We’re on the road once again and this time we’re heading to Oregon.
The latest state to open it’s doors to players in American Truck Simulator is Oregon. The pacific northwest is one of the few area’s in the country I haven’t personally driven, so unlike New Mexico I don’t have the real world experience to reference. So, this will be a pure pleasure drive to see the sites in Oregon and maybe deliver a few things while I’m at it. Just like last time I must first get there. As Willie sang I’m “on the road again”.
Fortuitous beginnings
I was all geared up to go, prepping mentally for a long haul. The last I remembered I was in Roswell, NM. That’s about as far away as one could get from Oregon from what’s currently available in the game, but luck was on my side. As I had planned a delivery where I last left off, I kind of slipped and forgot for a few months. In that time I was sent back to my home base of San Francisco. This may literally be the only time in history that I didn’t totally regret having my garage there. My drive around the city to pick up my first trailer of the trip reminded me why I hate the place so much however (at as it concerns driving a truck through it). Regardless I managed to score a trip to Lakeview Oregon on my first attempt.
The trip saw me first heading east into Nevada, then back to the north and west again towards the southeastern most town I could get to in of Oregon (even if it is pretty central), via going back into California once again. After a good number of highway miles I headed towards my destination along 395. The real shame of it is I missed much of the scenery due to the whole being night time thing. Once the morning sun dawned however I was treated to a lovely ride, mostly by my lonesome with very few others to spoil my peace. I arrived at the Oregon state line in no time at all.
This is mostly where my luck ran out though. Right outside of town I was greeted with a traffic jam of epic proportions. Seems the truck in front of me wanted to let everyone in a terribly long line of cars on a secondary road turn left in front of them before they would go. Well, they let them turn in between a near non-stop stream of opposing traffic. Seeing as this was taking forever and there was no end in sight I decided to make a move to pass on the side of the road. There seemed to be just enough space between that truck and a wooden fence. As I passed the far too friendly truck I realized the real hold up was a bus, who also finally decided to move just as I was passing on the right, not good. The trucker behind quickly sped forward keeping me from finishing my merge back onto the road. Slamming on the breaks I quickly realized I was stuck and there was no way out. I finally gave up and just called the tow truck to get me, not really the stylish entrance into town I was envisioning.
From the lake to the bay
That’s probably a bit of a misnomer, I don’t actually recall seeing a lake in Lakeview on my way in, but I do think I spied one on my way out of town. There better at least be a bay in Coos Bay, my next destination. While we’re at it, where the heck is all the green? It’s certainly not in this corner of the state, maybe it’s like that extremely flat part of Colorado that no one really thinks about when they picture the state in their mind. So I anyway, I head west eager to get to the green trees. Those nice forests don’t show up for quite some time, just lots of fields and rocks, lots of rocks, so many rocks that I ran over a few and needed to find a place to repair. This really hasn’t been a clean run through the state so far. Eventually I do fine the forests and winding roads as I near the coast and head south on the 101 to Coos Bay.
Picturesque? It sure is, and I took plenty of time out to take some pictures of my own. But going down the coast line isn’t exactly straight, or fast so there’s plenty of time to take in the sights. Eventually though I do make it to Coos Bay, which does indeed have plenty of water around it. My journey to at least hit all 4 corners of the state is halfway done. The next leg is to the north in Astoria.
The drive is about as straight forward as they come. Just head north on the 101. By now it’s night time though so I am less tempted to take as many pictures, although I still snuck a few in anyway. Twisting and turning up the road alternating between looking and trees and interspersed views of the ocean. It’s as good to look at a night as it is during the day.
The speeds however are slow. I’m pretty sure that a road like this with such relatively slow speed limits are part of the reason why the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed to commercial vehicles back east. Well, you can drive a truck on this one and it’s not like there are many options otherwise either. Eventually I did make it to town, but not before one last surprise, a draw bridge! That caused quite the back-up at 4 am, but hey, maybe it’s a town of night owls. Now it’s time to make at least one more trek across the state to complete all 4 corners.
A Land of Diversity
So my final trek is on the way, from Astoria to Ontario across the northern tier of the state. It’s a long trip, but it’s not short on scenery. The green forests make way for the city of Portland. I gotta say, with each addition to the map these cities look bigger and better than ever. Portland looks great, maybe I’ll even stop back for a garage there when I’m done. No time for that however, so I move on. From forest to city I move on to rocky mountains looking similar to the New Mexican landscape. That makes way for long flat fields, then some rolling hills. Those hills get bigger and then it’s back to the mountains. I could compare each zone to certain states but you get the idea. It’s like a microcosm of a trip across the entire U.S. all in one highway across the state.
I did eventually make my destination hassle free finally. Oregon has shown a lot more than I had originally envisioned. I bet some tourism departments wouldn’t mind using the game to show off some different parts of the state. It really is a good advertisement. Regardless, Oregon is one more great addition to ATS. Worth a buy? You bet. I do still have some of the same concerns as always though and that is basically, how to keep up this high of a quality and still feel like we’ll eventually see the entire US. I don’t know there, but I’ll still enjoy the ride with each new state that opens up. Well, until next time, over and out good buddies!
American Truck Simulator — Oregon is available now for PC, Mac & Linux.
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