Date: 19 July 2001 (Thursday)

Start: Trailer Inn, Yakima WA

End: Cousin Luann’s house, Bend OR (220 miles)

The temperature was 59f when we arose, under beautiful blue skies. It warmed up a little through the day but remained comfortable.

We ate, dumped, put out the trash, hooked up, and left the campground on US-97 southbound. Mt Rainier was easily visible to the northwest.

I was astounded at the growing things outside of town. There were orchards, vineyards, all sorts of things being irrigated and doing just fine. It was a stretch for me to realize people were watering a pasture so a horse in it could have grass to eat, but that’s the way it is in this desert area.

We climbed a dry ridge, down into a dry valley, and repeated this several times. Then, when we could seemingly see an endless plateau in front of us, we dropped down into the Columbia River gorge. It wasn’t a dangerous descent, but it was quick and winding. It culminated in a very high two lane bridge over the river (it’s still navigable at this distance from the ocean – two barges were anchored just below the bridge).

After the bridge, we climbed for 12 miles to get back to the top of that "plateau". The climb wasn’t as steep as the descent. Then we went off across the plateau, with Mt St Helens, Mt Hood, and Mt Jefferson (dormant volcanos in the Cascades, all) in view, and then the three Sisters as we neared Bend.

But first we reached Madras. There, the traffic picked up a little when another road merged with US97. Later, we reached Redmond, and from there to Bend the traffic was substantial, maybe even heavy, despite the four lane road in this section. It turns out that the only real alternative to I-5 north/south between the Cascades and the Coastal Range is US-97 to the east of the Cascades. It gets a lot of traffic headed northeast (Spokane, etc.) from California as a shortcut.

We reached Bend and stopped at Jerry’s RV. They arranged for a replacement furnace door to be sent in tomorrow so I can replace it. After I do that, I’ll tape over the scratched fiberglass till we get home.

From Jerry’s, we called Helen and got Art (my cousin Helen was out, driving a friend somewhere). We drove to their place and chatted with Art until Helen arrived home (in a rain shower that had popped up out of nowhere). Then we all chatted until Morgan, their granddaughter, arrived for dinner. Then we ate and chatted until nearly 9:00pm.

It was decided we’d put up the trailer at Helen’s daughter, Luann's, house for the night and figure out the rest tomorrow. Morgan and Helen led us to the house, and darned if we didn’t run into another rain shower, complete with lightning, as we arrived there.

Luann and the other two girls (Eryn & Gayln) are in Portland at a soccer tournament and won’t return till Saturday night; if the girls work their way into the finals, it could even be Sunday.

We pulled into Luann’s driveway (a long, convoluted one) in a rain shower and turning quite dark. Morgan and I wandered around trying to figure out the best place to put the trailer. Finally, we set it up with the truck nosed into the garage and the trailer on the driveway just to avoid getting wetter. An extension cord was plugged into a garage outlet, to ensure electricity for the furnace fan to keep us warm, and to operate the TV for the news and weather reports.

Dolores and I kidded for a while about sending a bill to the local authorities for bringing them rain. We decided that the BMW motorcycle convention at the fairground could also claim to have brought the rain, so we’d better not apply.

As soon as we got settled in, the rain slowed and then stopped.

Tomorrow, we’ll get this rig turned around and either settle in or head down the road to Luann’s Twin Lakes resort and put it there for the duration of the stay.