St. George November 2010

Friday Nov 19

Teri and Dave usually head to the Southwest in May... in the Spring, when the desert begins to bloom. What would it be like, we wondered in the off season...like November? Should we plan another trip -  perhaps in November over Thanksgiving and see what it was all about?  After some thought we said, Yes. Let's do it.  Did it turn out as we expected? Read on and see. :-)

Today is the day we had planned to drop off Starboard Kitty at Cat Nap Inn, and then spend the rest of the day preparing for an early Saturday morning lift off to Boise, Idaho for a two day drive to St. George, Utah.

There is a storm coming. A low will be parked off the Washington Coast for several days. Tropical wet weather will be rotated from the ocean into the Pacific Northwest with the majority funneling into lower Oregon and California. But wait, there’s more. At the same time, a flow of very cold Arctic polar air will be charging down the Fraser River valley putting everything in sight into a deep freeze. The low will send three separate events into Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, California. Each one a little worse than the last. This all begins Friday evening.

The more we thought about it, the more we decided we should shove off on Friday asap and do the trip in 3 days instead of two. If we waited till Saturday morning it might be too late to get out and Snoqualmie Pass might not let us through.

By 2pm, after burning the candle at both ends for several hours and after dropping off the cat at 9am, we were ready, set and gone. Dave, Teri and the pups set off on another trip to the Southwest. But this time it would be in the off season. Would it be cold..wet..windy. Or cool but sunny.What would the landscape look like after being blasted by triple digit temps all summer. How was the real estate situation? Hopefully we would find answers to our questions.  If we can get through the winter weather between where we are and where we're going!

An hour into our drive

It was overcast but not raining when we left. First stop was Haggens to pick up a block of ice for our ice chest, and baked chicken from their deli since we didn't get a chance to make our own today like we usually do.  Then we hit the freeway southbound.  There was a Washington State Patrol stopped on the Fairhaven on-ramp as we motored by. He was nearly out of sight behind us as we pulled far ahead and turned the corner, but out of the corner of his eye, Dave saw him enter the freeway. And he was moving. Halfway up the grade he had caught and passed us and nailed a vehicle just ahead of us with Canadian plates. Wow. We saw many more Washington State Patrol cars that day. It got a little slow on I-405 in Bellevue but we were able to make I-90 at Factoria Interchange ok and in increasing rain headed for the pass. By the time we hit the Snoqualmie Pass summit it was dark, 32 degrees and snowing, but the road was bare and wet.  So far, no ice.  The trip down the other side was a little spooky as visibility wasn’t very good in places, but we managed.  Flew right by Yakima without stopping for gas and Teri sent a text to her niece Cindy as we passed their exit in Zillah. “Be safe!”, she texted back. The snow would come and go. Figured Kennewick would be enough for one day. It would get us over the pass and through most of Washington State.

We pulled in feeling pretty tired and checked into the Best Western Kennewick Inn. We had been following the weather quite closely during the day. The weather in Bellingham had gone from bad to worse to very bad as the arctic air collided with the pacific moisture. It was snowing and the temp was dropping quickly, 21 degrees and the wind chill was in the teens, and near white out conditions.  We had made our escape just in the nick of time it seemed.  It was dry and 40s in Kennewick.  We had cold chicken from Haggens for dinner and once that was over, it was time for our tired travelers to crash.

Saturday, November 20

We got up the next morning thinking it would be a easy day since we were only going to Boise, about 4.5 hrs, but the more we thought about it we decided there may be a better option. From Boise to St. George was about 9 hrs under ideal conditions.  The cold front was descending South, the moisture was coming from the Oregon/Calif coast and would head east and then bend north. They would collide in lower Idaho and western Utah. Great Salt Lake area was not the place to be.  Currently we were just ahead of everything. If we left it as it was then on Sunday (the worst day) we would have to make that epic run from Boise to St. George. Chances are it would be beyond nasty. (All weather forecasts were confirming that the system would hit the SLC area around noon).  Teri said, “Well, if we get snowed in for a few days, I’d rather be snowed in at Ogden rather than Boise. Ogden is a nice area, and it would be a quicker run to St. George when it cleared.”   So, we opted for Ogden and the long run, canceled Boise with no penalty and after a hot breakfast at the hotel, filled up the truck with gas at the Exxon across the street and got the heck out of there.

Heading towards the Oregon border

Columbia River and the Oregon border ahead

Sunny and 41 degrees in E. Oregon

Surprise. We had some good weather. Sun, not much wind, and dry roads. Made some pretty good time up the Pendleton grade, up and down the Blue Mountains which exhibited some pretty heavy snow blasts from the north on the trees. Teri was picking up hits on her BlackBerry and finding out that Bellingham was just getting hammered with snow and ice and wind. It didn’t seem fair but we knew it would catch up to us sooner or later.

Made the summit of the Blue Mtns.  31 degrees, sunny, roads bare and dry.

Just crossed into Idaho. This is the Snake River by the rest area. Overcast now.

As the day progressed, the weather did begin to creep up on us. We made it into Idaho, flew through Boise, and got gas at the SE end of town. Then stopped for lunch in Mountain Home. The day was getting on and we saw fingers of weather reaching out for us.

Just past Twin Falls, ID. Ground is white.

The edge of the front that we're going into

And now its dark and snowing!

It was dark when we hit the connector road that took us SE to Utah and I-15. That’s when road conditions really changed. It got tense for some time there as the road conditions turned to snow, limited visibility and high winds kept trying to push the truck sideways. But we kept on trucking and eventually rolled into Ogden. It was snowing heavily.

We had toyed with the idea of getting a Mexican dinner to go at Bella’s but it meant checking in, and then traveling North a bit and then back and that seemed like a lot to accomplish in the dark and the heavily falling snow. And we were exhausted.  But we did decide to fill up and top off the gas tank first.  We checked in and found they were having a Drag Queen Ball that evening. The hotel front desk was totally sympathetic and put us as far away from it as possible. We got settled and Dave went down to Cactus Red’s Southwest Grill restaurant to pick up a couple dinners. The hallway down by the restaurant was crawling with men dressed in costume. Dave felt like it was something he didn’t want any contact with, and Teri found the humor in it.  It's not what you'd expect to see in Utah!

Dinner over, it was time for our tired travelers to crash.  We wanted to get an early start in the morning.

Just as we nodded off, the peace and quiet ended. In the room above us, I suspect, was a track and field event – shot putting with bowling balls comes to mind with the contestants all in the 300 lb range -with banging and heavy thumping feet that made the floor shudder with each step. At 11:30pm Dave walked down and lodged a complaint at the front desk. Another fellow already there said he had noted people running up and down the hall on the 2nd floor which made a terrible racket above his room. The fellow at the front desk picked up the phone and told the 2nd floor hall monitor to ask the people above us to tone it down. At 12:15am (after much more thumping and banging) they quieted down. At 1:30am they were back and again at 2:30am.  It wasn’t the best night for our two tired travelers. Interesting that Joey and Sadie slept right through it and didn’t bark once!  Lucky them.


Sunday, November 21 - Day 3

We had decided the night before to get going at the crack of dawn. There was supposed to be a slight lull in the weather pattern in the morning, but it would return with a vengeance in the early afternoon. Teri’s friend Emily in Provo had advised us to get an early start and get out of there if we wanted to make it to St. George before things shut down.  Normal time to St. George was only about 5 hours from Ogden, none the less, at 6am MST (5am PST) the alarm went off and we went to action stations. Hotel breakfast started at 7am. By 8am mountain time we were on our way.

It's a good thing we didn't need to read the signs!

The highways were quiet. It was snowing off and on, sometimes light, sometimes heavy. By the time we got into SLC it was quiet with little traffic but there were quite a few light poles, road signs and traffic light poles clipped off and lying on the sides of the road alongside cars turned upside down and inside out. Those bridge abutments and barriers seem to win out every time. We saw one car upside down and most of the driver area had been ripped open. It must have been a very bad night/early morning. Nobody was testing the 75mph limit. We were in the 50-55 mph range but only once in a gust did I feel the Toyota lose it slightly.  Ice.  It was everywhere. The occasional traffic advisory signs over head flashed warnings - Slick Roads-Slow Down. The barriers on the sides of the road were plastered with a white pasty salt brine and ice snow mix and the roads had a wet then a dry shiny sheen that looked totally dangerous.

Ok, so we plugged along hour after hour and finally left Provo behind, and Scipio. There were times when we were hit by short duration but intense bursts of snow & ice pellets driven by fierce winds. Visibility wasn’t so good.  Stopped for gas at Beaver where it was very windy and cold but no snow.  By the time we got down to Cedar City the temp had increased to the 34-37 range. Heat wave. And traffic was moving again in the 70 mph range. About 25 miles from St. George, we could see a great crack opening in the overcast. Ahead was blue sky and the Sun, our central heating system.

See that bright spot in the sky? That's where we're going!

Arrived about 2pm and drove around St.George for a while looking at housing areas until our hotel opened up. We then had a late lunch at Don Pedros in Washington City. What a day!  We checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Coral Canyon and our old room #145 and started unloading. We were here!

Gas fireplace - we actually used it in November!

Our private patio

The kitchen which includes a cooktop

Separate bedroom

Jetted tub!

One of our favorite views!

That's more like it!  Welcome to St. George!

Monday Nov 22nd Day 4

Woke and had the complementary hot breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs, coffee, hot chocolate, OJ, and the hotel's famous hot cinnamon rolls. It was pretty tasty.
We went to the AAA in the Mall off Telegraph road and picked up a map of St. George. Then explored housing developments South on River Road. We discovered an industrial section and a new road that continued south until we hit the Arizona border. Huh…didn’t realize it was that close.

We checked out Coral Canyon and found our ‘dream house’ which was still for sale. The house is beautiful inside and the backyard is large enough for what we want and has a nice view overlooking the area.  The Road Runner was still in the neighborhood too.

Back of the house

Also checked out Tonaquint Dr which was a back way from Dixie into Bloomington. Saw some petroglyphs and a park. Later in the afternoon we ended up wandering around the Fields area in Washington. The sun was low in the sky and blinding at that angle. We’re not complaining about having the sun out you understand. It was just very difficult to see driving into it.  The mountains were sure beautiful though!

Here's a "little" place with its own helicopter!

Tuesday Nov 23rd Day 5

Weather says that Salt Lake City et al will get creamed today about 1pm. Blizzard conditions will waste most of Utah and lower Idaho.  Nothing to worry about here though.  Today we have to pick up a pumpkin pie in Veyo for Thanksgiving, so after another breakfast of sausage biscuit and gravy, scrambled eggs, etc courtesy of the hotel, we headed out.

Picked up the pie and explored Diamond Valley. It was fine, but not for us. It was great to drive on highway 18 again as it descended by Snow Canyon and into St. George. We checked out a few houses around Tuacahn. Then it was off to Dixie area to get some bubbly and a few weird named Utah and Colorado beers.

Dave hit the pool and the hot tub. The pool was warm, the Jacuzzi warmer but he couldn’t go back into the pool after being in the Jacuzzi. Cold chicken and potato salad for lunch back at the hotel.  Dave went for a hike to the East and clambered over some desert scrub and ridges while Teri stayed with the pups and made Crock Pot Lasagna for dinner. It was very yummy!

After dinner, Teri listened to Eric Dodge’s radio show on the laptop while Dave watched a fascinating National Geographic program on the Dawn of the Ocean. There was an episode about Dolphins vs Great White Sharks in the Fallion Islands area off the coast of California.  Great Whites gather there at a certain time of year to feed on the Seals. They recorded an incident on film where a Dolphin grabbed an intruder Great White and spun it around until it was upside down. This it turns out, is a ‘toxic sleep’ position for the shark. The shark goes limp. The Dolphin held it until it asphyxiated. Some sort of signal was sent by the shark through the water as after that no Sharks were to be seen.  Scientist discovered via tracking devices that All the White’s in the area didn’t just swim away, they dropped to a depth of 500 meters (1,500 feet) and left the area. And they kept going over 2,000 miles all the way to Hawaii leaving a traditional seal harvest. A quirky incident? The Sharks split again 3 years later when the Dolpins re appeared. Guess they remembered what happened. Interesting.

Wednesday Nov 24 Day 6

Off to Hurricane to check out Lin’s Family Grocery store, then check out the housing situation in Hurricane and LaVerkin. There were actually some very nice neighborhoods and houses there. And at the canyon overlook in Hurricane that faces LaVerkin there were some potential houses there to that overlooked the canyon with a view.   Stopped again at Lin’s grocery store to pick up a rotisserie whole chicken, turkey gravy, some bottled water, a coke for Teri and a salad. Then it was back to the ranch.

We enjoyed lasagna for lunch, and Dave checked out the History of St. George while Teri relaxed with the pups.  Then it was time to check out the new airport. We jumped in the truck and climbed a ridge and had an outstanding view of the not quite yet completed runway. Turning around we had a stupendous view of St George.

View from the new airport

Decided to check out that overpass by the 'Arizona' sign to see where it went. Turns out, if you go east it leads to the airport and if you go west it takes you back to I-15. Well, earlier in the day  we did the on ramp at 6 and had a close call as a double trailer truck almost nailed us. (there was almost no length on the on ramp before you were force to merge) Dave nailed the Toyota’s 4.7 liter V-8 engine and in a moment we had accelerated out of what could have been a bad situation.

Now we were coming back on I-15 to that same area. Dave moved into the left lane. Speed limit reduced to 55 mph. – that slower speed is probably what gave us and the truck the time to react. However, traffic up ahead slowed and stopped. Something with a semi had happened in the right lane. A Utah State Patrol came up from behind us and wiggled his way ahead. Turns out it was a small car that had gotten squeezed and dragged for some distance between the right side concrete barriers and a semi. The driver of the car appeared to be a young blonde girl and was surrounded by medics and officers on the shoulder side of the barrier as we went by.  Hope she's okay!

Back to the hotel and after cooling off a bit we opted for the chicken dinner with turkey gravy, baked potato’s and a salad. For desert it was – Veyo pumpkin pie. We are living right!

Thursday Nov 25 Day 7

Happy Thanksgiving!

The hotel has more people now. Last night there were a lot of people splashing in the pool and the hot tub. It wasn’t that warm outside but they didn’t care. :)  This morning in the parking lot where it had just been the truck, now there were quite a few cars.  We had breakfast and then decided to make a run out to Colorado City to check out some canyons. Loaded up the truck and off we went.

The roads were clear and dry and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. However it was still just above or right at freezing so we took it a bit slow.  Drove through Apple Valley and passed our old friend, the connector road to Zion. Arrived at Colorado City which is just over the border in Arizona. It was a semi-flat town. We never found the ‘center’ of town where the Merry Wives restaurant was supposed to be, rather it was scattered houses mixed in with livestock fences and industrial debris. We did see a few girls wearing the long dresses and bonnets from the 1800’s. Weird place. Wandered through different streets eventually finding the canyons. They were very awesome looking. We didn’t go very far in not knowing what the conditions of the dirt road would be farther along. Maybe later…in the summer.

Made our way out and continued to Fredonia and Kanab. Teri wanted to see the Coral Pink Sand Dunes and also Best Friends Animal Society.  We did both. And Teri got a nice fleece long sleeved jacket at Best Friends.

Pink Coral Sand Dunes

Best Friends sign on the main road

The grounds around the Welcome Center in Angel Canyon

Rather than go all the way around the way we came, Brian the Park Ranger, said the ‘connector’ road went right through. Only 4 miles of dirt and a normal car could drive it. Didn’t need a 4x4.  So we took that way back and saw some deer, and snow and red rocks. It was a scenic drive and we got up to almost 20 mph on the dirt part. The rest was 45 mph. Came out at Cane and after that intersected the original highway near Colorado City, so it was a great short cut.  Motored back to St.George with the sun low in the western sky. The lighting on the Pine Mts and distant red cliffs was amazing.

We keep running into Arizona!

Once back at the hotel we made up mashed potatoes, and with the chicken, turkey gravy and salad, we were stuffed and content in no time.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday Nov 26 Day 8

Did some research on houses, read ‘the rules’ for the HOA concerning Coral Canyon. It was a little depressing. If you move a rock from this part of your yard to another, you need prior approval. That kind of thing may be a tad too restrictive for our tastes. We were going to meet up with Eric at the studio, but never were able to connect to get an address.  Found out later his phone was acting up and wasn't receiving texts.  So instead we made up a short list and piled the pups in the truck and zipped off to Fields area to check on housing developments. We saw quite a few ‘possibles’ where the ‘round about’ was. Came back for lunch – Crock pot Lasagna and then hung around and did even more research.  Watched the tail end of the Wizard of Oz. Had left over chicken and gravy and salad for dinner. The hotel is working out well. The hotel breakfast is ok. Velveeta cheese omelets get old very fast. The slamming noise the doors in the hallway is a bit tiring too.

Saturday Nov 27 Day 9
Next to last day in paradise. Eric gave us a call and Teri talked to him for a bit. Ok to meet up if we were going to be out in the Washington Fields area. He was heading up to Beaver later in the day to meet up with some friends so our window was limited. We grabbed the housing list and the pups and headed out.

We met up with Eric at his friends ranch where he had a couple horses and chickens and Josie the dog. We talked for a while and got the lay of the land and a little history lesson of the surrounding area. We didn’t know that the dam at Quail had busted at one time. Apparently it made quite a mess. Eric was dismayed at all the development. “Years ago you could ride a horse all the way from here to there, but now with all the noise, you’ll get bucked off. So now it’s just up this section of dirt road and down a bit the other way.” He was thinking Leeds or Toquerville might work. Hurricane pays more for electricity, 8 cent/kwh, than the Fields area, 4 cents a kwh. Céline Dion was supposed to be around here somewhere and Robin Williams had a house up past Winchester Hills. Eric didn’t think much of the Bluff drive area or Santa Clara as it was already full and bordered by ‘the res’ on one side and mountains on the other. He liked the Fields tho. We talked about the effect the new/old airport would have. The road should eventually connect to Hurricane. But right now everything is pretty much at a standstill. There are a lot of developments that look like all they need are houses but that’s not going to happen for a while. Eric thought there were over 1,000 houses just in the general area that were in foreclosure. I had to agree as there were about 125 for sale just in the Coral Canyon area. But foreclosure isn’t the same as for sale. He said he saw lots that were over $150k reduced to just $60k.  We thanked him for his words and I took a photo of Teri and the Country Rock Star. Then we headed out to check out more property.

Teri and Eric

Last place we looked at were two homes in Hurricane. One had a pretty nice view of the Pine Mts and the Red Cliffs in front. While a large house, the yard was not all that big. But dead end road and the neighborhood wasn’t bad. Then there was one in S. Hurricane toward the Airport. It was next to a field of apricot trees. 2 stories and since there were fields around it rather than houses, it had a great view of the Pine mts and the black cliffs that are East of Hurricane. It had a pool too!

Getting tired, we zipped back, got some Utah Beer and relaxed back at the hotel for a bit before heading out once more to Don Pedros Mexican restaurant (in Green Valley) for a late lunch. Yummers! Then off to take a look at the place we might have rented in Green Springs. It would have been nice but they never replied to our queries. There were some very upscale homes there and outstanding views of the Red Cliffs and the Pine Mts.

Views from Green Springs

Views from Green Springs

So…there are a lot of potential places. In fact the area is almost overwhelmed with houses for sale. Eric said you can pretty much name your own price. There are a lot of desperate people around here.

Back at the hotel once more it was time to relax and think about the day.
Took some outrageous sunset pics with Teri’s camera.

Sunday Nov 28 Day 10

Last day in Paradise. :)  It snowed last night and it is snowing this morning. I took more pics with Teri’s camera – same angle as last night. Ha. What a difference!

Today we didn’t do much, resting up for the long haul back home.  The snow melted quickly so we did run a couple errands.  We filled up the truck with gas and stopped off at the outlet mall store called Cowboys and Indians. Dave almost picked up a Navajo blanket. Small ones were running $20-$50 bucks and then $100 - $200..and up. Too much. We’ll have to return to New Mexico and buy direct from the locals. Teri got a St. George t-shirt and a jar of Utah Huckleberry jam. Then we drove down to the Bloomington area. There was a Flying J gas station/store there and Dave went in and found a long sleeved shirt that was a bit too large for him but it had cool southwest desert patterns across the chest area. Hey, and it was 50% off so he only paid $10 bucks for it. Score. He will never be able to wear it in public, but he has his momento.  The rest of the day we relaxed and gave careful thought to our drive home. The situation was this. Part III of the bad weather was heading right for the route we would be taking.  Swell.

Monday Nov 29 Day 11

We were figuring three days to get back. Ogden was as far as we would try today. Before we left that hotel on our way down, we had checked at the front desk to make sure there would be no weird events going on when we returned. They assured us, it would be ok and quiet. But getting there was only the half of it. On Tuesday lower Utah and Eastern Oregon would be in the teens with an 80% chance of snow. Wasn’t really looking forward to that. We have 4 wheel drive, ½ a 40lb sack of TidyCatLitter and chains so we’ll just have to see how it goes, otherwise, maybe we should consider going West through Las Vegas and hang a right once we entered California. Longer drive for sure but an option.

Teri heard from a gal who runs the local newspaper that I-15 north of St. George was quite slippery, and the day before she had driven up to I-70 interchange and was in a car accident!  She went off the road and got stuck in a big snow bank, and then a semi-truck lost control in the same place, went off the road and plowed into the back of her car.  Yowza.  Luckily she was okay, just really shook up.  Check out time was noon.  Since we only had to get to Ogden tonight, we packed up and headed out at about 11am hoping that the roads would be clear by then.

Sadie is all packed and ready!

Outside temp, 41 degrees. Roads dry, nice sunny day and traffic was moving at 75 mph. That was at Coral Canyon where the elevation was 3,000 feet. Soon we were past Toquerville and could see the powdered sugar dusting of snow on the mighty Zion cliffs. 4,000 feet. Truck temp starting to drop. Approaching Harmony, elevation 5,000 feet outside truck temp was 22 degrees. We had slowed down to 50. There were wind gusts which blew snow across the road. We came around a corner and saw a quite a few cars that had wiped out. Utah State Patrol cars and ambulances were just arriving so it must have just happened. We continued a little farther and came across another bunch of cars. Some in the ditch, some on their sides. We weren’t even to Cedar City yet…this was supposed to be the good part of the road! Twelve miles from Cedar City we found an off ramp and popped a u-turn. That was enough for us. California, here we come.  By the time we got back to the accidents a few tow trucks had arrived and the backup of traffic was many miles long. Yeah,that was the other issue…all the potential backups. 4,000 feet…..3,000 feet. Welcome back to St. George Dave and Teri!!  Sheesh.

Stopped off at AAA to pick up maps of Nevada and California, then to the Arctic Circle for a quick bite to eat since it was now lunch time. Topped of the gas and now our new route would be Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon & finally Washington. Its going to be a long day.  Tighten those belts one…more…time. Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Let’s go driving kids!

Teri got on her Blackberry and started cancelling our reservations along our old route.  No penalty for cancelling thank goodness!  She then started messaging her friends Mary in CA  and Emily in NC from her phone who helped her research a decent pet-friendly place along our route since it was getting dark and tough to see the AAA books or connect to TripAdvisor through the Blackberry.   Mesquite, Las Vegas, the miles ticked off. We could look North and see the flats of lower Death Valley, at Barstow we took the connector NW through Boron, Mojave and then as the sun went down descended down down down the winding pass of Tehachapi.  In the dark.  The smell of brake fluid was strong as the truckers kept their rigs going slow. Welcome to Bakerfield. We continued on and made it to Fresno. 9pm.  What originally was going to be an easy 5 hour day, turned into a do-over at 1pm and then 8 more hours on the road since it would take us a full three days to arrive back home going this route.  Long drive but at least it was dry, no threat of ice or snow, and we made good time. Tomorrow, Grants Pass and we’ll try to make it to Medford or maybe Roseburg.

Caesars Palace Las Vegas

Mandalay Bay Las Vegas

California!

Our hotel in Fresno

Tuesday Nov 30th Day 12

Up and gone. California is a big state. Teri's friend Mary lives in Tracy and gave her good directions for when to switch over to I-5 from Hwy 99.  It was a smooth transition and we made great time.  Would have loved to stop in for a few minutes to see her and her Cavaliers but she was off to work and we had many miles ahead of us.

Sadie making sure she's not left behind

Heading north on Highway 99 from Fresno

Eventually we made it to Redding where we stopped to get gas which was a nice green treed area.  Then we started the climb. We passed Medford and Grants Pass. Eugene..could we make it there tonight? But it was raining now and although rain is way better than ice, there is a visibility issue, and it was dark and driver Dave was getting buzzed so we called it at Roseburg and pulled over.

Wednesday Dec 1 Day 13

This should be our last day on the road. Got the complimentary breakfast – the waffles were a challenge as they had to be pried out of the cooker, but other than that it was fine. It had been raining since late yesterday. Welcome to Oregon. The drive to Eugene was a wet misty white out. Visibility was not so good. We could see the blurry shapes of cars and trucks and semi’s surrounding us but little else. Good thing we pulled over and didn’t try this stretch at night. Arrived at Portland eventually, then crossed the Columbia river into Washington. Not far now.
Traffic was ok. What a treat! We moved right along and then Olympia and Tacoma were behind us. Then Bellevue…Everett..and there was Bellingham. It was late afternoon when we pulled into our driveway after 13 days and 3,500 miles. Good trip. We saw a lot and learned a lot. Nice to see the house intact after the winter storm that blasted B’ham while we were gone.

When you've been on the road for a few days, this can make you do a double-take!

Bellevue, WA

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