awaiting the results when we arrived. The last time I spoke to her we were writing letters while she was in South Africa and London. She'd since moved back to the small town of Mill City where her parents still reside.
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| Independent women all facing new adventures. |
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| North Santiam Railroad bridge |
The infamous Railroad bridge in Mill city. Built in 1888 and moved by railroad to Mill City in 1919. The last remaining Phoenix Column bridge in Oregon and there is a Save the Bridge campaign going on.
Save Our Bridge GoFundMe I think it's a permanent campaign.
Hannah's mother took care of us as children when my parents were at work. She was kind and soft spoken and she used to drive us around in her yellow VW bug and we'd get "courtesy drinks" from Taco Mayo. When we arrived at her house and I saw her, I gave her a hug and started to cry. She made us hot tea and set cookies out on the table. "So what have you girls been up to?"
We stayed the night with Hannah and in the morning over coffee we caught up on the last 20 years...or at least the cliff notes.
Back on the road, our next stop would be Sisters, Oregon.
Driving along the Santiam river, and we could see Mt. Jefferson in the distance.
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| Mt. Jefferson in the distance. |
Somewhere between Gates and Sisters Oregon along the Santiam river, we found an ancient tree graveyard or perhaps an alien planet. I may have slammed on the brakes when I saw this landscape. I could have photographed it all day long.
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| Setting up the timer..HA! |
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| Mt. Jefferson, second highest mountain in Oregon. |
Did I stop in Sisters primarily for the coffee shop? Yes...but it was on the way and I had a long drive ahead of me. They also had gluten free lemon poppy seed cake.
I think I scarfed it before we could get a photo.
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The Three Sisters, the city's namesake mountains.
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