Here we are at 10:30 pm, still driving to Eugene and I am blogging real-time in the car. We ended up staying until almost 3 pm in Spokane, with the kids swimming all day at the hotel and me trying to catch up on all of the overdue blog posts. We are now 20 minutes out from the Marriott Residence Inn in Eugene, Oregon so I will be brief.
Blogging at night in the car...
Traveling through eastern Washington is not too interesting as it is dry and arid throughout the region. Here are a couple of views from this part of the trip:
Pretty dull stuff. Although I will say that the cell phone coverage in Washington is excellent compared to some of the other states we've been in, especially South Dakota and Wyoming. Nick and I couldn't believe that we had 4-5 bars throughout from AT&T -- perhaps one of their executives lives in the area! ;-)
On our journey today we passed through the Yakima Indian Reservation. I was impressed with all of the produce they grow for sale, but also a little saddened by what looked to be some pretty tough living conditions. I will say that there were more American flags flown on that reservation than I had seen before, and there seemed to be a quiet dignity in the "Yakima Nation" signs I saw peppered throughout the reservation. Although I am not a gambler, I can see why Indian Gaming is allowed as a means for this community of people to create revenue.
After we passed through the reservation we hit the Columbia River Gorge and it is...MAGNIFICENT!! I told Jill tht it was always my favorite part of the drive home from Bozeman to Eureka, and I spent many a night parked in the gorge sleeping in my Volkswagen bug, thinking the wind was going to tip me over! Anyway, the gorge was as amazing as I remember it, with its wide expanses and whitecaps, trestle bridges that cross it with portions that can be raised for ships that cruise the river delivering goods, and railroad tracks and trains on either side of the river.
The Columbia River is the border between Washington and Oregon. This sign was posted on one of the many trestle bridges across the river:
Here are a few shots of the gorge, including one of a raised trestle bridge:
Pretty, huh? It was a beautiful time to travel through the gorge.
We followed I-84 through the gorge until we got to The Dalles dam where we stopped to fill up with gas. This leads to an interesting sidebar discussion: WHY can't you pump your own gas in Oregon? The guy at the station said it was started by an Oregonian governor years back as "something nice to do for the people" and it has never been rescinded. Is that funny or what? According to the guy at the pump there is only on other state that has this rule and tht is New Jersey (figures). Comments are welcomed on this scintillating topic.
Anyway The Dalles dam was spectacular -- the water was rushing out of the gates so fast it was creating Lunch Counter-like rapids in the river. It was an awesome and a massive structure -- American ingenuity at its best!
After the gorge it became a race against time to get to Eugene. We turned south on I-205 to the I-5 and soon we were pulling into our hotel parking lot. The kids immediately fell asleep (as soon as their faces hit their pillows) and Jill are now quietly sipping a cup of decaf in our room. Life is good -- thank you, Lord!
Goodnight,
Brian
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