ROAD TRIP!!!!: Day 2 - Suncadia to Portland

A great day. When we left Roslyn, the air was cold and damp with a frightful chill in the air. It DID get progressively warmer and more sunny. Thank heavens.

More & More Windmills Along the Way

Matt got a wild hair and decided to backtrack to Ellensburg and take 97 S down through Yakima, Toppenish, Goldendale & hit I-84 E into Portland. A great idea. I drove him the back route down the Old Canyon Road so he could catch a glimpse of The Rock where all those stories involving his wife and her friends had taken place over the years. I was sorry I didn't have a key to the property any longer. I would have loved to have shown him the scene of many of racy, funny and unbelievable stories.

We had lunch at Ron's Drive-In -- don't bother. It was pretty terrible! They even screwed up my chocolate shake -- they use a MIX! Eeew! We did drive down Old Canyin Road, though, on our way, so Matt could see the area of many years of fun for many of us at The Rock. The road was beautiful and it looks as though the Smet's family has built even more buildings on the property.

Toppenish: When was the last time YOU were in Toppenish, WA? What a trippy place! The murals alone are worth a drive-through. Truly unique and amazing. And you find yourself in Mexico. A small, Mexican town that has seen better days, but which has such pride in their community. Except that it's in South Central Washington.

We headed down through Goldendale and onto I-84 to breeze into Portland, but had to make an unscheduled stop in Hood River. As soon as we left Goldendale, a TERRIBLE NOISE schreeched through the car all the way down the hill, across the bridge and into Oregon. Luckily I had previously visited a Les Schwab in Hood River so we stopped and had a very small rock removed from between the brakes. Amazing how much ungodly NOISE a little rock can make!!! THANK YOU, LES SCHWAB!

After Hood River, into Portland we went. We stayed at Hotel Lucia which was nice and right downtown. The room was very nice but VERY small -- prefect for us and a quick stopover without a bunch of time spent in the room. A quick walk to Nordy's (because Matt forgot a coat!) and then we headed to dinner at Marrakesh Moroccan Restaurant. Crappy wine selection, but the food was great. Matt especially loved the belly dancer and begged me to take lessons...

Back to the hotel to sleep and prepare for EUGENE!!!!