Canyonville, OR to Woodland, WA

It was back to I-5 for our drive from Canyonville to Woodland. Accompanying us on the early portion of the route was a recent companion on several of our short trips around Canyonville--fog.

Fog adds another dimension to most scenes (and their photographs)

We soon reached Eugene and from that point to the border with Washington we were traveling through the Willamette Valley, comprising some of the most fertile and lush farmland in the Northwest.

Early pioneers following the Oregon Trail were drawn by its Eden-like reputation for abundant land, idyllic beauty and ample resources. These first emigrants turned to profitable gains of the lumber and fur trades.

It was not until later that Oregon's farming industries truly took shape.

More than 10,000 years ago, massive glacial flood waters of Lake Missoula washed over areas of Oregon and Washington's western regions in a series of periodic floods. The result was a transplantation of rich volcanic soil from eastern Washington to western Oregon, where the moist, cool winds of the Pacific Ocean continue to nurture Oregon's most abundant agricultural region.

And with this climate one of the Valley's best known agricultural accomplishments is its flourishing wine industry.

Traveling on I-5, as with travel on any of the country's interstate highways, misses views of, and an appreciation for, the life of the people in the farms and communities a few miles off these main arteries.

We caught glimpses of the work that takes place on these farms,

but for the most part we had to be satisfied with distant views of the farm buildings.