My Saturn affords the kind of freedom I’ve been hoping for. I had only thought about not having a car periodically the last 10 years or so because I had the RV and got pretty good at finding ways of getting to whatever venue I was interested in visiting. There’s nearly always public transport, for instance. Taxis, shuttles, buses, trolleys, etc. I’m a big fan of public transportation. And I almost always carried a bike so that helped. There were some constraints of course and I’d try to find RV parks that would allow easy bike access or have easy access and parking so I could drive my RV shopping. This necessitated that I plan my trips and I fell into a routine of keeping a list of things I needed, and needed to do, so when I did go shopping once every two weeks or so, I’d get enough, get the right stuff, and take care of things like getting a fill up or stop at a RV dealer for things I couldn’t find online or to check for items that are hard to describe.
But now, as the owner of a nice Saturn, I was suddenly finding out how much I’d missed the freedom of just grabbing the keys and driving wherever. So the first couple days I owned it, I made a few sorties around the local neighborhood.
Here was my first trip the day after I bought the car. Downtown Gresham. I use to hang out here a lot when I was running my own consulting business 12 years and more ago. I’d go stir crazy if I stayed in my office (at my house) too many hours so I’d often just drive to downtown Gresham from my home off Orient drive (just east of Gresham city center maybe 4 miles). Often strolling the streets, visiting a store or two, having a Mocha coffee or ice cream cone. It was nice. And I’d often walk down into the Gresham Main Street public park just to relax. Back 12 years ago, the Tsuru Island Japanese Garden had fallen on hard times and was a little worse for wear, so I was pleasantly surprised my visit in June 2016 to find it had been refurbished and was looking good again. And here’s my photo essay of that stroll.
These are the real colors. It’s soothing to walk through this garden… 
The architectural lines of this bridge are calculated to suggest serenity. 
This is sometimes a stream…depending on weather conditions. 
In fine weather, I could sit here for hours and recharge my psychic batteries. Today though, I only sat here for 5 minutes or so.
In wet weather, maybe under the pagoda would be better.
It’s hard to believe but earlier this year, there had been so much rain in such a short period that this bridge was in danger of being overtopped. The flood stopped just short of that…luckily.
A couple days after that relaxing visit to the Gresham park, went out to visit Margie at her rental home 21 miles outside of Troutdale. It’s 8 miles from Cascade locks in the Columbia River Gorge, the national scenic area. I got to work on her broken riding lawn mower so that was fun. Someone else had helped her out by figuring out that it needed a new belt, but couldn’t figure out how to install it. So I did that for her and made her very happy. And then we went on a little road trip. Weather was closing in rapidly so it was a good decision.
A couple miles from her place they’d had flooding, high winds, trees dropped over. This is one of them.
Another tree that got knocked over by the wind. Margie told me that it took her quite a while to make it home since so many routes were washed out. And on this road, she had to dodge trees lying across the road. This was one of them (all cut up now).
Heading to Cascade Locks and the Bridge of the Gods.
Weather cleared up a little. 
And here’s Cascade Locks.
An antique and art store in Cascade Locks.
Several works by local artists make it an interesting visit.
After our visit to the art store, we just missed the start of the rain, but it was fun driving in it for the couple miles it took to get to the waterfront and the paddle wheel place. The rain slowed just as we got there. Idea was to just have a snack and look around.
Then the rain and low hanging clouds stopped by again.
After our snack, we decided to take a little trip across to the Washington side over the Bridge of the Gods.
I forget where this was, but it was cool.
This is what those of us in the Columbia Gorge area get to see often…
Oh, then we dropped in at the Carson (Washington) hot springs. Just drove in and out checking the place out is all. 
And the weather cleared again. Nice view of the Columbia from the Bridge of the Gods.
Back to Margie’s place and there’s enough sunshine for a shadow!
And that was the end of our adventure. I got some miles on my new2me Saturn, and had gotten to enjoy Margie’s company for a few hours.
See you next time and thanks for visiting!
Yes, the West Coast has public transportation. At least that’s what I found from San Diego to Los Angeles.
And Hostas. Growing in the Japanese garden. Easy to grow. In the 1980s I visited Golden Gate Park in S.F. Thoroughly enjoyed it. And drove along the Columbia River a couple times. Beautiful area. You couldn’t guess how jealous I feel. All this on a West Coast bucket list. Including rockhounding in the area.
Looks like you’re really enjoying your Saturn. Have you been fishing anytime? And I’m looking forward to reading your Dingy Towing Guide. Have an enjoyable time.
The area is geologically rich because of the millennia of volcanism, water, weather, and earthquakes causing such interesting topology. We even have the Kennewick Man found just 4 hours drive from here. There’s a park in Pasco, Washington, Sacajawea State Park, that has artifacts pertaining to the era in which Sacajawea & The Corp of Discovery came down the river and may have stopped in or near the park for a couple days. The park is at the confluence of the Snake & Columbia Rivers and the area has been in continuous use by people for thousands of years. There was for a time a skeleton in the museum there though I’m sure that’s gone what with the reparation act passed by congress a couple decades ago. There are many historical items there though so still worth the visit.
I’m about to release the blogs Towing entry. It’s not quite finished as I haven’t even towed the car yet so I’m just going to release what I’ve gotten done so far. I’m trying to make it generic but I only have one sample to work with…my Saturn, so by necessity, it’ll be focused.
The Tsuru Japanese Islands Garden is beautiful. Your photography is amazing! I can only imagine how peaceful it must be there. Your friend Margie lives in a beautiful area too!
I’ve always liked that garden…even when it was going through some tough times and didn’t have many volunteers to care for it. Thanks for the compliment! Margie had been looking for a home to rent out in the gorge for years and finally found one so she’s ecstatic. It’s not really practical though as she works 40 miles away. She is looking for something out in the gorge.
Good to hear you are enjoying the freedom your Saturn “toad” brings you. We have a fifth wheel, so I understand how it’s nice to leave your home on wheels at your base with the freedom of a vehicle to drive around.
I enjoy your posts. We’re gypsies at heart but must work full time for now, so we travel and take weekend trips when we can, so in the meantime, I live through yours and others posts on their travels. Thanks!
You’re welcome. Thanks for visiting!
Glad the car made you aware of what you’d been missing. Tried to talk you into it some time ago. I think you meant Carson Hot Springs… it appears as Cannon in your description.
Now, Haf, you know I’ve been agreeing with you about that for years. It’s just it wasn’t a high priority when my RV would barely tug itself up a hill. Often getting down to 20 MPH. So towing wouldn’t have been pleasant. Oh, and you’re right, it IS Carson not Cannon. I’ll go back and correct that. First mistake I’ve made since early 2012. 🙂
A few years back we did a lot of traveling along the Corps of Discovery route, from Desoto Wildlife Refuge on the Missouri River to Montana and beyond. I learned at several points that a lot of publications use the “j” spelling in her name and perpetuated the mispronounciation of Sacagawea. Although there is some controversy over the origin of her name, the Hidatsa that kidnapped her or her Lemhi Shoshone family, the name by most historical professionals I spoke with along the way should be sounded ” Suh – kag -uh – way – uh”.
I’ve also heard, from a historian, that it’s Suh-kak-ah-wee-ah. As a history buff, I’ve read several novels about that trip, some of which included excerpts from the journals. Very interesting.