Monday, 11/13
Monday, 11/13
Brrrrrrr. It was cold last night. The spot is right on the river and it was rainy last night and foggy this morning. I moved the thermostat so that I could turn on the heater without getting out of bed. Used it this morning. Doesn’t take long and the schooner is warm.
Early start because I want to leave plenty of time for hiking to the falls and whatever else I discover. Just a real nice drive this morning. Low fog in places hanging on the river and the sun breaking thru the clouds. A little safety, a little XM new age, some hot coffee in my thermos, lets go.
Stopped in Lewiston, stretched the legs and walked along the dike. Continued down HWY 12 to Wallula then dropped down into Oregon.
Turned on Hwy 730 and stayed on the south side of the Columbia River. Oregon…. speed limit 55 mph…. perfect for me but, come on. Nice road with lots of views. Okay, here we go INTERSTATE 84. It isn’t too bad, makes me go a little faster then normal but all in all not much traffic.
I could of crossed over to Washington and used HWY 14 and originally thought that’s what I would do. But 84 is acceptable. The traffic picks up a little bit as you get closer to Portland. Crap, it’s 2:20, not going to leave a lot of time before rush hour……. WTF ….. don’t need to worry about getting thru traffic, ‘cause the Waterfall Road is closed! Of course, I don’t believe the sign, so drive 2 miles to verify, verify and drive 2 miles back. Well, piss.
…..Okay the bright side is I’ll get thru traffic and be on the coast by 5 or 6. Hahahaha! Traffic, slow. Some stop and go, some just slow. No, go fast. THIS IS THE BIG CITY. No place to pull off and get my bearings. Finally I’m thru the worst and now I just have to get on a road heading west….. ya right. I know even numbers go east- west,odd go north south. Do you think I could find a even number going west? Well I did, but I couldn’t get over. God dammit!
I’m now like 50-60 miles south of Portland, it’s 6ish, dark and rainy. HWY 20 ! Yea! Of course, I still had to negotiate the city streets and turns following HWY 20…one missed right hand turn causes me 20 minutes of backtracking. BUT a hour or so later HWY 101! Still don’t have place to sleep but progress. Dark, rain and my eyes are not a great match. Lots of diamonds!
Thirty miles down the road and I find Tillicum Beach Campground. $20.00 is costing, but it is pissing down rain, I’m beat and go right to bed. (After a safety meeting of course)
