May 22 Sunday Drive

The Pacific Northwest’s long stretch of rainy days broke just in time for a 20-mile drive through some of the Portland area’s scenic farmland west of the city.

The May 22 Sunday drive saw 13 cars take to the route that began at Washington Square and ended at the Chehalem Ridge Nature Preserve, Metro’s newest park, 20 miles away.  Eleven of the cars were Lotus, with a Porsche and a concours-ready Triumph TR3 added for variety.  The parade was made up of samples of the two cars that have “saved” the brand over its lifespan: the original Elan that helped the company recover from its investment in the beautiful-but-financially-unsuccessful Elite and the Elise, now the best selling Lotus in the company’s history and proof of the founder’s original concept of lightness, simplicity and performance.  June, my wife, and I thought it was kind of neat that the line of cars was led by one that was older than many of the drivers.

Once out of Beaverton congestion and road construction issues, the roads were all two-lane highways bordered by fields of red top clover, orchards and tracts of nursery stock.  

About half the group stopped by the Oak Knoll Winery on the return trip.