We took a full week to drive around and visit friends and family in the Pacific Northwest between Saturday August 26 and Saturday September 2. Among the goals of our trip was to finish clinching the Oregon and Washington Interstate systems, for me to visit Idaho and Montana for the first time, to meet fellow road enthusiasts Matt Strieby and Chris Kalina, and to explore the Columbia River Gorge and Seattle among other locations.

Since we had next to no internet access during the trip, let alone time for the computer, I’ll be writing posts based upon our travels in retrospect. Additionally I’m writing about the last day first, as I don’t have the photos from the rest of the trip yet (those are on Andy’s laptop).

Day 8 – Olympia to Portland:

Not much to this day, woke up a bit after 0-dark-30, drove around Olympia to document some I-5 Washington shields we found, also photographed the “north” end of U.S. 101 at Interstate 5, and then headed down I-5 to I-205 and Portland International Airport so I could fly out. In the process we finished clinching I-5, the whole shabang from Mexico to Canada.

The “southbound” beginning of U.S. 101, just west of the interchange with Interstate 5. U.S. 101 travels west to Washington 8 along a freeway before turning north to Shelton and Port Angeles. The east-west segment of the highway along the north end of the Olympic Peninsula is signed east-west. U.S. 101 turns southward at Beaver and there finally gets the “South” cardinal direction banner.

The “north” end of U.S. 101 at Interstate 5. An end sign resides along the northbound on-ramp to Interstate 5. Like most Washington reassurance signs, the directional banner and shield are made out of one piece. There are 365 miles of U.S. 101 in Washington according to the mileposts at Olympia!

14th Avenue Southwest travels under a cut and cover tunnel west of Jefferson Street toward Capital Way and the Washington State Capital building. A similar cut and cover tunnel system lies under the Capital Mall at Salem, Oregon.

A few Interstate 5 Washington shields remain in use in downtown Olympia. Unlike the ones in Seattle that are on green signs or in white boxes, these are actually cutouts. All I-5 or I-90 WA shields remaining in Washington adhere to 1972 MUTCD specs, so it appears that the Evergreen State dropped the state name before 1979 (the last MUTCD specs to include them). This particular shield lies at the intersection of Union Avenue Southeast at Capital Way.

Interstate 5 descends from downtown Olympia, passes under the Capital Boulevard concrete arch bridge, and enters the Exit 104 interchange with U.S. 101’s “northern” terminus. Interstate 5 won’t again meet U.S. 101 until it’s southern terminus in Los Angeles!

Interstate 5 combines with U.S. 12 at Exit 88 near Rochester for a 20-mile overlap to near Napavine. Shortly after the merge, the two encounter Washington 507 (Mellen Street) near a truss over the Skookumchuck River. Interstates 5, 82, and 90 have several truss bridges along their respective paths in Washington. It appears that most of them could easily be replaced by standard concrete bridges, but for whatever reason the Northwest uses superstructure on their spans (not that we don’t appreciate the older style bridges!).

There are only two Interstate Business Loops remaining signed from the freeway mainlines in Washington. They are Interstate 5 Business at Castle Rock, and Interstate 90 Business at Moses Lake. The Castle Rock loop however is only signed from the northbound direction of Interstate 5. Here is a look at the signage from that perspective (which involved us turning around to document it).

The southbound split of Interstate 5 from Interstate 205.

Interstate 205 signs include trailblazers for Interstate 84 & Washington 14, for their eastward treks through the Columbia River Gorge. Motorists traveling through the Portland area should definitely use Interstate 205 in lieu of Interstate 5. Not only is there greater capacity (overall 6 lanes vs. 4 to 6 lanes on I-5), but the Interstate Bridge of Interstate 5 is quite substandard with no shoulders and short merge ramps at both ends. Additionally Interstate 5 is signed with a “Speed 50” limit in Oregon for most of its trek through Portland as opposed to Interstate 205’s “Speed 65” (Oregon signs speed limits as just “Speed” with the corresponding number).