Oregon

Have you seen the pictures lately? If you haven't remember to go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30520769@N06/ November 16th, 2008: Happy Birthday Connie!!! She’s proud to say that she’s 53. We’ve spent a lot of birthdays together, her and me. However, she has had one birthday more than me during her life, so if you didn’t know, you now know my age. To begin with we are back in Washington State. There will be no more additions to the US map on the side of LaFawnduh. The girls have made it a practice to count the number of states that we have been in but now it is far easier to count the state that we have not been in. 1. California 2. North Dakota 3. Nebraska 4. Colorado 5. Oklahoma 6. Arkansas 7. Michigan 8. Missouri 9. Kentucky 10. Tennessee 11. Iowa 12. Kansas Twelve states out of 48. We hit 36 states during this trip. We were within 10 miles of Michigan when we were in northern Ohio, and we were within 30 miles of Colorado when we were in Monument Valley. Finally, when in northwestern Nevada we were a short ten miles from California. At the time the "numbers" weren't important to us but now it seems as if we wish we had also made it to those three states (at least) Geez. I can’t tell you how strong the wave of depression was that came over me when I first saw “Seattle” on a road sign. Now, Seattle is a great city. But, this trip was in the planning for FIVE years. It was always so far in the future that it seemed unreal; then as it came closer it continued to be unreal because, well, I don’t know why, but I never thought it would actually happen. Kind of in the way that I never actually thought I would ever be 52, simply because it seemed so distant in the future that it would never actually get here. Then we were on the road and driving across Washington State towards Idaho and even after the first month, the remaining portion of the trip seemed as if it would last almost forever. Then, we left Florida and pointed LaFawnduh towards home. Halloween came and went in Texas and November was bringing the trip to an end. Now, we are clinging to threads. Holding on to the trip for fear of it ending. In a couple of days it will be nothing more than a memory. Folks, that is depressing to me. But, even today the trip was full of wonderful sights and sharing of experiences with the girls who have made every day joyful. Con chose to abandon us on her birthday and if you think about it, she has been putting up with all three of us in the 8’ by 36’ box that we Call LaFawnduh since August 2nd. That seems like forever ago (and in another sense it seems as if it were yesterday). On her birthday we dropped her and LaFawnduh off at a mall east of Portland and then the girls and I piled into Kip and explored the Columbia River Gorge. The waterfalls along I-84 are fairly spectacular especially now that recent torrential rains have added to their size and fury. We went on short hikes with Cocoa into damp forests that are still showing the colors of autumn. Northwest forests with broad leaf maple, red cedar, and ferns galore. We reunited with Mom and headed across the mighty Columbia into Washington State. . . . . Geez. Then we drove a few miles north of Centralia to Great Wolf Lodge where I am writing this as the family is caroming down water slides (again). The last hoorah for the Corps of Discovery. I feel as Clark must have as the original Corps of Discovery made their way into St. Louis. Life afterwards could not live up to that experience. Ours is nothing like the original Corps of Discovery but no matter what Con and I do in the future, it will not be with the wonderment of having a 9 year old and an 11 year old to share it with. This trip has been nothing less than an absolute GIFT. I am so thankful to have shared almost four months in LaFawnduh with Connie, Hannah, and Audrey. Thank you Lord. Happy Birthday my beloved Connie! November 15, 2008, Saturday: We woke up to a typical Northwest Autumn morning, cool temperatures in the mid forties, fog, and when you inhaled a breath of outdoor air, you wanted to smile. It was refreshing, invigorating, and it felt as Con puts it, “G-O-O-D!!!!” When Audrey woke up she was sobbing. We went to her expecting to console her after a nightmare but as it turned out she told us the problem was, “I can’t believe the trip’s almost over. I don’t want it to be over.” But, we moved on. Northward along I-5 we had lunch in Eugene before moving to our campground at Fairview, Oregon (selected by Audrey as our destination). Along the way we enjoyed fall in the Pacific Northwest. Native broad leaf maples that were golden. Cottonwoods that were brilliantly yellow, and other deciduous trees planted by farmers, and home owners that were golden, orange, and red. Here we are still in Autumn even though it is mid November. Then as we moved into Portland we saw the Cascade volcanoes of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier (all in Washington State) and Mt. Hood east of Portland. This made us all keenly aware that we were almost at the end of this wonderful, magical journey. Melancholy was the feeling for the day. Tomorrow is Connie’s birthday. To celebrate we made reservations at Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington. I’m sure Con is looking forward to this indoor water park for I know the kiddies are!!! Con has on numerous occasions this evening had to ask Audrey to stop singing their theme song. Now Audrey has a very pretty voice and she does the song proudly, but after 120 times, well, you get the idea. On the other side of the coin we experienced our third “BAD” driver of the trip. The first was near Miami, the second was outside of Houston (a trucker on a cell phone), and today the third wins the prize: As we were driving north on I-205 east of Portland this middle aged gal in her Saturn Vue didn’t anticipate her exit early enough and cut us off moving from the fast lane to the slow lane (that we were in) in order to make her off ramp. We missed hitting her by inches and I was happy to use the air horn for the first time during the trip. Sadly, she didn’t seem fazed by it (alright, to let the truth be known I have used the air horn in tunnels for the kids’ entertainment whenever there wasn’t any other traffic to be seen). Con took a marvelous photograph of this inept driver since she was holding the camera awaiting views of the Cascade volcanoes. You are more than welcome to view this photograph of this terrible driver on the Flickr site (find the link above if you don't already have it). Then to end the day’s driving we pulled into one of those great luxury RV parks (Portland Fairview RV) and set up per normal. After assuring that LaFawnduh was in the right spot, we let the air out of her air suspension and then lowered the jacks for leveling. I've done this umpteen times over the past four months. Then I shut down the engine (as I leave it idling to cool it and the tranny down during the above process) and then I move outside to connect the electricity and water at the campsite. But, this time there was an unfamiliar “whine”. Upon investigating the source of the noise we found the pump for the hydraulic jacks to be running. Folks, it shouldn’t have been. I pulled the electrical connectors at the pump/hydraulic fluid reservoir and it had no effect. Con and I hunted down the fuse for the leveling system and found it. I yanked out the 10 amp fuse and the noise continued! How dare it! I decided it was time to disconnect the battery lead to the motor. I had the necessary 9/16” socket but could only get a few thread turns before I ran out of enough room to get the socket wrench out. So, I looked for a 9/16” wrench and there was none (at the start of this trip I treated it (incorrectly so) as a backpacking trip and I tried to keep weight to a minimum instead of using the adage of the Boy Scout as I should have, "It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it") so I used the crescent wrench. The nut came off after quite a bit of effort, the washer followed, but the connector was attached to another, harder to get to post, so I decided to work on the other lead instead. I finally got this second nut off and removed the battery lead with a flash of sparks that made Con jump. I wrapped the lead with electrical tape and then just to make sure, I cut open one of Cocoa’s tennis balls and stuck the lead into it. Folks, this was the LAST time during the trip that we were going to use the Motorhome to sleep in. The next two nights we are going to be at Great Wolf Lodge and I think we are most likely going to sprint home to PA after that. All of these times that we have used the leveling jacks without a hiccup and now, on the very last time that we use it, it goes Kablooey! Geez. It's like the defense is digging in as the opposing offense nears the goal line. Today they threw 1. Bad Drivers and, 2. Mechanical Issues, at us as we are nearing the goal, home on the Bluff in PA. November 14th, 2008, Friday: Quote of the day provided by Hannah: “I want to ball my eyes out. We’re so close to home and I want to be there; and I want to ball my eyes out because the trip is ending.” She pretty much speaks for all of us. We left Lakeview and headed towards Crater Lake. During a fuel stop in Bly, Oregon (population maybe 500) we watched a chicken family walk by while the station attendant took a tour of LaFawnduh. She told us that she had never been in a Motorhome before and the girls were eager to give a tour. In Oregon there are no self service gas stations. They pump the gas (diesel for LaFawnduh) for you. We were happy to be back amongst the trees after our drive across Nevada’s high desert. The conifer forest made us all realize that we were close to home. Even though in Port Angeles there are no Ponderosa Pines (my personal favorite conifer). We drove highway 62 into Crater Lake National Park and left LaFawnduh as low as we could. Kip carried us to the rim of the lake. Smiles all around as we were in snow, brisk temperatures, and the wonderful aroma of mountain air. Audrey remarked, “This smells like home!” We reunited Kip with LaFawnduh and drove out of the park to the northwest. Highway 138 wound around the canyons carrying the Rogue and Umpqua Rivers. Beautiful canyons and waters full of trout. Artificial Flies only in this area. The day was one of mixed feelings. Beautiful scenery but harrowing roads for driving. Especially when we turned west onto County road 400 to knock off about 40 miles of road (going further south than we wanted). Now, if you’re looking for a retirement spot because you happen to be an avid fly fisherman, this is a spot to consider. Absolutely magnificent scenery along the Umpqua. If you’re looking for a great drive or motorcycle ride, this is the place to be. But, if you are driving a 36 ft. long Class “A” Motorhome towing a dinghy. Well, you could probably do better than this. Literally a roller coaster of a drive, winding around sharp curves, and a roadway lacking in a shoulder. A sign along the roadway read, “Negative Shoulder” and we all wondered what that meant until a few yards later we looked just beyond the fog line and saw the ground about twenty feet beneath a 60 degree slope. Con said, “I’m having the pucker factor too much this week.” Con continues to contend with vertigo and unfortunately, it is detracting from her enjoyment of the trip. We are camped in Oakland, Oregon just off of Interstate 5. We are only 324 miles from Seattle. Can you believe that? We can’t. Saturday’s activities are up in the air. Again, being largely dependent on the weather forecast. But now that we are on the west side of the Cascades we are not concerned about encountering snow. Do we move towards the coast? Towards Portland? Tour the Columbia River waterfalls? Me, I’d prefer going to have breakfast at the T-Ville Diner. Dang, that seems like such a long time ago.