Chapter 2: Shakedown  and Signage

Roll on Columbia! Bonneville dam shows just how powerful the river is. I had to wait to enter the park because a huge fishing boat was going through the locks and the road to the park was closed.

The first day is always getting used to traveling, the shakedown what-did-I-forget phase? After about 200 miles I get used to driving and settle in to the adventure.

I love cruising along the Columbia River, some people think the drive is boring and Oregon is empty and dry but I beg to differ, with the river and the boats I am always entertained.  The Bonneville dam is  a great place to stop for a break, it’s in the perfect spot, about  two hours to Portland from Olympia and another hour or so to Bonneville, depending on weather, traffic and the number of cops spotted along the way.

Mini me, parked and out for a stroll through the fishery and park.

The Columbia River is a monster river and I am always amazed at seeing huge boats and barges way up river past the Cascade Locks and the big Bonneville dam. It’s very odd to see a grain silo in the middle of an empty expanse of prairie and then turn your head the other way and there’s a big old boat chugging by.

The engine is really noisy but all I can see on the other side of the salmon ponds is the very top of this enormous boat going by. Very odd to hear it and just see the wheelhouse.

The Columbia also has sturgeon, a sturgeon habitat and a famous fish named “Herman”. When I think of sturgeon, I think of caviar and lick my chops, but Herman is big enough so I’m not going to argue with him or his buddies in the tank about edibility.

Herman the sturgeon, these suckers are HUGE. They make hungry and they make me wonder how the hell you catch one?

The fish hatchery was in full swing getting salmon ready for their voyage out to sea and the poor harried rangers were herding both salmon and packs of rowdy kids ready for the end of the school year.

Salmon ready for the sea

Ranger overheard telling at least ten kids to stop touching things including this turbine prop, good luck with that Mr. Ranger!

The same pack of brats is still following Ranger Rick as he tries to restrain himself from throwing them into the fish ladder for the sturgeon to eat. I would have...

I watched over the world from my rooftop view being serenaded by this charming sparrow, soothing the savage beast and all that.

It semed to be a day of signs. Remember the movie with Tom Hanks and all the signs? Sleepless in Seattle? I can’t remember. The Universe kept sending signs to him and on this day it was sending me propitious signs too. Omens of a fair voyage, no doubt. Except for the one about biting squirrels, I still haven’t figured out what that one augured except don’t feed the damned squirrels.

Duh...

Can I resist a beautiful Japanese iris? This sign is from Mother Nature!

The Universe sent me this stack of signs, okay, the gift shop had them on display but still, I'll take a sign when I can find it!

This sign says it all. Yes, I know its from a rose bush, but still...

The best sign of the day, POWER. I'll take it! Loved this shot.

I polished off my coffee and the Columbia and headed south on I-84 through Pendleton of Woolen Mills and Round Up fame, on to La Grande and past  Baker City. Baker City is adorable by the way, full of Victorian houses and cute shops, none of which got me to stop this time. I  kept on trucking or carring as it were, on to my goal for the night of Ontario, Oregon.  

By the time you hit Ontario you are hitting the Ugly Part of both Oregon and Southern Idaho. I’m pretty sure most of the south end of Idaho  along I-84 is seriously ugly and lives to be endured and gotten through as fast as possible. Yes, there are exceptions to seriously ugly including the Snake River canyon and the coolest “ghost town” on the planet, Silver City. It’s a nice drive south of Boise and a ways up into the mountains on a two lane dirt road, well worth a visit if you ever get the chance.

Before my day ended I discovered Ontario has the most insane road naming and numbering system in the world. Yes, every stree appears to be repeated and you can’t tell where you are even with a GPS. Not one but two East Fourth Streets, running two different directions. The same with every other street. EEEEEK! Luckily, I had been to the el cheapo but very clean motel I had booked before.  I recognized it when I made a loop in the general direction and spotted it to my right. I launched myself at that driveway like Shamu doing tricks for tuna. Mission accomplished.

Happy me, found the motel, got through the first day fine and now for some dinner.

 I unbungied, unraveled and unpacked the Fyr Fly 2, and slid down to Subway for a sandwich and in line, a story from a guy who had a Mini in Italy during the early 60’s. It was fun to listen to him talk about trying to get it into the country back in the day, but it was even more fun to get back to the motel and fall down for the night.

Next: On to Salt Lake  a surprisingly beautiful city.

A sign from Salt Lake City....

 

Fyr Fly and Fyr Fly 2 side by side

Chapter 1.

My need to go places and see things must be in my DNA.  When I was a kid my family took off at the drop of a hat and explored the world. That’s how I saw Europe and most of this country, in a tent for weeks on end. Before I knew it I was all grown up and settled in Washington State. The itch to travel the world was put on the sidelines, and then my husband  of five years, Terry, almost died in a motorcycle accident. Amazing how your priorities change when you get a second chance.

Terry recovered almost completely after a grueling year that changed us all.  Part of my positive change was a convertible and the determination not to waste my life sitting on my rear end and wishing I could go places and see things. I am no stranger to topless cars and the red Mini was my third or is it fourth  convertible? At any rate that shiny little car was my own second chance launching pad and every year for the past few years I have headed out to visit America, usually alone and perfectly comfortable with that.

Bungied and ready to roll

This year was different. Tor, the baby of the family has grown up and gone. He lives in Seattle, works and goes to school there and my nest is empty for the first time since 1969. I didn’t realize how hard it would be for me to have everyone flown and in the world. My friend Pam felt the same way when her ‘baby’ headed for Reed College in Portland last year. We decided this summer we would roam the world together rediscovering the joy in being just us. 

A month before the trip I made the hard decision to trade in the original Fyr Fly, my beautiful red Mini. I found a sweet silver Mini in her place, who inherited the license plates, and by default the title of Fire Fly 2. The decision made sense before a long trip because a clutch and very expensive tires were in my immediate future. I got an amazing trade in deal and the 3 year bumper to bumper warranty that makes me a Mini/BMW believer. 

 I began the preparations for camping in a teeny tiny vehicle when I got an itsby bitsy stove for my birthday, it’s about the size of a pack of playing cards. Then on a day trip to Edmonds, I found a perfectly adorable tiny picnic set with dishes and silverware for two, and two big quick dry towels. I rounded up the rest of our gear, in miniature, and finished up by investing in Moon Guides and maps for every state I didn’t already have in my travel stash. I love Moon Guides, they are my favorite souvenir and Road Trip Warrior book. Moon has the best tid bits and information of any travel book out there. 

Taken the minute before I left the driveway, wondering what I forgot. It was the binoculars...

I was speaking at the Utah campus based student lending conference in Salt Lake so it made perfect sense to launch our trip at the end of the conference, picking Pam up Friday night at the Salt Lake City airport and heading out. That gave me a few days traveling on my own and at the conference to shake down the packing and preparations.  I’m always wound up and jittery before a long driving trip for some reason. I spend time worrying and trying not to forget anything, expecting the worst and just wanting to get started. It all goes away when I get about 300 miles from home and the trip really begins.

Couldn't use cruise control on the long straight road until 1250 miles, by then it was worth a picture.

I love Windmills. Headed south through Portland, Or and then due east, along the Columbia river and miles of farmland.

Mills, wheat, sun and open road

First stop at the big dam on the Columbia, leg stretching and photos.

I think the Universe sends me signs, this one says choose: upstream or downstream? Then GO!

 I’m writing this after returning home and being swamped with photographs and memories. Some of the statistics: 21 days, 5165 miles, 9 states, 2 off road vehicles that really went off road. One amazing traveling companion for 14 of those days, one amazing new friend and Prairie Dog Posse member,  3 families that let us come in and use their showers and  sleep in real  beds—and even better– shared special parts of their world with us.  One Mini Cooper convertible S model that took us everywhere we wanted to go and see and do. Two wash jobs for poor old filthy Fyr Fly along the way. More spectacular scenery than I can list and over 700 photographs of our amazing voyage—and that’s just the pictures I took! Pam and Paula took their fair share too.  I’m hoping we can get them all on Flickr before we forget how fab the whole thing was.

Next: Chapter 2, Show me a SIGN and Utah’s awesome capitol building.