Northwest adventure (day 8)

Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Oregon, Washington

I should mention that although I love all the trees that infest this forest we have been in, Meghan does not. She thinks there are too many trees. She has thought that ever since we arrived in western Washington last Friday afternoon. So she was glad as we left the forests of western Oregon and traveled into the more desolate parts of central and eastern Oregon.

We ate, packed, swept our yurt, checked out, and left Fort Stevens State Park and returned along U.S. 101 to Astoria and then U.S. 30 to where we crossed the Columbia River back to Longview, Washington, and then traveled down I-5 on the Washington side of the river. As we approached the Vancouver-Portland area, we took I-205, a shortcut toward I-84, crossed the Columbia River a final time, and were back in Oregon again. We then headed east along I-84 up through the scenic Colombia River Gorge with a short stop at Multnomah Falls. At The Dalles we stopped and had lunch at a KFC. It is a particular challenge finding a place to eat that will satisfy all the picky eaters in our traveling party. At Pendleton we stopped for gas. Oregon, as far as we know, is the only state in the country, where by law you cannot pump your own gas. We continued east on I-84, mile after mile after mile, entering the Mountain Time Zone again, and finally reached our destination in Ontario, the final city in Oregon.

We stayed in a Super 8 Motel, which our review panel rated as far better than the EconoLodge we had stayed in Wednesday and Thursday nights in Boise but not quite as nice as the Best Western we had stayed in Friday and Saturday nights in Everett. The yurts, which we stayed in Monday and Tuesday nights in Fort Stevens State Park, were in a different category and were a universal favorite also.

Just before going to dinner, Jacob had jumped on one of the three beds in our large room and bonked his head against Meghan's. It hurt terribly, and she was very sad. When she finally recovered we started walking over to a pizza buffet within walking distance of the motel. We stood for five or ten minutes in the parking lot waiting for Caleb to join us (Michael and Andrew were going to stay in the motel room because Michael was not hungry, and he was tired of paying for Andrew to eat when he typically would not).

While waiting for Caleb, a guy drove by us three times in a car, finally parked and got out, and asked us if everything was okay. Meghan's face was still red and puffy from her earlier crying. He wanted to know why everyone looked so unhappy and if they were okay. He asked me if I were their father. It was kind of creepy, but I guess we were glad he was tuned in to whether a couple of kids standing in a parking lot were not being held there against their will or were being abducted or some such awful thing. I wondered if he were an off-duty policeman or something.

We went on to the pizza/pasta/salad buffet and learned that on Wednesdays children eat free, so I called Michael and said he could safely bring Andrew if they wanted to come join us, which they did. Caleb proudly ate nine pieces of pizza.

After eating we returned to the motel and went swimming in their pool until it closed at ten o'clock. We then went to bed.