Day 51, Friday, October 4, Emigrant Hill State Park, Oregon, 10,600 mikes (18,600 total)

What beautiful country Washington and Oregon are. I had no idea. that the drive would be so spectacular. i could not enjoy it much since i was driving, but what i did see left me mesmarized. Three dramatic scenery changes over 300 miles.

we ended up in a magnificent state park along highway 84. they had some near little cabins available but i decided to stick with my roots and tent it. the truth is, we all have the routine down cold, and i do mean cold, and i did not want to break stride this last week on the road. the cabins were $39 a night, the same price as that slum i stayed in last night at tge Seattle/Tacoma KOA. Here i am paying $14 for a fabulous tent site, and i have a sky filled with stars a planetarium would only hope for. the camp is right next to the highway, but the sound if the vehicles speeding by sounds like the ocean. i got here at dark (6:30) so i'll post some photos tomorrow

it seems that we can only get in about 350 miles on a good day, and so with 2400 miles left, it looks like we'll be on the road 8 more days. needless to say, it will be not be easy going back to my DC comfort zone, but if this after-trip is like the previous ones, i will try to simulate life on the road as a transition.

it is a nice crisp 40 degrees outside, nit much warmer in the tent. but i have the dogs, some Merlot, and some Rachmaninov to warm things up a bit.

i have no idea where we will end up tomorrow. Probably some state park in Idaho. i'll worry about that in the morning.

ed

photo taken on the road in Washington. that thing off to the left is my Air Snirkel.