Another nice sunny morning in Portland today, temp were in the low 60’s when we walked. There was no rush because Donna’s plane did not arrive until 9:45.
We had a nice morning walk which helped because the 1/2 hour drive to the airport took longer because the traffic was heavy. We did get to the airport and with Donna’s text messages, I was able to get into a space at the curb by Southwest pickup. It was not to long after Donna appeared at the door. We ended up driving to Tigard Oregon, which is a suburb of Portland on the South side. We had plans to visit Lenore’s sister and her husband (Bridgey & Jim), who both are in an assisted living facility. It was extremely good to see them. The seem to be doing well and we had a good visit for a couple of hours.
When we left Tigard we set the GPS for Leavenworth, Washington. It was a pretty good drive so Donna spent some time on the phone and got us reservations at a motel in Ellensburg, WA. This was on our route to Leavenworth, but about an hour less driving for today.
The road out of Portland was I-84 along the Columbia River Gorge. A very scenic drive as the road follows the Columbia River as it winds thru the Cascade Mountains. There are trees and vegetation everywhere and to take pictures from the car you needed to be ready for breaks in the tree lines. Lots of mountain bluffs and shear rock formations. As you start the exit to the east of the Cascades, the whole landscape picture changes, in that most of the trees are gone and there is no or just dried up vegetation. Somebody once told me that when the weather systems come off the Pacific they run into the mountains and while the clouds go over/around the mountains, almost all of the water is taken out of the system by the mountains. That would be a good explanation for the change in scenery today.
We did arrive at the motel about 5:30, and I think Kelso was the happiest to get out of the car. We did cal Frank DeLong, Lenore’s brother and we are meeting him and his wife Ruth tomorrow.
The Above Views Are on I-84 in The Columbia River Gorge.
The 3 Views below are High Desert Views, after we essentially passed thru the Cascades.
This view and the following views are between the High Desert and Ellensburg, WA.
Been following the posts but no time to write back. Looks like it’s been a great trip. I thought that you were renting an RV again until I saw the post about your car. Rae and I drove through the Redwoods a year or so ago after taking the train from Ann Arbor to Seattle, then driving up to Whistler and then going south to San Francisco and flying home. Tell Donna we said hello.