Oregon Trip, Day 2: Oregon Trail
Day 2 was far superior to day 1. It was still travel day, but man what I drive. I slept for 8 straight hours on night 1, so I was feeling better. I managed to drive the first 250 miles of the day. I could have made it the next leg too, but Chad wanted me to be able to enjoy the view, so he drove.
The morning drive was fine. I enjoyed being out of my normal environment. I love to see things and some things you can only see driving around, so I had a lot of fun on the first leg of the trip. I cranked my music and cruised. I also love to drive. I don't mind being the passenger, but I love being the driver.
GPS
The first five minutes on the road we realized just how stupid Google maps is, so we broke out our GPS and listened to Ivanka's commanding voice guide us to our destination. That's right, Chad has named her Ivanka. Her authoritarian tone reminds him of a Russian mail order bride. (I know, what the what? boys.) Everytime you veer from her proscribed route, Ivanka takes a pause and calmly says "calculating route." We had a lot of fun, however, providing the inner dialogue behind her calm commands. "Get back on the road. I'm not mapping this out for my health, people. How many times are those little ones going to have to go the bathroom today? Seriously, straight! How hard is straight. 174 miles of straight. You people are idiots."
I like that Chad has started talking to her like she's in the car. We get off the freeway to get gas. Ivanka: Calculating route. Chad: Relax, Ivanka, it'll just be a minute. Nothing to calculate if we are stranded on the side of the road.
We lunched at Jack in the Box in Pendleton, OR. Chad was so happy. He loves J.I.T.B.
Hay Bales, Tree Farms and Rivers, oh my
The afternoon was filled with an absolutely breathtaking drive. I saw some amazing things. I love seeing stacks and stacks of hay bales in the fields, everyone getting ready for winter. I saw my first industrial tree farm. It was quite stunning. Thousands of trees planted in perfect rows, all exactly the same heights. It was like a huge patchwork quilt, with giant sections of mature trees, butted up against huge sections of little saplings. It literally went on for miles, running parallel with the freeway and when we finally reached the end I looked back and it streched perpedicular to the freeway for literally as far as I could see. I really would have liked to see that from the air. It was overwhlmeingly immense.
We also drove along the Columbia River. I've never been this way before and that river is amazing. Three dams just in the part I saw. The water was so blue, the sky was clear and bright with big fluffy white clouds, the road winds along and your view of the river is clear for hours. Amazing.
A Cottage on a Cliff
The last hour of the drive was so long. It always is. We were just so ready to be there. But when we finally pulled up, oh wow, heaven. This perfect little beach house. Big, blue hydrangas bushes in the front yard. Atop a steep cliff overlooking the ocean. That great beach smell of salt, wet sand and seaweed and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Heaven.
My bedroom has a huge picture window that looks out over the endless expanse of ocean. It's so lovely, I may never leave.
A few last memories...
A few final memories from the drive:
Grace waking up in the car, wild haired from a 2 hour long nap and saying "sorry mom, I just can't ever fall asleep in the car."
Brynn disappointed that we hadn't been through any tunnels, starting holding her breath as we passed beneath overpasses.
2 really interesting road signs:
1. "Entering the Pacific Time Zone." cool, how else would you know?
2. "45th parallel, halfway between the Equator and North Pole." Wild. Who knew?
And finally, I forgot you are not allowed to pump your own gas in Oregon. It's weird, a bit bourgeois even, but I kind of love it. I hate pumping the gas.
The morning drive was fine. I enjoyed being out of my normal environment. I love to see things and some things you can only see driving around, so I had a lot of fun on the first leg of the trip. I cranked my music and cruised. I also love to drive. I don't mind being the passenger, but I love being the driver.
GPS
The first five minutes on the road we realized just how stupid Google maps is, so we broke out our GPS and listened to Ivanka's commanding voice guide us to our destination. That's right, Chad has named her Ivanka. Her authoritarian tone reminds him of a Russian mail order bride. (I know, what the what? boys.) Everytime you veer from her proscribed route, Ivanka takes a pause and calmly says "calculating route." We had a lot of fun, however, providing the inner dialogue behind her calm commands. "Get back on the road. I'm not mapping this out for my health, people. How many times are those little ones going to have to go the bathroom today? Seriously, straight! How hard is straight. 174 miles of straight. You people are idiots."
I like that Chad has started talking to her like she's in the car. We get off the freeway to get gas. Ivanka: Calculating route. Chad: Relax, Ivanka, it'll just be a minute. Nothing to calculate if we are stranded on the side of the road.
We lunched at Jack in the Box in Pendleton, OR. Chad was so happy. He loves J.I.T.B.
Hay Bales, Tree Farms and Rivers, oh my
The afternoon was filled with an absolutely breathtaking drive. I saw some amazing things. I love seeing stacks and stacks of hay bales in the fields, everyone getting ready for winter. I saw my first industrial tree farm. It was quite stunning. Thousands of trees planted in perfect rows, all exactly the same heights. It was like a huge patchwork quilt, with giant sections of mature trees, butted up against huge sections of little saplings. It literally went on for miles, running parallel with the freeway and when we finally reached the end I looked back and it streched perpedicular to the freeway for literally as far as I could see. I really would have liked to see that from the air. It was overwhlmeingly immense.
We also drove along the Columbia River. I've never been this way before and that river is amazing. Three dams just in the part I saw. The water was so blue, the sky was clear and bright with big fluffy white clouds, the road winds along and your view of the river is clear for hours. Amazing.
A Cottage on a Cliff
The last hour of the drive was so long. It always is. We were just so ready to be there. But when we finally pulled up, oh wow, heaven. This perfect little beach house. Big, blue hydrangas bushes in the front yard. Atop a steep cliff overlooking the ocean. That great beach smell of salt, wet sand and seaweed and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Heaven.
My bedroom has a huge picture window that looks out over the endless expanse of ocean. It's so lovely, I may never leave.
A few last memories...
A few final memories from the drive:
Grace waking up in the car, wild haired from a 2 hour long nap and saying "sorry mom, I just can't ever fall asleep in the car."
Brynn disappointed that we hadn't been through any tunnels, starting holding her breath as we passed beneath overpasses.
2 really interesting road signs:
1. "Entering the Pacific Time Zone." cool, how else would you know?
2. "45th parallel, halfway between the Equator and North Pole." Wild. Who knew?
And finally, I forgot you are not allowed to pump your own gas in Oregon. It's weird, a bit bourgeois even, but I kind of love it. I hate pumping the gas.
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