According to Google Maps, we traveled 1103 miles, and drove for 24 hours and 55 minutes during our 2 weeks in Oregon while avoiding highways.
Each state we visit, we will choose at least one point of interest from each of the following categories: Famous Person, Famous Food, Road Side Attraction, State Capitol & State Museum, National Park, Historic Location, Can't Miss Attraction, and Made in the USA tour. Some of the categories may have more than one selection, and sometimes a category will be vacant due to the lack of a candidate. Please click on the links below for the corresponding blog related our experiences in Oregon over the 2 past weeks.
Famous Person: Bob Moore of Bob Red Mill
Famous Food: Tillamook Cheese
Roadside Attraction: None
State Capitol/Museum: Salem, OR
National Park: Mount Hood National Forest
Historic Location: End of the OregonTrail, Haystack Rock
Can't miss attraction: Tiny House Convention
Made in the USA tour: Dogs For Better Lives
Please view our previous blog posts for the past week for further explanations of our experiences in Oregon.
A breakdown of our expenses of the past week are as follows:
Gas $357.00
$ 2.59 gal. in Clackamas, OR was the lowest price paid.
$ 2.87 gal. in Newport, OR was highest price paid.
Comments:
We did a lot of driving in Oregon!
Groceries: $242.00
Walmart $181.00
Costco $61.00
Comments:
We spent way too much at Walmart, and need to spend more at Costco!
Dining out $153.00
Costco $6.00 (3 slices of average Costco pizza)
Costco $6.00 (3 slices of average Costco pizza)
Cornbread Café $33.00 (Yummy Vegan meal)
Starbucks $3.00 (1 tea in exchange for WIFI)
Starbucks $3.00 (1 tea in exchange for WIFI)
Starbucks $3.00 (1 tea in exchange for WIFI)
Olive Garden $11.00 (Craving bread sticks)
Happy Family $23.00 (Awesome Chinese food)
IHOP $9.00 (2 hot teas on a cold wet night)
Mexican Food $31.00 (The best Mexican we have eaten)
Bob's Red Mill $25.00 (Healthy vegetarian breakfast)
Comments:
We ate out way too much in Oregon, but the food was very good!
Entertainment: $47.00
Redbox $6.00 (Movies x3)
Tiny House Convention 15.00 (Admission X2 for convention)
End of Oregon Trail $26.00 (Admission X2 for museum)
Comments:
We did great in this category again!
Lodging: $0.00
Walmart $0.00 (slept in parking lot x14 nights)
Comments:
We continue to do great in this category!
Miscellaneous: $20.00
Parking $2.00 (cost of parking in Salem)
Parking $8.00 (cost of parking in Portland)
Train ticket $10.00
Comments:
We did great in this category!
Oregon Expenses Grand Total: $ 819.00
(Our expense list does not include re-occurring expenses such as insurance and cellphone etc. )
Is Oregon Our New Home State?
Here are the rules:
Below are the 5 categories that are important to us in choosing our new home state. Each category is rated from 1 to 10 based on our personal experience in no particular order. 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest for each category. Each category will receive 2 scores; 1 from Lori and 1 from Nate. The average of these two scores will determine the final score for each category. To determine a state’s final score, we will average the total score of each category. If a state’s final score is less than 8, then that state is eliminated from consideration. At the end of our year long cross country trip, the states that scored 8 or higher will be subject to further consideration. In addition, Lori and I each have 1 wild card option, which allows a state that otherwise would have been eliminated, to be considered as our new home state.
Economy:
Nate: 8
“Oregon’s per capita income is $54,148 ranking 26th in the nation, and the unemployment rate is 3.7% well below the national average! Not too shabby!”
Lori: 8
“Oregon’s economy consists of a diversified mix of natural resources, service, manufacturing and technology”.
Economy score: 8
Cost of Living:
Nate: 6
“Oregon’s 9% income tax is the 3rd highest in the nation, but the state’s 0% sales tax helps balance things out!
Lori: 7
“There is a lot of open land for sale across the state, and ample apartments for rent 20% cheaper than Connecticut!”
Cost of living score:6.5
Quality of life:
Nate: 8
“Western Oregon’s weather is typically mild with low temps in 40’s in the winter, and 80’s in the summer.
Lori: 8
“Oregon tops the list of states in the US that are least effected by natural disasters”
Quality of life score: 8
Culture:
Nate: 10
“Shopping local is not cliché in Oregon; shopping local is their way of life! Even McDonalds was advertising they buy their potatoes and cheese from Oregonian farmers!
Lori: 10
“The is the most vegan friendly state we have come across so far on our trip and it was so very refreshing”
Culture Score: 10
Environment:
Nate: 8
“From farmer's markets, to restaurants, schools, parks, beaches, and mountains forests, everything in western Oregon is accessible by car, bike, and mass transit”.
Lori: 9
“Oregon passed a law providing beach access to everyone regardless of private ownership resulting in 363 miles of breathtaking undeveloped shoreline. Driving down the Oregon Coast was one of the most beautiful drives on our cross country trip”.
Environment Score: 8.5
The verdict is in:
The final score for Oregon was 8.2, and it MAY be our new home! Celebrate good times come on!!! It’s a celebration!!! There’s a party going on right here! A celebration to last throughout the year! So bring your good times and your laughter too! We're gonna celebrate and party with you!!! Come on now, Celebration! Let’s all celebrate and have a good time! WOO HOO!!! WOO HOO!!!
After exploring 20 states, and spending almost 6 months on the road, we finally have our 2nd state which has scored higher than 8! Oregon advances to the next round of consideration, and joins Michigan as our potential new home state! Obviously, neither Lori nor I opted to use our Wild Card Option on this state.
Below are the current standings:
Michigan 8.3
Oregon 8.2
Ohio 7.6
Indiana 7.4
South Dakota 7.1
North Dakota 6.9
Washington 6.9
Virginia 6.6
Wyoming 6.5
Pennsylvania 6.5
Idaho 6.1
West Virginia 6.0
Nebraska 5.7
Kentucky 4.9
Wisconsin 4.5
Minnesota 4.2
Montana 4,1
Missouri 3.5
Iowa 3.3
Illinois 1.9