On the Road - Day 44

Rich had left for work before we got up. Pat made blueberry pancakes for breakfast with the help of many blueberry testers/tasters. These little ones, Iris, Lance, Brendan and Lexie, have so much energy! I don't know how Maria keeps up with them. Being with Rich and Maria felt like a stop at an oasis, a restful pause in our traveling. It was nice, too, to be treated like family.


We left Spokane via I-90, which we took all the way to Ritzville. Pat missed the transition to Rt. 395 as she was napping. I awoke in "range" land, dry and sage brushy. As we proceeded south we saw more cropland, green fields, then grapes, corn and fruit trees. Roadside signs announced "Peaches" and "Cherries."

When we got into Pasco (a farming and farm implement sales/supply town) the route numbering was confusing, it changed to Rt. 397, a number not on the map! A gas station clerk directed us to Rts. 395 and 82 which would take us into Oregon. But we had lunch in Washington, in Kennewick at the Panda Express - one of Vance's favorites. My fortune read, "Pleasures await you by the seashore." Hmmm, does that mean a change in course?

Crossed the Columbia River into Oregon at Umatilla, and headed west on I-84/Rt. 30. Only saw sage brush and power lines on the range, and lines running along the side of the railroad tracks. This north central part of Oregon is hot, hot, hot and flat. Vance said we were "still in Hades." We thought we'd get into some green landscape once we hit The Dalles - but it was still dry. Hood River was looking better.


We saw a number of dams (including the well known Bonneville Dam) as we paralleled the Columbia River.




Then we got into the Columbia River Gorge and greenery. Stopped at Columbia Locks, and were about to park in a site when a train came by, on the other side of the Arbor Vitae fence! The host told us a train passes about every twenty minutes around the clock. Remembering Fort Langley [Day 28 - July 15], we left.

We called area RV parks which had electrical hook-ups for our air conditioning, only to get busy signals or to be informed that they do not allow RVs older than 1997! Such an insult to our 1984 Bunny Hutch. The entire day has been sweaty hot and dry with heat haze. Vance drove a record number of miles today (see below).

It felt great to take a swim once we were settled in at the Portland Fairview RV Park. Vance and I took a walk down to their pond. This is a huge RV park, with over 400 sites. We read license plates to see where folks were from, many came from Florida and the southwestern states, and Alaska. Made tacos for supper. Nice to have the AC on.

Ended at Portland Fairview RV Park, Portland, OR [www.portlandfairviewrv.com]
Odometer 62,138.0 (346.4) Total: 4082.6