Larry Jaques wrote:
From bottom to top on I-5, Oregon takes 6 hours (302 miles). From Salem
to Seattle is 4 hours. The Grizzly showroom is just a bunch of Chinese junk
with real pretty paint. It isn't real big, either. What's on the floor is
mostly drill presses and bandsaws and a few wood machines. When I was there
they had a counter with some stuff under glass, but nothing like their whole
line. They are after all a mail order house.

I just think if you had to drive more than an hour to get to it, you'd be
disappointed. If you want to see machines, drive north to I-90 then veer
east over Snoqualmie Pass and get off in George, Washington, when you see
the huge quonset hut just south of I-90 on the frontage road. George Washington
Machinery has a *lot* of cool machines to look at, or they used to.

I might come up the Oregon Coast. There used to be a guy in Port Orford who
had a bunch of machinery. I think he was doing business as Anchor Machinery.

Elephant Hardware is fun to visit on Burnside just east of the river in
Portland, Oregon. So is Powell's Technical Books, especially if you like books
about metalworking. They have thousands of them. Although since the advent of
the Internet, rare stuff doesn't sit there long.

In Seattle, Hardwick's Swap Shop is worth a visit, as is Boeing Surplus, but
both of these places are far, far past their prime. Pacific Industrial Supply
might be amusing for the uninitiated - lots of real big industrial jetsam.

Depends on your interests, of course. Post when you get ready to go, lots of
folks will chime in.

GWE

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 09:09:31 -0800, the inscrutable Grant Erwin
spake:


How long did the trip take? I live in GP and wondered how long the
trip to Seattle takes. I want to visit there someday soon and to
see the awe-inspiring showroom of Griz in Bellingham, maybe even
cross the northern border. I've been across the Mexiborder in the
past.

I live about 2 hours south of the Grizzly showroom. I wouldn't drive up
there. I don't recommend it and I certainly wouldn't drive from California
for just that. - GWE


Why do you say that, Grant?

I'm just north of the CA border now, living in Grants Pass, OR, so I'm
only about 500 miles south of Seattle. I haven't yet made the trek
into WA so I'm curious how long it takes and what good sights there
are to see on the way up.