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April 1

28 years to the day we first moved into this home, we moved back in today.

It was celebration and thanks. We saluted our Seabreeze that had performed so well, giving us safe transport and refuge from tornado warnings, tropical deluge, and icy roads. It transported us to places of which we had dreamed and had provided us experiences beyond those dreams. It joined in the long line of trucks on the interstates and exited to the narrow byways of rural and scenic America. It revealed to us the uniqueness of this land, carrying us down Old Still Road, Lick Skillet Drive, over Hard Labor Creek and down to Fraction Bottoms. It steered us through Tough Luck Lane and Snapfinger Road, over Fish Eating Creek and down to Poverty Flats. And she stopped and stayed 7 weeks by the road that epitomized our trip, Linger Longer Road.

The Seabreeze stopped in 58 different places to allow us to sleep. Four were rest stops along the road, two were Wal-Marts, two were fairgrounds and one was the town park. Four were homes of family and friends. There were 35 fuel stops, always an experience since, towing a car, we are 50 feet long. The 11,400 miles took its toll. As we pulled into home today, duct tape held the back bumper from flapping in the wind and held one windshield wiper from dangling ineffectively.

An amazing element of the trip is that Barb and I were not sick one day. No colds, no flu, no digestion problems or infections this year. Fire ant bites and no seeums caused some discomfort, but our health was better than the norm. Perhaps it was the fresh air, perhaps it was the thrill of discovery, or perhaps it was, as we have felt the entire trip, that we were undeniably blessed.

Since early January, except for the one hotel night in Mississippi, our bedroom has been in the Seabreeze. Tonight we sleep in our home. But tomorrow, as I awake, I will walk out to check that she is well, I will pause and pat her on the side on my way to pick up the paper, and I will thank her again for a memorable experience of discovery. And I will reassure her that more adventures lie ahead.

“The longest journey is the journey inwards, of him who has chosen his destiny, who has started upon his quest for the source of his being.” Dag Hammarskjöld

THE END

Last Camp

March 31

The day dawned to sunny skies and puffy clouds. We left at noon and dry clear roads made the trip over the pass and down the long winding grade into Pendleton uneventful. Our decision was to head west on the Interstate 84, changing the planned itinerary and not going to Lacrosse. We had kept them on hold for several days, weather delaying our arrival there. Also, Snoqualmie Pass (I-90) has been victim of regular closers from snow and avalanche control. We decided to drive around through Portland to home.

We could have made it home by 8 p.m. easily. We again changed our plans and chose to stop at Ainsworth State Park near Multnomah Falls to spend the night. It was 4:30 and we did not want to fight Portland traffic. Also, I think more, that Barb and I are not ready for this trip to end. We wanted one more night, some finality, and then arrive home early enough, around noon, to begin moving out of the rig.

We were close enough to Gresham that we called Vicki and Ed, Barb’s sister and brother in law, and they delivered Abby’s Pizza ( a gathering place for her family) to the rig for an evening of catching up and sharing.

It’s time to head home. We used up the last of the toilet paper this morning, April 1, no fooling.

Camped on the Oregon Trail

March 30

Morning flurries gave way to a cold grey day. The chain restrictions on the pass were not lifted until late. So, we will spend another night camped on the Oregon Trail. Yes, the trail passed through where we are parked and if anything is coming from this experience it may be that we can, in a small degree, identify with those travelers from the 1840’s through the 1860’s. Even though we are in a comfortable vehicle, and we have cell phone, internet, DOT websites, Doppler radar, television, and radio, we are still subject to the forces of nature.

Our friend Karen, who grew up in Pendleton, put it best in an email today:

Stuck, are ya’? Those mountains are what often keep my parents from visiting my sister and her family or her coming to them/us. (She lives in Ontario, OR)
Those Blue Mountains have challenged travelers for almost 200 years. This was one of the most difficult places for the pioneers to cross in the whole journey. They are very steep and rocky, and as you have experienced, a terrible place to be when the weather changes. If they’d left late, or had too many things slowing their travel, and most shoes had worn to pieces, the mountains were so terribly difficult.
Anyway, I wish you safe journeys towards home. Can’t wait ‘til you get here! April comes this Tuesday, so you have 30 days to meet your goal!!

Captivating

We woke up to ice and sleet covering the ground. For breakfast, I took Barb to the Flying J truck stop just a few miles from the campsite. Driving on even the main roads was dicey. The truck stop was surrounded by trucks that had spent the night with a sprinkling of RV’s and cars mixed in. The word from the truckers was bleak. It was even more treacherous on the passes on both sides of us.

We spent the morning in La Grande. The Oregon Trail passed through here and La Grande was a major camping area for the wagons. As the morning progressed, the ice and snow on the streets melted. We returned to the rig around noon and found our neighbors preparing to leave. The DOT cameras on the website showed that the roads on the pass had cleared and temps were above freezing. But the DOT website also warned of impending storms.

Barb and I decided not to go. In this instance, erring on the side of safety did not work. As we toured the historic city of nearby Union, the weather continued to warm to 42 degrees and the skies were blue with puffy clouds. We had an early dinner in Union. After eating at the truck stop for breakfast, Barb did not want to eat at Gravy Dave’s which had been recommended by the camp host. We did eat at the historic hotel which had entertained the likes of Clark Gable. A fine meal in a very empty town.

On returning to the campsite at around 6, the skies were still clear and temps were in the 40’s. On checking the DOT website cams for the passes, it again showed that the roads were clear and temps above freezing. Opportunity lost. We would have had plenty of time to leave this Grande Ronde Valley, beautiful and captivating. But I really don’t want to be a captive.

It is now 8 a.m. on Sunday, it is snowing/sleeting and the web cams show that chains are again required on the pass. It may be another captivating day in the Grande Ronde.

The Pacific Northwest Welcomes Us Home

We could have stayed longer. It was 80 degrees and sunny in Las Vegas. But I don’t care for that town and I was eager to leave. I watched the weather reports and I should have heeded the fronts coming in off the Pacific. However, the winds were calmed in the north Nevada desert so we took to the road. The front from the Pacific was sure to be rain in Oregon and Washington since it was almost April. Wrong.

The road into Idaho was fine. As we crossed the border into Oregon the skies clouded, then snow began to fall. The winds began to swirl around us then the I-84 DOT sign near Le Grande informed us that the pass was closed to motorhomes and trucks unless we chained up. We have chains. They are in Puyallup. We weren’t going to do any winter driving on this trip. I guess we are not. We will probably be here two days.

So we are sitting at Hot Lake RV Park and the nearby resort building that was once called the “Mayo Clinic of the West”. The railroad stopped here in the 1880’s and people traveled here “for expert medical attention and the benefits of the hot artesian water”. The Mayo brothers did spend some time here and the 186 degree water, rich in sulfur was considered valuable for the treatment of arthritis, tuberculosis, rheumatism and similar ailments. It is closed, however, so I will not be able to experience the possibilities. This large RV camp, busy from late spring to early fall, has just a few RV’s sitting here tonight. All of us hope the snow stops and the temperatures increase, allowing us to leave a semi-closed resort to complete our trip home.

So we sit, warm and comfortable, watch the snow fall, watch TV, access the internet and reminisce back to that camp site on the water in Key West. It is so far away. So far away.

Traveling North

We left Las Vegas too early. Thursday was a good day of driving as the sky was blue, there was only a bit of wind, and the roads were clear as we drove through to Twin Falls, ID. We pulled into a Flying J truck stop and decided to spend the night in the parking lot. However, the sloped parking lot and the cold drove us to move to a KOA nearby. It was beneficial to be hooked up to electricity as the temps dropped to the low 20's. Our goal is Walla Walla today but if it begins to snow, we will pull off the road.

Places Missed

March 25

With a few days to rest up and wait for the weather to improve up north, I have had some time to reflect on the trip. We’ve seen a lot. We’ve missed so much more. Important and historic sites like West Point, Fort McHenry, Appomattox, Chicago, the Cumberland Gap, eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, the land of Lincoln, St. Louis, and many others will have to wait till next time. A list below is some of the tourist sites that we chose not to see. All were listed on tourist web sites. One is listed for each state in order to which we traveled:

Idaho – Dugout Dick’s Ice Cave Ranch, Elk Bend
Montana – The Testicle Festival, Clinton
North Dakota - Largest Stack of Empty Oil Cans, Casselton
Minnesota – Spam Museum, Austin
South Dakota - World’s Largest Hairball, Webster
Wisconsin – Site of Sputnik’s Crash, Manitowoc
Illinois – Hippy Memorial, Arcola
Indiana – James Dean Grave, Fairmount
Ohio – Duct Tape Capital of the World, Avon
New York – The Stuffed Rex, World Famous Diving Horse, Lake George
Vermont – Ben and Jerry’s First Store
New Hampshire – Mohammed Ali’s Broken Jaw X-Ray, Hooksett
Maine – Three Story Outhouse, Bryant Pond
Massachusetts – Museum of Bad Art, Dedham
Rhode Island – World’s Largest Termite, Providence
Connecticut – Giant Frog on Thread Spools Collection, Willimantic
New Jersey – Elsie the Cow’s grave, Plainsboro
Pennsylvania - A chance to eat the world’s largest hamburger (15 lbs), Clearfield
DC - The stuffed Martha, world’s last passenger pigeon
Maryland – World’s Largest Rubber Band Ball, Chevy Chase
West Virginia – International Mothers’ Day Shrine, Grafton
Virginia – Grave of Stonewall Jackson’s Arm, Fredericksburg
North Carolina – Untidy Museum, Durham
Georgia – Babyland General Hospital, birthplace of the Cabbage Patch Kids, Cleveland
Florida – Burt Reynolds’s Museum, Jupiter
Alabama - Coon Dog Cemetery, Cherokee
Mississippi – International Checker Hall of Fame, Petal
Louisiana - Britney Spears Museum, Kentwood
Texas – Toilet Seat Museum, San Antonio
New Mexico – International UFO Museum, Roswell
Arizona – Heart Attack Grill, Phoenix
Utah – World’s largest pit, Coppertown
Nevada - Bugsy Siegel Memorial, Las Vegas
Oregon – Good Riddance Rajneesh Memorial, Antelope

And when we get to Washington, we may even stop by the Codger Pole in Colfax.