Portland (a stone's throw from the Pacific)

Mt Hood with Lost Lake

Sixteen days on the road, more than 1,900 miles… and yesterday we encountered our first major city along the way.  Portland is lovely (and, I’ll admit, a bit confusing).  Divided into pieces by rivers, it seemed like we were constantly either on a bridge or in a tunnel.  Probably just my perception; Diane and I had a sort of plan not to drive through cities except during times of little traffic; Los Angeles is exempt because times of little traffic don’t happen there.  Well, we entered the stream; which, like salmon here, all travel close and in one direction.  The morning commute is familiar to everyone with one person per car lining up to see how much gas the car needs to sit idling on the highway for an indeterminate time.  Every now and then a car would zoom and swerve by, I think the driver’s coffee (or bladder) had kicked in.  One advantage with pulling an RV at such a time is you have your fully functional bathroom nearby; with traffic at a standstill, simply get out, walk a few yards back, open the trailer and return.  With luck, you won’t even miss the scenery.

Multnomah Falls

We spent the past week along the beautiful Columbia River, reliving Lewis and Clark’s adventure and seeing some of the most wonderful mountains and waterfalls one can imagine.  We capped the week by visiting Mt St Helens in Washington before settling in Portland for the weekend.  Remember when St Helens erupted in 1980 with the mud flows, winds that mowed down huge forests like a front lawn hit by a Toro and the dust cloud that circled the earth?  Well, it’s much different now, having gotten over that tantrum.  We visited there in 2000 with our kids and wanted to see the continued changes; green woods have returned over much of the landscape and we were able to see literally hundreds of elk grazing in the open.  If you’re near southwestern Washington, don’t miss this place…

Mt St Helens from Johnston Ridge Observatory

The next few days will be with our great friends, Tom and Marty.  Our friendship goes back to San Diego and several decades.  We’ll be visiting Astoria and Cannon Beach along the Oregon coast together; thanks, Lord, for the “unseasonably” perfect weather right now.  We’re told the blue skies we’ve had are not the norm for Oregon in September.  That’s OK, we Minnesotans hear far too often, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes… it’ll change”.  I know that cliché is repeated endlessly in every part of our country.  Me, I hope it rains a bit this afternoon.  I’ll do the “RV Shuffle”, get out the long handled brush and swim trunks to wash our “Whealhouse” and entertain the neighborhood.