Portland OR

[nobo]

my friends and i got stuck in longview washington off the CAP bus a while back. fuck that place. it seems like a huge meth town or something because the people there are fuckin WEIRD. maybe just that small town vibe, but yea definately very conservative. ended up staying up all nite in a donut shop because everytime we tried to catch some sleep someone would call the cops on us. when the sun came up we finally just went and slept in the bus terminal, where we were baited into "saved" conversations no less than 30 times. it was worth it when we finally made it to seattle though. oof.

 

[nobo]

oh also, yea oregon rules for traveling in general. i love the fact that you can walk on the highway, makes it so much easier to get noticed/picked up! outside of eugene a cop pulled over while a friend and i were on the highway with our sign and we totally thoght we were busted or something but then he walks around to the trunk of his cruiser and just hands us a few bottles of water then tells us to have a good day, be careful etc. then just takes off.
i briefly considered the possibility of the water being poison...but it was hot out....

 

[bikegeek666]

ha ha...good story....

 

[Angela]

my friends and i got stuck in longview washington off the CAP bus a while back. fuck that place. it seems like a huge meth town or something because the people there are fuckin WEIRD. maybe just that small town vibe, but yea definately very conservative. ended up staying up all nite in a donut shop because everytime we tried to catch some sleep someone would call the cops on us. when the sun came up we finally just went and slept in the bus terminal, where we were baited into "saved" conversations no less than 30 times. it was worth it when we finally made it to seattle though. oof.

I've had much the same experience in Oregon from the cops but the wait can get long in certain parts of southern Oregon where the folks in cars seem to be leery of picking up hitchers. I've had very good luck in the Portland-Eugene area but very bad luck south of Eugene(as in waiting for days to get a ride out). But a ride does always eventually come.

 

[macks]

going southwest out of eugene to the coast i've done fine, but i guess that wasn't I-5 for more than 15 miles south of Eugene.

oh and about Longview I totally know what you mean nobo, going on junk nbd from portland out cars got cut out there and we camped out the weekend waiting for the CAP since we weren't in a rush. it's all about the river camping spots! we had a fire and everything.. no hassles. long walk from downtown but it's worth it. and the people there are really strange, busking downtown on a sunday was like a damn ghost town, we played for 2 hours and didn't make a dime.

 

[nobo]

whered you catch a junk train north out of portland? i waited by the golf course (thanks widerstand...again) where the two tracks split, i think theyre UP and BNSF. anyways i was there almost three days and didnt see one damn junk train. i was pretty bummed, but whatever.

 

[macks]

same spot, but on the other side of the bridge from the golf course. three days? holy shit, i thought all northbound UP traffic came through there, that's a long time to not have any trains.

 

[nobo]

oh there were a ton of trains, but little to no rideables. plus you know when you have your bedroll out and youre all comfortable and kind of asleep and then your ride comes its like...ohhhhh shit....im pretty sure i missed a couple of rides like that, haha.

 

[macks]

oh, that makes more sense. and yes i know what thats like haha..

 

[Tiphareth]

How about that New Avenues place? It seems like a better idea, at least in my experience to let people know of what resources are freely available right way, maybe if that is too far into town for your taste, the MAX is always great. Morrison and 3rdish was probably my beginner traveller corner. I enjoy it a lot.

 

[tunnel]

Its really the fastest way from Portland to Seattle. Really you can get all the way up to B.C doin the cheapo bus thing. Just another reason i love the NW so much. outstanding public transportation!

Is this actually possible, if so can someone let mew know how. thats would be so much easier than hitching! thanks

 

[Tiphareth]

Yeah someone was telling me that you can get to Seattle on 12 bucks using public transit, which is really ridiculous.

 

[Angela]

Is this actually possible, if so can someone let mew know how. thats would be so much easier than hitching! thanks

Yes, it is very true and Widerstand already went to all the trouble of writing up a nice detailed trip planner for it so I won't bother repeating it but here's a link to the thread
http://squattheplanet.com//getting-there/other-forms-travel/6200-city-bus-cap.html

 

[thefourthgeorge]

For anyone who's been that way-what's the best spot to hitch east from Portland towards Boise?

 

[WapatoGreyer]

The CAP is a county bus thats goes up to Oly for about $3

This sounds sick! I was planning on hitching with my boyfriend down to pdx from Seattle starting the 2nd of August. I've never hitched before and he doesn't have great experience, so. This trip is kinda going to be our whole yay-finally-18-lets-get-outta-here thing. CAP might be a better option?

I think some of my friends just took this, actually. They took some bus from up here all the way to pdx but they had to pay about 15 bucks. I'm wondering if it's the same bus? Also, my friend who went down suggested that we don't hitch because it's dangerous. But I really would like to, to get more experience with it... so.. what do I do? Any suggestions/safety tips? I practice nonviolence..

 

[mylon]

This sounds sick! I was planning on hitching with my boyfriend down to pdx from Seattle starting the 2nd of August. I've never hitched before and he doesn't have great experience, so. This trip is kinda going to be our whole yay-finally-18-lets-get-outta-here thing. CAP might be a better option?

I think some of my friends just took this, actually. They took some bus from up here all the way to pdx but they had to pay about 15 bucks. I'm wondering if it's the same bus? Also, my friend who went down suggested that we don't hitch because it's dangerous. But I really would like to, to get more experience with it... so.. what do I do? Any suggestions/safety tips? I practice nonviolence..

Is this a joke?? There is a comprehensive thread about the CAP, and tons of threads about hitching safety, hitching in WA, hitching in OR, what have you. I have never had great luck hitching in WA but I would say it is definitely not one of the more dangerous states. Also I have never personally gotten in a particularly dangerous situation while hitching (many sketchy rides turned down, and a few drunk drivers) but I think you will find when you enter the real world, particularly the part of which where you are GETTING INTO STRANGERS VEHICLES, you might want to be think about the possibility of having to defend yourself.

Goddamn. Seriously I'm not trying to be an asshole but this is every annoying STP stereotype rolled in to one.

 

[shwillyhaaa]

when i tried hitching from oly to pdx it took us a week untill we were offered a ride by the artesian well by some hipsters...
but i guess it only took that long cause we werent even really that dedicated to getting out...
we kept getting drunk with our bus money

 

[jimivickery]

as far as not getting fucked with by cops, in oregon i've heard almost no one say anything about it, i've never been fucked with, just...it seems like oregon in general is pretty chill about hitch hiking.

i fucking hate cave junction, though.

Yeah hitching as far as i know is legal and you can walk down the interstate too it awesome there got from pdx to grant pass in one day and even made a guy pull over and let us out at rest area cus he was wasted then got a ride within 30 mins and got kicked down an ounce ! Love oregon