I’m back home after five weeks away, but I can’t get too comfortable, as I’ll be here for five weeks before flying off for four weeks. This leg of the drive home was probably the worst driving of the whole trip. It was 370-ish miles of I-84, and the last half of that was in a steady, heavy rain. Think more 18-wheelers than you can shake a stick at, and all of them creating additional spray behind and on all sides, which enhances the lack of visibility. Heaven forbid you come up behind one passing the other…
On the first third of the journey, I was hopping off and on the interstate, grabbing the half dozen post offices that were left that are right off I-84. Weirdly, the number in the file name of the post offices has reached 312, but Google Maps thinks I have 313 in the List labeled “Found Post Offices.” I thought I had synced those numbers a while back. Maybe it’s a good time to audit it again.
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- Huntington – Now I Find Out, “Remnants of the Old Oregon Trail can still be seen today when one is traveling north from Farewell Bend State Recreation Area toward the town of Huntington on U.S. Route 30.”(12/8/25)
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- Durkee – Durkee is known as the site of Oregon’s only cement plant. (12/8/25)
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- Baker City – Just down the street to the left is exactly what a post office would have looked like in the 1950’s. (12/8/25)
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- Haines – The Wikipedia page’s History section is identical for this town and the town of North Powder. (12/8/25)
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- North Powder – North Powder was platted in 1885 or 1886 along the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company rail line, having been a stage stop before then. (12/8/25)
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- La Grande – Originally named “Brownsville,” it was forced to change its name because that name was being used for a city in Linn County.(12/8/25)
