Coos Bay to Vancouver

Today was another traveling day. We Rossed and checked out of the hotel at 11 a.m. and headed back to the Captain’s Choice for another bowl of their excellent clam chowder before we left the area.

The drive today took us up the 101 for a few miles and then east on Hwy 38 toward I-5 where we turned northward again toward Eugene, Salem, Portland and Vancouver, WA – our destination for the weekend. The drive was uneventful, slow in spots, and the outdoor temperature got progressively warmer the further inland we drove. By the time we drove through Eugene, the temp was 90. So much for those 65-degree days and 50-degree nights.

We stopped to get $4.19/gallon gas in Salem (no DOOL faces around, sad to say) ((if you know what that means, you “know” what that means)). Here’s an interesting tidbit of info about Oregon should any of you faithful readers ever travel out this way. Dear got out to pump gas and was stopped by a guy with a bright orange vest on over his shirt. Orange Vest guy said he’d pump the gas. Dear said no thanks, I can do it myself. OV guy said it’s illegal in the state of Oregon for a consumer to pump their own gas. HUH??? Dear told him that we were from TEXAS and were used to pumping our own gas, thank you very much. OV guy didn’t back down, so Dear decided that when in Rome…or Oregon, as was the case here. He didn’t want to have to explain a stay in an Oregon jail because of self-gas pumping.

One other random event in the car as we were driving and listening to music. #3 decided to wear his moccasins today and discovered that he could make squeaking noises by rubbing his moccasin’ed foot against the dashboard. His comment was, “Hey, I can play the shoe.” The shoe?? Seriously?

In an effort to hone his craft of shoe playing, #3 then tried a GLISSANDO by moving his foot horizontally across the dashboard. I’m sure that there will be opportunity soon for everyone to witness this newly discovered talent. Dear is thinking of an orchestra arrangement to feature our SON AND HIS SHOE!!!!

We’re so proud.

Anyway. We got to Portland about 5:00. What is it with us, big cities, and rush hour?? Northbound traffic wasn’t bad until we got within 7 miles of the bridge into Washington. Then we c r a w l e d along at 5 mph for those 7 miles all the way across the bridge. We finally made it to the hotel at 7:15. Yeah. It took that long. Maggs reported that our average speed for the 225-mile trip was 28 mph thanks to creeping through Portland.

The only photos I took today are of Mt. Hood from afar. We plan to see it up close and personal tomorrow.

After settling in at the hotel, I caught up on our weekly paperwork while Dear and #3 watched a movie. Dear was also reading the phone book to find a place to have a late supper. He chose McGrath’s Fish House and Maggs dutifully directed us to the restaurant. Dear chose well because the food was good, the atmosphere was quiet, and the prices were reasonable. #3 went for the seared ahi with wasabi sauce that he originally tried a couple of years ago when we traveled to La Jolla in SoCal. Dear even tried a bite of #3’s ahi and declared it very tasty, but preferred his fish, prawns, scallops and clams. I had a grilled salmon steak and a crab cake.

Because of the paperwork catch-up activities, I needed to get some postage stamps. The hotel clerk was less than helpful, so we asked Maggs to direct us to a Wally World. What would we do without Wally? One of the aggravations of traveling without research is that we discovered that there are no Chase Banks in this part of the country. Hmmm, since we don’t usually carry much cash, this could be a problem. Wally to the rescue again! I purchased the postage stamps and a few other necessities (Diet Coke 24-pak for $5!) and chose the maximum cash-back option from my debit card. Voila! Cash on hand for whatever.

Back to the hotel to relax, upload photos and catch up with my blogging. Mission accomplished.

ttfn