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2007 Road Trip Notes
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Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

Wednesday, July 18, 2007 We slept in this morning. Ron and I got up at 6:30 and the kids at 7:00. We left the room at 7:40 and went to the lobby and ate breakfast, which consisted of Organic pop tarts, pastries, and OJ. We left the hotel at 8:02. Our hotel was in Boardman, Oregon just off interstate 84, next to the Columbia River. The hotel was nice. The building was old, but the rooms had been remodeled and they were clean. It rained during the night and is still raining now. It is 65 degrees, cloudy with no sunshine. We have seen several semis hauling big long tubes. We have been trying to figure out what they are. Zach decided they were for his underground tunnel to Japan. Sarah said they couldn’t be because they were smaller on one end. Zach said that was so they could fit together. We listened to Sarah’s iPod. We are on song #291. The Columbia River is really pretty. We saw several barges on the river. We saw a generator plant on the river with the generator running. It was the Rufus John Day Dam. We did see a dam, but no dam barges. We saw a river boat, the Columbia Queen, at 9:00. We saw train tracks that crossed the river. Part of the tracks crossed a draw bridge so ships could go underneath. It didn’t split in the middle, but a section of it raised up. We saw a sign for Mt. Hood, elevation 11,240 feet. It was rainy and cloudy, so we could not see anything. The Dalles dam is dam huge (Zach said that using dam that way is using it as a dirty word). We saw dam water coming out of one side. There was also a lot of dam water coming out of another area of it. We took a historic scenic road. Maggie did not like us going this way—Ron finally just turned her off. The road was narrow and winding (we really like these kind of roads). We stopped at Rowena Crest View Point to take pictures. At 9:40, it was still raining. After a couple of miles, Ron turned Maggie back on and she helped him get back to the interstate. We returned to Interstate 84 at 9:47. It was a very pretty drive. At 9:53, we took exit 64 to drive around Mt. Hood. We took highway 30 west/35 south. We saw a sign that said “Leaving National Scenic Area”. We have never seen a sign like that. We did not even know we had entered a National Scenic area. We saw lots of fruit orchids. We stopped at a scenic overlook. It was so cloudy that we could not see any of Mt. Hood. We turned around and drove back toward the interstate. We stopped at 10:15 at Packer’s Orchard and Bakery fruit stand. We bought 3 peaches (Sweet Sue), 1 ˝ pound of Ranier cherries, Marionberry (2 kinds of blackberries) jam and 2 cookies (as big as saucers). We left at 10:43. It was still raining. We ate the cherries while ridding. We returned to interstate 84 at 10:52. It is still raining. By 11:06, there were 12 cherries left. Mmmmmmm! Zach does not like cherries. We saw a sign that said “Possible Land Slides next 24 Miles.” We took exit 35 at 11:19 to the Historic Columbia River Highway. We saw a “Narrow Winding Road” sign. At 11:22, we stopped to look at a waterfall. It was the Horsetail and it was a very pretty waterfall. It was 65 degrees, stopped raining, but still cloudy. We saw another river boat. We reached Multnomah Falls at 11:38. We walked to the visitor’s center at 11:46 and had our first bathroom break of the day, our 13th for the trip. We walked .2 miles to the bridge and .2 miles back. It is a very pretty fall. It’s the second tallest year round waterfall. We left at 12:29. Sarah said after living in Boulder it felt like walking in a rain forest. Zach said he saw some beavers in the river. They were ducks. Sarah said, “M R ducks.” C M ducks A R not ducks O S A R C M Wings L I’ll B M R Ducks We stopped and looked at Wahkeena Falls also. It was very pretty, too. All the falls along this road are really pretty and worth driving by. It was a very pretty drive with lots of green vegetation, big trees, and lots and lots of moss. We stopped to look at the Vista House at Crown Point. We met a truck pulling a 5th wheel. Ron said he should have kept that thing on the interstate. I said I am sure he was thinking the same thing. (Remember the narrow, winding road sign.) We returned to interstate 84 at 1:13. We exited at 1:19 to look for a McDonald’s. We found one at 1:24. We decided to get it to go. We had our 14th bathroom break. We left the McDonald’s at 1:35 and went to get $2.71/gallon gas, but there were tons of people waiting at all the pumps. We decided to go on, since we really didn’t need gas. This was a bad exit to get off on. There was a lot of traffic and one way streets. We returned to interstate 84 at 1:40. At 1:49 it started raining. We took interstate 5 south at 2:00. It’s still raining. We drove on a double decker interstate. It was cool. At 2:01 we took interstate 405. At 2:03 we took exit 1D to 26 west. We stopped at exit 57 at 2:20 for gas—for the suburban (remember, we ate at McDonald’s. We already have gas). We went to a Chevron where gas was $2.87 a gallon. We have been 356.9 miles since our last fill up. We have been a total of 1,394.4 miles. We also took our 15th bathroom break. We left at 2:33. It is still sprinkling. Sarah and Zach played cards. We took highway 6 west at 2:49. The rain has stopped for now. We saw blue sky and the sun (first time today). At 3:07 it began sprinkling again and the sun went away. Ok—it’s just behind the clouds. At 3:15 it was 59 degrees with no rain, but very cloudy. We drove along beside the Wilson River on Highway 6. At 3:46 we took 101 North. We were going to the Tillamook County Creamery. We got there at 3:49. The parking lot was full of cheese eaters. We thought we would be only people there, but there where were lots of people. First, we took our 16th bathroom break. Then we stood in line for cheese samples. After eating cheese samples (curd, mild, sharp, extra sharp white, and pepper jack), we went upstairs and saw the vats where the cheese was made and the cheese being packaged. We then bought yummy ice cream. Zach had a $4 vanilla shake, Sarah had Oregon Strawberry, Ron had Mountain Huckleberry, and I had Udderly Chocolate-Brown Cow (all in homemade waffle cones). When we went back downstairs, Ron said that the only way to get into the gift shop was to go through the sample line again. Of course we bought some cheese, and Ron asked the cashier why the snack cheddar only came in mild. The cashier said it was because it was sold mainly for children. We left at 5:13. It was 65 degrees and sunny with clouds, but it was not raining. We all liked Tillamook a lot. Sarah said that it was cheesy. We also found out they have cheese graders. Zach said his $4 milkshake was worth it. We saw a high school stadium that said “Tillamook Cheesemakers”. We took 101 south toward Pacific City. We were going to a seafood restaurant that Ron had eaten at before. At 5:55 we had our first sighting of the Pacific Ocean and a huge rock in the water. It was Pacific City. Sarah saw a sign advertising the “Grateful Bread Restaurant and Bakery.” We parked at the Bob Straub State Park at 6:02 to walk on the beach. Sarah said the sand was brown and Zach said it was because they cheaped out on it. We walked on the beach and Sarah looked for shells and rocks. The shells were only pieces but they were very smooth. Sarah wanted a picture of her and Zach standing in the Pacific Ocean. Zach did not see the need to stand in the super-cold water. We left at 6:43 to drive to the restaurant. We stopped at an overlook and looked at the beach some more. There was some information there about lighthouses further south down the coast and about migrating whales. Zach asked Sarah several times where whales migrate to. She kept telling him she did not know. At 7:04 we entered a Tsunami Hazard Zone. Sarah still does not know where whales migrate to. At 7:08 we left the Tsunami Hazard Zone. In Lincoln City we took Logan Road. We reached the restaurant (Dory Cove Restaurant) at 7:21. It is no longer there. We parked at Road’s End Park next to where the restaurant used to be and took pictures of the beach. We left there and drove back toward town. We stopped at Lil’ Sambo at 7:30 and ate supper. Ron had fried prawns, clams, and halibut, Sarah and I had fried prawns and clams and Zach had fried prawns. Ron and I each had clam chowder. It was all good. We had our 17th bathroom break while we there. Our waitress was not the best one we have ever had. We left at 8:24. We decided to drive down 101 south to a lighthouse and watch the sun set in the Pacific. We saw a station wagon car covered with something pink with a house on the back of it. We also saw a big giant kite flying above the beach. At 8:34 we decided we didn’t have time to get to the lighthouse, so we turned around and went back to Road’s End. On the way we saw a sign “D River World’s Shortest”. We need to Google this and see what it is. We reached Road’s Ends at 8:48. Ron, Sarah, and Zach walked down to the water. It was cold and cloudy. The sun was behind the clouds, so we did not get to see it splash into the Pacific. We left at 9:10 to drive back to our hotel in Portland. We took 18 east at 9:16. We saw a “Sunken Grade” sign. We don’t know what this means. Oregon has very tall trees. At 9:35, it was 56 degrees and we were going east (Remember the sun set, so it is dark and I do not know how cloudy it is). At 9:40, we stopped for road construction. At 9:43 we got to go. We took 22 east at 9:50. At 10:18 we took 99 east and at 10:28 we took interstate 5 north. We passed Xerox on interstate 5. Ron pointed it out because he has come out here to work some. At 11:00 we took Interstate 5 Truck Lane. We took exit 299B at 11:07 to 405 north and then exit 1B. We found the hotel (an Econo Lodge) at 11:09. We got to our room at 11:20. It was room 212—a very nice room.