Monday, March 05, 2012

Flying Saucers over Oregon (and other natural wonders)

And wonder of wonders, I'm posting twice in one day. That's because I'm just so chuffed to have wi-fi that works. This is how it happened:

We left Cottonwood, California at about 9:45 this morning, aiming for Portland, Oregon. I wasn't able to have coffee with John Hayes (of Robert Frost's Banjo) on our way to Texas, so I was determined that we would meet on this leg of the journey. Around noon, I called John to tell him that we would be arriving in Portland around 6:00 p.m. We agreed to have dinner together. 


We made good time, and we enjoyed the drive. Our eyes have grown accustomed to dry landscapes, both in Texas and in several days of desert travel, so the greenness of the Oregon countryside is wondrous (though, personally, I think it could do with some prickly pear).

We were on schedule until we hit a succession of rainstorms, and then there was an accident that slowed traffic down, and then there was a construction zone. By six o'clock, we were not in Portland. We were in Salem, and R was flagging noticeably. I don't drive at night, so he was taking the last shift, and he was tired. I had to call John and renege on my offer of dinner. There was no way we were going to brave Portland's rush hour.  John was gracious, as always.


We pulled off the highway at the first exit that advertised an RV park, and we followed the signs to what turned out to be a very shabby place indeed -- so shabby that we turned around and left, even though all we wanted to do was stop.  I told the proprietor that we really, really needed wi-fi, and they didn't have it, so they gave us directions to another park -- this one. It's called Hee Hee Illahee, and it's great. We plugged in, made and ate dinner, then headed to the jacuzzi for a relaxing dip before returning to the Turtle and falling into our respective computers.

R is convinced that we'll be home tomorrow. I have my doubts. I wish we had time to hang around in Portland for a day or so -- partly so that I could finally meet John, but also because I saw a bumper sticker tonight that read "Keep Portland Weird". It sounds like my kind of town.

5 comments:

Rachel Fox said...

You should definitely stop in Portland! What if you never get the chance again..?
x

Sandra Leigh said...

I wish we had made it a little farther up the road before we ran out of steam last night. I just looked outside, and it's snowing out there! If I'm going to be snowed in, I'd rather be in Portland!

The Bug said...

I can't believe you're almost home! Can you go sit in the turtle & write posts even after you get there? Heh.

Sandra Leigh said...

Wonderful idea, Dana -- except that it's COLD out there!

Unknown said...

Hi Sandra: Just now catching up on blog reading--a rather sporadic blog reader these days, I fear! Sorry we couldn't meet up, but I expect to be here for a good long while, so here's to next time! I do have a great Ethiopean restaurant staked out near my place that has a vegan platter. But I can't promise not to try it out before you make it down this way again :-)