I saw a spider next to my outdoor faucet. The body was 1.5-2", bold yellow and black stripes, long black legs?

It was a species of Argiope, probably Argiope aurantia, or the Banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata); both occur in Oregon. They're very handsome beasts, and harmless - unless you happen to be an insect.

the spider is referred to as the common garden spider. i'm not sure about the scientific name. they can get pretty large, and their webs are huge. i see them a lot strung between two bushes or low tree limbs, and they spin a neat little zig-zag pattern right in the center of their web. when i was a kid, i would catch big grasshoppers and throw them in the webs. it's amazing to watch the two fight, especially when both are full-grown adults. the spider never loses. this may sound a bit cruel or gross, but it really is fascinating to see how the spider wraps his prey and then feeds. and when he bites the grasshopper to inject his poison, you can actually hear the pop as his fangs penetrate the grasshopper's exoskeleton. think about it scientifically, and it won't seem so weird. it's actually pretty cool. these spiders aren't a danger to humans. their poison is too weak. you can do a general google search for "garden spiders". thousands of pix. kind of pretty, in a really creepy way.

Run, don't look back. When you get to Australia, you can stop. We have heaps of the bastards, but they're house trained and have their claws and teeth removed.