The 24 HOUR RULE: An Oregon Road Trip Package With Some Football

Fine, this is Mt. St. Helen's and it's in Washington, not Oregon, but when I'm headed to the Pacific Northwest, the two states are basically interchangeable in their beauty.

My first jaunt to the area since the age of 3 or 4 came in April of 2025 when I travelled to Seattle to cover a Huskers softball 3-game set against a scrappy Washington Huskies squad (the Huskers took 2 of 3 in front of a crowd that ranks as one of the loudest I've encountered live so far, Michigan being the other).

It was also an excuse to spend around 10 days on the road around after the series' completion checking out trails and mountains and such armed with an annual National Parks pass I acquired at Badlands in South Dakota figuring it was a nice nod to the old man, a career NPS public servant who had passed away weeks before that journey.

This trip is shorter mainly due to waiting for my cross-country cruiser to get out of the body shop, but I'll head north on Sunday for a little fooling around (Huskers softball makes a trip to Eugene in July; I'll be rolling again.) before making my way back to Omaha.

This trip has had its fun, though. I stayed in Ogden, Utah on night one, which is just up I-15 from Brigham City where I lived for a few years when Dad worked at the Golden Spike National Historic Site. I then headed through southeast Oregon towards Eugene and much of that part of the state is sort of a Badlands of its own with rocky dusty peaks and scrub, almost desert-like in places. But the final approach is all forested mountains, lakes and winding roads – fun driving if you enjoy that sort of thing and I do.

Due to the fact that Eugene itself is devoid of cheap hotels with ratings, I drove by it and headed south where I had made a reservation at the Rice Hill Inn with a rating of 8.0 mainly due to clean rooms and super-friendly staff, both of which proved very accurate. Beyond that, I require only free coffee, a table at which to write, functional WiFi and the means to charge everything. Done and done.

And quite frankly, it would be hard to find a place which beat this truckers' exit for personality. Along with a couple other gas station/large mini-marts, there was a Flying J with a Subway and Cinnabon, not to mention some pretty decent wings and check-out agents who offered discounts on sodas, waters and the like for the purchase of…basically anything I was in the process of purchasing.

Nearby are other attractions such as an adult shop called Adult Shop. The truck parking has seemed often filled there. Across the street from the massive Flying J complex is a large fenced field, the place appearing to be a ranch for donkeys and mini-bison. The area is capped off by the K&R Drive Inn which looks straight out of Back to the Future or Friday Night Lights. The burger was average and the onion rings more powerful than medical-grade laxatives. But the milkshakes and ice cream, my gawd. The pineapple shake complete with chunks of real pineapple made the after-effects of the rings totally worth it. I filled up on all after a 10k jaunt on the forested banks of the Cooper Creek Reservoir, and, damn, doesn't it sound like time for some pictures?

But enough of my travelogue even if there may be a few more pics in the coming days. I'm hoping to spend a couple of them around Mt. Rainier where, on the previous trip, I managed to pick a day when everything above 7000 feet or so was fully socked-in with visibility of maybe a couple hundred yards in the thick fog. I still would like to see the peak even if trying to hike the summit is not in the cards this time around.

Also, the hotel by the park is wonderful place with little decked-out trailers available as rooms. Of course, I'm staying there. Crap, better make those reservations sometime today.

No Dylan isn't starting at QB, but don't be too sure you won't see him. Brock Thomas, the 3rd, now 2nd, stringer is a walk-on and a local boy. If the Blackshirts get on him, I'm guessing his rope isn't too long.

This will be a couple of teams playing with some urgency. Or desperation.

The Huskers (and their fans) are plenty pissed about the near-miss against Indiana, expecially given how much of it was self-inflicted as has so often happened in recent years. A second straight week of THAT would not improve the mood.

Oregon is basically playing a CFP elimination game as they already have two losses – as is every game forward since they will need get their shit together and win out to make their 3rd straight.

If you listen to the Joel Klatt podcast, you heard plenty of nice things from him both before the game and after. He was impressed by the fans in both their energy and their intelligence as a group, especially knowing when to shut up when the Huskers have the ball.

He also seemed a little flabbergasted the Huskers weren't in the Top 25 after taking the #5 Hoosiers the distance.

Jamir Conn and Rex Guthrie are both Out tonight. And Riley van Poppel popped up as again Doubtful on the availability list. The final one will be released 2 hours before gametime.

Conn especially is a rough loss after being injured in the Indiana game – can't help but wonder if Nick Marsh is getting behind everyone on the 75-yard TD pass and if a time-out still isn't called if Jamir is in there. Fine, I'm moving on.

The spread is Oregon -6 1/2 and yes, they're floundering a little. But talent level (if currently not playing up to it), Autzen Stadium's crowd, and the Huskers penchant for self-destruction likely all play into things.

I do believe in this 2026 roster more than any other in recent memory. And I'm also fully in show-cause mode in their ability to win a game against a top opponent. Both can be true. If any Husker team can break through though, it is this one.