Yesterday was a longer day, 300 miles and 8 post offices compared to today’s 240 miles and 6 post offices. But it sort of evened out because Saturday eastbound on I-84 was nicer than today’s westerly trip home. Although, if I could have swapped the order of I-84 and OR-74 which would have made the day finish up with some nearly zero traffic twisting and bobbing roads, today would have been a great drive.
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- Pendleton -It’s population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution. (8/17/25)
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- Pilot Rock – A nice small town just a dozen miles south of Pendleton on US395. (8/17/25)
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- Heppner – The 40 miles from the beginning of OR-74 to this town I saw not one other car and there were a total of three ranches. (8/17/25)
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- Lexington – This one was fun. I followed Google maps to a house on a corner with a 6-foot tall chain-link fence and an onery dog. The address was listed as 320 W Main, but the house had 102 on it. So I continues cruising the street until I found this place. The only indication it was a post office was the blue drop box and a 4″x4″ sticker on the right door. (8/17/25)
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- Ione – I wonder how the citizens pronounce the name? Eye-one or eye-own or something else. (8/17/25)
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- Arlington – This weekend’s last stop before getting back on the dreaded Interstate 84 heading west. (8/17/25)
This weekend’s haul took my post office tally to 252 out of the 390 total or about 65% done. There are around 90 or so left that are densely packed along the coast and the southern portion of I-5. The remaining 40-ish out east are widely scattered and will need several more long drives with more than just one overnight stay for each trip.